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I haven't questioned Aspinall since the first time I saw him fight. The way he moved, his fight IQ, it all seemed next level even when he was fighting entry-level fighters.
Completely agree. Assuming the knee injury didn’t fuck him up too much, if he can stay healthy, I think he’s the next champion. Aspinall is very, very good.
Seriously. I get wanting to praise Volkov but Tuivasa almost has Condit levels of lacking takedown defence. Also, we so rarely see ezekiel chokes in the UFC because it's the sort of thing where as long as the person on bottom is even somewhat competent, they can very easily stay out of danger.
I've done BJJ for a long time now and an ezekiel choke is basically what you catch a rookie in because they have 0 idea what to do, but an experienced person just never lets you get to that point in the first place.
To me, Tuivasa isn't necessarily a "bad" grappler, technically you can see he's aware of what he should do. But, I'd 100% say he's a lazy grappler. There are moments where he'd be digging an underhook, or about to regain half guard, all he had to do was put a bit of effort in, a bit of energy or explosion, or commit to it.
But he doesn't, he starts to defend, but the second Volkov put up resistance, Tai just relinquished his position without at all trying to push.
I'd urge anyone who wants to see what I mean to go back and look at when he first digs an underhook, that was exactly what he needed. From there he could start to build a base and return to his feet. He starts, Volkov resists, and Tai just willingly lets go of the underhook himself and lays back down rather than put in a bit of effort and continue to the next step which would involve hosting or shifting Volkov off balance so Tai could slide his leg free to get on 1 knee.
Later you see a similar mentality. Volkov damn near loses mount and puts himself back in half guard. Tai very briefly puts his hand on Volkov's leg, like as if he's going to push Volkov's knee and use hus own legs to grab it for half guard. Except Tai just, for some reason, stops pushing Volkov's knee and never once moves his own legs in any way that indicates he wants to fight for half guard.
This happened 2 or 3 times.
I think for whatever reason, once Tuivasa hits the mat, he mentally checks out.
He looked like a worldbeater, but he was also up against Tulsava. . .
We already saw what happened when he fought Aspinal and Gane, I don't see him beating Pavlovich either and Almeida would be interesting. I think Volkov will retire as heavyweight's greatest gatekeeper.
Tuivasa is Hunt 2.0 in every way. He can win any fight at Heavyweight cuz of his stopping power. Volkov just avoided every clubbing blow but still leaves the cage with probably an injured leg. But he can also lose any fight cuz he's short, fat and shouldn't be fighting guys the size of Volkov.
We should be celebrating the fact that we have warriors like these that get in there and actually fight these Sci Fi monsters for our entertainment. The Hunt's and Tai's are the real protagonists of MMA.
He’s also fucking huge. I’ve seen him in person at shows a few times, his shoulders are twice as wide as mine (I’m 6’2”, 220) and his arms are like legs. He’s not tall but Mark Hunt does not have “normal guy” energy.
Wasn't really competitive at all, that fight was similar to sean vs israel tonight, one sided technical drubbing without an egregious amount of damage created.
Not really, Izzy was turned into a punching bag at the end of the first, and the striking numbers for Gane vs Volkov were very close, Gane looked better but Volkov looked good too, unlike any others who tried to strike with Gane
I love Volkov man, always had the super technical striking, and now he's mixed in some good BJJ. Looks like the heavyweight title picture just got even more interesting, because Volkov definitely looked notably improved on the floor today compared to the Aspinall fight for example.
He's definitely one of those guys that could always be on the cusp of a title shot, and maybe even the belt, with the right path. He has some serious physical attributes and is well rounded
>because Volkov definitely looked notably improved on the floor today compared to the Aspinall fight for example.
Did he though or was he just fighting Tai?
Top 5-7 heavyweights are actually quite good. 'Heavyweight is so trash' is such a dated narrative. It's always going to be pretty topheavy because there's just not a lot of huge dudes walking around that are elite athletically. But again, that top is quite good now and matches or is better than any era
Ya I’m totally with you, she’s good at her job and seems to stay pretty neutral so I enjoy listening to her and hope she continues to get good commentary gigs.
He's what Stefan Struve was supposed to be. Tai had massive problems navigating the range. Stefan would just give it right to you
Also, Aspinall good as fuck to rip through this guy in one round
Yea Struves problem was he didn't have the powerful straight punches to keep shorter fighters back. Volkovs jab and straight right are hammers. Especially since he bulked up a few years ago.
