After reading the comments people don’t really like illia Knocking out max halloway is actually a historical event in mma history. Breaking the unbreakable means nothing to people I guess. Just a few days ago everyone was saying this was by far and away the fight of the year and now because illia won it’s nothing 😂
Guys, of course, Ilya is an animal and a fighter of a different level, but all this is done by his brother from outside the cage, you can't understand because he gives advice in Georgian, that's exactly where Alex's intelligence and Ilya's trust towards him can be seen, it's the result of Alex's accurate analysis in every fight
What Ilia Topuria did to Max Holloway and Volkanovski was impressive indeed. Candidate for FOTY for sure. BUT let's not forget what Pereira did: Defended his belt 3x in only 7 months against several former champions, all by KO/TKO, without a decent camp, with broken toes, taking antibiotics and still coughing during the fight. The only fighter who made his walkout a real ceremony anticipated by people. Everybody screams together. So, how can Pereira not be Fighter of the Year?
This is how I view it 100% Ilia is a contender for sure, but the importance of what Alex did for the fans, stepping up when nobody else would even when it’s his belt to lose Main events 2 top 5 selling PPV’s of all time this year Was literally the biggest reason why the UFC was relevant and entertaining this year, we would’ve had Pennington vs Peña as a main event if not for Alex As a fan that would’ve been AWFUL On top of the ppv records he: Recorded 3 defenses in a record 175 day Became second ALL TIME in title fight KO’s (5) only behind Silva (7) Became the literal face of the UFC Yea, you can’t really argue against him Even tho Ilia’s wins are great, Alex just did more than him overall
@@Truehokagedel Make no mistake, the fighters he was fighting had great respect to their name, until they met Alex. Remember when Jiri was considered the most dangerous in the division? Remember when Hill broke his arm and just laughed it off? The fighters he was fighting only SEEM like shit because that's just how good Alex is.
Alex saved cards & fought more. That said, Ilia beating the unbeatable Volk, then, the unstoppable Max (BOTH BY KO) is mind-blowing! I thought Alex ran away with it. Now, I'm leaning slightly Ilia for quality over quantity!
Topuria obviously deserves Fighter Of The Year award. He destroyed two of all time greatest featherweights in just one year. Alex had 3 fights, but the opposition wasn't close. Quality over quantity anytime.
That’s crazy bro, I picked Max to beat Gaethje and all the comments back then were “he can’t take the power at 155, looked what happened with Dustin” … Crazy how recency bias changes things. I think Ilia just hits really fucking hard but he’s also chinny. Mark my words, if Ilia goes up to LW for the title, Islam will knock him out with a head kick.
How can you say Ilia when Alex did things nobody else has.. Alex DEFENDED his belt THREE times in one year. Saved 2 major fight cards, on semi short notice and very short notice. No other champ would DEFEND their belt on 2 weeks notice. He broke the record for shortest time between title defenses. All of his wins were knockouts. He has been sick and injured and still fought. To even consider anyone else is completely unhinged.
It would be a crime to give to Topurias the fighter of the year. It's really difficult going that route. I can understand a possible argument, it's just hard to not pick alex. It's easier to not pick Ilia
@@gsalazar8176it’s because Alex is more liked but if u put the feelings aside it’s not hard to give it to topuria bc he beat champions with title defenses current pound for pound fighters future hall of famers and legends of the sport who had a bigger impact in the ufc then jiri and hill and that number 8 guy
FoTY isn't about how many cards you saved. It's about who did you beat and how did you beat them. Alex is amazing we all love him but I'm sorry wins over the three guys he beat don't even compare to the wins Ilia got. Especially when you consider he was the first guy to beat Volk at 145 and first guy to ko Max. These are all time greats who were on the p4p list when Ilia took them out. Beating Hill, Jiri and Khalil is just not comparable at all.
More like employee of the year. The fighters Alex fought don’t compare to volk and max. The second jiri fight and Khalil fight he was expected to win. The hill win was when hill hadn’t fought in over a year. Volk was still dangerous at 145 and max had ko of the year over gaethje. Ilia foty.
