The highly unofficial awards season continues with the top fighters of 2024...and yes, for the first time, there was a tie.
1 (tie) – Alex Pereira

Fighters fight. And Alex Pereira is a fighter to the core. Three times he made the walk in 2024, something practically unheard of for a world champion these days, and each time, he didn’t just win in defense of his UFC light heavyweight title, but he knocked out two former champions in Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka, but a tough contender who gave him some trouble in Khalil Rountree Jr. It was a year to remember, and one you can expect “Poatan” to try to match or surpass in 2025.
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1 (tie) – Ilia Topuria

Ten of us voted and five had Pereira as Fighter of the Year and five selected “The Matador,” Mr. Ilia Topuria. And while some might say three 2024 wins is better than two, that argument goes out the window when you consider that the featherweight champ’s two victories were over two all-time greats in Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. It was a remarkable year – one of the best in UFC history – and if Topuria stays at 145 pounds, he may be in for a long reign.
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3 – Carlos Prates

Carlos Prates, the chain-smoking terror from the Fighting Nerds team took over the welterweight division in 2024, scoring four knockouts over Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke, Li Jingliang and Neil Magny. Add in his personality and willingness to chase the finish at all times, and all eyes are on “The Nightmare” heading into the New Year.
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4 – Diego Lopes

Now 5-0 in the Octagon, Brazil’s Diego Lopes delivered three of those wins in 2024, raising the degree of difficulty each time out as he stopped Sodiq Yusuff, then decisioned Dan Ige and Brian Ortega to establish himself as a serious threat to anyone in the 145-pound division that he will making a title run in when 2025 arrives.
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5 – Dricus Du Plessis

South Africa’s first UFC champion, Dricus Du Plessis won that belt in January with a Fight of the Night win over Sean Strickland and then successfully defended it by submitting Israel Adesanya in August. That makes it eight wins in a row for “Stillknocks,” who will see Strickland again in his first fight of 2025 in February.
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6 – Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili was his swarming self in 2024, and after decisioning Henry Cejudo in February, he won the UFC bantamweight title with an upset five-round win over Sean O’Malley. The Georgia native has always lived up to his nickname “The Machine,” and now that he has the belt, it will be tough for anyone who doesn’t have ten rounds’ worth of cardio to beat him unless they catch him with something early.
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7 – Renato Moicano

Talk about coming out of nowhere. Brazil’s Renato Moicano has always been an elite fighter, but in 2024, “Money” Moicano started getting the respect he deserves. And getting opportunities is one thing; seizing them is another, and with a decision over Drew Dober and stoppages of Jalin Turner and Benoit Saint Denis, fans can’t wait to see what 2025 brings for one of the sport’s most compelling figures.
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8 – Alexandre Pantoja

After the flyweight title was traded back and forth between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno for three years, Alexandre Pantoja stepped in and has given the 125-pound title some stability for the first time since Demetrious Johnson ruled the division. In 2024, Pantoja was as steady as ever in beating Steve Erceg and Kai Asakura, and he doesn’t look like he’s giving up the belt any time soon.
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9 – Joaquin Buckley

At middleweight, Joaquin Buckley showed flashes of brilliance. At welterweight, he’s been brilliant all the time, with 2024 being the true coming out party for the St. Louis native thanks to a quartet of victories (three by KO or TKO) over Vicente Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington. Now he’s up at number six with a bullet, and 2025 should be something to see from “New Mansa.”
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10 – Belal Muhammad

The champ is here. And the fact that it only took Belal Muhammad one fight to make it on this list shows just how important that win was, as he got his long-awaited welterweight title shot against Leon Edwards in July and made the most of it, taking the belt via unanimous decision. Muhammad was scheduled to return earlier this month against Shavkat Rakhmonov, but was forced out due to injury, pushing that intriguing title fight to next year.
Voters – Aziz Bawany, Juan Cardenas, Thomas Gerbasi, Christoph Goessing, Simon Head, E. Spencer Kyte, Steve Latrell, McKenzie Pavacich, Zac Pacleb, Ryan White