UFC 2024 Rewind! One Memorable (Or Forgotten) Moment From Every Single Card, Pt. 1

With 42 total Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events throughout 2024 — on top of all of the other promotions such as Bellator MMA, Professional Fighters League (PFL), ONE Championship, and Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) — combat sports fans have probably forgotten about many of the wild moments that happened throughout the action-packed year.

From knockouts and post-fight interviews to funny in-cage spots, or maybe you’re a hardcore mixed martial arts (MMA) freak and remember everything.

Well, either way, we’ve got you covered.

In part one of UFC 2024, “Rewind,” which runs from UFC Vegas 84 (Jan. 13, 2024) to UFC Atlantic City (March 30, 2024), we look back at some of the most memorable moments from that specific event timeline, including Alexander Volkanovski getting knocked out (see it again), some big UFC debuts, and some come-from-behind wins.

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR

---

UFC Vegas 84: ‘Ankalaev vs. Walker’

Jan. 13, 2024
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

Mixed martial arts (MMA) “Rookie of the Year” candidate, Jean Silva, made his Octagon debut on the first card of the year, and it only took him only four minutes to dispatch Westin Wilson via knockout (see it again here).

For what it’s worth, Silva was a -950 favorite, and his walk to the cage was longer than the fight.

UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis

Jan. 20, 2024
Toronto, Canada
Full results

The first pay-per-view (PPV) of 2024 saw Middleweight champion, Sean Strickland, lose his title to Dricus Du Plessis in a “controversial” split decision, and Raquel Pennington finally claimed UFC gold by defeating Marya Bueno Silva.

However, in the “Featured bout” of the PPV, Neil Magny scored a huge comeback win over Mike Mallott after being thoroughly dominated for three rounds, living up to his Welterweight “gatekeeper” role.

UFC Vegas 85: ‘Dolidze vs. Imavov’

Feb. 3, 2024
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

In his first of three fights in 2024, Renato Moicano defeated Drew Dober via unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 85 and then dropped another one of his infamous post-fight speeches.

This was also his first fight since his epic post-fight interview at UFC 281, so there were high expectations.

UFC Vegas 86: ‘Hermansson vs. Pyfer’

Feb. 10, 2024
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

In the main event of UFC Vegas 86, Jack Hermansson halted Joe Pyfer’s hype train that was going full speed. However, 25 minutes before the main event, Dan Ige knocked out Andre Fili with a nasty right hand and gave him one extra punch.

UFC 298: ‘Volkanovski vs. Topuria’

Feb. 17, 2024
Anaheim, Calif.
Full results

Ilia Topuria’s star was born at UFC 298, when he brutally slept Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, ending his long reign as 145-pound kingpin.

UFC Mexico City: ‘Moreno vs. Royval 2’

Feb. 24, 2024
Mexico City, Mexico
Full results

Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez ran it back in the co-main event of UFC Mexico City and the fight delivered for as long as it lasted. After getting beat up for two rounds, “T-City” caught Rodriguez in an arm-triangle choke and forced the tap.

UFC Vegas 87: ‘Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev’

March 2, 2024
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

Vinicius Oliveira made an immediate impact in his UFC debut as he delivered one of the best knockouts of 2024 when he knocked out fellow UFC newcomer, Bernardo Sopaj, with a beautiful flying knee.

UFC 299: ‘O’Malley vs. Vera 2’

March 9, 2024
Miami, Florida
Full results

Going into UFC 299, I thought Benoit Saint-Denis was going to run through Dustin Poirier, and for a round and a half, BSD was having his way with Poirier. However, midway through the second round, the phrase, “He was winning until he wasn’t” kicked into full drive, and Poirier knocked out the French fighter, becoming the first person to do so.

UFC Vegas 88: ‘Tuivasa vs. Tybura’

March 16, 2024
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

On one of the more forgettable UFC Apex cards, 40-year-old Ovince Saint Preux pulled off an upset and defeated Kennedy Nzechukwu via split decision. “OSP” was a +500 underdog, and according to Tapology, OSP vs. Nzechukwu was the eighth biggest upset of 2024 in all of MMA.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC Vegas 89: ‘Ribas vs. Namajunas’

March 23, 2024
UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Full results

Two Flyweights made their Octagon debuts at UFC Vegas 89; however, the fight ended badly, and that’s because Igor Severino bit Andre Lima on his arm, causing a disqualification.

The bite was so hard that it left an impression on Lima’s arm (see it here).

Severino was released on the spot, and Lima ended up getting a tattoo of the bite that night— on the bite mark. UFC CEO, Dana White, also awarded him a $50,000 bonus for “Bite of the Night.”

UFC Atlantic City: ‘Blanchfield vs. Fiorot’

March 30, 2024
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Full results

One of the strangest finishes of 2024 went down on the “Prelims” of UFC Atlantic City. Middleweight Andre Petroski shot for a takedown on Jacob Malkoun, and at the time, it looked like Petroski knocked himself out.

However, a few months later, Petroski revealed that Malkoun’s heel hit him in the throat, causing him to fall.

Whatever happened … it was weird.

---

Stick around for part two (of four) later this afternoon on MMAmania.com. In the meantime, checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.