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Ex-UFC King Snubs Alex Pereira, Picks Ilia Topuria as Top Fighter in 2024 With His Stunning Featherweight Takeover

Ex-UFC King Snubs Alex Pereira, Picks Ilia Topuria as Top Fighter in 2024 With His Stunning Featherweight Takeover Sorry Alex Pereira, you were not the Fighter of the Year according to one former UFC champion. While ‘Poatan’…

Sorry Alex Pereira, you were not the Fighter of the Year according to one former UFC champion.

While ‘Poatan’ topped many of 2024’s best-of lists, including LowKick MMA’s own Fighter of the Year award, former middleweight king Robert Whittaker thinks there was another fighter who outperformed the Brazilian boogeyman over the last 12 months.

“My fight of the year—and I’ve mentioned this on a Unibet video that I did recently as well—is Ilia Topuria,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade podcast. “I think, not only… yeah, I think the work that he has put in this year, the names that he has defeated in his division, like Alex Volkanovski—probably one of the best featherweights ever—and Max Holloway, one of the best featherweights ever again.

“Two guys that stand out to me in that division, so far ahead of the rest of the division. I mean, the gap was massive. It’s like, when we saw Volk beat Max, and then Max didn’t reclaim that title, I—and a lot of other people—thought, “Who beats him?” Because then Max went back to the pool and just started destroying people. You saw how big that gap difference was between Max and the rest of the division, which means, how good is Volk?

“And then Topuria comes in and finishes both of them.”

Who’s 2024 was better? Alex Pereira or Ilia Topuria?

For most people, it was a close call between Pereira and Topuria. ‘Poatan’ successfully defended his light heavyweight world title three times throughout the year, scoring highlight-reel knockouts against Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree.

Meanwhile, ‘El Matador’ changed the landscape of the featherweight division, starting with his stunning second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February. He followed that up with a history-making win over division staple Max Holloway, becoming the first fighter to KO ‘Blessed’ in his mixed martial arts career.

Beating two of the absolute best 145’ers of all time in back-to-back fights was enough for many, including Whittaker, to give Topuria the Fighter of the Year honors.

Do you agree with ‘The Reaper,’ or were Pereira’s trio of title defenses more impressive than what Topuria accomplished?

Ex-UFC King Snubs Alex Pereira, Picks Ilia Topuria as Top Fighter in 2024 With His Stunning Featherweight Takeover

Sorry Alex Pereira, you were not the Fighter of the Year according to one former UFC champion. While ‘Poatan’…

Sorry Alex Pereira, you were not the Fighter of the Year according to one former UFC champion.

“My fight of the year—and I’ve mentioned this on a Unibet video that I did recently as well—is Ilia Topuria,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade podcast. “I think, not only… yeah, I think the work that he has put in this year, the names that he has defeated in his division, like Alex Volkanovski—probably one of the best featherweights ever—and Max Holloway, one of the best featherweights ever again.

“Two guys that stand out to me in that division, so far ahead of the rest of the division. I mean, the gap was massive. It’s like, when we saw Volk beat Max, and then Max didn’t reclaim that title, I—and a lot of other people—thought, “Who beats him?” Because then Max went back to the pool and just started destroying people. You saw how big that gap difference was between Max and the rest of the division, which means, how good is Volk?

“And then Topuria comes in and finishes both of them.”

Who’s 2024 was better? Alex Pereira or Ilia Topuria?

Beating two of the absolute best 145’ers of all time in back-to-back fights was enough for many, including Whittaker, to give Topuria the Fighter of the Year honors.

Do you agree with ‘The Reaper,’ or were Pereira’s trio of title defenses more impressive than what Topuria accomplished?

Amanda Nunes’ UFC retirement will bring an end to the women’s featherweight division

As Amanda Nunes rides off into the sunset, the women’s featherweight world title will likely do the same. On Saturday night, ‘The Lioness’ added another dominant title defense to her resume, besting top-five contender Irene Aldana in decisive fashion over the course of their 25-minute affair. Following the one-sided scrap, Amanda Nunes laid down both […]

As Amanda Nunes rides off into the sunset, the women’s featherweight world title will likely do the same.

On Saturday night, ‘The Lioness’ added another dominant title defense to her resume, besting top-five contender Irene Aldana in decisive fashion over the course of their 25-minute affair. Following the one-sided scrap, Amanda Nunes laid down both her bantamweight and featherweight world titles alongside her gloves and officially announced her retirement from the sport after 15 years of excellence.

