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.
With the explosion of legality in sports betting, mixed martial arts fights are becoming increasingly gambled upon, and, therefore, the odds are listed practically everywhere. Odds don’t tell the full story, but they provide a good baseline for what to expect heading into a matchup. With that in mind, Gabriella Fernandes was not expected to fare well against Cong Wang when the pair met in Macau in Nov. 2024. On most sportsbooks, Fernandes was listed somewhere around +750, meaning she was more than a seven-to-one underdog. Wang was listed at -950, an almost ten-to-one favorite.
Clearly, Fernandes could not have cared less about the oddsmakers’ opinions. She held her own on the feet early with Wang, who holds a kickboxing win over Valentina Shevchenko and entered the bout with Fernandes undefeated. Perhaps buoyed by the emotions she was feeling just days after learning her sister passed away, Fernandes would land a clean left hook in the second round that dropped Wang. She would then waste no time following Wang to the mat where she would sink in a smooth rear-naked choke that forced the tap. Fans in attendance, those watching at home, commentators, pundits, and UFC executives were all shocked by how things played out.
Fernandes wasn’t supposed to derail the momentum of Wang, who many people thought would be the next big thing inside the women’s flyweight division. Apparently, nobody told Fernandes that, as she showed the poise and talent of a true veteran who was more than up for the challenge. For overcoming both the gambling odds and the personal grief, Gabriella Fernandes has earned the 2024 Combat Press MMA Award for Upset of the Year with her submission win over Cong Wang.