Dana White and Co. had their hands full this year, especially with marquee events like UFC 300 and the groundbreaking UFC Noche (UFC 306) at the Las Vegas Sphere. However, those weren’t the only things keeping White and Hunter Campbell busy. The rivalries within the promotion this year have been nothing short of captivating. Honestly, the UFC has thrived on iconic rivalries such as Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, and this year the MMA community was treated to yet another feast of thrilling clashes.

From the Sean Strickland-Dricus Du Plessis fiasco to Alex Pereira and Jiri Procházka’s in-Octagon intensity, 2024 has been nothing short of spectacular when it comes to back-to-back rivalries. But which ones stand out as the best? It’s time to take a closer look at the top five UFC rivalries of 2024. Let’s get started!

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis

It would be a grave sin not to talk about a rivalry without the epic fiasco between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. After clinching the middleweight belt from Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland was called out by the then-number-one contender Dricus Du Plessis for a clash. Their initial back-and-forth resulted the UFC CEO Dana White scheduling their match at UFC 297. However, is this the end of this story? Well, not at all.

At the UFC seasonal press conference, Dricus Du Plessis delivered cutting (and extremely personal) remarks that nearly brought Sean Strickland to tears, invoking the childhood trauma he experienced at the hands of his father. Strickland, even in one of his statements said that ‘StillKnocks’ did hit an aching nerve. The former champion was silent on the comment at that time but when Dana White made the mistake of placing Strickland and Du Plessis near each other at the UFC 296 event, an explosion erupted.

Strickland and Du Plessis were involved in a cage-side brawl during the UFC 296 matches, causing utter chaos around those seated near both fighters. Security quickly intervened, pulling them apart to restore order. Dana White took the blame upon himself for placing them near each other at the post-fight press conference. Regardless, both of them finally clashed at UFC 297 and after a hard-fought battle, Dricus Du Plessis won the belt from Strickland. However, ‘Tarzan’ has the opportunity to take the revenge as their rematch is scheduled for UFC 312 next year. For middleweight, let’s move to a rivalry in the light heavyweight division.

Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka

‘The Czech Samurai’ vs. ‘The Amazonian Warrior’ should have been the name for the initial clash between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira. It was a hyped clash that happened at the UFC 295 main event. The light-heavyweight belt was on the line and Pereira came face-to-face against a man who had previously defeated Pereira’s teammate, Glover Teixeira, at UFC 275 to claim the title.

The fight was more than just a title defense for the Brazilian; it was revenge for his close friend Teixeira. Going into the fight, fans were a bit skeptical about Alex Pereira‘s prowess against Jiri Prochazka because ‘Poatan’ went into the distance against Jan Blachowicz in his first light-heavyweight clash. However, as the cage was locked at UFC 295, Pereira made sure to silence everyone as he brutally knocked out Prochakza in the second round with elbows and a ground and pound to clinch the UFC gold. ‘BJP’ accepted his defeat at first but later claimed that it was an early stoppage from Herb Dean.

Well, was it the end of their rivalry? Not at all, as both of these fighters again squared off at UFC 303. Ahead of their clash, Prochakza claimed that Pereira engaged in shamanic rituals to help him secure the victory. Regardless, as the cage locked in again at UFC 303, Pereira again knocked out Prochakza in the second round by way of a kick to the head at a distance which had Prochazka nearly unconscious. With this thundering kick, the debate about an early stoppage in the first fight was officially over. From the second-heaviest division in the UFC, we’ll move onto a rivalry in the second-lightest division in the promotion, i.e., the bantamweight division.

Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili watched closely as Sean O’Malley successfully defended his title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299. After the match, both of them confronted each other, and ‘The Machine’ asked a single question to the champion: Why is ‘Suga’ not taking his name as the potential contender? His question was disregarded by O’Malley, who was injured after his five-round waw against ‘Chito’.

