The coveted Fighter of the Year award, celebrating the UFC’s most accomplished operator of 2024, will seemingly be contested by Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria.
Both fighters, after all, have steamrolled some of the sport’s most formidable campaigners in a bid to reach astronomical levels of greatness.
For Alex Pereira, the prize was within touching distance following his scintillating stoppages over top contenders Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr.
Ilia Topuria, meanwhile, has catapulted himself into the mix after dethroning MMA legend Alexander Volkanovski several months before his brutal knockout against Max Holloway at UFC 308.
Daniel Cormier explains why Ilia Topuria deserves to be UFC ‘Fighter of the Year’ over Alex Pereira
Both Pereira and Topuria, of course, are widely regarded as two of MMA’s most elite boxers, ending the majority of fights with their striking prowess.
The pair are, in fact, set to see out the year without going the five-round championship distance, making light work of their fierce opposition.
With three strong performances under his belt, though, it could be said that Pereira marginally has the stronger claim to receive Fighter of the Year status.
And yet, while he boasts one less victory than the light heavyweight king, it could also be argued that Topuria is more deserving of the award.
Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier, for instance, believes that, after dispatching two all-time greats in emphatic fashion, the 27-year-old has done enough to get the nod.
“The ‘Fighter of the Year’ conversation felt like it was over. Alex Pereira was the guy that was ‘Fighter of the Year,’ no questions asked,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
“That’s not the case [anymore]. I think that these two wins [for Topuria] singularly are as good as any two wins anybody can have.
“[Topuria] just beat two of the greatest featherweights of all time. There’s only three. He beat two of them in a calendar year.”
Would a win over Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 make Belal Muhammad ‘Fighter of the Year?’
While MMA fans argue over who has had the most successful year, there is still one more fighter who, before long, could enter the heated discussion.
Following his stunning unanimous decision victory over Leon Edwards earlier this year, Belal Muhammad not only snatched the welterweight title but proved that he is among his sport’s most elite.
And so, now that he has joined Pereira and Topuria as a top five pound-for-pound star, a victory over unbeaten contender Shavkat Rakhmonov on December 7 could put Muhammad in the Fighter of the Year conversation too.
But still, it would nonetheless be difficult to look past Topuria’s career-defining performances against two of the all-time greatest featherweights.