It's the first day of 2025, but that doesn't mean we're done looking back on what was an excellent year of Mixed Martial Arts action in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
This time it's Michael 'The Count' Bisping's turn to get the review, with the former middleweight champion giving his overview of the five best fights of 2024.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
MMA legend Michael Bisping lists his top five UFC fights of 2024
Michael Bisping has witnessed plenty of incredible fights from the UFC broadcast booth in 2024, but there are five insane fights that stand head and shoulders above the rest.
His fifth-best UFC fight of 2024 was Dricus Du Plessis' victory over Israel Adesanya; with Stillknocks retaining his title via rear naked choke in the fourth round at UFC 305.
“Israel Adesanya had his moments, but Dricus Du Plessis ran with him – and he looked a little off, a little clumsy – but Dricus Du Plessis is an incredible fighter.
“Well done Dricus Du Plessis, the man was able to do something to Israel Adesanya that no man has ever been able to do and let's face it, anyone who has fought Adesanya, that has always been the plan – unless your name is : of course, Alex Pereira.
Bisping's best fourth-place fight of the past year actually ended on the final card of 2024, UFC Tampa: Covington vs Buckley – not the main event, but the co-main between Cub Swanson and Billy Quarantillo.
As aptly noted by The Count, Swanson is a “true pioneer and an OG of the mixed martial arts scene,” and in the first round in Tampa, the featherweight veteran “looked like Cub Swanson in his prime.”
“Billy Q, however, is not a man to be underestimated and in the second round he started to find the rhythm, find the reach and find the chin – it didn't matter what he landed… And that's what you want to see in a great fight, back and forth action.
“One man going out and dominating doesn't make for a great fight, that makes for great performances – but great fights require back and forth action and that's exactly what we saw [and] the crowd in Tampa went crazy.”
Bisping's third favorite fight of 2024 came at UFC 307 – the light-heavyweight showdown between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr.
“We love to see the great displays of mixed martial arts action, we love to see the knockouts, but to be the hammer and the nail, lose a few rounds and still stay calm, and then to come back – to get revenge and get a fourth-round knockout – that's part of movies.
“It was a beautiful performance from Khalil… But it didn't matter, Pereira never looked panicked, he was always calm… And the finishing combination looked like something out of a video game, hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink .”
'The Diamond' earns the silver medal alongside Benoit Saint-Denis for their incredible lightweight bout at UFC 299, with the Frenchman showing “absolutely no respect” to his veteran opponent.
“The enormous pressure from Benoit Saint-Denis and an incredible show of heart and will from Dustin Poirier – some of the shots he ate, some of the knees that went to mush, would have knocked out lesser opponents, but Dustin Poirier stayed in that fight.
“I was on the edge of my seat, it was one of the most entertaining two rounds of MMA action you're likely to encounter – Dustin Poirier, incredible… That fight right there should be in the Hall of Fame one day.”
And finally, and this should really come as a surprise, was Max Holloway's BMF title-winning clash with Justin Gaethje from UFC 300.
“This one had it all; the event – UFC 300, the bonuses – $300,000 each, and of course Max Holloway's move to lightweight… What an incredible fight this was.
“They both threw, they both traded, they both gave us everything we wanted to see in Mixed Martial Arts and of course it ended with the success of Max Holloway and the unconscious Justin Gaethje – something we never thought would happen. ”
Holloway vs Gaethje was an incredible fight indeed, and one that deserves its own wing in the Hall of Fame – although Bloody Elbow's best fight of 2024 wasn't even mentioned by Bisping.
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