Not Alex Pereira or Ilia Topuria, renowned MMA coach picks UFC Tampa star as his 'Fighter of the Year 2024': "Resurrection needs to be studied"
Alex Pereira was crowned the 2024 Fighter of the Year (FOTY) at the annual World MMA Awards, narrowly pipping Ilia Topuria to the title, as both fighters had incredible calender years. But according to highly-regarded MMA coach, Eric Nicksick, the 2024 Fighter of the Year is none other than Joaquin Buckley, who defeated Colby Covington at UFC Tampa on Dec. 14.
Buckley and 'Chaos' headlined the promotion's final card of the year, with 'New Mansa' securing a third-round stoppage victory after a cage-side physician deemed Covington's cut above his eye to be too severe to continue.
Since moving from middleweight to welterweight in May 2023, the Missouri native has gone 6-0. Buckley has won four fights in 2024, with three of those wins coming via stoppage, including his last two wins.
Nicksick is the longtime coach of Francis Ngannou, Sean Strickland and many other elite MMA fighters. Following UFC Tampa, he took to X to share his Fighter of the Year pick, writing:
"Real talk, @NewMansa94 resurrection needs to be studied. 6-0 in a new division with 4 stoppages. 4-0 in 2024. Ladies and Gentlemen, he's your 2024 Fighter of the Year. I'm out."
Check out Eric Nicksick name Joaquin Buckley FOTY over Alex Pereira below:
Dana White heaps praise on Alex Pereira but refrains from calling him Fighter of the Year
Alex Pereira sucessfully defended his title three times in 2024, with all wins coming via stoppage. To add to that, one of his title defenses came on short notice, at UFC 303 against Jiri Prochazka, after the initial main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler fell apart due to injury.
The Brazilian was awarded the 2024 Fighter of the Year as a result of his incredible three-fight run. But Ilia Topuria's KO wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back fights saw some fans call for him to be crowned 2024 FOTY.
Following UFC Tampa held on Dec. 14, promotional CEO Dana White appeared in front of the media, where he was asked to pick his FOTY between Pereira and Topuria. He said:
"It's tough with those two, it's tough. When you look at Alex, he's taken last-minute fights. He's on vacation, comes in and fights. Not 100% [healthy] and comes in an fights. I don't even want to say a name, I respect the s**t out of both of them for what they've done."
Check out Dana White discussing Alex Pereira below (3:42):