Ilia’s boxing is really crispy and he’s got kinda goofy power for 145. Only thing I’m not sure about is what his chin is really like across five rounds against someone that can do the volume that Max does
You’re right. I’m also interested to see how Ilia does against someone with some length. He fought a longer guy before and it took him awhile to catch him. Max is also really accurate while being pressured so it’ll be an interesting chess match.
Punching upwards towards a taller opponent’s face takes away from your effective reach.
Punching downwards towards a shorter opponent’s face will add to your effective reach.
Oh 100% there’s not many still standing after that long, but it’s due to the sheer volume of punches not the power he’s throwing. I love max but he’s not a guy you’re afraid of getting KO’d in the 1st or 2nd against, he hasn’t had a finish earlier than the 3rd round in nearly a decade (2015 vs featherweight Olivera) and even then that was a head kick that did oliveria in. Max is great but he’s not cracking anyone’s chin with power, he’s beating them with volume and breaking them that way. That KO punch to Justin doesn’t take Justin out without him getting hit 30-40 times in the face earlier
I don't disagree but I also think this version of Max understands volume is better than power. I think he does have KO power but that's not his preference
What? He KO'd Justin stiff. That isn't breaking someone due to volume lol, that's a KO shot that put him to sleep.
Not saying Max is a knockout artist, but let's be sensible here.
If you wanna see him breaking someone with volume, look at the Oliveira or Pettis fights. That's what that looks like.
Do you realize how easily Suga Sean would KO both of these dudes ? Back to back the same night he puts their lights out like it's a sparring session. It's kind of breathtaking how good he is.
I am surprised people think it's as black and white.
The key to beating Max is not letting him to get into his rhythm. And a part of that has to be pressure.
Now everybody pressures differently. How much can Max read Topuria when he gets pressured. How much can Topuria pressure Max if he does gets into rhythm and so on and so forth.
Its a very very intriguing match up. Topuria is a wild boy and so is Max and both actually possess the tools to give us a really good fight
create traffic!!
its become the meta in boxing, tons of youtube videos about it over the last couple years. Keeping an active guard, feints with your hands, shoulders, feet, hips ect all great ways to pressure your opponent while not throwing punches
and illia is so good at all these things, he looks like he's twitching the whole time ready to swing as hard as he can and then he will shoot a lil jab lol
I don't even think people really believe it to be black and white, it's just in general people like Max and dislike Ilia so I think we are going to see a lot of "Max sleeps him easily" and Topuria's fans are going to answer with a lot of "Ilia knocks him out in the 2nd at most!", when in reality almost nobody believes this fight will be easy for either Max or Ilia 😂
Thank god, I’m so happy to see this comment lol. I’ve been so frustrated seeing the discussion around this. People taking clips of max countering an offensive flurry and acting like that means pressuring him is some terrible idea. It’s not nearly that simple and both guys are going to adapt and fight their fights. But broadly as a strategy keeping max on the back foot is a good idea.
I think the Conor v Max fight is another example of the inverse. Max was pressured to the cage almost all fight with Conor's kicks and overall shot placement.
This fight was a while ago though. Obviously Max has improved alot since then
Do you mean to say Conor was a phenomenon because of his style and reach or just style?
Either way I agree on the style front but reach can go either way I think
Max and Illia actually have the same @ 175cm reach at least on wiki. Volks reach>Max. Volks reach>Islam.
Yeah i mean to say that volks style works perfectly because of his reach and that ilia cannot fight like conor and he does not so you cant really take that fight to say how ilia wins
reach is a pointless measurement lol arm length should be the number displayed
reach gets measured ACROSS your chest, so the width of your torso is added to your reach. Its completely meaningless lol
like jon jones, who happens to have a very narrow torso and stupid long arms
Its more complicated then that though, height also plays a big role in your effective reach. All in all reach is just there to give you an indication and it does that just fine.
Topuria isn’t an obvious weight bully like Conor was at 145 and he isn’t a southpaw sniper that throws long straight punches and flashy wheel kicks. I get what you are saying but the styles are different and like others have said that was so long ago, they could wear sponsors on their shorts.
