2024 will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the best years ever for MMA. The events like UFC 299, 300, 308 were some of the best things to happen to this sport in the last decade.
But it isn’t too wise to look only at the pay-per-views, as there are way more Fight Night events happening during a year. For that reason, I’d like to dedicate this post to refreshing your memories about the very best Fight Nights of the past 365 days.
#5 UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov
A Fight Night event in Etihad Arena should already tell you the level of card Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov was. Incredibly important for the UFC, the Middle Eastern market couldn’t have been treated better, as the promotion didn’t shy away from stacking this card.
High-level bantamweight scrap between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event, the co-main featuring the Shara Bullet hype train, another top 10 bantamweight attraction in Marlon Vera against Deiveson Figueiredo, Tony Ferguson, Michael Chiesa, Mackenzie Dern was just an unbelievable lineup for a non-PPV.
This card had all the potential to end up higher on the list, but all the high-profile matchups ended up underdelivering in different ways. The main event was a tactical battle between the 135-pound contenders, but neither was able to set a showcase performance, with Umar Nurmagomedov winning via unanimous decision. Shara wasn’t able to finish Michał Oleksiejczuk, which let the public down after all the praise the creative Dagestani striker was receiving. Mackenzie Dern’s decision victory over Loopy Godinez provoked a controversy about the scorecards. And needless to say, another Tony Ferguson defeat, especially in the first round, is never satisfying to see as a fan.
Headed to extra rounds 👊#InAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi | #UFCAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/XfKnegqo2l
— UFC (@ufc) August 3, 2024
The best performances were delivered by Joel Alvarez, who TKO’d Elves Brener, and by Azamat Murzakanov in his finish over Alonzo Menifield. These two rightfully received their 50k bonuses, alongside Sharabutdin Magomedov and Michał Oleksiejczuk for “Fight of the Night.”
#4 UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov
In what was supposed to be a contender fight in the middleweight division between Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker, Chimaev had to pull out. The event seemed doomed without the main attraction, but an unranked prospect decided to take on the former champ on short notice. Ikram Aliskerov saved the main event.
The card was stacked and lived up to the noise with the action. Performance bonuses were given out to the debuting Felipe Lima for his submission over the hyped-up Muhammad Naimov, to Volkan Oezdemir for his first-round annihilation of Johnny Walker, to Shara Magomedov for his third-round TKO over frustrated Antonio Trócoli and to the man himself, Robert Whittaker, for the uppercut from hell on Aliskerov.
Despite no “Fight of the Night” award, there were some thrilling battles that got to the judges scorecards: Rinat Fakhretdinov and Nicholas Dalby both just bit down on their mouthpieces and threw some haymakers each other’s way, the controversial Nasrat Haqparast win against Jared Gordon, the Mexican-rooted matchup between Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Rodriguez, and Alexander Volkov’s case for heavyweight elite status against Sergei Pavlovich.
#3 UFC on ESPN: Lewis vs. Nascimento
Held in May, this event doesn’t seem to still be in memory of the public. Maybe it’s because the main event in Derick Lewis against Rodrigo Nascimento was genuinely nothing special, but hear me out when I say that the undercard alone puts it on the pedestal of this year’s cards you don’t have to pay $79.99 to watch.
Less than half of the fights ended in a finish, but when they did, it was truly something: Esteban Ribovics sending McKinney’s head to the stratosphere with a high kick, Chase Hooper knocking down a decorated kickboxer with a wild overhand and then proceeding to choke him out, Carlos Diego Ferreira brutalising the new-wave lightweight Rębecki, Alonzo Menifield attacking Ulberg’s fists with his head in the first seconds of he fight, Derick Lewis remembering he is Derick Lewis and knocking out Nascimento in the third round of the main event.
WHAT A KNOCKOUT! 😱😱😱
Esteban Ribovics put Terrance McKinney to SLEEP! #UFCStLouis | LIVE on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/kLL8hxRXj5
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 11, 2024
As far as the fights that went full 15 minutes, we had an impressive performance by Charles Johnson, Waldo Cortes-Acosta fraud-checking Robelis Despaigne with the good ol’ heavyweight wrestling, fun scrap between two top 20 featherweight in Woodson and Caceres, Joaquin Buckley standing up as the David against Uzbekistani Goliath in Nursulton Ruziboev to please the St. Louis crowd. But the pair that really stood out and even got themselves into the Fight of the Year conversation was Billy Goff and Trey Waters.
#2 UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Figueiredo
An exciting bantamweight fight between two former champions, Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo, was anticipated to be one of the most high-level non-title bouts of the year. Mix this with a decent undercard featuring Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci, Carlos Ulberg vs. Volkan Oezdemir, Valentina Schevchenko’s kickboxing rival Wang Kong and a flyweight contest between two undefeated prospects Lone’er Kavanagh and Jose Ochoa, and you’ve got yourself a solid filler between the two big pay-per-views in UFC 309 and UFC 310, right?
So yeah, that was a mistake to think that.
Every fan that was able to tune in on the unconventional start time witnessed a banger. Shi Ming made a name for herself with a truly concerning finish over Feng Xiaocan and the story of her double life as a doctor and a cage fighter. Zhang Mingyang starched Ozzy Diaz to cement himself as a dangerous force in the 205-pound weight class. Wang Kong got submitted by Gabriella Fernandes in a mind-boggling upset. In the featured fight, Muslim Salikhov put Song Kenan to rest with a gorgeous spinning wheel kick. And of course, the main event ended up being one of the finest displays of mixed martial arts skill by both competitors, with Yan winning via unanimous decision.
“Doctor Sleep in the building!”
Shi Ming landed this HUGE KO and earned herself the @JoseCuervo Shot of the Month! pic.twitter.com/6kVon3DZjg
— UFC (@ufc) December 18, 2024
What’s crazy is that I didn’t even mention every impressive showing on the card. Xiao Long’s KO over Quang Le would surely be one of the main highlights of your average Fight Night, Lone’er Kavanagh and Jose Ochoa showed a phenomenal fight, especially considering how young both are, Choi Dong-hun slumped his opponent in a little more than two minutes and Carlos Ulberg proved to be a solid top 10 contender in his victory over Volkan Oezdemir.
#1 UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley
UFC Tampa headlined by Colby Covington and the rising Joaquin Buckley is one of the best events to happen this year period. You can call it recency bias, but I couldn’t disagree more.
The two main factors that define a great MMA event are the lineup on paper and the delivery directly on the night (more so the latter). This Fight Night had everything: established fighters like Buckley, Covington, Swanson and Kape, alongside the exciting prospects like Alvarez, Stirling, Lima, Woodson and Marcos, crazy UFC 2-like knockouts and gritty barn burners.
THE START OF A NEW WIN STREAK 😤@Menace155 ends it early in the second! #UFCTampa pic.twitter.com/m8xaeUqF1R
— UFC (@ufc) December 15, 2024
Five borderline illegal KO’s from Sean Woodson, Joel Alvarez, Michael Johnson (all back-to-back), Dustin Jacoby and “Killer” Cub Swanson had the crowd losing their minds. Dominant showcases by Joaquin Buckley, Manel Kape and Davey Grant are all amongst the best performances of 2024 in my books.
CUB SWANSON TURNS BACK THE CLOCK 😱@CubSwanson | #UFCTampa pic.twitter.com/kOLMsAPr6C
— UFC (@ufc) December 15, 2024
It just feels wrong that the UFC gave out only the standard number of bonuses – two “Performances of the Night” (Jacoby and Johnson) and one “Fight of the Night” (Swanson and Quarantillo).
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