T.J. Dillashaw, the former bantamweight champion of the UFC, feels that Alexander Volkanovski’s defeat at UFC 298 was caused by his fear of Ilia Topuria.
Round one was won by “The Great” Volkanovski on all three scorecards; however, in round two, he was backed against the cage and knocked out cold with a well-placed right hook.
On February 19, Dillashaw made an appearance on the Jaxxon podcast and described what he believed Volkanovski’s strategy to be:
Dillashaw clarified, “I’d like to be in his head before I do a complete judgment of it.” “Volkanovski was afraid of Topuria’s power, so he was just kicking people.” He has never before fought in such a manner.”
Dillashaw believed Volkanovski was attempting to wear out his Topuria’s arms with a kick-heavy strategy, much like Canelo Alvarez punches opponents’ arms when they shell up:
“He was only firing kicks over the first two rounds. Since blocking a kick feels like getting a Charlie horse to your arm, I assumed he was attempting to slow down his arms.
“Topuria would lean away and retreat every time he approached, and as soon as I noticed it, I thought, ‘Damn, he’s going to get caught.’ You know, he was fighting afraid because he was concerned about the strength.
“I believe he fought scared because he was afraid of his power,” Dillashaw said in closing. “Topuria didn’t have anything to lose, and Volk had all of it to lose and he fought that way.”
Coach: Topuria Had ‘Puncher’s Chance’ Against Volkanovski & Got it Dillashaw renders an accurate assessment, but he did not believe that Topuria capitalized on a “puncher’s chance” against Volkanovski:
According to Lopez’s explanation to the Daily Mail, “Alex was going through the gameplan, was finding his range and starting to touch him up.” “…. We knew coming into this fight he [Topuria] had a puncher’s chance – and he got that punch.”
Puncher’s chance or not, Topuria emerges victorious as the new featherweight champion, and he gets to choose whether to challenge Puncher again.