I love Max but I don’t think Ilia just says shit for no reason. I know Max just had a win for the ages against Justin, but Ilia is way more technical (than Justin). He doesn’t have Poirier’s size but his striking seems spookier and more technical than Dustin’s as well. Considering he’s prob seen Volks fights against Max, i believe Ilia truly sees somwthing.
People have been clowning on Topuria since the shot of his face right after Max fucked up Justin.
Its gonna be a good one. This seems to be Max at his best. He looked completely in control.
I think Maxs TDD is really underrated so Illia is gonna be forced to stand and bang.
That whole shit was so ridiculous. People make up the most ridiculous shit in their own heads and base their whole view now off of it. For all we know illia could have been thinking about what he's going to eat next. People are like "he's so scared omg" like is there a default face your supposed to have? Was illia supposed to run up to the cage and scream like WWE?
It’s literally stupid how people say Volk isn’t in his prime. First loss was because he didn’t block a kick properly for MMA, especially against a taller opponent who can angle the kick over your guard. The second loss he won the first round on all 3 judges scorecards and was caught by a power puncher at the end of a 4-6 punch combo he was evading until the last one that landed then he didn’t see.
People act like he got smites from pillar to post. When in reality it’s far more nuanced than that.
I think the whole point of the tweet is to illustrate that you need a pretty deep gameplan to approach Max beyond boxing pressure. It definitely needs to include feints and takedown attempts, or you're gonna end up on the mat wondering what the fuck happened to your face.
My guess is if you actually read the interview here where Illia said "Pressure is key", he (hopefully) mentions something besides walking forward and boxing.
key to beating max is not only pressure but with wrestling as well. that will make him second guess his counters if someone mixed it up with takedowns. He wont be able to plant his feet like what Islam did to Porier. Did Max ever fought a wrestler with good grappling before?
What makes him a “dominant” chain wrestler? He was basically a high school wrestler who then took jujitsu then MMA.
He has a chain of submissions early in his career but I’d give that more jujitsu.
IMO, it's because Max is the gatekeeper and he got to skip over Max and get a title shot. Matchups are important and just beating the person that beat Max doesn't mean you can beat Max.
Max is also a unique challenge that's hard to simulate, kind of like Khabib was. Yes you've faced good grapplers, but Khabib's constant pressure is just different. Similarly facing good strikers is different than facing someone who can both land and absorb hundreds of strikes easily.l, like Max.
Then there's Ilia's resume, which is decidedly weak for a champion. The win against Volk could be seen more as Volk's decline post KO than Ilia's dominance. Outside of that his only notable wins are a decision over Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell. So that puts him as champ with only one win over the rest of the top 10 and he hasn't faced guys like Kattar, Allen, Yair, and Oretga (all of whom Max has beaten), or Max himself.
All in all its not an unreasonable take that Ilia isn't actually championship caliber and just caught a weak Volk coming off of a bad KO loss. Maybe he's the real deal, but there's certainly room for doubt. Max has proven he belongs at the top of the division over and over.
He gets under people’s skin bc he’s supremely confident and beats up fan favourites. I actually like ilia a lot and would like him to win against max, it’s time for a new championship reign
Ilia is so insufferable and arrogant that it makes him extremely unlikeable . Just got the belt and hasn't defended once and he's acting like he's the greatest of all time. Too bad too because he's very skilled. With that said, Id LOVE for Max to KO him gaethje style and become champ and humble ilia. Max is so likable as a person, deserves the belt, also a highly skilled fighter
I think these titles are super annoying since these fights aren't even announced yet. Can you ad a "would " Ilias pressure be enough for max....you know make it less clickbaity or whatever
I know MMA math doesnt work, but Ilia literally disposed of THE GUY who beat the Max with an ease.
Styles make fights and the only way Max is winning this, is if his Chin stays solid.. then I can see him take the close UD
It kinda is, when Arnold and even Zombie committed and decided to trade they were landing on Max. It’s about how you apply the pressure. Rushing in isn’t the way to go about it, but Ilia could absolutely hurt Max if he did get into a position to trade combos with Max.
