Why are we pretending Gaethje is a bigger win than Volk?

[Koro_11]

You're looking at from a knowledgeable stand point as a fan and promoter it's way bigger because of weight classes max moved up and smoked the number 2 lw in the world ... Huge

Bigger than if gaethje smoked volk
And if gaethje won ited Ben just a good fight or a yeah as expected..

Sure I can understand that, but a lot of people suddenly seem to favour Max over Topuria cause he beat Justin and that is the part I disagree with.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

People were anticipating that Volk might start declining and that his chin would be cracked after the Islam fight. Still a great win obviously but I think Islam softened Volk up significantly.

 

[moreorless87]

Sure I can understand that, but a lot of people suddenly seem to favour Max over Topuria cause he beat Justin and that is the part I disagree with.

I think it shows Max is in good form still and definitely boosts his chances of winning but again I think style is potentially a significant issue.

Part of it is I think people tend to mischaracterise Gaethje's style, he's hyped as a destroyer but really a lot of his sucess is more based on slowly picking opponents apart from range, he does brawl sometimes as well but his record when doing that is actually quite patchy, he tends to get very sloppy as he did at the end of this fight.

Topuria I think has looked significantly more dangerous in aggressive exchanges than Justin, more technically strong and able to land his best shots.

 

[Rapa]

People really thinks justin is near ilias skill level

 

[Tweak896]

Just saying that the fight was closer before Max landed the nose breaking spin kick in the first round. After Justin broke his nose he looked like he was in for a long night and couldn't fight his normal style and close the distance without being popped in the nose which looked painful. That was a legit move from Max and he landed that kick multiple times to prove it wasn't a fluke. Special performance for 300, but Islam or Topuria to me seem like different levels.

 

[Oldman1]

You know whats funny? When pereira got knocked out cold and 3 months later he became champ he is called goat but when volk got TKO (he was not out cold against islam) he is washed and not same fighter thats why ilia beat him? Lol. These casuals are funny if you ask them fighters skill is nothing he has to beat king kong only then he is good

Izzy fan detected, move to wasteland

 

[josh345]

Gaethe not a championship level fighter? Ok. He won round 4. I thought round 2 was close. He had a broken nose. Yeah the guy that KOd Dustin is a "good" win.

 

[chardog]

it was a dangerous style fight for max, lets not rewrite history. I for one, thought max was going to lose, but I'm happy he pulled the upset in spectacular fashion.

Gatchje was championship caliber fight, he was that guy to fight Islam next because he earned it.

 

[HP_Nut]

Volk was coming off a KO loss & at his age, in UFC title fights, there has NEVER been a single title win at LW & below. So it's not the exact same value as 31-33 yr old Volk. Also, styles make fights. Beating Volk doesn't automatically mean Ilia inherits all of Volk's wins. Also, Gaethje was the #3 LW in the world (behind Islam & Charles going in)

Also, part of it is a lot thought Max would take a career ending beatdown from Justin, so people are excited Max won, they thought there would be no real challenges for Ilia. Even Eveloev, Ilia said doesn't deserve to fight him. Max winning gives us the prospect of a exciting creditable challenge to Ilia.

 

[OleBuffalo]

You know whats funny? When pereira got knocked out cold and 3 months later he became champ he is called goat but when volk got TKO (he was not out cold against islam) he is washed and not same fighter thats why ilia beat him? Lol. These casuals are funny if you ask them fighters skill is nothing he has to beat king kong only then he is good

1) Pereira didn't become champ 3 months after getting koed lol

2) Fighting a killer like Ilia who wants to stand and knock your head off in a 5rounder is nothing like Pereira turning around and fighting a 40something year old Jan in a 3 rounder where Jan tried desperately to clinch and grapple Pereira(who won a lackluster decision). Unless you think Jan trying to grapple you is as dangerous as Topuria striking with you. Your comparison is more an insult to Ilia

Don't let fandom cloud your thinking

 

[Lee Danger]

Max went up in weight, outclassed Justin (Who was ranked the number one contender)

yes, but he still came out short three times against Volk, which is what ts was saying.

 

[Oz.Pride]

Are you there God? It's me Margaret

 

[BluntForceTrama]

Absolutely. What he lacks in rank is overwhelmed by his other attributes including skillset and popularity. Gaethje is a BMF

 

[Private Whatley]

I didn't realize we were, and there is definitely recency bias.

That said, anybody who thinks about this for more than a second or two should conclude that Volk is a much better opponent than Max. MMAth problems aside, Volk convincingly beat Max three times. OBVIOUSLY that guy is better than the guy who lost to Max convincingly once, over 5 rounds.

Volk convincingly beat Max once. The first two fights were toss ups that I actually would have given to max.