Monthly Report | December 2024

Identifying The Standout Efforts From December’s Pair Of Exciting Shows To Close Out 2024

By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte • Dec. 23, 2024

A reduced schedule in the final month of the year didn’t have any impact on the amount of quality action that took place inside the Octagon in December.

The two events and 27 fights delivered 16 finishes, a couple absolutely outstanding fights (that were very different), and plenty to talk about heading into the holidays; you know, when everyone wants to sit around the table and discuss their favorite UFC moments of the year.

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It’s been a great year, but before we head into 2025, let’s hand out some monthly hardware one last time. Here’s a look at the efforts that stood out the most from December’s action inside the Octagon.

Breakout Performance: Joaquin Buckley

Don’t let the way the final fight of 2024 ended cloud the way you process what transpired beforehand, because while the stoppage in the final seconds of the third round made things a little anticlimactic, Buckley looked outstanding in the nearly 15 minutes that preceded that event while piling up his fourth win of the year.

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From the outset, the 30-year-old ascending welterweight looked crisp, making full use of his speed and striking advantages to piece up Colby Covington. When he impressively stuffed the first couple takedown attempts, it became clear that it might be a long night for the former three-time title challenger, as the overall edge in athleticism was clear.

Though Covington did manage to get Buckley to the canvas a couple times, “New Mansa” did well to minimize damage and work back to his feet, and whenever they were standing, he was having success, leaving “Chaos” cut, bleeding, and searching for answers until the ringside physician waved things off late in the third.

Joaquin Buckley Post-Fight Interview | UFC Tampa

Buckley had already produced an excellent 2024 campaign, entering with a 3-0 mark this year and five straight wins since moving to welterweight, including stoppages of Vicente Luque and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, but this was his first main event assignment, against a perennial contender with a major name, and he looked outstanding for the most part.

There are sure to be some that want to pick at Buckley’s wins this year, offering “yeah, but” thoughts on the age and standing of Luque, Thompson, and Covington, but, at the end of the day, all three had numbers next to their names, and all three got finished. Additionally, it’s not like all kinds of folks have been marching into the Octagon and beating any of those three as clearly as Buckley did, never mind all three.

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A week after Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry showed they are poised to be fixtures in the title conversation in the welterweight division for the next several years, Buckley delivered the kind of effort in Tampa that puts him in the discussion heading into 2025, as well.

Honorable Mentions: Chase Hooper, Joshua Van, Manel Kape

Submission of the Month: Alexandre Pantoja puts Kai Asakura to sleep (UFC 310)

Alexandre Pantoja submits Kai Asakura in the UFC flyweight championship bout during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

A great deal of the focus heading into the UFC 310 main event between flyweight ruler Alexandre Pantoja and Japanese challenger Kai Asakura centered on what kind of threat the newcomer would present to the incumbent, and if he would become the first Japanese fighter to claim UFC gold.

Once it was time to fight, Pantoja was having none of it.

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The champion raced across the Octagon and took the fight to Asakura out of the chute, happily to get into a fist fight and show the challenger that he was in there with an absolute force. When Asakura did land — and he did, several times — Pantoja just rolled with the punches, shrugging off some of the best connections the challenger had before going back on the offensive.

In the second, the Brazilian continued to press the action and eventually jumped on Asakura’s back, collapsing him to the canvas, where he worked his arm under the chin and around the neck, putting the challenger to sleep with a rear-naked choke.

Alexandre Pantoja Octagon Interview | UFC 310

There were a number of emphatic championship performances this year, but Pantoja’s performance at UFC 310 ranks right up there amongst the very best. He left no doubt as to who the best flyweight on the planet is and instantly transformed from a titleholder that some felt was vulnerable at the top of the division to a man that looks like he could enjoy a lengthy reign atop the 125-pound ranks.

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Honorable Mentions: Hooper vs. Clay Guida, Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin, Vicente Luque vs. Themba Gorimbo

Knockout of the Month: Cub Swanson stops Billy Quarantillo (UFC Tampa)

The image of Swanson standing over Quarantillo in the center of the Octagon on Saturday night in Tampa is going to be one of those visuals that sticks with me for some time, especially if this ends up being the last time we see “Killer Cub” compete.

Some of it is unquestionably sentimental — Swanson has been a consummate professional for years, an outstanding interview every time we’ve jumped on a call, and one of those “easy to root for” types that you want to see succeed.

Cub Swanson Octagon Interview | UFC Tampa

But he also absolutely clocked Quarantillo with a missile of a right hand to instantly end a thoroughly entertaining fight, so there is that, too.

It felt through the first two rounds like this fight was either going to end up next to Swanson’s clash with Dooho Choi at UFC 206 in the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame or wrap up how it did, with one of these two all-action fan favorites getting put on the deck. After “Billy Q” battled back and had greater success in the second, Swanson pawed out with a left hook and chambered a right hand behind it, launching in rhythm, connecting with force, and ending the fight in a flash.

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You could see what it meant to Swanson to have that kind of fight and that kind of finish, and while he didn’t offer clear thoughts on whether he was going to hang up his gloves or not, it’s going to be difficult to put together a more memorable “walk off into the sunset” moment than this one.

Honorable Mentions: Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Lukasz Brzeski, Bryce Mitchell vs. Kron Gracie, Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar, Joel Alvarez vs. Drakkar Klose, Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino

Fight of the Month: Movsar Evloev edges Aljamain Sterling (UFC 310)

Movsar Evloev Post-Fight Interview | UFC 310

Like all of these awards, determining the winners always comes down to a matter of preference, and rarely is that more at play than picking a Fight of the Month each month.

While the event in Tampa to close out the 2024 slate featured a pair of back-and-forth contests that were very much in the running for this honor, ultimately, I went with the UFC 310 grappling-fest between Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling because as much as I love a good punch-up, the chance to watch two elite grapplers engage in an “attack and counter, adjust and readjust” contest for 15 minutes, where the stakes were extremely high, is both more rare and more appealing to me, overall.

Taking in the bout, I saw a lot of “this is the fight you show people who don’t think grappling can be exciting” messages on social media, and I couldn’t agree more: this was two highly skilled standouts on the mat trying to get the better of one another, where the margins for error were slim, the action was constant and captivating, and there were no real points where anyone either Evloev or Sterling let off the gas or simply coasted in a control position, because the other was too focused on regaining the upper hand.

Movsar Evloev of Russia wrestles Aljamain Sterling in a featherweight bout during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

Evloev got the nod, earning scores of 29-28 across the board, taking the second and third rounds on all three scorecards to advance to 19-0 overall and put himself in the thick of the title conversation in the featherweight division. While there were very few significant strikes landed or thrown, the Russian did good work in the little moments, staying active and annoying with short strikes that kept piling up while being less than a half-step ahead of the former bantamweight titleholder in critical interactions over the back half of the fight.

We’re going to see more instances where two combatants go toe-to-toe for 15 minutes, trading heavy leather with each getting stung or staggered in the opening quarter of 2025, but it’s likely going to be a minute before we see another captivating and competitive grappling-heavy clash like this inside the Octagon.

Honorable Mentions: Daniel Marcos defeats Adrian Yanez, Swanson defeats Quarantillo