5 bold predictions for the UFC in 2024

The year 2023 is now over for the UFC, but fans don’t need to wait long for the promotion’s first event of 2024, which takes place in early January.

With the new year almost upon us, it’s well worth looking forward to 2024 in the UFC and wondering what kind of crazy things could happen.

From title changes to debuts and events in new places, almost anything could happen in the world’s biggest MMA promotion next year.

Here, then, are five bold predictions for the UFC in 2024.

#5. The UFC will finally go to Africa for an event

Could Dricus du Plessis help the UFC break into Africa in 2024? [Image Credit: @dricusduplessis on Instagram]

The UFC has truly gone global over the past couple of decades. Refusing to just stick to their US base, the promotion has now put on events in major countries all over the world, from Brazil and the UK to France and Australia.

However, while the octagon has visited five of the world’s six inhabited continents, it has yet to visit Africa.

Many fans felt like this would change during the period in which three fighters with African heritage – Francis Ngannou, Israel Adesanya, and Kamaru Usman – held titles in the promotion.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, as Usman lost his title in 2022, followed by Ngannou's exit from UFC and Adesanya's title loss in September.

Despite this, could 2024 be the year that the octagon finally heads to Africa? There’s definitely a strong possibility.

If South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis can win the middleweight title from Sean Strickland in January, there’s every chance that Adesanya could stand as his first challenger.

If that’s the case, then a title bout pitting two African fighters against one another would obviously make sense to headline the first event on the continent.

#4. Islam Makhachev will surpass Khabib Nurmagomedov’s number of successful lightweight title defenses

Could Islam Makhachev surpass Khabib Nurmagomedov's legacy in 2024? [Image Credit: @ufc on X]

The comparisons between legendary former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and his protégé Islam Makhachev, the current titleholder, are often lazy and tiresome.

Despite both fighters hailing from Dagestan and training together, their styles are actually very different when they step into the octagon.

However, their success in the octagon is definitely one similarity that they do share. Could 2024 be the year that sees Makhachev surpass his mentor’s legacy, though?

Sure, thanks to his 2015 loss to Adriano Martins, the current champ will never be able to hang up his gloves as an undefeated fighter like ‘The Eagle’ did in 2020.

Khabib’s abrupt retirement, though, meant that he only made three successful defenses of his title, beating Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje.

Makhachev, on the other hand, already has two successful defenses under his belt after his two wins over Alexander Volkanovski this year. With seemingly no plans to retire any time soon, it isn’t a stretch to believe that he could complete two more in 2024.

If he did that, not only would he have beaten Khabib’s total number, but he’d also become the most accomplished lightweight in octagon history from that metric. If he can do that, it’d be hard to keep him behind his mentor in the bigger picture.

#3. Tom Aspinall will be crowned undisputed UFC heavyweight champion without unifying the titles

Tom Aspinall will hope to become undisputed heavyweight champion in 2024 [Image Credit: @tomaspinallofficial on Instagram]

November’s UFC 295 saw a new interim heavyweight champion crowned when Tom Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in the first round of their late-notice bout.

The UK native was not expected to fight for a title in 2023, as the event’s initial headliner was supposed to see heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones defend against former titleholder Stipe Miocic.

However, when Jones suffered an injury in the build to the fight, rather than have Miocic face a replacement for an interim title, the promotion shelved him entirely.

Aspinall is currently pushing desperately for a unification fight with Jones, or if he can’t get that, a clash with Miocic to decide who faces ‘Bones’ next.

Will he get what he wants in 2024, though? It feels unlikely.

Dana White has constantly referred to Jones vs. Miocic as a “legacy fight,” and both fighters have openly discussed hanging up their gloves afterward, regardless of the result.

With Aspinall still a rising star rather than a big name with casual fans, both Jones and Miocic may feel that there simply isn’t enough money in a fight with him.

Therefore, it feels more likely that the Liverpool native will find his status upgraded to that of an undisputed champion without even needing a unification bout – just as Robert Whittaker did at middleweight in 2018.

#2. Conor McGregor will not fight in the UFC in 2024

Have fans already seen the last of Conor McGregor in the octagon? [Image Credit: @thenotoriousmma on Instagram]

2023 was supposed to be the year that former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor made his big return to the UFC.

‘The Notorious’ last fought in 2021 when he suffered a devastating leg break in his third fight with Dustin Poirier.

That injury understandably left him sidelined throughout 2022, but it was widely expected that he’d step back into the octagon this year.

Those chances only seemed to increase when the promotion announced he’d be coaching TUF 31 against Michael Chandler, with a fight between the two planned afterward.

However, despite TUF ending in August, McGregor vs. Chandler was pushed back time after time, largely due to issues with the Irishman returning to the UFC’s mandatory drug testing program.

Eventually, a 2023 return became a 2024 one, but with the first three pay-per-view headliners of the new year announced – and no suggestion yet that his fight with Chandler could headline UFC 300 – McGregor’s long-awaited` return seems further away than ever.

In reality, it feels more likely that fans have already seen the last of ‘The Notorious’ in the octagon. At the age of 35, he isn’t getting any younger, and coming off such a bad injury, a return to form seems doubtful regardless.

Instead, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McGregor announce his retirement from MMA altogether in 2024.

#1. There will be at least one UFC/WWE crossover in 2024

It's easy to imagine Israel Adesanya succeeding in WWE [Image Credit: @stylebender on Instagram]

Perhaps the biggest news item of 2023 came in September, when it was announced that Endeavor, who bought out the UFC in 2016, would be merging the promotion with pro-wrestling powerhouse WWE, forming a new company named TKO.

Since then, fans haven’t heard too much about the merger, which has seemingly taken place in the corporate-based background of the promotions rather than at front and center.

However, could 2024 be the year that changes, and could that mean some kind of UFC/WWE crossover? Absolutely.

It isn’t likely that we’ll see any joint events any time soon, as such a thing would probably be too jarring and difficult from a logistic point of view.

We have, though, seen numerous fighters cross over into the WWE ring before – and vice versa – with the likes of Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, and CM Punk all prominently featuring for both promotions.

Are there some current stars who could make a crossover work? The UFC definitely has plenty of fighters who have the charisma to succeed in WWE, and it’s easy to imagine Conor McGregor or Israel Adesanya in the squared circle.

WWE, meanwhile, has a number of athletes with a high-level wrestling background, including Chad Gable, Otis, and the Creed Brothers. While they’d obviously need MMA-specific training, octagon success for them wouldn’t be impossible.

Therefore, while the merger has to date been a quiet one, that could definitely change with a crossover or two in 2024.