2024 Year in Review: From du Plessis to Usyk, Paul vs Tyson, Tank Davis & Jon Jones

Rewind the biggest boxing and MMA moments of 2024, including epic title fights, knockouts, and champions who defined the year

As the year comes to an end, let’s take a look at some of the biggest boxing and MMA moments of 2024, including epic title fights, knockouts, and champions who defined the year.

The fight action kicked off in January, crowning the new UFC middleweight champion as Dricus du Plessis dethroned Sean Strickland by split decision. Plus, Raquel Pennington claimed the UFC bantamweight title by unanimous decision against Mayra Bueno Silva. Meanwhile, Oscar Collazo retained his WBO minimumweight belt via third-round stoppage of Reyneris Gutierrez, and Gabriela Fundora defeated Christina Cruz via 10th-round TKO and retained her IBF flyweight strap.

In February, Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round and became the new UFC featherweight champion. Renan Ferreira KO’d Ryan Bader at PFL vs Bellator, and Claressa Shields won her MMA fight against Kelsey DeSantis by split decision. In addition, Bruce Carrington produced a “Knockout of the Year” candidate flooring Bernard Torres.

Among the boxing championship bouts in March, Seniesa Estrada claimed the undisputed minimumweight title by unanimous decision against Yokasta Valle, and Sebastian Fundora bested Tim Tszyu to become the unified WBC and WBO super welterweight champion. Action inside the UFC Octagon saw the then bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley taking revenge on Marlon Vera by unanimous decision. Meanwhile, Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven came out on top, winning the 2024 Grand Prix.

Seniesa Estrada wins undisputed title
Seniesa Estrada wins undisputed title against Yokasta Valle | Mikey Williams/Top Rank

In April, Alex Pereira knocked out Jamahal Hill in the first round to retain his light heavyweight title at UFC 300. Also on the card, Max Holloway landed the “BMF” belt via last-second KO against Justin Gaethje. In the bare-knuckle boxing clash, Mike Perry dropped Thiago Alves in the first round at BKFC Knucklemania 4. As for “The Sweet Science,” Ryan Garcia took a unanimous decision victory against Devin Haney on the night, which was later overturned to a No Contest due to a failed drug test.

Usyk claims undisputed heavyweight title against Fury

May was another big month, seeing the crowning of the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, when Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision and collected all four major belts. Another Ukrainian champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko, dropped and stopped George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round to claim the IBF lightweight title.

Among other championship bouts inside the squared circle, Canelo Alvarez handed fellow-Mexican Jaime Munguia his first career defeat by unanimous decision. Jai Opetaia regained the IBF cruiserweight title by unanimous decision in a rematch against Mairis Briedis. Plus, Naoya Inoue suffered his first career knockdown on his way to victory via sixth-round stoppage of Luis Nery.

In addition, UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja defeated Steve Erceg by unanimous decision to retain his title, and Elle Brooke and Paige VanZant fought to a split draw in their Misfits Boxing clash.

In June, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira knocked out Jiri Prochazka in the second round of their rematch. Plus, Islam Makhachev submitted Dustin Poirier in the fifth round to retain his UFC lightweight belt. Two-time WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez moved up a weight class, defeating Oleksandr Gvozdyk by unanimous decision to claim the interim WBC light heavyweight strap. Plus, Gervonta “Tank” Davis knocked out Frank Martin in the eighth round and retained his WBA lightweight title.

Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin
Gervonta Davis (pictured right) during his fight against Frank Martin | Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions

Another big month of action was July, when Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards by unanimous decision to become the new UFC welterweight champion. Also on the same card, Tom Aspinall TKO’d Curtis Blaydes in the first round and retained his interim light heavyweight belt.

Inside the boxing ring, Claressa Shields became a four-division world champion, defeating Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse via second-round knockout to land the WBC heavyweight title and WBO light heavyweight belt. Jake Paul dropped and stopped Mike Perry in the sixth round. Lucas Bahdi knocked out Ashton Sylve in the sixth round, delivering another “KO of the Year” candidate. Nate Diaz won a boxing match by majority decision against former UFC rival Jorge Masvidal. In addition, Shakur Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title by unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan.

