Sorry Alex Pereira, you weren’t the Fighter of the Yr in keeping with one former UFC champion.
Whereas ‘Poatan’ topped lots of 2024’s best-of lists, together with LowKick MMA’s personal Fighter of the Yr award, former middleweight king Robert Whittaker thinks there was one other fighter who outperformed the Brazilian boogeyman over the past 12 months.
“My combat of the yr—and I’ve talked about this on a Unibet video that I did not too long ago as properly—is Ilia Topuria,” Whittaker stated on his MMArcade podcast. “I feel, not solely… yeah, I feel the work that he has put on this yr, the names that he has defeated in his division, like Alex Volkanovski—in all probability among the finest featherweights ever—and Max Holloway, among the finest featherweights ever once more.
“Two guys that stand out to me in that division, up to now forward of the remainder of the division. I imply, the hole was huge. It’s like, after we noticed Volk beat Max, after which Max didn’t reclaim that title, I—and loads of different individuals—thought, “Who beats him?” As a result of then Max went again to the pool and simply began destroying individuals. You noticed how massive that hole distinction was between Max and the remainder of the division, which suggests, how good is Volk?
“After which Topuria is available in and finishes each of them.”
Who’s 2024 was higher? Alex Pereira or Ilia Topuria?
For most individuals, it was an in depth name between Pereira and Topuria. ‘Poatan’ efficiently defended his gentle heavyweight world title thrice all year long, scoring highlight-reel knockouts in opposition to Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree.
In the meantime, ‘El Matador’ modified the panorama of the featherweight division, beginning together with his gorgeous second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February. He adopted that up with a history-making win over division staple Max Holloway, changing into the primary fighter to KO ‘Blessed’ in his blended martial arts profession.
Beating two of the very best 145’ers of all time in back-to-back fights was sufficient for a lot of, together with Whittaker, to offer Topuria the Fighter of the Yr honors.
Do you agree with ‘The Reaper,’ or have been Pereira’s trio of title defenses extra spectacular than what Topuria achieved?
