A new year is here, and that means it’s time for Combat Press to take a look back at the best of MMA in 2024. In the coming days, Combat Press will announce its award winners in multiple categories, covering everything from the action in the cage to the biggest stories surrounding the sport.
Most fighters compete twice in a calendar year, three times in a particularly active year. Any fighter who is able to fight four times in a year is obviously doing something right. Avoiding damage in mixed martial arts is nearly impossible, and, with damage, comes time off to recover. Going undefeated with four victories in a year is quite an accomplishment, and that is exactly what Joaquin Buckley did in 2024. He is a familiar name and maybe not the quintessential “breakout fighter,” because he has been signed with the UFC since 2020, but he took things to a whole new level.
Buckley scored three stoppage victories in four wins, starting in Mar. 2024 with a TKO victory over Vicente Luque. That was just the beginning of a jaw-dropping year for “New Mansa”. He followed that win by scoring a unanimous decision over highly-touted prospect Nursulton Ruziboev less than two months later. His final two wins of the year came over the biggest names possible and elite contenders. He knocked out former multiple-time title challenger and puzzling opponent Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, and would end the year by battering former interim champion Colby “Chaos” Covington en route to a TKO victory in the UFC’s final event of 2024. He may not be new to the promotion or new to most fans, but, with the year of success that he had over increasingly difficult and well-known fighters, Joaquin Buckley has earned the 2024 Combat Press MMA Award for Breakout Fighter of the Year.