@DagestaniFanboy Legit people are just saying Alex because they like him more. If this was any lesser respected champion who had three finishes this year against mids everyone would be saying "oh they only beat bums who cares if it was short notice" but because it's Alex it's somehow impressive. He's fighting dudes who literally aren't even smart enough to attempt to take him down and nowhere near skilled enough to hang on the feet. Ilia beat two of the most skilled guys on the entire roster. How are we even having this conversation lol
Honestly I don't really care who the fighter of the year is, both deserve it and I'm grateful for the great fights we've seen this year. Aspinall could be up there too if Jones wasn't holding the division with Dana's blessing.
@@iPSLeenot really bc max alone has more title defenses than jiri and hill combined and that number 8 guy as well and volk has more title defenses than max so that’s just an overkill and volk and max are legends and future hall of famers of the sport who have a bigger impact in the ufc than jiri and hill who don’t got title defenses not even a single one combined
@@iPSLee no bc max who’s just one has more title defenses than jiri hill and Khalil who are 3 quality beats quantity bc Alex doesn’t have the same level of quality wins as ilia
Glad for everyone enjoying the breakneck cadence of this show but god damn I can't keep up and I have more spare time than most, there's so much to catch up on daily that it feels weird to start the new podcast
When it comes to beating calibre of Opponent (Max and Volk) one has gotta give it to the El Matador. However, when it comes to overall aspects like workrate (how much you fight in certain amount of time), reliability ("saving"the UFC card), and impact (Aura, Merchandise sales, 2-division champ., social media, style or method of winning everytime), one has to give it to Alex Pereira! So I would lean more to Alex than Ilia.
To be fair Ilia should not prevail over Alex for having beaten Alex who was coming off a devastating knockout and Max. Alex has saved so many cards. He has taken fights on short notice, being sick and injured, defended his belt 3 times in 7 months, and fought 4 times in a calendar year. What they could do at most is give them both a draw. They are both tremendous champions. But for me Alex is FOTY
@@haldir3120 Over the course of 12 months, Alex has fought 4 times, won the title against Jiri at the end of 2023, defended against Hill at 300 on short notice, injured and saved the card because there was no main event, defended again at 303 against Jiri on short notice, injured plus save the card and defended against Rountree in 307, which although he was ranked number 8 made him a better fight than what Jiri and Hill did. Defended the championship 3 times in 7 months. Both Alex and Ilia fought with good fighters, but Ilia did not save any cards, he did not fight on short notice and he did not fight injured, and he also fought once less than Alex in the same 12 months
@@haldir3120 I understand what you said, but it wasn't only that, he fought injured on the last 3 fights, on 2 of them was on short notice and defended the belt 3 times in 7 months. How many cards Ilia have saved? How many times Ilia defended? Both Ilia and Alex are great champs, you can't diminish whats Alex has done. At most they can give then a draw.
@@Miguel-hp3ec 2 of 3 fights had at least 2 month notice. That are not exactly short-notice fights. Like I said 3 title fights vs p4p nobodies in a weak divison vs 2 title fights against the divison greatest and p4p ranked guys and one of them being Holloway who has never been killed. Topuria got it from my point of view
Ilia isn't fighter of the year. He was just doing his job against a guy who got ko'd 3 months prior and another guy who was weight drained. Pereira got called twice to save the day and then still put his belt on the line for a third time. When Ilia was asked who should be fighter of the year, even he was hesitant to say he should be fighter of the year if he ko's Max. CHAMA!!!
Dude, it’s not like fights only happen in the US or Middle East! Ever heard of UK, Australia, Singapore, China, France cards? Why does the panel act like these places don’t exist? Baffling levels of obliviousness.
People are talking about khamzat fighting once a year for title. Meanwhile john jones had fought once in 3years for his title. Come on now are we really gonna hold him to different standards?
No… absolutely not. This is recency bias talking. Ilia won 2 VERY impressive fights, sure… but Pereira has stepped up on short notice to literally save 2 or 3 entire events. He should be the unanimous FOTY
it’s fighter of the year not employee of the year .. we can all agree we love watching Alex and appreciate him stepping up to save cards and consistently showing up to fight, but the award is about who you fought and how you beat them within the year. Hill was fresh off an achilles injury, Jiri he had previously fought and beat already, and Khalil was the 8th ranked lhw . Doesn’t compare to beating two fighters in the Top 10 P4p list that dominated their division.