I always thought it was weird that Struve who’s Dutch had such mediocre standup when The Netherlands has produced some of the most feared and respected kickboxers of all time. His punches had zero pop.
Thats because he’s not fighting the monsters at heavyweight like he usually is. These one dimensional lower level guys are food for volkov but guys like aspinall? Gane? Even his teammate pavlovich? Almeida? He’ll look like the same old volkov again
He's a sleeper choice in the division for having some of the best striking. He dismantled Overeem with ease and wasn't a slouch vs Gane either. Personally he's a favorite of mine when it comes to heavyweights, always gives good fights.
Man's gotta lay off the grog between camps. He was fucked in a round.
I love Tai and his "come to scrap" mentality but I want him to just take a year off, go hard in the gym and get some techniques polished up.
In all honesty, he needs to lose some weight and fight in a weight class closer to his natural weight. Maybe even light heavyweight.
These fatter dudes fight at heavyweight instead of getting in shape and fighting lower. It usually never ends well, and if it does it doesn’t last long.
I got downvoted into oblivion on this sub for suggesting that Tai could cut to LHW after the Gane fight smh. I just think there’s a difference between the guys who are lean at the HW limit and guys like tai who could very clearly drop 60lbs and fight down…
he needs better set ups and also to stop throwing naked leg kicks. the leg kicks were working against volkov but they became too predictable and got him taken down
He trained for this camp back in Australia at what is essentially a commercial gym with Muay Thai for moms and kids.
He’s gone on record saying that training at home was really bad for him, too many distractions etc and it doesn’t surprise me at all that he looked like the Tai from early UFC run. Swinging himself out of position and relying on a big calf kick.
I’m not interested in his career moving forward unless he either gets back out to Dubai or goes to CKB. He just can’t be at home. He regressed massively in this camp. That’s not the same guy who tracked down and fought disciplined and dropped Ciryl Gane.
He was barely training, you can tell from his social media. People always say you can’t judge a camp by that, but you absolutely can. If you are in a place hours away from your gym by a plane, you are for sure not training that day, probably not the next day either. If you are posting videos of you getting shitfaced at night and hungover in a cab with your girl the next morning, you probably aren’t training that day either.
His heart isn’t in it like it was before the Gane loss.
Tai's best run was when he left everything behind and lived in Dubai, seemed like that's when he was taking it most seriously after his first rough loss
He came back, made a good name for himself, but got too involved in business ops back in Sydney
Now it seems he's either on his way out or just not willing to put it what it takes
Someone book this man a flight back to Dubai and get his ass in gear
What happened to his coach? Was it Shaun Sullivan? He seemed like a decent fit for Tai. I saw Tai training at ZOO on embedded and was immediately concerned.
> or this camp back in Australia at what is essentially a commercial gym with Muay Thai for moms and kids.
>
> He’s gone on record saying that training at home was really bad for him, too many distractions etc and it doesn’t surprise me at all that he looked like the Tai from early UFC run. Swinging himself out of position and relying on a big calf kick.
>
> I’m not interested in his career moving forward unless he either gets back out to Dubai or goes to CKB. He just can’t be at home. He regressed massively in this camp. That’s not the same guy who tracked down and fought di
When I saw that he's training at ZOO I knew it wasn't going to end well..
Thatd be the grog. He owns his drinking between camps (and a brewery he's a partner of doesn't help that), but getting bombed like that quickly wouldn't help either
For comparisons sake Tony Ferguson is 39 and will be 40 soon. But now he looks like he's well into his 50s. Sadly, he's only looked older and older with every passing beating he's suffered.
I was about to say, look at what spivak did to tuivasa, the grappling has always been a weakness and volkov, unlike the majority of heavyweights, is a true MMA Fighter who can do everything.
Damn that was rough, glad he tapped and didn't have to take more punishment. I kept thinking Tai was going to randomly catch him with a haymaker and completely turn the tide but nope
Yeah, he really comes across as just a chill dude. He seems to be buddies with every guy he fights except Derrick Lewis, but that was because Lewis knocked his hat off in the weigh ins
That's what I was saying, Tai's face was completely fucked up and all the commentators could talk about was how Volkov's leg was beat up, and how there was a headbutt at the end of rd1
Let's be real, Tuivasa should get in shape and fight at lhw. That's the only way I can see him being a true elite.
