The major MMA promotions have wrapped up their schedules for 2024, so it’s time to crown this year’s MMA News award winners.
Today, it’s time to reveal our second winner, as we determine which athlete among the UFC, PFL, and ONE Championship rosters emerged as 2024’s Male Fighter of the Year.
Voting Panel:
Harvey Leonard, Kyle Dimond, Andrew Starc, Thomas Albano, Ryan Jarrell, Andrew Ravens
Honorable Mentions:
10. Renato Moicano – UFC lightweight contender
9. Belal Muhammad – UFC welterweight champion
8. Joaquin Buckley – UFC welterweight contender
7. Shamil Musaev – PFL welterweight champion
6. Alexandre Pantoja – UFC flyweight champion
Now, on to the five male fighters who received the most votes for this year’s award, including the 2024 winner.
5. Diego Lopes – UFC Featherweight Contender
The highest-ranked non-champion in this year’s award, Diego Lopes has enjoyed a quick rise from prospect to legitimate title contender in MMA’s leading promotion.
The catalyst for that surge was a standout performance on the milestone UFC 300 card this past April, where he stopped veteran Sodiq Yusuff in under 90 seconds. Just two months later, Lopes first accepted a short-notice assignment against Brian Ortega for International Fight Week before accepting an even shorter notice one opposite Dan Ige after “T-City’s” fight-day withdrawal.
A win at UFC 303 ensured the Brazilian was able to keep his sights on the top five, and when the Ortega bout was rebooked for the Sphere in September, Lopes broke through at the expense of the former two-time title challenger.
What the new year will hold for Lopes remains to be seen, with the 29-year-old targeting either Ilia Topuria’s featherweight belt or an interim title clash with Alexander Volkanovski. For now, he’ll be looking back on a memorable 12 months in the UFC.
4. Merab Dvalishvili – UFC Bantamweight Champion
It’s titleholders from here on out, starting with bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili.
A nine-fight winning run and victories over ex-kings José Aldo and Petr Yan wasn’t enough for “The Machine” to enter 2024 with a first shot at gold on the calendar. But that was no worry for “The Machine,” who dominated combat sports legend Henry Cejudo in February to make his case undeniable.
And when finally opposite Sean O’Malley inside the unique surroundings of the Sphere seven months later, the Georgian made no mistake. He convincingly unseated “Suga,” securing a one-sided decision after five rounds of headlining action at UFC 306.
Dvalishvili won’t have long to celebrate his successful 2024, as he’s just weeks away from a first defense against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.
3. Dricus Du Plessis – UFC Middleweight Champion
Another champion cracking this year’s top five is middleweight kingpin Dricus Du Plessis.
The South African entered 2024 having most recently continued to prove his many doubters wrong in a big way, knocking out the highly regarded Robert Whittaker to earn top contender status. And it didn’t take him long to add champ status to his résumé on MMA’s biggest stage after he narrowly outpointed MMA News’ 2023 Male Fighter of the Year, Sean Strickland.
And “Stillknocks” will finish this year with a cemented grip on the gold, having gotten the better of Israel Adesanya by way of submission in the main event of August’s UFC 305 pay-per-view Down Under.
2. Alex Pereira – UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
There are star-making years, and then there’s Alex Pereira’s 2024.
While his middleweight crowning and series with Israel Adesanya established himself as a major name in MMA, “Poatan” has gone above and beyond at 205 pounds this year. In three fights in a record timespan, the Brazilian former kickboxing champ has added Jamahal Hill, Ji?í Procházka (again), and Khalil Rountree to the list of victims who have fallen to his famed power.
From his post-low blow KO and celebration against the confident Hill to his memorable comeback against “The War Horse” — not to mention his results this year coming while saving the UFC at major events — Pereira’s year in the cage would normally leave him as a shoo-in for top spot.
But…
1. Ilia Topuria – UFC Featherweight Champion
Quality over quantity was the name of the game in this year’s award.
While he fell one win short of Pereira’s run in 2024, Ilia Topuria’s two victories were evidently deemed as more impressive by the majority of the voting panel. After opening his year by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski, a featherweight GOAT contender who was previously undefeated in the weight class, “El Matador” became the first person to knock out the great Max Holloway eight months later to record his first successful title defense.
Having brutally dispatched of two names who likely sit on the 145-pound Mount Rushmore for most, Topuria is MMA News’ Male Fighter of the Year.
