Fearing Ilia Topuria

Fearing Ilia Topuria

GuyWhoLikesSport

Alexander Volkanovski has been the fighting face of Australia for virtually the entirety of my adult life.

I am not a sophisticated enough MMA watcher to understand the intricacies of every fight so, in a sport where intellect is so often buried underneath pure toughness, to be able to see the cogs turning in Volk’s brain as he finds his best path to win a fight is joyous and rare.

On a personal level in a promotion mostly run and populated by charlatans, contemptuous individuals are easy to find. Virtually every modern-day icon of the UFC outside of Georges’ St Pierre has committed some form of violent crime or crime against humanity from UFC President Dana White on down.

Volk has committed no such crimes. He carries no baggage. He reserves his punches and slaps for other fighters. He’s a family man who loves to scrap and to cook.

I say all of that to say this: I hope he doesn’t fight Ilia Topuria again.

On Sunday morning AEDT, Ilia Topuria defended the featherweight belt that he took from Volkanovski against Max Holloway, knocking out his second iconic opponent in a row.

The way he got to Holloway was so similar to the way he knocked out Volkanovski in February this year.

While it was a right hand that put Volkanovski away and it was a left hook that did Holloway in, the same sense of inevitability started to come through before the fateful bit of leather struck a former champion’s chin.

In both fights, Topuria was competitive but not dominant in the boxing exchanges.

In both fights you could make a compelling argument that the experienced legend in front of him looked more comfortable for most of the fight, winning on intellect rather than physical skill.

But then, in both fights, the Topuria tidal wave started to wash away everything in its path.

Both times, before landing the shot that turned off the lights, Topuria landed one that wobbled the legend in front of him. In the Holloway fight, just before the onslaught that ended it, Topuria landed a right hand that made Max Holloway take the first backwards steps he has taken in his UFC career.

He then utilised has that rare thing that the great closers in fighting sports have: the instinct to know when his opponent is ready to fall.

Topuria also has the kiss of death in both hands.

You can tell Topuria’s patience and willingness to lose minutes or rounds is borne of sheer self-confidence. He is so secure in the knowledge that every opponent at 145 is bringing a pea shooter to a bazooka fight.

After the fight, which Volkanovski was cage-side for, Volkanovski entered the cage and Topuria said he would be willing to give Volk one last chance to get his belt back. Dana White echoed that in his post-fight press conference, essentially saying that Volk has been so good to the company that they have no choice but to let him try and win that belt back.

As a lover of Volk, I am dreading that.

The difference between Volkanovski and us mere mortals is that he saw a beatable man in Topuria, and Volk believes he’s the guy to beat him. In his post-fight reaction he said that he thought Max looked “pretty comfortable in there” prior to getting caught.

My bet is that he saw himself in Max’s comfort and is of the view that, if he can just stay as comfortable as Max was through two rounds and Volk himself was through one and a half, then he thinks he can beat Topuria.

Maybe he’s right. But that’s the definition of easier said than done.

Volkanovski is now 36 years old. He has lost three of his last four fights, two by devastating knockout to Islam Makhachev and then more recently to Topuria.

Nobody can begrudge him either Makhachev loss. The first was a razor thin decision and the second was a rematch that he took on 10 days’ notice, but it doesn’t change the fact that Volkanovski has been violently knocked out the last two times he has made the walk.

Your chin doesn’t get better as you age and absorb more punishment. It really doesn’t get better after you’ve already been knocked out twice.

Fear is not a word in Alexander Volkanovski’s dictionary. If it was, he’d be in a different business.

But it is one in mine, and I am petrified for what Topuria could do to Volk if he lands one flush on Volkanovski’s chin.

Can he stand up anymore? I’m worried that the answer is no.

In combat sports, the guard is always changing.

Just last month, British boxing had a changing of the heavyweight guard fight when Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua at Wembley.

Volk himself had his own changing of the guard win when he beat Jose Aldo in a title eliminator in May 2019, just before he took the belt from Max Holloway in December of that year.

Now the guard has changed again, and the fella holding the strap as terrifying as he is handsome.

I know Volk is going to give it a go early next year at some stage.

I know I’m going to watch and barrack for Volk.

But I fear how that fight ends. I fear Volk’s opponent.

Frankly, I fear seeing the condition that Volk is in when he leaves that arena.

I don’t want to watch the end of Volkanovski’s career through my fingers.

 

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