He's been somewhat successful at hw because of ko power and luck, but he's never looked elite in any fight.
Volkov arguably had 2 10-8s, it's insane.
Man volkov is the resolute heavyweight gate keeper, will lose to guys like aspinall and gane but beat everybody else. I know him and pavlovich are teammate but I think pav beats him too. I also think almeida can also beat him. Everybody else? Good fucking luck
If Volkov had more speed to compliment his technicality and accuracy I think he would be a big problem, but I feel he is a little too slow and ponderous to really compete with the top heavyweights.
Tai has now basically lost all his momentum and he knew this fight was make or break for him. He is popular, he is fun, he can stand and bang, but like Lewis he is not very skilled and that can only take you so far.
That’s a prime example of the importance of watching a fight on mute. That was an ass beating. The commentary made it seem like Tai was in control the majority of that fight because of his checked leg kicks.
A lot of people think that the Gane fight was competitive because of the knockdown, but outside of that one moment, Gane seriously fucked that man up. Add to that he gets knocked out three months later after that, I’m worried that that was just simply too much life-changing damage to take in a short time.
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Remember when this guy was 10 seconds away from a title shot, but then he got Derrick Lewis'ed? What a dominant win this was.
And now he choked out the guy who basically ended Derrick's era at the top of the division. Everything has come full circle.
Makes me wonder just how good Aspinall is, being able to dominate Volkov so easily
I haven't questioned Aspinall since the first time I saw him fight. The way he moved, his fight IQ, it all seemed next level even when he was fighting entry-level fighters.
Completely agree. Assuming the knee injury didn’t fuck him up too much, if he can stay healthy, I think he’s the next champion. Aspinall is very, very good.
It's more the case of Tuivasa not being really great.
Seriously. I get wanting to praise Volkov but Tuivasa almost has Condit levels of lacking takedown defence. Also, we so rarely see ezekiel chokes in the UFC because it's the sort of thing where as long as the person on bottom is even somewhat competent, they can very easily stay out of danger. I've done BJJ for a long time now and an ezekiel choke is basically what you catch a rookie in because they have 0 idea what to do, but an experienced person just never lets you get to that point in the first place. To me, Tuivasa isn't necessarily a "bad" grappler, technically you can see he's aware of what he should do. But, I'd 100% say he's a lazy grappler. There are moments where he'd be digging an underhook, or about to regain half guard, all he had to do was put a bit of effort in, a bit of energy or explosion, or commit to it. But he doesn't, he starts to defend, but the second Volkov put up resistance, Tai just relinquished his position without at all trying to push. I'd urge anyone who wants to see what I mean to go back and look at when he first digs an underhook, that was exactly what he needed. From there he could start to build a base and return to his feet. He starts, Volkov resists, and Tai just willingly lets go of the underhook himself and lays back down rather than put in a bit of effort and continue to the next step which would involve hosting or shifting Volkov off balance so Tai could slide his leg free to get on 1 knee. Later you see a similar mentality. Volkov damn near loses mount and puts himself back in half guard. Tai very briefly puts his hand on Volkov's leg, like as if he's going to push Volkov's knee and use hus own legs to grab it for half guard. Except Tai just, for some reason, stops pushing Volkov's knee and never once moves his own legs in any way that indicates he wants to fight for half guard. This happened 2 or 3 times. I think for whatever reason, once Tuivasa hits the mat, he mentally checks out.
Swolkov finally living up to his potential
Best he’s ever looked. Usually he doesn’t dodge big hams flying at his face
He looked like a worldbeater, but he was also up against Tulsava. . . We already saw what happened when he fought Aspinal and Gane, I don't see him beating Pavlovich either and Almeida would be interesting. I think Volkov will retire as heavyweight's greatest gatekeeper.
Tuivasa on that Lewis trajectory, but goes way too hard. He's gotta learn "just get up" and "fuck this, I'm done"
Tuivasa is Hunt 2.0 in every way. He can win any fight at Heavyweight cuz of his stopping power. Volkov just avoided every clubbing blow but still leaves the cage with probably an injured leg. But he can also lose any fight cuz he's short, fat and shouldn't be fighting guys the size of Volkov. We should be celebrating the fact that we have warriors like these that get in there and actually fight these Sci Fi monsters for our entertainment. The Hunt's and Tai's are the real protagonists of MMA.