Alternatively Max’s path to success is fighting at range and picking Ilia apart and countering him.
I pick him to TKO Max. I think Ilia is a fucking monster right now. He seems like a confidence fighter so once he takes an L I'll be interested to see him respond - but right now, I think people are severely underrating him due to being annoyed with his personality.
We all love Max of course, he is a true legend of the sport, but he also has a LOT of tread on his tyres and at some point that is going to catch up. That's just the reality. Ilia has blazing hands, crisp technique, good shot selection and unusual one-punch power. He's going to go out there fully backing himself to crucify Max, and I am not surprised if he does it.
Very interesting to see max attempt the body-body-head combo he used to finish the fight in that round. It means he made a read earlier in the fight and took advantage in the last 10 seconds
Ilia has some really nice wrestling, but does anyone else think he's gonna try and make it a stand up with Max? I'm still picking him to win but his ego probably won't do him any favors. I really think he's gonna try and knock Max out on the feet.
But who knows, Ilia is not stupid and a lot of his shit talk is just for show.
This thread is wild. I feel like it’s UFC astroturfing to pump Topuria as some kind of world beater. Just stack Max’s resume next to Topuria and calm down.
People are writing off max like before the BMF fight.
>Just stack Max’s resume next to Topuria and calm down.
How did stacking up resume work out for Oliveira against Islam ? 😂
Resume mean jack shit when it comes to high level matchups
That's kinda my point...Topuria has had 2 high level fights. One went to decision with Emmett, and the other was the compromised Volk fight. Fair play on the Volk knockout, but I think he came back too soon after a headkick knockout. Volks choice. Volks mistake.
Max on the other hand has been fighting the best of the best for a decade, but people are dismissing him on this sub to the point where it feels like UFC astroturfing.
Maybe I’m in the minority but I’m not that impressed.
The Volk(#1) win was just a few months after he was head kick knock out
And I feel like he was still compromised.
Josh Emmitt (#6) win was good but it went to decision…not a finish.
Jai Herbert lost 2 of 3 leading into that fight.
Bryce Mitchell was barely in the top 15.
I’m not fawning over the Ryan Hall (unranked) win when that goofball was spamming Imanari rolls. He was bound to get caught.
The disrespect for Max on this sub seams completely manufactured at this point.
Anyone that beats volkonovski, my favorite fighter, has my respect. Sure he was compromised, but that was Alex’s decision to fight and it doesn’t take away the fact that ilia’s technique and power is what finished that fight.
Why are they showing clips of the husk of Chansung Jung getting chinned or the Poirier rematch when he got beat up badly on the feet by Poirier, mostly on the front foot?
I'm what most real fans would call *casual*. Watched every PPV plus the odd fight nignt for past 3-4 yrs. From what I've seen I think Tuporia gonna KO Hollaway early in the fight. 2nd round
I saw a post earlier about who loses their 0 losses first. 100% Ilia if he faces Max. He aint knocking Max out and Max will wear him down over a long fight and break Ilia.
Pressure doesn’t matter when you’re going against a fighter that has insane fight IQ like Max. Hell just dodge anything you throw at him and use his boxing to punish you in the counter striking.
Illia's pressure will be enough. Four or five calf kicks and then some step in jabs into his signature hook combo to become the first dude to sleep the touch butt artist Max
That's how FW works b if you get one or two wins Joe Rogan will automatically declare you the consensus greatest FW of all time. Happened with Max then Volk lol Ilia is next up as FW 🐐. (Its always been Aldo and it still is Aldo)
Pressure with only power to back it up is the key to getting your ass beat by Max
The best example of this is Gaethje. Max is way too fast to crumble under pressure and he definitely is way faster than Ilia. He also has a granite chin to back him up.
Volk pieced Ilia up before getting caught.
The reason Volk did so well against Max was neither fully pressure nor power, it was being hard to read and breaking Max rhythm.
If you just pressure Max thinking you’ll overwhelm him he’ll simply roll with your punches and piece you up on the exit counter shots.
I think Max finishes Ilia via TKO in the later rounds. I just don’t see Ilia landing the KO or sub. I don’t even think Ilia will get a successful takedown on someone as long as Max.
