5 UFC fighters who lived up to their hype in 2024 feat. Ilia Topuria
The UFC witnessed various fighters achieve incredible success over the course of the 2024 calendar year. Some of them reaffirmed their status as the undisputed rulers of their respective divisions, while others wreaked havoc to solidify their top contender status.
The term hype is sometimes utilized with a rather negative connotation in the combat sports dominion and beyond. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be negative or hyperbolic to say that the five fighters we're going to discuss competed in 2024 with their fair share of hype. Well, they proved that the said hype was indeed well-deserved! Without further ado, let's get to it.
#5 Umar Nurmagomedov
Umar Nurmagomedov has long been praised for his stellar grappling prowess and hailed as a future UFC champion. 'Young Eagle' is the older brother of Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov and cousin to former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Akin to Usman and Khabib, Umar too has been known to split his training between his native Dagestan and the world-renowned AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) in California, U.S.A. He competed twice in the 2024 calendar year, securing unanimous decision wins over Bekzat Almakhan in March and Cory Sandhagen in August.
Sandhagen has long been viewed as one of the most dangerous strikers and skilled fighters at 135 pounds. As such, Umar Nurmagomedov's victory over 'The Sandman' was a game-changer for him. Umar held his own in the striking department and excelled in the grappling department. It helped the Dagestani combatant cement his position as a divisional elite.
Merab Dvalishvili captured the UFC bantamweight title by outpointing 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley in September 2024 and has long been at odds with Umar. Well, given that Umar proved his mettle and lived up to his hype this year, he's been booked to face Dvalishvili for the latter's title at UFC 311 on Jan. 18, 2025.
#4 Kayla Harrison
Kayla Harrison is a Judo legend, who boasts a pair of Olympic gold medals in the sport. She captured her first gold at the 2012 and her second at the 2016 Olympic Games. Akin to her former roommate and ex-training partner, Judo and MMA legend 'Rowdy' Ronda Rousey, Harrison transitioned from Judo to the sport of MMA.
The American is a former PFL women's lightweight champion and has been lauded by many for having been the face of the PFL MMA organization for several years. Harrison has lost just once in MMA, being outpointed by Larissa Pacheco -- an opponent whom she'd previously outpointed twice.
She's since rebounded with three consecutive wins. Harrison made her UFC debut in 2024, that too at bantamweight! She earned plaudits for her unparalleled discipline in cutting down all the way to bantamweight, as the UFC doesn't have a women's lightweight division and the women's featherweight division has seemingly been frozen after Amanda Nunes' retirement.
Harrison's maiden octagon appearance saw her submit ex-UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm in April 2024. Her second fight came against Ketlen Vieira, a dangerous grappler and athlete who many feel is in her athletic prime and a bonafide threat. Harrison suffered a cut but ensured that she clearly outworked Vieira, winning their October 2024 fight via unanimous decision.
Presently, the belief is that Harrison could likely face longtime rival, current UFC women's bantamweight champion Julianna Pena, for the latter's title next.
#3 Joaquin Buckley
The year 2020 was filled with ups and downs for Joaquin Buckley's career. 'New Mansa' suffered a TKO stoppage defeat against fan favorite Kevin Holland in their middleweight bout. However, Buckley then bounced back with a thunderous spinning back kick knockout win over Impa Kasanganay, a KO that went viral and is still popular in various combat sports highlight reels.
Many felt that after the star-making knockout against Kasanganay, Buckley had a bright future as a middleweight, with a number of fans particularly hyping his striking skills and terrifying KO power. A few victories and defeats later, the American opted to move down to the welterweight division. Since his shift to 170 pounds, he's 6-0 inside the octagon.
Moreover, Buckley competed four times in 2024. He bested welterweight staple Vicente Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, karate great and veteran fighter Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson, and ex-interim UFC welterweight champion Colby 'Chaos' Covington. Buckley's wins over Luque, Thompson, and Covington all came via KO/TKO.
Buckley's striking especially shined throughout the year, and he's been lobbying for a showdown against ex-UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman next. It's believed that 'New Mansa' is really close to possibly securing a title shot with another impressive win.
Some of his supporters foresee Buckley possibly dethroning the winner of the expected UFC welterweight title fight between current champion Belal Muhammad and the consensus top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.
#2 UFC icon Alex Pereira
Alex Pereira is beheld as a combat sports legend, having previously held the Glory middleweight and light heavyweight titles in the sport of kickboxing and the UFC middleweight title in MMA. In April 2023, 'Poatan' was knocked out by longtime rival Israel Adesanya, whom he'd previously beaten twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. Pereira then exited the UFC's middleweight division.
The Brazilian eventually captured the UFC light heavyweight title by stopping former divisional kingpin Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO in November 2023. Certain skeptics felt Pereira would struggle at light heavyweight. Alternatively, his supporters hyped him by opining that the weight cut to middleweight hurt him, adding that his health and performance would benefit at light heavyweight.
Pereira shut down many of his detractors by competing thrice in 2024 and scoring stoppage wins in all three outings. He stepped in on short notice to save the landmark UFC 300 event in April 2024, stopping former divisional kingpin Jamahal Hill via first-round KO. 'Poatan' then saved the infamous UFC 303 card in June 2024 on short notice and stopped Prochazka via second-round TKO again.
In his most recent octagon appearance, Pereira stopped fellow striking wizard Khalil Rountree Jr. via fourth-round TKO in October 2024. He's expected to defend his light heavyweight belt against Magomed Ankalaev sometime in 2025. That said, Pereira has campaigned for three-division champion status by pursuing UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who's also interested in facing 'Poatan.'
#1 Ilia Topuria
Over his past couple of fights, the undefeated Ilia Topuria has etched his name in combat sports history by beating two of the consensus greatest featherweights ever. The Georgian-Spaniard dethroned Alexander Volkanovski to capture the UFC featherweight title, besting 'The Great' via second-round KO in February 2024.
'El Matador' then notched his first title defense by stopping ex-UFC featherweight champion and reigning BMF champion Max Holloway via third-round KO in October 2024. Topuria thereby earned the distinction of being the first fighter to knock the granite chin-boasting Holloway out in professional MMA competition.
Topuria could defend his featherweight championship against top contenders next, perhaps Diego Lopes or Movsar Evloev. However, he's lately been lobbying for a shot at Islam Makhachev's UFC lightweight title. He's even willing to fight a top lightweight like Charles Oliveira -- while Makhachev settles his feud with Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 -- and then fight for lightweight gold.
Irrespective of whether the UFC books Topuria to defend his featherweight belt or schedules him for a lightweight contender fight/title shot, it's undeniable that Topuria's hype was warranted. He silenced a lot of naysayers with his skills and will in 2024 and has vowed to do the same in 2025.