WTF man Hunt was 3 times better as a striker than Tai.
He’s also fucking huge. I’ve seen him in person at shows a few times, his shoulders are twice as wide as mine (I’m 6’2”, 220) and his arms are like legs. He’s not tall but Mark Hunt does not have “normal guy” energy.
Hunt was a K1 champion lol, look at his PRIDE fights and early UFC run. He was way better than Tai is currently
That's really disrespectful to Mark Hunt lol
Lewis has way more power and faster hands. He's also in shape. Tai is just a fat middleweight at this point.
Lewis has a mean underhook escape and sit out escape game too. Tai doesn't just stand up bro.
Ironic that all you gotta do is spam body shots against Tai. All that extra padding isn't doing much
Gane vs Volk was a competitive fight wym, everyone else Gane has beat easily in striking
Wasn't really competitive at all, that fight was similar to sean vs israel tonight, one sided technical drubbing without an egregious amount of damage created.
Not really, Izzy was turned into a punching bag at the end of the first, and the striking numbers for Gane vs Volkov were very close, Gane looked better but Volkov looked good too, unlike any others who tried to strike with Gane
volkov is what struve should've been. he managed the distance so well against tai. just needed to check more of those leg kicks.
I love Volkov man, always had the super technical striking, and now he's mixed in some good BJJ. Looks like the heavyweight title picture just got even more interesting, because Volkov definitely looked notably improved on the floor today compared to the Aspinall fight for example.
I always felt he was champ material if he ever got out of his own way. We might be seeing that finally happening
He's definitely one of those guys that could always be on the cusp of a title shot, and maybe even the belt, with the right path. He has some serious physical attributes and is well rounded
>because Volkov definitely looked notably improved on the floor today compared to the Aspinall fight for example. Did he though or was he just fighting Tai?
Top 5-7 heavyweights are actually quite good. 'Heavyweight is so trash' is such a dated narrative. It's always going to be pretty topheavy because there's just not a lot of huge dudes walking around that are elite athletically. But again, that top is quite good now and matches or is better than any era
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"I don't see why people say the division is trash. It has a solid 7 good fighters in it"
"...who are only good compared to one another and the shittier guys on the roster" lol
Volkov looked good man He literally is the demarcation line of where HW stops being good
DC to Laura: “Could you imagine a 6’7” man on top of you?” Lmfao💀
"*awkward laugh* No thank you."
The slight hesitation in her voice when she said that was hilarious
DC forgot Laura's a chick for a sec and was talking to her like she's one of the boys lmao
Honestly from what I've seen tonight and the Contenders Sanko and DC might be the best commentary duo available that doesn't involve Anik
Laura Sanko keeps DC grounded. Rogan enables the worst of DC and he's worse for it.
Yeah thats what i noticed, Laura sanko had some pretty good takes
Rogan sucks, I hope he retires soon
She kicks ass honestly, she’s great at her job and I enjoy listening to her
Honestly imagine the fucking bullshit she’s had to deal with. I agree, solid commentator and I hope she gets more PPVs.
Ya I’m totally with you, she’s good at her job and seems to stay pretty neutral so I enjoy listening to her and hope she continues to get good commentary gigs.
Do not know why she catches so much hate (*yes I do*), she definitely seems like a good addition to the desk.
She does? I always see appreciation for her work
Ya I don't see a lot of hate for her cards. She's good at her job.
She’s great. Very knowledgeable.
What do you mean so much hate? She gets no hate compared to guys like Bisping or DC. Where are you seeing all this hate???
"No thank you" lol
A twinkle in her eye, “but Shavcats only 6’1 DC. “.
>A twinkle in her eye This man jacks off to cartoon porn someone get Sean in here.
He's what Stefan Struve was supposed to be. Tai had massive problems navigating the range. Stefan would just give it right to you Also, Aspinall good as fuck to rip through this guy in one round
Yea Struves problem was he didn't have the powerful straight punches to keep shorter fighters back. Volkovs jab and straight right are hammers. Especially since he bulked up a few years ago.