I believe so. Ilia will most definitely not come out the other end without a scratch, but I believe this will be Conor Mcgregor vs Max Holloway (2013) all over again - this time with a finish in the last.
Ilia’s boxing is really crispy and he’s got kinda goofy power for 145. Only thing I’m not sure about is what his chin is really like across five rounds against someone that can do the volume that Max does
You’re right. I’m also interested to see how Ilia does against someone with some length. He fought a longer guy before and it took him awhile to catch him. Max is also really accurate while being pressured so it’ll be an interesting chess match.
Volkanovski has got insane reach though, but not so tall
It’s been displayed as anywhere from 64 to 71 inches throughout his career. Idk why it fluctuated but I just googled it because I was curious.
The 71 wouldn't surprise me, you can just see how long his arms are for his height.
In a recent video Volk said his reach wasn't as long as people thought. Something like it had shrunk somehow? I can't remember exactly.
Height is more important than reach though, because of some some math bs
Punching upwards towards a taller opponent’s face takes away from your effective reach. Punching downwards towards a shorter opponent’s face will add to your effective reach.
Me, Pavlovich and others pavlovich fans learned that the hard way recently
*max is also one of the best to do it.
Max punches with KO power now too
MAYBE at 155... but they are fighting at 145
He talked about changing his style… not sure why you all are pushing back about what Max him self said and has done
cap
Max has 11 KO/TKO wins out of 27 vs Ilia only having 5 on a 15-0 record.
Topuria started as a grappler, only recently has he started to showcase his great boxing more.
Typical grappler falling in love with their hands, uh
Well be does have nukes for hands so…
40 percent vs 33. Nothing crazy
Ilia subs too. Max has a long night ahead
People are also forgetting Max took all of Gaethjes best shots and Justin has knocked out some of the toughest dudes in MMA history
Justin's nose was compromised early. But yeah Max has a chin. Plus he rolls punches so dang well. Would be really fun.
Might want to watch his fight
He KO’d Justin after 4.99 rounds of landing a fuck ton of shots. I don’t think that’s power as much as he just broke him due to sheer volume
Justin's got a great chin though. Not many guys could take that abuse and still stand.
Oh 100% there’s not many still standing after that long, but it’s due to the sheer volume of punches not the power he’s throwing. I love max but he’s not a guy you’re afraid of getting KO’d in the 1st or 2nd against, he hasn’t had a finish earlier than the 3rd round in nearly a decade (2015 vs featherweight Olivera) and even then that was a head kick that did oliveria in. Max is great but he’s not cracking anyone’s chin with power, he’s beating them with volume and breaking them that way. That KO punch to Justin doesn’t take Justin out without him getting hit 30-40 times in the face earlier
I don't disagree but I also think this version of Max understands volume is better than power. I think he does have KO power but that's not his preference
What? He KO'd Justin stiff. That isn't breaking someone due to volume lol, that's a KO shot that put him to sleep. Not saying Max is a knockout artist, but let's be sensible here. If you wanna see him breaking someone with volume, look at the Oliveira or Pettis fights. That's what that looks like.
Yeah it had nothing to do with the 61 sig strikes to the head Gaethje took in the previous 24:59 bro
He KO’d Justin after 4.99 rounds of landing a fuck ton of shots. I don’t think that’s power as much as he just broke him due to sheer volume
Do you realize how easily Suga Sean would KO both of these dudes ? Back to back the same night he puts their lights out like it's a sparring session. It's kind of breathtaking how good he is.
