The most important MMA promotions have wrapped up their schedules for 2024, so it’s time to crown this 12 months’s MMA Information award winners.
Getting the ball rolling would be the Feminine Fighter of the 12 months, as we decide which lady among the many UFC, PFL, and ONE Championship rosters stood out from the remaining in 2024.
Voting Panel:
Harvey Leonard, Kyle Dimond, Andrew Starc, Thomas Albano, Ryan Jarrell, Andrew Ravens
Honorable Mentions:
8. Zhang Weili – UFC strawweight champion
7. Natália Silva – UFC flyweight contender
6. Virna Jandiroba – UFC strawweight contender
Now, on to the 5 feminine fighters who acquired essentially the most votes for this 12 months’s award, together with the 2024 winner.
5. Jasmine Jasudavicius – UFC Flyweight Contender
2024 marked flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius’ third calendar 12 months competing below the UFC banner, and it was by far her finest.
After going 1-1 in 2022 and 2-1 in 2023, the Canadian standout loved an unbeaten 3-0 12 months within the Octagon. After initially bouncing again from her setback towards Tracy Cortez by submitting Priscila Cachoeira on house soil this previous January, the 35-year-old outpointed extremely regarded debutant Fatima Kline in Colorado earlier than getting one other end in entrance of her compatriots on the expense of Ariane Lipski da Silva.
Having risen to #12 within the rankings with three straight wins, two of which earned her Efficiency of the Evening bonuses, Jasudavicius has earned fifth place on this 12 months’s MMA Information award.
4. Cris Cyborg – Bellator Featherweight & PFL Tremendous Fights Featherweight Champion
MMA legend Cris Cyborg marks considered one of two fighters to crack the highest 5 with only one battle in 2024.
The previous UFC featherweight queen and present Bellator champion spent a lot of this 12 months expressing discontent at her battle to safe a debut within the PFL. However that lastly got here to fruition on the Battle of the Giants pay-per-view in October, the place she competed for the inaugural PFL Tremendous Fights featherweight belt towards the promotion’s first and solely two-weight title winner, Larissa Pacheco.
The 39-year-old confirmed that she’s bought loads left within the tank, rising victorious from a brutal five-round battle. In doing so, Cyborg ended Pacheco’s 10-fight win streak, which included a victory over Kayla Harrison and consecutive PFL season triumphs at 155 and 145 kilos.
3. Valentina Shevchenko – UFC Flyweight Champion
Like Cyborg, one other all-time MMA nice in Valentina Shevchenko additionally delivered in an enormous means together with her sole look within the cage this 12 months.
After a defeat and draw towards Alexa Grasso in 2023, many had written off “Bullet’s” probabilities of returning to the flyweight throne when she and the Mexican accomplished their trilogy at Noche UFC contained in the Sphere this previous September. However extra than simply proving her detractors improper, Shevchenko completely dominated Grasso throughout 5 rounds to start a second reign at 125 kilos.
That one-sided efficiency defied the expectations of most, that means Shevchenko will get the bronze on this 12 months’s award.
2. Kayla Harrison – UFC Bantamweight Contender
The highest UFC fighter within the 2024 award is Kayla Harrison, whose debut 12 months on MMA’s largest stage couldn’t have gone a lot better.
The 2-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo swapped the PFL for the UFC, arriving within the Octagon for the primary time on the milestone UFC 300 occasion this previous April. The 2019 and 2021 PFL title winner was tasked with beating Holly Holm if she was to instantly stake her declare for a bantamweight title shot.
Extra than simply beat the previous champion, Harrison ran via her en path to discovering the submission end in spherical two. And after lacking out on the subsequent alternative on the gold, the Ohio native prolonged her UFC report to 2-0 by outpointing one other top-five contender in Ketlen Vieira.
After getting into this 12 months with many doubting her means to even make the load, Harrison’s excellent run to put herself in place for a championship shot in 2025 has earned her the runner-up spot.
1. Dakota Ditcheva – 2024 PFL Flyweight Champion
The rise of Dakota Ditcheva has been fairly one thing, and 2024 noticed her break via on the worldwide stage.
After going 3-0 in 2023 to attain regional title glory below the PFL Europe banner, the British putting specialist set her sights on rising victorious from the PFL’s inaugural flyweight season. With the likes of Liz Carmouche and Taila Santos on the roster, the 12 months promised to supply solutions to those that questioned Ditcheva based mostly on her degree of competitors.
By means of the common season and semifinal, “Harmful” dispatched Lisa Mauldin, Chelsea Hackett, and Jena Bishop with first-round finishes. Her journey to the championship closing in Riyadh final month solely boosted the hype — however it elevated dramatically when she entered the cage on Nov. 29.
To safe gold and $1 million in prize cash, Ditcheva needed to get the higher of Santos, a longtime top-five contender within the UFC whom many consider deserved the nod over Shevchenko of their 2022 title battle. The undefeated 26-year-old handed the take a look at with flying colours, dominating the Brazilian earlier than blitzing her with physique photographs in spherical two for the end.
With a 4-0 12 months to seize one other PFL title and set up herself as one of many world’s finest in MMA at 125 kilos, high spot was solely ever going to “Harmful” Dakota Ditcheva in 2024.