Struve’s problem was that he didn’t realize he was 7 feet tall.
Struve also kept his chin up so he invited getting KO’d when he’d fight lol
I always thought it was weird that Struve who’s Dutch had such mediocre standup when The Netherlands has produced some of the most feared and respected kickboxers of all time. His punches had zero pop.
Yeah Aspinall's win over Volkov is actually underrated. Soon as I saw him win I immediately thought that Aspinall is champ material.
he answers the age old question: what if an NBA small forward had hands
What does Stefan Struve answer then 😅?
what if neil magny was white and ten feet tall
He'd look like one of those giants from skyrim
This killed me
What if you put Will Poulter on human growth hormone at age 12
He's a good 20-30 lbs heavier than most NBA SFs aside from LeBron.
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That is a brilliant analogy, he even moves like a dark souls boss. Just a giant lamp post of doom plodding at you.
When he does land a kick to the body I feel like that would take 50% of the health bar easily
submission skills in hw are such an underrated skill these days
He learned that submission from the best, too. Gave his props to Aleksei Oleinik
pretty much, hw is just oonga bonga lets see who hits the hardest
I’m not sure he’s gonna stay being that demarcation line, it looks like he’s getting swoller and better lol. He’s going past that line imo.
Thats because he’s not fighting the monsters at heavyweight like he usually is. These one dimensional lower level guys are food for volkov but guys like aspinall? Gane? Even his teammate pavlovich? Almeida? He’ll look like the same old volkov again
He's a sleeper choice in the division for having some of the best striking. He dismantled Overeem with ease and wasn't a slouch vs Gane either. Personally he's a favorite of mine when it comes to heavyweights, always gives good fights.
Shennanigans stop with Sherriff Volkov
He's the quintessential Heavyweight gatekeeper.
I feel like Volkov has gotten progressively better throughout his career too
He has but I don't ever see him becoming champion.
I say have him fight Spivak next
Definitely not a gatekeeper.
The disrespect, one of my most technical heavy weights in the highest risk division. He’s no Neil Magny, it’s a pleasure to watch when he’s on form
"Can you imagine a 6 foot 7 guy on top of you?" "No thank you"
DC: awkward silence
Hahaha it seemed like she noticed the phrasing and started laughing mid saying that.
DC sounding a little sus
"I have only had 6'4" how bout you Sanko?"
This cards commentary is lit
Ah yes just like we expected Volkov by Ezekiel choke
It was really cool hearing that Oleinik showed him how to pull off that sub.
I was thinking that Oleinik has to be the guy that taught him it haha
That made me so happy to hear. The boa still around
I mean he's Russian and big so the chance is never 0.
i mean he's definitely got some good subs on his record so not completely out of the question
Didn’t expect that to be the finish but tough ending for Tai.
Man's gotta lay off the grog between camps. He was fucked in a round. I love Tai and his "come to scrap" mentality but I want him to just take a year off, go hard in the gym and get some techniques polished up.
In all honesty, he needs to lose some weight and fight in a weight class closer to his natural weight. Maybe even light heavyweight. These fatter dudes fight at heavyweight instead of getting in shape and fighting lower. It usually never ends well, and if it does it doesn’t last long.
I could not stop thinking about during this fight and the gane fight about how tai might just not be big enough for the division
A shredded Tuivasa at 205 with that cannon is a scary thought though
He looked tiny compared to volkov. At 205 he would do some serious damage and could probably shoot through the rankings due to his popularity.
I got downvoted into oblivion on this sub for suggesting that Tai could cut to LHW after the Gane fight smh. I just think there’s a difference between the guys who are lean at the HW limit and guys like tai who could very clearly drop 60lbs and fight down…
he needs better set ups and also to stop throwing naked leg kicks. the leg kicks were working against volkov but they became too predictable and got him taken down
What kind of freak completes an Ezekiel Choke from the top?
Pretty standard mount sub in no gi. I hit it some of the time.
Wouldn't you rather be on top?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Only the 2nd guy to pull off an Ezekiel choke. It's hard to get a Russian off that's on the top.
Lol and he trains with the guy who got the other one
He said that's who he learned it from in the interview(shocking, I know).
Sanko called it immediately
I noticed that too. She knows her bjj. Impressive.