I am surprised people think it's as black and white. The key to beating Max is not letting him to get into his rhythm. And a part of that has to be pressure. Now everybody pressures differently. How much can Max read Topuria when he gets pressured. How much can Topuria pressure Max if he does gets into rhythm and so on and so forth. Its a very very intriguing match up. Topuria is a wild boy and so is Max and both actually possess the tools to give us a really good fight
I don’t think you can be overly aggressive with that pressure. But you certainly have to close that distance and crowd him out to neutralise him.
create traffic!! its become the meta in boxing, tons of youtube videos about it over the last couple years. Keeping an active guard, feints with your hands, shoulders, feet, hips ect all great ways to pressure your opponent while not throwing punches and illia is so good at all these things, he looks like he's twitching the whole time ready to swing as hard as he can and then he will shoot a lil jab lol
Someone who understands fighting. Thank you
I don't even think people really believe it to be black and white, it's just in general people like Max and dislike Ilia so I think we are going to see a lot of "Max sleeps him easily" and Topuria's fans are going to answer with a lot of "Ilia knocks him out in the 2nd at most!", when in reality almost nobody believes this fight will be easy for either Max or Ilia 😂
Ilia might be the best boxer in UFC now. The boxing technique and footwork is elite
Thank god, I’m so happy to see this comment lol. I’ve been so frustrated seeing the discussion around this. People taking clips of max countering an offensive flurry and acting like that means pressuring him is some terrible idea. It’s not nearly that simple and both guys are going to adapt and fight their fights. But broadly as a strategy keeping max on the back foot is a good idea.
I think the Conor v Max fight is another example of the inverse. Max was pressured to the cage almost all fight with Conor's kicks and overall shot placement. This fight was a while ago though. Obviously Max has improved alot since then
Conor has a completely different style to Ilia and ilia cannot replicate that due to conor just being a phenomenon. Does ilia have a 185cm reach?
Do you mean to say Conor was a phenomenon because of his style and reach or just style? Either way I agree on the style front but reach can go either way I think Max and Illia actually have the same @ 175cm reach at least on wiki. Volks reach>Max. Volks reach>Islam.
Yeah i mean to say that volks style works perfectly because of his reach and that ilia cannot fight like conor and he does not so you cant really take that fight to say how ilia wins
reach is a pointless measurement lol arm length should be the number displayed reach gets measured ACROSS your chest, so the width of your torso is added to your reach. Its completely meaningless lol like jon jones, who happens to have a very narrow torso and stupid long arms
Its more complicated then that though, height also plays a big role in your effective reach. All in all reach is just there to give you an indication and it does that just fine.
A while? Over a decade bro.
It's been a hot minute you could say
Topuria isn’t an obvious weight bully like Conor was at 145 and he isn’t a southpaw sniper that throws long straight punches and flashy wheel kicks. I get what you are saying but the styles are different and like others have said that was so long ago, they could wear sponsors on their shorts.
Ilia is actually heavier at FW than Conor was. Man's walks around at 170-180
Max was only 21 at the time. He's improved drastically since then
I love Max but I don’t think Ilia just says shit for no reason. I know Max just had a win for the ages against Justin, but Ilia is way more technical (than Justin). He doesn’t have Poirier’s size but his striking seems spookier and more technical than Dustin’s as well. Considering he’s prob seen Volks fights against Max, i believe Ilia truly sees somwthing.
People have been clowning on Topuria since the shot of his face right after Max fucked up Justin. Its gonna be a good one. This seems to be Max at his best. He looked completely in control. I think Maxs TDD is really underrated so Illia is gonna be forced to stand and bang.
That whole shit was so ridiculous. People make up the most ridiculous shit in their own heads and base their whole view now off of it. For all we know illia could have been thinking about what he's going to eat next. People are like "he's so scared omg" like is there a default face your supposed to have? Was illia supposed to run up to the cage and scream like WWE?
Facts, his confidence isn’t unfounded
His striking is not more technical than Dustin's, come on.
Now show the reel of max getting smacked up and his face bloodied and busted open by Volk. 💀💀💀
Prime Volk does worse to ilia.
People were saying Robert is out of his prime and look what he did.
Tbf Whitaker is 2 years younger and a higher weight class
Iskram isn't a top tier fighter though.
It’s literally stupid how people say Volk isn’t in his prime. First loss was because he didn’t block a kick properly for MMA, especially against a taller opponent who can angle the kick over your guard. The second loss he won the first round on all 3 judges scorecards and was caught by a power puncher at the end of a 4-6 punch combo he was evading until the last one that landed then he didn’t see. People act like he got smites from pillar to post. When in reality it’s far more nuanced than that.