As she walks away from the sport, Amanda Nunes will leave behind two title belts. The bantamweight title, which she defended against Aldana in the UFC 289 main event, will likely find a new owner before 2023 comes to a close. The likeliest scenario would see former titleholder Julianna Pena squaring off with veteran standout Raquel Pennington to crown a new 135-pound queen. As for the featherweight title, don’t expect to see it on the line anytime soon. Or ever again, for that matter.

Addressing Amanda Nunes’ retirement following UFC 289, Dana White wished the general consensus women’s MMA GOAT well in her future endeavors.

“Would I like to see her stick around and do some more? Absolutely! I love the kid. She’s been incredible to work with, she’s such a good human being and a great champion… But if she’s ready to go, you’ve got to be happy for her,” White said.

White also revealed that the women’s featherweight world title belt will likely ride off into the sunset with Amanda Nunes.

White says that the featherweight division is likely to retire with Amanda Nunes.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) June 11, 2023

A Brief History of Amanda Nunes and the UFC Women’s Featherweight Division

The women’s featherweight championship was first introduced in 2017 with Germaine de Randamie defeating Holly Holm to become the division’s inaugural champion at UFC 208. Four months later, de Randamie was stripped of the title after refusing to defend the championship against top-ranked contender Cris Cyborg. The UFC would go on to book a title tilt between Cyborg and Tonya Evinger at UFC 214, a contest that Cyborg would go on to win, beginning a 517 reign at the 145-pound queen.

Amanda Nunes captured the title at UFC 232, defeating Cyborg in the first round of their champion vs. champion superfight. She went on to defend the title twice during her reign which lasted more than four and a half years. Unfortunately, the featherweight division failed to produce an adequate amount of viable contenders. Its only purpose in recent years was to market Nunes as a two-division champion, but with her retirement, there’s no reason to keep the practically empty division alive.

Zabit Magomedsharipov Is On His Way Back To The Octagon Hints Coach

Zabit Magomedsharipov may be on his way back to the Octagon after an absence of almost two years claims coach Mark Henry. Following back-to-back unanimous decision victories over two top UFC featherweight contenders in Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens, ongoing health issues and a dispute with the promotion have unfortunately put his career on hold. […]

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Zabit Magomedsharipov may be on his way back to the Octagon after an absence of almost two years claims coach Mark Henry.

Following back-to-back unanimous decision victories over two top UFC featherweight contenders in Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens, ongoing health issues and a dispute with the promotion have unfortunately put his career on hold.

Despite his clear in-ring ability and his six-fight unbeaten run with the company, it was generally believed that Zabit may never step foot inside the octagon again, which would put an end to any dream matchup with Max Holloway, Giga Chikadze, and a long-awaited meeting with Yair Rodriguez.

While there’s no certainty on his comeback date, Mark Henry has surprisingly confirmed that Zabit’s return is imminent and fans of the Russian won’t have to wait too much longer to see him in action.

In a recent post on his Instagram page, Mark Henry was seemingly thrilled to announce Zabit’s comeback to the UFC featherweight division.

“BEST UFC Featherweight ZA-BEAST! HES BACK” coach Henry said.

Zabit was arguably one or two wins away from a 145lb title shot before he was pulled from the rankings. The Dagestani will be hoping to add to his 18-1 record on route to UFC gold upon his return.

There are a handful of potential fighters that would happily welcome the Taekwondo black belt back, and fans can look forward to possible mouth-watering matchups between Zabit and some of the division’s top talent. A fight with The Korean Zombie or an encounter with emerging talents in Arnold Allen and the aforementioned Giga Chikadze could serve as the perfect comeback for the 30-year-old.

Who would you like to see Zabit Magomedsharipov face when he finally makes his return to the UFC?

Continue Reading Zabit Magomedsharipov Is On His Way Back To The Octagon Hints Coach at MMA News.

Quote: Aldo Not The FW GOAT Because Of Post-USADA Decline

Ranked UFC featherweight Movsar Evloev has suggested that José Aldo used PEDs during his prime and has USADA to blame for his downfall in MMA. Since the USADA program was introduced to the UFC in July 2015, Aldo has gone 4-6 in the promotion. A defeat …

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Sean O’Malley Strongly Considering Move Up To FW In Two Years

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has suggested he could make the move up to the featherweight division in the next couple of years. O’Malley’s comment came after he recorded his sixth victory since debuting for the UFC in 2017. Against short-notice opponent Kris Moutinho at UFC 264, “Suga” landed 230 significant strikes across the duration of […]

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