The Ultimate Fighting Championship has brought some iconic and historic moments from the Octagon for the fans and other viewers alike. After 31 years of this billion-dollar promotion’s existence, Dana White and Co. have given us fans marquee memorable moments like UFC 194 in 2015 when Conor McGregor destroyed Jose Aldo in 13 seconds with a counter left hook that floored the then-seemingly invincible Brazilian ex-featherweight champ. And who can forget the previous card from that year, UFC 193, where Holly Holm set the stage for the then-undefeated Ronda Rousey’s retirement with a thunderous head kick heard around the world?

Each passing year gives us better fights, with continuously evolving fighters and technical meta that give fans more iconic moments to talk about long after the events are done. Remember UFC 229 in 2018? Yes, the same event where Khabib Nurmagomedov derailed the legacy of Conor McGregor, and even went after his team. That’s a storied event no one can forget about. 2024 has been no different, and we might have witnessed possibly the best year in UFC history, with marquee events that had fight fans foaming at the mouth. In that being, let’s look at five of the most memorable moments of UFC in 2024.

Max Holloway KOs Justin Gaethje

Let’s be honest – fans tune in to watch fighters knock each other out. We have to assume that not every fan who watches MMA practices the sport, so we can’t blame them for booing more nuanced aspects of the sport like ground fighting or laying and preying (wrestling heavy, top control positions). A knockout will make even the most uneducated fight fan turn their head. 2024 gave us some iconic knockouts. What was the most iconic knockout this year? Why, Max Holloway KO’ing Justin Gaethje of course!

A buzzer-beater KO – at the last second of the last round of their bout. Max Holloway pointed to the floor like he always does, Justin Gaethje obliged, and off they went swinging. The last 10 seconds of the third fight in the main card of UFC 300. Everyone was on the edge – one of these men was going down. In the end, a picture-perfect right hook from ‘Blessed’ landed flush on ‘The Highlight’ putting the latter’s lights out, sending him face-planted on the canvas. It was sealed. Max Holloway cemented his legacy as ‘the baddest motherf—-r’ in the sport of mixed martial arts. What a night!

Max Holloway’s scream at the end of the bout, after his iconic KO was reflective of the part of him he left back in that Octagon for fans’ entertainment. Literally, he went toe-to-toe with one of the most dangerous power-strikers in the promotion and put that man’s lights out.

Alex Pereira brutally finishes Khalil Rountree

This year was Alex Pereira‘s, quite literally – and he was given his dues for it with the ‘Fighter of the Year’ accolade at the 2024 World MMA Awards. He showed up thrice this year, twice on short notice, and knocked all three of his opponents out. The most iconic, however, was his fight against Khalil Rountree.

And Khalil Rountree, is perhaps, the fighter that gave ‘Poatan’ the most amount of trouble this year, and probably gave him the toughest fight in the light heavyweight division. The only man to survive Pereira’s onslaught at LHW was indeed Jan Blachowicz, but that was the Brazilian’s debut at the weight class. He probably needed to gauge his opponent before going in for the possible finish. Moreover, he came off a brutal KO to former foe Israel Adesanya in his previous fight, so it’s understandable if he was a bit shy to pull the trigger.

But by the time Khalil Rountree Jr. got to the light heavyweight champion, ‘Poatan’ had already found his footing in the division, and seemed less afraid to engage in a heated exchange. In a commendable effort, Rountree took it to Pereira, even hurting him badly in the second round. But a focused Alex Pereira gathered his bearings, and picked Khalil Rountree apart, eventually finishing him in the fourth round at UFC 307.

Israel Adesanya vs Dricus Du Plessis rivalry finally ends

Who is the real African fighter? This was a question haunting Israel Adesanya, as Dricus Du Plessis’ legitimacy as the representational champ from that continent, especially since Adsanya has worn three flags around his shoulders in his kickboxing and MMA bouts – Nigeria, New Zealand, and China. This rivalry was ugly, and when Du Plessis finished Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Adesanya had the opportunity to finally get in the face of the South African ‘Stillknocks’. What did he do? He dropped a series of N-bombs that definitely made most of us cringe. Of course, ‘DDP’ wasn’t going to let this go, and made ‘The Last Stylebender’ cry in their UFC 305 press conference.