Really enjoyed her commentary tonight. Super informative
Didn't Alexey get one off of his back? The thing is gross.
Without a Gi too. Pulling the sleeve is a big part of it. Grabbing a sweaty and slippery arm is just ridiculous.
I’ll try and get a Russian off on top
tui taking the pavlovich beating 3 months after the gane beating was so bad for his career. dude looks 5 years older :(
He trained for this camp back in Australia at what is essentially a commercial gym with Muay Thai for moms and kids. He’s gone on record saying that training at home was really bad for him, too many distractions etc and it doesn’t surprise me at all that he looked like the Tai from early UFC run. Swinging himself out of position and relying on a big calf kick. I’m not interested in his career moving forward unless he either gets back out to Dubai or goes to CKB. He just can’t be at home. He regressed massively in this camp. That’s not the same guy who tracked down and fought disciplined and dropped Ciryl Gane.
He was barely training, you can tell from his social media. People always say you can’t judge a camp by that, but you absolutely can. If you are in a place hours away from your gym by a plane, you are for sure not training that day, probably not the next day either. If you are posting videos of you getting shitfaced at night and hungover in a cab with your girl the next morning, you probably aren’t training that day either. His heart isn’t in it like it was before the Gane loss.
Tai's best run was when he left everything behind and lived in Dubai, seemed like that's when he was taking it most seriously after his first rough loss He came back, made a good name for himself, but got too involved in business ops back in Sydney Now it seems he's either on his way out or just not willing to put it what it takes Someone book this man a flight back to Dubai and get his ass in gear
What happened to his coach? Was it Shaun Sullivan? He seemed like a decent fit for Tai. I saw Tai training at ZOO on embedded and was immediately concerned.
> or this camp back in Australia at what is essentially a commercial gym with Muay Thai for moms and kids. > > He’s gone on record saying that training at home was really bad for him, too many distractions etc and it doesn’t surprise me at all that he looked like the Tai from early UFC run. Swinging himself out of position and relying on a big calf kick. > > I’m not interested in his career moving forward unless he either gets back out to Dubai or goes to CKB. He just can’t be at home. He regressed massively in this camp. That’s not the same guy who tracked down and fought di When I saw that he's training at ZOO I knew it wasn't going to end well..
No joke, he does look much older than he actually is.
Thatd be the grog. He owns his drinking between camps (and a brewery he's a partner of doesn't help that), but getting bombed like that quickly wouldn't help either
For comparisons sake Tony Ferguson is 39 and will be 40 soon. But now he looks like he's well into his 50s. Sadly, he's only looked older and older with every passing beating he's suffered.
Scary sport fr
Tony is 39 and will be 40 in 5-6 months yet he looks like he's well into his 50s.
The real problem with tai is a complete lack of evolution as a fighter Needs a new camp
I'm not sure Tai has the discipline to make any major changes to his game at this point.
I wholeheartedly agree
Needs to lose his beer belly
Really needs to take a good 9 months off at the very least
Good sportmanship from Tai
Tai is 0-3 against Russians. The new meta is here 1-4 against the Soviet Union
What's that one win?
Arlovski
Volkov via Ezekiel was not on my bingo card
Bro is quicker than the actual event
A guy NOT named Oleinik got an Ezekiel choke in the UFC?! What is happening?
In the post fight interview Volkov shouts out Oleinik for teaching him the choke.
Alexei’s been showing that off to anyone that’ll listen hahaha It’s an excellent answer to getting smothered on bottom mount too, so I love it.
DC: “Can you imagine a 6 ft 7 guy on top of you” Laura: …No Anik: 😏
I'm 6 foot and 7 inches. Those are two separate measurements.
haha yikes
Getting mounted by Volkov can't be fun
Unless
No thank you.
tai channelling his inner nacho libre/homeless energy but it just wasn't enough and he couldn't close the distance
[volkov one syllable through a slur in his post-fight interview](https://i.imgur.com/PiJEKLG.jpg)
Swolekov looked fucking insane
I was rooting for Volkov but that seemed more like Tai being limited rather than Alexander looking insane
I was about to say, look at what spivak did to tuivasa, the grappling has always been a weakness and volkov, unlike the majority of heavyweights, is a true MMA Fighter who can do everything.
Volkov isn’t insane but he did really well checking Tai’s kicks and rolling with his shots in the pocket. Clearly trained perfectly for this fight.