@@Austin.Kilgoreno he’s not quality beats quantity ilia beat 2 champions who actually had title defenses on their division and are in the pound for pound rankings future hall of famers and legends of this sport who had a bigger impact in the ufc then jiri and hill and that number 8 guy
Absolutely not. ALEX is clearly the fighter of the year in my opinion. He scored knockouts in all three of his fights, unlike Topuria, who only managed two. Fighting more frequently and staying active means taking greater risks, and that’s a vital part of the game. Let me clarify this: it’s possible to manipulate the UFC system by choosing not to fight, but it requires a strong starting position. You need to be dominant, aiming for at least the top 10 in your division. Then, you can take a prolonged absence or limit yourself to just one fight a year, citing various illnesses. While you sit back, others in the top 10 are pushing themselves, effectively risking their standings. So, when you do decide to come back and fight once, you can easily jump into title contention. The fighters who have been active fighting against each other may end up losing and dropping in the rankings, while you maintain your position without stepping into the octagon. A prime example of this strategy is Khamzat Chimaev. Btw, I frk'n love Kc, just stating a problem in the organization and a problem with the rankings. AP did the opposite and 100% finish rate. Hes the F.O.T.Y
Alex by a country mile, no contest. Ilia needs to beat the new guYs, starting with Diego Lopez. Max and volk as good as they are, are worn out with a lot of mileage.
@@Gabe-hg5ft not really if you don’t do anything with them… but even so, I had Max winning round 1 but it was close so I can see why some people say Ilia won it. No matter what though, it was for sure either 2-0 Max or 1-1 Iila going into the 3ᴿᴰ… I think we can at least agree on that. (Which I feel shouldn’t even need said, as it’s pretty obvious but yet I’ve actually seen a few people who say it was 2-0 Ilia… lol which I just find utterly ridiculous/delusional.)
What if ufc made a ufc continental championship (funny they are aligned with wwe) so that they could get a belt on chimaev and start and build markets that way? I get it tho it’s a fake ish title and would be confusing
Madness, no disrespect to Ilia but he beat Volk coming off a knockout and a weight cut from 155lbs and then beat Max who just bulked up to 155lbs for the first time and had a war to win the bmf belt. He looked drained coming back down to 145lbs and Ilia was able to finally crack Max's chin. Alex has more wins in 2024 also.
That's not what Max said, according to him he felt good physically and was better than ever. Also, it is more difficult for Topuria to fight at 145 than it is for Max or Alex. Topuria has a strange build, despite his height his natural weight is between 175 and 180. When he prepared for the fight against Volka he had to lose almost 40 pounds in weight.
I don't know why but after the fight I only see excuses. Before the fight it looked completely different. Many people were very sure that Holloway would win. It's a shame that they still don't give ilia the respect
Bad excuses. So Poatan fight against a year and a half inactive due to a serious achilles tendon injury Jahamal Hill and ranked #8 Rountree (struggled to 4th round)
If it wasn’t even a debate, we wouldn’t even be talking about this but we are. It’s a really tough one actually. Alex speedran goat status by putting on 3 defenses in a year, 2 on short notice…and ilia put on the greatest back to back wins and finishes in ufc history, against the literal goats of his division and pfp top 15 all time guys. He also knocked out a guy who is literally the hardest guy in ufc history to knock out, in a year where that guy has knockout of the year and is a legitimate title contender in 2 divisions. I lean towards ilia just because of not only the difference in skill level in the lower divisions but by who he beat
I agree , let's say Max would have won against Ilia we would be having the same discussion about him, Winning the BMF ( fake belt but still ) KNOCKOUT of the year , regaining the Featherweight Belt while possibly going up to win the Lightweight strap. I SAY all that to make this point... ILIA should 100% be in the conversation for fighter of the year because of not just WHO he beat but also HOW he did it.
ARIEL , SORRY TO SAY ILIA SERIOUSLY DIDN'T DO ENOUGH TO IMPRESS AN DESERVE THAT AWARD . ALEX SERIOUSLY DESERVE IT MORE THAN ILIA DEFINITELY SO ARIEL DON'T F KING GO THERE . ILIA JUST ONE TITLE DEFENSE IN 1 YEAR , OUT OF 10 TOP RANKING FEATHER WEIGHT ILIA WON 3 . ALEX WON 8 MAX HOLLOWAY WON 10 .ARIEL GOT DA PICTURE 12 WIN ILIA HAD BOTTOM RANK CONTENDERS . SAY NO MORE .
