Ex-UFC King Snubs Alex Pereira, Picks Ilia Topuria as Top Fighter in 2024 With His Stunning Featherweight Takeover
Sorry Alex Pereira, you were not the Fighter of the Year according to one former UFC champion.
While ‘Poatan’ topped many of 2024’s best-of lists, including LowKick MMA’s own Fighter of the Year award, former middleweight king Robert Whittaker thinks there was another fighter who outperformed the Brazilian boogeyman over the last 12 months.
“My fight of the year—and I’ve mentioned this on a Unibet video that I did recently as well—is Ilia Topuria,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade podcast. “I think, not only… yeah, I think the work that he has put in this year, the names that he has defeated in his division, like Alex Volkanovski—probably one of the best featherweights ever—and Max Holloway, one of the best featherweights ever again.
“Two guys that stand out to me in that division, so far ahead of the rest of the division. I mean, the gap was massive. It’s like, when we saw Volk beat Max, and then Max didn’t reclaim that title, I—and a lot of other people—thought, “Who beats him?” Because then Max went back to the pool and just started destroying people. You saw how big that gap difference was between Max and the rest of the division, which means, how good is Volk?
“And then Topuria comes in and finishes both of them.”
Who’s 2024 was better? Alex Pereira or Ilia Topuria?
For most people, it was a close call between Pereira and Topuria. ‘Poatan’ successfully defended his light heavyweight world title three times throughout the year, scoring highlight-reel knockouts against Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree.
Meanwhile, ‘El Matador’ changed the landscape of the featherweight division, starting with his stunning second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February. He followed that up with a history-making win over division staple Max Holloway, becoming the first fighter to KO ‘Blessed’ in his mixed martial arts career.
Beating two of the absolute best 145’ers of all time in back-to-back fights was enough for many, including Whittaker, to give Topuria the Fighter of the Year honors.
Do you agree with ‘The Reaper,’ or were Pereira’s trio of title defenses more impressive than what Topuria accomplished?
