The UFC had another record breaking year in 2024. So many massive moments for the promotion including their historic 300 card back in April and their insane show at The Sphere in Las Vegas. So many storylines throughout the year and so many massive moments featuring the best fighters in the world.
When it came to the Female Fighter of the Year, I sided with the PFL’s Dakota Ditcheva. However, when it came to the Male Fighter of the Year, without a doubt in my mind the winner of that award featured someone who competed inside the octagon. That said, picking the fighter of the year was incredibly tough.
The decision came down to two fighters and I’ll take a moment talking about my runner-up. The runner-up to me and you can make an argument that they should be the Fighter of the Year is Alex Pereira (12-2). The UFC’s light heavyweight champion ended 2023 by winning the vacant title by knocking out Jiri Prochazka.
He headlined UFC 300 in April and knocked out Jamahal Hill in the first round who vacated the title due to injury the previous year. His first title defense was a short-notice rematch against former champ Jiri Prochazka and he knocked him out in the second round. Then in October, he had a war against Khalil Rountree where he stopped the determined challenger in the fourth round. Easily you could say that he deserves to be the Fighter of the Year.
However, I just couldn’t pick him for my end of year awards. While I’m a massive fan of Poatan, there’s another man who deserves the award a little more in my eyes. While he fought only twice this year, the ESM 2024 Male Fighter of the Year is UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (16-0).
UFC’s Featherweight King
It’s rare that you can find someone who has a more impressive year than El Matador just had. Ilia Topuria entered 2024 as the undefeated top featherweight contender. In February, he got his shot against the longtime featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
After a back-and-forth round and a half, Topuria blitzed Volk and knocked him out cold to become the featherweight champion of the world. After knocking out Volkanovski, Topuria sat in the front row at UFC 300 and saw Max Holloway knock out Justin Gaethje to become the BMF champion.
Topuria set his eyes on Max Holloway as his next target. The featherweight champion and the promotion’s BMF headlined UFC 308 back in October. Holloway had never been dropped or knocked out in his career leading up to the matchup. Because of his historic chin, I actually liked his chances in that fight.
However, in the third round, Topuria rocked him like we’ve never seen Holloway rocked before. Topuria followed up and ultimately knocked Holloway out to retain his title. It was the perfect ending to a truly historic year for El Matador.
Yes, Alex Pereira fought one more time than Topuria did this year. However, Topuria defeated in my opinion, the two greatest featherweights in the history of the promotion who are both still at the top of their game. He not only defeated them, he knocked them both out. Those two wins alone and the way he won those fights propels him to be my 2024 Fighter of the Year.