@smartwater598 Oh please lol. Max is ten times the fighter of anyone Alex beat this year. You wanna talk bad defense, Hill didn't even see the first left hook Alex threw. And Jiri doesn't even know what defense is
This is an easy casual test, if you say Ilia you actually have an idea of what you’re talking about, if you say pereira, you watch Nina drama and think Dana is an honest person
KO’ing max is more impressive than KO’ing VOLK who was coming off a short notice KO himself … which was like 9 months ago Poatan not only took short notice fights to save cards, but did all 3 in less time than ilia took between the VOLK & max fights & he KO’d all 3 opponents. His fame and fan support is larger than Iliad as well
Ilia is just recency bias, this happens after every PPV. His achievements are great no doubt, but Pereira is the FOTY. He's beat like 5 former champions. Won the belt in 2 weight classes and saved like 3 ? fight cards this year. Short notice, broken toe, with a cold all kinds of stuff. The guy is the goat of mma right now.
Where talking fighter of this year and this year Alex only beat 2 former champions not 5 and those 2 champions don’t have title defenses their not pound for pound their not future hall of famers and their not legends of the sport and they didn’t have as much of an impact in the ufc as volk and max who are the greatest ever at 145 legends
@@theunprofessional9837 Jiri is a legend already. Personally i cant put aside the full achievements, which are just better for perierer. If i were forced to only judge on this year alone i would still pick perierer due to the short notice fights and fighting injured and and while clearly sick in another fight and the insane dominant finishes. Nobody else is doing that in this day and age. He is truly another breed.
@@barrelrolldog unfortunately jiri it’s not legend and l like jiri but he never defended that belt at all to prove he’s an actual champion for real u have to defend it to prove that u actually are a champion bc he won that belt by beating a 40 plus year old glover who looks like a grandpa
@@barrelrolldog and fighting short notice just means u did a solid for the company that’s it credential wise it doesn’t mean much quality wise volk and max are just legends of the sport an have had a huge bigger impact than jiri and hill
@@theunprofessional9837 Jiri has been a champ across multiple organizations and won one of the best fights in UFC history. The fact that you think fighting on short notice is just 'doing the company a solid' shows the flaws in your thinking. The sport was built on guys like Alex. Its not just doing a 'solid'. You really have so much to lose from doing short notice fights with your own title on the line, not to mention when injured. I'm sure Ilia will have a great career ahead of him but this year theres no way anyone takes the FOTY title from Alex.
Alex is fighter of the year. Stepped up multiple times with injuries. Beat former champs, beat a super dangerous Khalil, and the way he does it is magical. Topuria beat a Max that put on size just to drop down and beat Alex who came off of getting knocked the F out.
@ashleyaboley8894 Khalil looked super dangerous when he fought Alex, though, so who cares who he beat? Jamahal and Jiri are former champs, regardless of title defenses. Volk went through a war, then got KOed and had to drop back down to 145 a few months later.... Max moved up to 155 and has been through a million wars before moving back down to 145. Those 2 wins are really good, but get f u c k i n g real.
Ilia's "wins" needs asterisks. Volk just came off of a brutal knockout, came into the fight injured, and was fighting at 25%. Max had a hard weight cut and got caught with a lucky punch.
Yes and Khabib had a lucky submission against Poirier and Jones fought an over-emotional Cormier and Pereira finished a unfocused Hill. Stop crying and bow down for the new king of the FW division.
By that logic Alex had 2 lucky shots against Hill and Jiri, and only lost to Roundtree because it was on elevation, making excuses is really easy for any fighter
After reading the comments people don’t really like illia
Knocking out max halloway is actually a historical event in mma history. Breaking the unbreakable means nothing to people I guess. Just a few days ago everyone was saying this was by far and away the fight of the year and now because illia won it’s nothing 😂
Yeah, but who gives a F to those fanboy opinione? For us iliss the warrior of the century. End of the story ✅️
"everybody I dislike is the same person"
Alex did more for the ufc .
Ilia did more for mma .
Ilia is fighter of the year.
Guys, of course, Ilya is an animal and a fighter of a different level, but all this is done by his brother from outside the cage, you can't understand because he gives advice in Georgian, that's exactly where Alex's intelligence and Ilya's trust towards him can be seen, it's the result of Alex's accurate analysis in every fight
What Ilia Topuria did to Max Holloway and Volkanovski was impressive indeed. Candidate for FOTY for sure.
