2024 ‘Fighter of the Year’ will be a fun debate for the next two months, but after Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria became the first person to knockout Max Holloway (watch it) at UFC 308 last weekend (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) from inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE, the undefeated Spanish fighter may have snatched the crown.
Former UFC Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who was in attendance on Sat and locked up a rematch with Topuira after the win, gave his opinion today (Mon., Oct. 28, 2024) on who he believes is the ‘Fighter of the Year.’
“A few things come into play when you’re saving cards,” Volkanovski told Ariel Helwani. “Put it this way, if it wasn’t [Alex] Pereira saving cards and putting his belt on the line while saving cards, it would be clearly Ilia. Yeah, you’ve had three [title] defenses, but the two that Ilia took out and finished us both, it’s hard to pick against Ilia, to be honest. Before this past weekend, I was like, ‘How does Pereira not get it?’ It was pretty clear… It’ ‘s pretty impressive, man. It’s tough to say.”
The debate between Alex Pereira and Topuira for 2024 ‘Fighter of the Year’ will be subjective, and here is why.
Indeed, Pereira saved UFC’s ass this year. He headlined their biggest card to date, UFC 300, then saved 2024 International Fight Week, UFC 303, and then headlined UFC 307. All of the fights were championship bouts, relatively short notice, and he knocked out all three opponents brutally. Oh, all in seven months, breaking Ronda Rousey’s previous record of the shortest time between three world title defenses, which was 175 days.
It is simply incredible.
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Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Now, Topuira, on the other hand, had quality wins over quantity. He first became the first person to defeat Volkanovski at Featherweight, knocking him out at UFC 298. Then, eight months later, he became the first person to knock out Holloway – something Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo, or Volkanovski could not achieve.
Volkanovski and Holloway are two of the best Featherweights ever, and Topuria knocked them out back-to-back.
I repeat that quality wins over quantity, but the award will ultimately depend on how UFC values the honor.
What say you, Maniacs?
For complete UFC 308 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.