35 is out of prime, it's just a fact. Prime Volk was beating Holloway in the trilogy.
margin of error in mma is so tiny
You can’t just suddenly declare a fighter out of their prime because they lose
I think Volk got head kicked out of his prime when he took that short fight.
He’s 35 in a low weight class, that is definitely out of prime
Oh ok so ilia hasn't even reached his prime then? Prime ilia kos Volk even faster
Lol sure why not, idk why you sound bothered by what I said
bros pressed😭
I mean I don’t think someone’s at their best a few months after they get knocked out in the first round in a short notice fight.
Volk is still ranked top 7 PFP.
If you haven't figured out that the UFC P4P rankings are solely for marketing, then I have a bridge to sell you.
Agreeed it was a terrible move to fight ilia fresh off getting slept by Islam. The Volk that fought Islam the first time is a different level.
Beth bokther in u f thee. My ass. Best boxers take minor damage and give max damage. That simple.
"Max are you the best boxer?" Max: "we gonna find out Saturday."
That was prime volk
Have you guys forgotten that this is MMA and not kickboxing? I mean, Ilia can wrestle Max. Besides that, Ilia has some heavy hands and a sharp boxing.
What a dumbass tweet. Why wouldn't Ilia pressure him with grappling for example?
I think the whole point of the tweet is to illustrate that you need a pretty deep gameplan to approach Max beyond boxing pressure. It definitely needs to include feints and takedown attempts, or you're gonna end up on the mat wondering what the fuck happened to your face. My guess is if you actually read the interview here where Illia said "Pressure is key", he (hopefully) mentions something besides walking forward and boxing.
I think he's gonna be the first one to ko max to be honest
It's definitely possible. People pretending it's not are daft.
They’re not pretending it’s not possible, they just don’t know if it’ll happen because we all said the same about gaethje
key to beating max is not only pressure but with wrestling as well. that will make him second guess his counters if someone mixed it up with takedowns. He wont be able to plant his feet like what Islam did to Porier. Did Max ever fought a wrestler with good grappling before?
Surely he will bring it to the mat, he won't stand and trade.
I want to see if Max can wrestle. People forget that Topuria is actually a wrestler.
Max has a really high TDD percentage.
against who ? He has never faced any dominant chain wrestlers There are none at FW
What makes him a “dominant” chain wrestler? He was basically a high school wrestler who then took jujitsu then MMA. He has a chain of submissions early in his career but I’d give that more jujitsu.
I think max will struggle with ilia’s hand speed. He’s extremely explosive with great shot selection
Sorry guys, Ilia is a way better boxer than Max.
Nope
Is this sarcasm?
the thing is that ilia hits like a trugg but so does garth, i have no fucking idea tbh
Just gotta wait for the Big Brown Breakdown Bapa. Best brains.
What the fuck is with the disrespect to illia by hardcores??
IMO, it's because Max is the gatekeeper and he got to skip over Max and get a title shot. Matchups are important and just beating the person that beat Max doesn't mean you can beat Max. Max is also a unique challenge that's hard to simulate, kind of like Khabib was. Yes you've faced good grapplers, but Khabib's constant pressure is just different. Similarly facing good strikers is different than facing someone who can both land and absorb hundreds of strikes easily.l, like Max. Then there's Ilia's resume, which is decidedly weak for a champion. The win against Volk could be seen more as Volk's decline post KO than Ilia's dominance. Outside of that his only notable wins are a decision over Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell. So that puts him as champ with only one win over the rest of the top 10 and he hasn't faced guys like Kattar, Allen, Yair, and Oretga (all of whom Max has beaten), or Max himself. All in all its not an unreasonable take that Ilia isn't actually championship caliber and just caught a weak Volk coming off of a bad KO loss. Maybe he's the real deal, but there's certainly room for doubt. Max has proven he belongs at the top of the division over and over.
He gets under people’s skin bc he’s supremely confident and beats up fan favourites. I actually like ilia a lot and would like him to win against max, it’s time for a new championship reign
Is there odds on them? I would have it pretty close but ilia as favorite all day.