BUT let's not forget what Pereira did: Defended his belt 3x in only 7 months against several former champions, all by KO/TKO, without a decent camp, with broken toes, taking antibiotics and still coughing during the fight. The only fighter who made his walkout a real ceremony anticipated by people. Everybody screams together.
So, how can Pereira not be Fighter of the Year?
This is how I view it 100%
Ilia is a contender for sure, but the importance of what Alex did for the fans, stepping up when nobody else would even when it’s his belt to lose
Main events 2 top 5 selling PPV’s of all time this year
Was literally the biggest reason why the UFC was relevant and entertaining this year, we would’ve had Pennington vs Peña as a main event if not for Alex
As a fan that would’ve been AWFUL
On top of the ppv records he:
Recorded 3 defenses in a record 175 day
Became second ALL TIME in title fight KO’s (5) only behind Silva (7)
Became the literal face of the UFC
Yea, you can’t really argue against him
Even tho Ilia’s wins are great, Alex just did more than him overall
6 months, 175 days
The fighters he was fighting are shit compared to ilia comp
@@Truehokagedel Make no mistake, the fighters he was fighting had great respect to their name, until they met Alex. Remember when Jiri was considered the most dangerous in the division? Remember when Hill broke his arm and just laughed it off?
The fighters he was fighting only SEEM like shit because that's just how good Alex is.
@ no they are shit because they are being compared to 2 top 10 fighter of all time
Alex saved cards & fought more. That said, Ilia beating the unbeatable Volk, then, the unstoppable Max (BOTH BY KO) is mind-blowing! I thought Alex ran away with it. Now, I'm leaning slightly Ilia for quality over quantity!
Topuria obviously deserves Fighter Of The Year award.
He destroyed two of all time greatest featherweights in just one year.
Alex had 3 fights, but the opposition wasn't close.
Quality over quantity anytime.
145 diminishes max
prime max beat everyone in the division except volk and ilia and now all of a sudden it “diminishes” him😂
Get out of here with that take. Majority of Max's career has been at 145. It's where he was a champion and now all of a sudden its draining him?
Cope
Ilia’s haters really don’t know what to come up with… 😂😂😂😂 so pathetic!
That’s crazy bro, I picked Max to beat Gaethje and all the comments back then were “he can’t take the power at 155, looked what happened with Dustin” … Crazy how recency bias changes things. I think Ilia just hits really fucking hard but he’s also chinny. Mark my words, if Ilia goes up to LW for the title, Islam will knock him out with a head kick.
Nice to have you back on UA-cam. I don't know where you went for a bunch of years but it feels like old times again!
How can you say Ilia when Alex did things nobody else has..
Alex DEFENDED his belt THREE times in one year. Saved 2 major fight cards, on semi short notice and very short notice. No other champ would DEFEND their belt on 2 weeks notice. He broke the record for shortest time between title defenses. All of his wins were knockouts. He has been sick and injured and still fought.
To even consider anyone else is completely unhinged.
Thats not what they were talking about, it’s a quality vs quantity thats all
It would be a crime to give to Topurias the fighter of the year. It's really difficult going that route. I can understand a possible argument, it's just hard to not pick alex. It's easier to not pick Ilia
@@gsalazar8176it’s because Alex is more liked but if u put the feelings aside it’s not hard to give it to topuria bc he beat champions with title defenses current pound for pound fighters future hall of famers and legends of the sport who had a bigger impact in the ufc then jiri and hill and that number 8 guy
Alex literally saved cards this year. He is FOTY
FoTY isn't about how many cards you saved. It's about who did you beat and how did you beat them. Alex is amazing we all love him but I'm sorry wins over the three guys he beat don't even compare to the wins Ilia got. Especially when you consider he was the first guy to beat Volk at 145 and first guy to ko Max. These are all time greats who were on the p4p list when Ilia took them out. Beating Hill, Jiri and Khalil is just not comparable at all.
More like employee of the year. The fighters Alex fought don’t compare to volk and max. The second jiri fight and Khalil fight he was expected to win. The hill win was when hill hadn’t fought in over a year.
Volk was still dangerous at 145 and max had ko of the year over gaethje. Ilia foty.
