The past year in mixed martial arts featured 42 UFC events, hundreds of bouts, memorable title changes, knockouts, submissions and immeasurable moments of enjoyment for fight fans across the globe.
To help celebrate the past 12 months during this rare quiet period on the UFC schedule, a roundtable of Sportsnet’s UFC contributors – reporter Aaron Bronsteter, producer Dan Fernandes writer/editor Mike Johnston and writers Spencer Kyte, Arden Zwelling and Zulfi Sheikh – look back at the year that was and review some of their favourite moments from an action-packed 2024.
WHO WAS YOUR FIGHTER OF THE YEAR?
Aaron: Not only did he beat two perennial top-10 pound-for-pound fighters in Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, he was also the first to finish either fighter with strikes at featherweight. While Alex Pereira was an active champion, the calibre of opponent that Topuria defeated, and the way in which he defeated them, earns him this designation.
Arden: There’s no wrong choice between Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria, but I give the edge to Poatan. Dude’s 37 and regularly competing injured in short-notice fights yet somehow manages to top his last performance each time out. Three title defences in 175 days and he pops up everywhere in between from Australia to Mexico to Brazil. Just a relentless schedule inside and outside the Octagon. And a relentless year. Chama.
Dan: For me, the Fighter of the Year is “El Matador” Ilia Topuria. He began the year with an impressive KO win over Alexander Volkanovski to capture the featherweight crown. He followed up that impressive display in Anaheim by becoming the first fighter to KO Max Holloway in October. In the span of one-year he went from perennial title contender to King to the Featherweights. For these reasons, it’s difficult to deny Topuria this accolade.
Mike: Ilia Topuria’s back-to-back definitive victories over featherweight greats Volkanovski and Holloway is the pinnacle of the sport type stuff that makes him the Fighter of the Year for me with an honourable mention to rising star Carlos Prates who went 4-0 with four performance bonus-winning knockouts. Prates is a real problem for the welterweight division heading into 2025.
Spencer: Ilia Topuria. Outside of the standard group that most people will mention, the person I want to shout out is Youssef Zalal, who started the year outside of the promotion and ends it with a 3-0 record with three finishes. “The Moroccan Devil” has clearly matured and grown as a fighter, and is a dark horse in the featherweight division heading into 2025.
Zulfi: Alex Pereira had to be my fighter of the year for a few reasons. First, his willingness to remain active has to be appreciated. Three title fights in seven months is no joke, and much more than most other UFC champions can claim. Second, the quality of his wins were very high. Three title bouts against top-10 fighters in the division and “Poatan” finished all of them. Third, he was a meme magnet. From his epic “Chama” screams to his hilarious post-KO celebration vs. Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, looking like a proud child showing his parents the art project he made at school.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE FIGHT OF 2024?
Aaron: My favourite fight was Mateusz Rebecki versus Myktybek Orolbai. This fight had so many ebbs and flows and momentum shifts over the course of three frenetic rounds and spoke volumes about the toughness of both men. Having watched it back recently, it holds up as my favourite fight of the year.
Arden: Dustin Poirier vs. Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. As much as I’d like to make an under-the-radar pick like Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber or Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai, there’s nothing like a long-awaited main event between two high level fighters with massive stakes that lives up to the hype. Poirier surviving four minutes in Makhachev’s guard in Round 1; Makhachev holding his own in the standup in Round 2; the moment Poirier escaped full mount and went on the attack in Round 3; the brutal exchanges in Round 4; Makhachev hitting an unreal ankle pick sweep to set up the finish in Round 5. Just a masterpiece fight from start to finish.
Dan: Holloway vs. Gaethje from UFC 300. It wasn’t a grappling classic, but this fight produced arguably the greatest singular moment of any sport in 2024. A buzzer beating KO from Holloway with the lights on bright at UFC 300 will live on in MMA lore forever. It was a “you know where you were moment.” I was backstage watching on a monitor when it happened and the pop from the crowd was truly electric. Favourite fight of the year and probably my favourite fight of all-time given the stage, stakes, participants and Hollywood ending. It’s the type of outcome you would expect at WrestleMania not at an unscripted sporting event.
Mike: Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. It’s maybe not a conventional pick for this year – it didn’t even win Fight of the Night back at UFC Macau – but I simply adore fights like this one. Two championship-calibre competitors going for constant offence and defending with counter-offence always in mind. Yan ended up sweeping the scorecards in a five-round decision thanks to a terrific top-to-bottom performance. It was MMA done proper.
Spencer: Jean Silva vs. Drew Dober (UFC Denver): Silva moved up a division on two-weeks’ notice after just having finished Charles Jourdain, and was going into Dober’s adopted hometown, at altitude no less.
Zulfi: If you’re a fight fan and want to feel like a kid on Christmas morning, watch Holloway vs. Gaethje at UFC 300. It personified everything spectacular about combat sports. Two absolute BMFs laying it all on the line for the enjoyment of all who watched. Gaethje had a busted-up nose after round one and still accepted Holloway’s fifth-round invite to exchange blows in the middle of the Octagon. And the knockout was so picturesque, right at the final second of the fight, it quite literally made my jaw drop.