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.
This year was a big one for the UFC. Within the calendar year fell UFC 300, a card that was billed as perhaps the biggest event in the promotion’s 30-plus years in existence. Unlike some pay per view events, this card wasn’t headlined by a marquee matchup with lackluster fights earlier in the card. There was name recognition from top to bottom, with a pair of former champions opening the card on the early prelims. The night got off to an electric start as Deiveson Figueiredo submitted Cody Garbrandt in the second round of their contest.
That was just the beginning of the highlights, with seven more fights ending before the judges were necessary. It would conclude with a monstrous performance by Alex Pereira, as he knocked out Jamahal Hill in the main event. Prior to that, Max Holloway scored one of the most vicious and impressive knockouts of all time in his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje. The co-main event may have gone the distance, but it was a thrilling women’s strawweight contest with Weili Zhang retaining her title by defeating her fellow countrywoman Yan Xiaonan.
Two official title bouts and the artificial, yet ever important, BMF title contested all on the same night, and each one of those fights lived up to expectations. Add a submission win by Bo Nickal over Cody Brundage and a closely contested fight between two of the best lightweights on the planet with Arman Tsarukyan defeating former champion Charles Oliveira, and it is clear to see why UFC 300 earns the Combat Press 2024 MMA Award for Event of the Year.