@DagestaniFanboy
Legit people are just saying Alex because they like him more. If this was any lesser respected champion who had three finishes this year against mids everyone would be saying "oh they only beat bums who cares if it was short notice" but because it's Alex it's somehow impressive. He's fighting dudes who literally aren't even smart enough to attempt to take him down and nowhere near skilled enough to hang on the feet. Ilia beat two of the most skilled guys on the entire roster. How are we even having this conversation lol
@@sarcasticgenius8563Luke Thomas is that you??
@@mitchg5809
Yes
Absolutely loving the show thank you for keeping it similar and adding new stuff
Nope he don't fight nearly as much. Probably won't see him for another 8 to 12 months
Guys no offense to the Craic, glad he’s got his own show, but let’s get just the boys with Ariel again 😊
Quantity vs Quality … I choose Quality (Ilia). 8 months before who would bet ilia will knockout the best 2 featherweight of all time?
Honestly I don't really care who the fighter of the year is, both deserve it and I'm grateful for the great fights we've seen this year. Aspinall could be up there too if Jones wasn't holding the division with Dana's blessing.
Quality over Quantity. Topuria is the guy.
Actually quantity is a part of quality. The more quantity, the better the quality.
@@iPSLeenot really bc max alone has more title defenses than jiri and hill combined and that number 8 guy as well and volk has more title defenses than max so that’s just an overkill and volk and max are legends and future hall of famers of the sport who have a bigger impact in the ufc than jiri and hill who don’t got title defenses not even a single one combined
@@theunprofessional9837 You just proved my points. More = better
@@iPSLee no bc max who’s just one has more title defenses than jiri hill and Khalil who are 3 quality beats quantity bc Alex doesn’t have the same level of quality wins as ilia
@@theunprofessional9837 You just compared using quantity as your leverage. Again you still didn't disprove my point.
Glad for everyone enjoying the breakneck cadence of this show but god damn I can't keep up and I have more spare time than most, there's so much to catch up on daily that it feels weird to start the new podcast
When it comes to beating calibre of Opponent (Max and Volk) one has gotta give it to the El Matador. However, when it comes to overall aspects like workrate (how much you fight in certain amount of time), reliability ("saving"the UFC card), and impact (Aura, Merchandise sales, 2-division champ., social media, style or method of winning everytime), one has to give it to Alex Pereira! So I would lean more to Alex than Ilia.
Ilia fighter of the year
To be fair Ilia should not prevail over Alex for having beaten Alex who was coming off a devastating knockout and Max. Alex has saved so many cards. He has taken fights on short notice, being sick and injured, defended his belt 3 times in 7 months, and fought 4 times in a calendar year. What they could do at most is give them both a draw. They are both tremendous champions. But for me Alex is FOTY
He did not fight four times in a calender year, fought p4p nobodies (even fighting the no 8) and only saved one card (UFC 303).
@@haldir3120 Over the course of 12 months, Alex has fought 4 times, won the title against Jiri at the end of 2023, defended against Hill at 300 on short notice, injured and saved the card because there was no main event, defended again at 303 against Jiri on short notice, injured plus save the card and defended against Rountree in 307, which although he was ranked number 8 made him a better fight than what Jiri and Hill did. Defended the championship 3 times in 7 months. Both Alex and Ilia fought with good fighters, but Ilia did not save any cards, he did not fight on short notice and he did not fight injured, and he also fought once less than Alex in the same 12 months
@@Miguel-hp3ec having a rather competitve fight vs a guy ranked 8th and whose best win is Smith is not (!) a plus point for Pereira.
@@haldir3120 I understand what you said, but it wasn't only that, he fought injured on the last 3 fights, on 2 of them was on short notice and defended the belt 3 times in 7 months. How many cards Ilia have saved? How many times Ilia defended? Both Ilia and Alex are great champs, you can't diminish whats Alex has done. At most they can give then a draw.
@@Miguel-hp3ec 2 of 3 fights had at least 2 month notice. That are not exactly short-notice fights. Like I said 3 title fights vs p4p nobodies in a weak divison vs 2 title fights against the divison greatest and p4p ranked guys and one of them being Holloway who has never been killed. Topuria got it from my point of view
If Alex doesn't get FOTY then this is rigged. He literally carry the UFC this year.
