February 20, 2024 7:40 pm ET
T.J. Dillashaw concerns Alexander Volkanovski’s tactical plan vs. Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) lost his featherweight title to Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) by second-round knockout in Saturday’s UFC 298 centerpiece at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Dillashaw believes Volkanovski looked uncharacteristically tentative and feared Topuria’s power.
“He was just tossing kicks. I understand he was terrified of the power,” Dillashaw stated on the “JAXXON PODCAST.” “You can inform the method he was combating, he was extremely frightened of Topuria’s power, which he needs to be to a level, however he’s never ever battled like that in the past. The very first 2 rounds, all he was doing was tossing kicks. He wasn’t setting them up. He was simply tossing them. He was anticipating Topuria to obstruct them.
“I was believing he was attempting to decrease his arms due to the fact that whenever you obstruct a kick, it’s like getting a charley horse in your arm. Each time you get struck there, more blood pertains to it. It slows his arms down. I was believing possibly he’s slowing down his arms by tossing kicks and getting him to obstruct, since he wasn’t setting them up. He wasn’t tossing kicks to knock him out. You might inform since if he was attempting to do that, you ‘d toss a combination, surface with a kick, ideally capture him.”
Dillashaw likewise didn’t like Volkanovski’s body movement whenever Topuria would push forward.
“Every time Topuria would get close, he ‘d resemble backing out and leaning away,” Dillashaw continued. “As quickly as I saw that, I resembled, ‘Damn, he’s going to get captured.’ He was combating afraid. He was stressed over the power. I’m a substantial Volk fan. I was desiring him to win. … He simply kept leaning away, leaning far from whatever and leaning far from the power.
“It was just a matter of time before Topuria captured him since that guy remains so tight. He’s so made up in his boxing, and his combinations are excellent. I believe that’s where it failed. He was terrified. He hesitated of his power and combated terrified. Topuria didn’t have anything to lose, Volk had all of it to lose, and he combated that method. He battled afraid of his power.”
For more on the card, see MMA Junkie’s occasion center for UFC 298.
Make sure to go to the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of blended martial arts.