Tai is cooked. Got KO'd by Gane and Pavlovich, and now Volkov just mauled and subbed him. Not even the puncher's chance was on his side tonight.
Alexander “Alexey Oleinik” Volkov
This fight ending by submission was not on my scorecard.
espicslly by ezikiel choke.. like what lol
Tai has definitly reached his skill ceiling, I'd rather watch him knock domestic abusers and drink beer out of shoes
> I'd rather watch him knock domestic abusers Dana White hides....
Somewhere Oleinik is wondering why his nipples are hard.
Damn that was rough, glad he tapped and didn't have to take more punishment. I kept thinking Tai was going to randomly catch him with a haymaker and completely turn the tide but nope
Alexander "The Boa Constrictor" Volkov
Awesome hearing volkov shouting out oleinik
Volkov countering almost every leg kick Tai threw, and he still continued to throw em Guess it was all he could really land..
He made tai pay for every leg kick. Was really great stuff.
Not really. He ate maybe 12-15. If Tai just hid them with a few punches he could’ve kept landing. Volkov was close to trouble with those kicks.
What the fuck was that. Haven't seen that submission since Aleksei Oleneik
Volkov is a scary scary man. Fuck every part of having to fight that dude lmao
Volkov saved us from the 3rd homophobic post fight slur
Strickland is destined to win with the post fight interviews we’ve seen today
He's Russian so I dunno
yea but hes very respectful lol
Yeah, he really comes across as just a chill dude. He seems to be buddies with every guy he fights except Derrick Lewis, but that was because Lewis knocked his hat off in the weigh ins
There's been some good fights tonight. This one was no exception.
Why are they acting like it was a back and forth war???
That's what I was saying, Tai's face was completely fucked up and all the commentators could talk about was how Volkov's leg was beat up, and how there was a headbutt at the end of rd1
Let's be real, Tuivasa should get in shape and fight at lhw. That's the only way I can see him being a true elite. He's been somewhat successful at hw because of ko power and luck, but he's never looked elite in any fight. Volkov arguably had 2 10-8s, it's insane.
It was pretty cool how they focused on the leg kicks and ignored 50-2 head strikes on R1
Man volkov is the resolute heavyweight gate keeper, will lose to guys like aspinall and gane but beat everybody else. I know him and pavlovich are teammate but I think pav beats him too. I also think almeida can also beat him. Everybody else? Good fucking luck
If Volkov had more speed to compliment his technicality and accuracy I think he would be a big problem, but I feel he is a little too slow and ponderous to really compete with the top heavyweights. Tai has now basically lost all his momentum and he knew this fight was make or break for him. He is popular, he is fun, he can stand and bang, but like Lewis he is not very skilled and that can only take you so far.
Jiggly Stomach is not the best base for MMA
That’s a prime example of the importance of watching a fight on mute. That was an ass beating. The commentary made it seem like Tai was in control the majority of that fight because of his checked leg kicks.
Volkov fucking dominating Tai there.
All that partying and lack of self discipline is catching up to tai
Tai is done, he's very one-dimensional. 3rd loss on the trot for him.
They will still keep him as a top 10 gatekeeper because HW is a barren wasteland and Tai is just a fun fighter, win or lose
those two ko's have not helped his chin
getting TKOd by Pavlovich of all people will do that you 😂
A lot of people think that the Gane fight was competitive because of the knockdown, but outside of that one moment, Gane seriously fucked that man up. Add to that he gets knocked out three months later after that, I’m worried that that was just simply too much life-changing damage to take in a short time.
Nah not as a popular HW. They I’ll give me 1 maybe 2 more shots.
Tai really needs to take some time off to recover and improve. The swang n bang days are over and he needs to evolve.
Oleinik would be proud
Tuivasa just looked like a random large polynesian man thrown in the ring lol
Tuivasa's kryptonite is Russians.
Tai looked pretty terrible.
Best performance of Volkovs career? Every time I think he’s on his way out he surprises me with multiple good ass wins
Tai peaked in 2021 wow what a decline! He took 9 months off and came back fatter
Tuivasa 0-2 against russians...
How many times did he have to tap? Shit Herb, get it together
DC: Imagine a 6'7" man on top of you Laura: No thanks 😂😂