Well, the fight didn’t go in Adesanya’s favor, and ‘Stillknocks’ became the first man to submit the Nigerian-born Kiwi inside the Octagon. Immediately after that, he paid homage to Adesanya, calling the former two-time champ a “legend” and a future “Hall of Famer.” After this loss, Adesanya too, conceded and said that he would not mind hanging out with ‘DDP’ in the future even though that does not stop him from wanting a rematch with him.

“I’m not desperate to get it back,” Adesanya said post-fight. “He gave me a lot of respect in there and I gave him his respect back. I already knew he was a fan of me. But now I’m a fan of his because we’ve been in there, we’ve done it. When I’m in South Africa, I’ll tap in with him. I said, ‘Look, we can hang out, but just so you know when we have to fight again, I’m going to k-ll you.’ He’s like, ‘I’m going to k-ll you too.’ Respect is always there.”

It’s always nice to see fighters having bad blood, settle their personal differences after a hard-fought battle. We’re hoping to see these both showdown sometime in the future, but it also looks like Israel Adesanya has a long road back to the title. Let’s see how things play out.

Jon Jones finally makes his first title defense against Stipe Miocic

Ah yes, we can’t mention a ‘best of the year’ list without mentioning an active Jon Jones. Well, he hasn’t really been as active as he was in his light-heavyweight days, so let’s cut him some slack, especially since he’s been taking strays for refusing the Tom Aspinall fight. Nevertheless, he had an incredible showing against Stipe Miocic one-and-a-half years after clinching the vacant heavyweight title from Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

In his first title defense against Stipe Miocci at UFC 309, ‘Bones’ overwhelmed the Ohio native with body strikes, before finding a picture-perfect spinning back-kick that floor Miocic in the third round. What followed were punishing strikes but we’ll remember the iconic moment for the kick he threw. Absolute art in motion. The bout happened in front of President-elect Donald Trump, and Jones did the POTUS’s iconic YMCA dance in celebration, that had everyone in a fit of laughter.

All that is great for television and all, but what about Tom Aspinall? The interim champion, who defended his interim title in the presence of an active undisputed champion (sounds absurd, we know). To rub Aspinall’s nose in salt, Jones – who expressed his disdain for the Englishman – called for a fight against Alex Pereira instead.

“I’m not worried about the Tom fight. I’m worried about the Pereira fight. That’s what I want to do. I think if the UFC wants to have me back, then I think that’s the fight they’ll make. I’ve been clear about my intentions. That’s what I want. I just feel like anybody would understand at this point. I’ll retire the heavyweight belt if I have to. Tom can have the heavyweight championship. I don’t care about it.”, said ‘Bones’ at the post-fight press conference. However, all hope is not lost. Jones has agreed to face Aspinall, but for “f–k you money”. All that Uncle Dana has to do now, is oblige the man who he went to war with the media for, over the P4P rankings!

Riyadh Season Noche UFC: Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili

UFC Noche aka UFC 306 was arguably the biggest event of 2024. With an expense of approximately between $20 and $22 million, Dana White put on a magnificent show at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The icing on the cake was the bantamweight championship fight between Merab Dvalishvili and former champion Sean O’Malley.

On this historic night, the Georgian became the second fighter from the Eastern European nation to become UFC champion, while featherweight champion Ilia Topuria was the first. This also caused a seismic shift for the bantamweight Division as ‘Suga’ was on a memorable run as champion before losing the belt to ‘The Machine’.

With 2024 behind us, it’s time to count our blessings as fight fans and look forward to yet another year of memorable fights in the making. Dana White has promised us something big. Will he deliver? Let’s wait and see.