Crawford, Canelo, Dubois, Ngannou, Pereira & more

In August, Terence Crawford claimed a world title in his fourth weight class, defeating Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision. On the undercard, David Morrell defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic to become a two-division champion. Among the Misfits Boxing fights, Josh Brueckner upset FaZe Temperrr, Leah Gotti stopped Amber Fields, and Deen the Great dropped Dave Fogarty.

The MMA action saw UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis submitting Israel Adesanya in the fourth round. Plus, Floyd Mayweather Jr. made his ring return in an exhibition boxing rematch against John Gotti III.

In September, Daniel Dubois became the new IBF heavyweight champion, dominating Anthony Joshua inside five rounds. Canelo Alvarez made his second ring appearance of the year, dropping Edgar Berlanga in the third round on his way to victory by unanimous decision.

Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga
Canelo Alvarez during his fight against Edgar Berlanga | Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions

Mikaela Mayer became the new WBO welterweight champion, lifting a world title in her second weight class by majority decision against Sandy Ryan. Plus, Merab Dvalishvili dethroned Sean O’Malley by unanimous decision to become the new UFC bantamweight champion.

October featured PFL “Battle of the Giants,” with Francis Ngannou taking a dominant first-round KO win against Renan Ferreira. UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria knocked out Max Holloway in the third round and retained his belt. In another MMA showdown, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira made his third UFC Octagon appearance of the year, scoring a fourth-round TKO against Khalil Rountree Jr.

Among the boxing bouts, Bakhram Murtazaliev dominated, dropped and stopped Tim Tszyu in the third round to become the new IBF super welterweight champion. Artur Beterbiev took a majority decision against Dmitry Bivol in their bout for the undisputed light heavyweight title. Plus, Janibek Alimkhanuly stopped Andrei Mikhailovich in the ninth round and retained his IBF middleweight belt.

Tyson makes ring appearance against Paul, while Jones returns against Miocic

A huge month of November saw an unprecedented showdown pitting Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, with the latter taking the win by unanimous decision. In the co-feature, Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano by UD in a rematch. As well, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones made his return, scoring the third-round TKO against Stipe Miocic. Plus, Gabriela Fundora became the undisputed flyweight champion via seventh-round stoppage of Gabriela Celeste Alaniz.

Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul
Mike Tyson during his fight against Jake Paul | Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024

Among other bouts, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defeated Chris Billam-Smith by unanimous decision to retain his WBA cruiserweight title and claimed the WBO 200-pound belt. Jaron “Boots” Ennis defeated Karen Chukhadzhian by unanimous decision in a rematch and retained his IBF welterweight strap. O’Shaquie Foster reclaimed the WBC super featherweight title by split decision against Robson Conceicao.

In addition, AnEsonGib defeated Slim Albaher by majority decision, and Salt Papi stopped King Kenny in the third round of their MF Boxing bout. Dakota Ditcheva stopped Taila Santos to win the PFL World Championship 2024 at women’s flyweight.

In December, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by unanimous decision in a rematch and retained his unified heavyweight titles. Mike Richman knocked out Jared Warren in the first round of their bare-knuckle fight to become the new BKFC light heavyweight champion. Bruno Surace pulled off an upset, knocking out Jaime Munguia in the sixth round with one punch.

Plus, Alexandre Pantoja submitted Kai Asakura in the second round and retained his UFC flyweight title. Emanuel Navarrete KO’d Oscar Valdez in the sixth round and retained his WBO super featherweight title. Richardson Hitchins took a split decision against Liam Paro to become the new IBF super lightweight champion.

Up next

Looking ahead, there are a number of world-class boxing and MMA cards featured on the FIGHTMAG schedule for 2025.

The list of upcoming events already includes the rematch between lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan headlining UFC 311 on January 18 in Inglewood, CA. Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens clash atop the BKFC KnuckleMania 5 card in Philadelphia on January 25. David Benavidez faces David Morrell in Las Vegas on February 1. Gervonta “Tank” Davis goes up against Lamont Roach Jr in Brooklyn, New York on March 1.

Parviz Iskenderov
Parviz Iskenderov is a former Muay Thai fighter, sports manager and editor at FIGHTMAG.

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