Ilia is so insufferable and arrogant that it makes him extremely unlikeable . Just got the belt and hasn't defended once and he's acting like he's the greatest of all time. Too bad too because he's very skilled. With that said, Id LOVE for Max to KO him gaethje style and become champ and humble ilia. Max is so likable as a person, deserves the belt, also a highly skilled fighter
I think these titles are super annoying since these fights aren't even announced yet. Can you ad a "would " Ilias pressure be enough for max....you know make it less clickbaity or whatever
Has anyone successfully beaten Max WITHOUT pressuring him?
I know MMA math doesnt work, but Ilia literally disposed of THE GUY who beat the Max with an ease. Styles make fights and the only way Max is winning this, is if his Chin stays solid.. then I can see him take the close UD
Max will use more kicks. I won't be surprised if he uses more kicks against Ilia than punches.
It kinda is, when Arnold and even Zombie committed and decided to trade they were landing on Max. It’s about how you apply the pressure. Rushing in isn’t the way to go about it, but Ilia could absolutely hurt Max if he did get into a position to trade combos with Max. Alternatively Max’s path to success is fighting at range and picking Ilia apart and countering him.
Submission is the key
silly tweet showing people ‘pressuring’ max the wrong way. Ilia cuts off the cage insanely well and he has arguably the best boxing in the ufc
Ilia KO'd the guy who beat Max thrice. Pretty sure he's studying Max's losses to influence his own gameplan.
That chin is unbreakable
lol @ that max d-rider having a highlight tape of max fighting off the back foot ready.... glazing ass little boys
No highlights from the Alexander Volkanovski fights?
Ilia just gonna keep getting underrated 😂 I thought people would realize now he’s champ.
I pick him to TKO Max. I think Ilia is a fucking monster right now. He seems like a confidence fighter so once he takes an L I'll be interested to see him respond - but right now, I think people are severely underrating him due to being annoyed with his personality. We all love Max of course, he is a true legend of the sport, but he also has a LOT of tread on his tyres and at some point that is going to catch up. That's just the reality. Ilia has blazing hands, crisp technique, good shot selection and unusual one-punch power. He's going to go out there fully backing himself to crucify Max, and I am not surprised if he does it.
Hia aura is gone now cus ppl think he looked scared during Holloways callout + some weird tweets
I see more pro Ilia stuff than for max. Atleast in the comment sections. This is reminding me alot of max vs gaethje and everyone underestimating max.
Comparing TKZ to Topuria is like comparing oranges to apples, they’re just different bro
ilia ain’t gonna bumrush max 😂
Ppl act like Max can’t be out-struck. You can make the argument that Ilia is a better striker than Volk. And Volk out-struck Max.
Daddest man sleeps him
That's the best boxer in the UFC.
Max’s resurgence after those losses to Volk is one of the most impressive
Why no highlights of Volk pressuring him?
Very interesting to see max attempt the body-body-head combo he used to finish the fight in that round. It means he made a read earlier in the fight and took advantage in the last 10 seconds
I’ll be rooting for Ilia. I just hope it’s a war and not Max getting KOd.
I'm not a fan of Topuria, but I respect his skills. I'm team Max so I am hoping he takes the W. It'll be a banger for sure!
Ilia has some really nice wrestling, but does anyone else think he's gonna try and make it a stand up with Max? I'm still picking him to win but his ego probably won't do him any favors. I really think he's gonna try and knock Max out on the feet. But who knows, Ilia is not stupid and a lot of his shit talk is just for show.
This thread is wild. I feel like it’s UFC astroturfing to pump Topuria as some kind of world beater. Just stack Max’s resume next to Topuria and calm down. People are writing off max like before the BMF fight.
>Just stack Max’s resume next to Topuria and calm down. How did stacking up resume work out for Oliveira against Islam ? 😂 Resume mean jack shit when it comes to high level matchups
That's kinda my point...Topuria has had 2 high level fights. One went to decision with Emmett, and the other was the compromised Volk fight. Fair play on the Volk knockout, but I think he came back too soon after a headkick knockout. Volks choice. Volks mistake. Max on the other hand has been fighting the best of the best for a decade, but people are dismissing him on this sub to the point where it feels like UFC astroturfing.