Well, their back-and-forth resulted in a clash as Dana White scheduled UFC Noche at The Sphere to be their battleground. Going into the fight, O’Malley was completely unfiltered in his approach. In one of his statements ahead of the match, he wrote on X, “Are all Georgians runts? @illia @MerabDvalishvili.” At the weigh-ins, O’Malley warned Dvalishvili that he would take him to the pain zone, “I’m gonna knock you the f**k out, baby. Your worst nightmare is about to come true. You close your eyes at night, and you see yourself getting knocked the f**k out, and that’s what’s about to happen.”

An unfazed Dvalishvili calmly stated, “Let’s see… Enjoy your time now; you are a champion, so keep enjoying… Respect, see you Saturday.” The buildup for the fight was quite fierce between them but what happened in the fight? Well, Sean O’Malley got outclassed over five rounds by ‘The Machine’ and the Georgian’s wrestling proved too much for ‘Suga’.  In one instance Merab Dvalishvili even tried to humiliate Sean O’Mally by kissing him on his back at the end of round two. Regardless, ‘The Machine’ won the bout by way of a unanimous decision, thus becoming the new champion. From the bantamweight division, let us now move forward to the baddest division in the promotion, i.e., heavyweight.

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall

It all started last year when Jon Jones injured himself ahead of his first scheduled title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, last November, only for it to be routed to UFC 309 in November. With Jones being out of UFC 295, the UFC elevated Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka 1 as the main event, and Tom Aspinall fought Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title belt in the co-main. The Englishman won the belt by knocking Pavlovich out within 69 seconds of the very first round, thus becoming a champion. However, the road to the undisputed title has proven to be more tricky for Aspinall.

Both Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic refused to clash with the young heavyweight as both of them were stubborn about facing each other. This forced Aspinall to actually defend his interim heavyweight belt by exacting revenge against his lone promotional loss, Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. Ahead of Jones’s clash with Miocic, Aspinall stated that Jones should either retire from the sport after his clash against Miocic at UFC 309 or settle the score with him at any future date.

And, guess what? Jones defeated Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 but refused to retire from the sport, without mentioning the Englishman, which put Aspinall in a serious dilemma. However, Dana White came to the British fighter’s rescue, as now the entirety of the promotion seems to be trying their best to clinch in Jones to clash against Tom Aspinall. Well, as of now, nothing is certain but the probability of their clash is at an all-time high. Regardless, we’ve kept the best rivalry for last, as we’ll now take a look at one of the most exciting ones of 2024 in the featherweight division.

Ilia Topuria vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski is arguably one of the greatest featherweights of all time. ‘The Great’ was the featherweight king for four years with five defenses, and looked unstoppable until he met the unstoppable force that is Ilia Topuria. The undefeated ‘El Matador’ came in as a storm in Volkanovski’s life and took his title away from him when they fought each other at UFC 298. Ahead of their clash, the Georgian-Spaniard promised that he would knock the Australian champion out in the match while asserting that ‘The Great’ was nothing special.

Speaking to the media about Volk’s last successful defense against Yair Rodriguez, Ilia Topuria added, “He did what he was supposed to do. He did a good job in the fight. He took him down, ground, and pound. I wasn’t impressed at all. I saw what I was supposed to see – you know, beat [Rodriguez] because I never liked Jair’s fight style. For me, it’s going to be an easy fight [with Volkanovski]. Every time I move up in the rankings, every fight is going to be more easy for me. it’s going to be an easy fight [with Volkanovski]. “

Ilia Topuria even snatched the featherweight belt in the same fashion as Conor McGregor’s from Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 pre-fight press conference. Regardless, on the day of the fight, the entire MMA community was rooting for ‘The Great’ but ‘El Matador’ pulled the biggest upset of the year by knocking out Volkanovski in the second round to cement himself as the featherweight champ. We had a hard time choosing between Topuria vs. Holloway and this one, but since this victory was his crowning moment as champion, we went with this one.

Regardless, what do you think of our picks? Do you think these were the biggest UFC rivalries of 2024? Let us know in the comments down below.