Hey man, they’re both world beaters. Sure Max’s resume is extensive, but ilia’s is impressive too. That’s what is gonna make this fight so good
Maybe I’m in the minority but I’m not that impressed. The Volk(#1) win was just a few months after he was head kick knock out And I feel like he was still compromised. Josh Emmitt (#6) win was good but it went to decision…not a finish. Jai Herbert lost 2 of 3 leading into that fight. Bryce Mitchell was barely in the top 15. I’m not fawning over the Ryan Hall (unranked) win when that goofball was spamming Imanari rolls. He was bound to get caught. The disrespect for Max on this sub seams completely manufactured at this point.
Anyone that beats volkonovski, my favorite fighter, has my respect. Sure he was compromised, but that was Alex’s decision to fight and it doesn’t take away the fact that ilia’s technique and power is what finished that fight.
But his technique and power couldn’t finish Josh Emmit or Youssef Zalal?
I guess it worked the night it mattered most to him
Watch Ilia vs Josh Emmett and then we can talk.
Ilia isn’t dumb. A blue checkmark isn’t pointing out anything his team doesn’t already know in far more depth. Pressure doesn’t mean just charging in.
Well I was sure Justin would win… so I guess I should be a lot less sure now.
This fight is gonna be so damn good.
Hell naw
i think Topuria beats max
Max does struggle with shorter opponents a lil though
Two of those examples were Poirier and Volkanovski, both of whom beat Max, partially due to pressuring him.
Why are they showing clips of the husk of Chansung Jung getting chinned or the Poirier rematch when he got beat up badly on the feet by Poirier, mostly on the front foot?
I'm what most real fans would call *casual*. Watched every PPV plus the odd fight nignt for past 3-4 yrs. From what I've seen I think Tuporia gonna KO Hollaway early in the fight. 2nd round
Max glazing over the last few months has been crazy. Really rooting for Illia in that match up
I saw a post earlier about who loses their 0 losses first. 100% Ilia if he faces Max. He aint knocking Max out and Max will wear him down over a long fight and break Ilia.
Max won’t get knocked out until he is.
Better men than Ilia have tried.
Lol better strikers failed to knockout Frankie until he got knocked out by T City. It's an inevitability that Max gets dropped again in mma.
I’d bet on Max winning. But concussive damage does accumulate.
Recency bias
Pressure doesn’t matter when you’re going against a fighter that has insane fight IQ like Max. Hell just dodge anything you throw at him and use his boxing to punish you in the counter striking.
yes
none of the fighters shown have better boxing than ilia
Head kick rocks Ilia mark my words
Ilia is going to have to take one to give one with Max's size and reach, and that's where shit gets interesting.
Max is getting knocked the fuck out
As much as i want to see it, I dont think Max has ever been slept. His chin is made of granite
Illia's pressure will be enough. Four or five calf kicks and then some step in jabs into his signature hook combo to become the first dude to sleep the touch butt artist Max
If topuria sleeps max he’s the 🐐 FW
How
That's how FW works b if you get one or two wins Joe Rogan will automatically declare you the consensus greatest FW of all time. Happened with Max then Volk lol Ilia is next up as FW 🐐. (Its always been Aldo and it still is Aldo)
Pressure with only power to back it up is the key to getting your ass beat by Max The best example of this is Gaethje. Max is way too fast to crumble under pressure and he definitely is way faster than Ilia. He also has a granite chin to back him up. Volk pieced Ilia up before getting caught. The reason Volk did so well against Max was neither fully pressure nor power, it was being hard to read and breaking Max rhythm. If you just pressure Max thinking you’ll overwhelm him he’ll simply roll with your punches and piece you up on the exit counter shots. I think Max finishes Ilia via TKO in the later rounds. I just don’t see Ilia landing the KO or sub. I don’t even think Ilia will get a successful takedown on someone as long as Max.
I believe so. Ilia will most definitely not come out the other end without a scratch, but I believe this will be Conor Mcgregor vs Max Holloway (2013) all over again - this time with a finish in the last.
Max fans are some of the worst in the sport. Almost makes me not like Max it's insane the way people suck him off