Maybe if he hadn’t waited 8 months to defend the belt, as it is there is only one answer.. Chama
Ilia isn't fighter of the year. He was just doing his job against a guy who got ko'd 3 months prior and another guy who was weight drained. Pereira got called twice to save the day and then still put his belt on the line for a third time. When Ilia was asked who should be fighter of the year, even he was hesitant to say he should be fighter of the year if he ko's Max. CHAMA!!!
hill came off an achilles injury and alex already beat jiri just pointing that out
Dude, it’s not like fights only happen in the US or Middle East! Ever heard of UK, Australia, Singapore, China, France cards? Why does the panel act like these places don’t exist? Baffling levels of obliviousness.
We want Ilia Topuria vs Makhachev 🤯
People are talking about khamzat fighting once a year for title. Meanwhile john jones had fought once in 3years for his title. Come on now are we really gonna hold him to different standards?
ilia vs conor for bmf at 170 next, 2 million ppv guaranteed
😂 Connorr is century away for BMF title. Hes legit only for alcoholic title
Alex hands down.
Trying to slip in that DDPs Rob win is better 😂
Rob didnt even get in a punch on Khamzat. I do agree tho that the Adesanya win is big
No… absolutely not. This is recency bias talking. Ilia won 2 VERY impressive fights, sure… but Pereira has stepped up on short notice to literally save 2 or 3 entire events. He should be the unanimous FOTY
Putting VOLK and MAX to sleeep the way Ilia did is far more impressive than putting Hill, Jiri and Khalil to sleep.
it’s fighter of the year not employee of the year .. we can all agree we love watching Alex and appreciate him stepping up to save cards and consistently showing up to fight, but the award is about who you fought and how you beat them within the year. Hill was fresh off an achilles injury, Jiri he had previously fought and beat already, and Khalil was the 8th ranked lhw . Doesn’t compare to beating two fighters in the Top 10 P4p list that dominated their division.
@ Agree to disagree… and I’m well aware it’s FIGHTER of the year and that’s what Alex is, FIGHTER of the year.
@@Austin.Kilgoreno he’s not quality beats quantity ilia beat 2 champions who actually had title defenses on their division and are in the pound for pound rankings future hall of famers and legends of this sport who had a bigger impact in the ufc then jiri and hill and that number 8 guy
@@theunprofessional9837 Cool… but too bad it’s not the “who’s opponents had the most impressive resumes” award though. Lol
Of course ilia EL MATADOR topuria 🗡️🐂
The guy who think’s Makhachev vs Connor is bigger than Ilia vs Connor really has no idea if the world.
Ilia is the FOTY.. main reason is that he better well rounded figher than Alex..
UFC knows better, Ilia will become FOTY
Beating 2 GOATs >saving cards
Alex is the MVP. Ilia is the best fighter of the year though. Hope this makes sense
I just wanna see ilia vs Arnold allen in a soccer stadium!
They really need to get a stadium booked for DDP and...who ever ?
The belt always helps
Alex = FOTY
No other option..dont spin some b.s sayin otherwise for youtube views 🤮
i loved the reaction😀
Why did ilia not fight from Feb to almost November? Lol. Alex stepped up 2x hurt during that time and ilia turned down 2x fights 😊
Alex is fighter of the year but ilia has a better resumé
Absolutely not. ALEX is clearly the fighter of the year in my opinion. He scored knockouts in all three of his fights, unlike Topuria, who only managed two. Fighting more frequently and staying active means taking greater risks, and that’s a vital part of the game.
Let me clarify this: it’s possible to manipulate the UFC system by choosing not to fight, but it requires a strong starting position. You need to be dominant, aiming for at least the top 10 in your division. Then, you can take a prolonged absence or limit yourself to just one fight a year, citing various illnesses. While you sit back, others in the top 10 are pushing themselves, effectively risking their standings.
So, when you do decide to come back and fight once, you can easily jump into title contention. The fighters who have been active fighting against each other may end up losing and dropping in the rankings, while you maintain your position without stepping into the octagon. A prime example of this strategy is Khamzat Chimaev. Btw, I frk'n love Kc, just stating a problem in the organization and a problem with the rankings. AP did the opposite and 100% finish rate. Hes the F.O.T.Y
Damn this irish dude is good! The one they call P T or something. I hear what he has to say ..
You really think his chin is gone bc he got tko'd one time 😂
Dana says Barcelona, cause its not smart to just have one option. Ilia is fighting in Madrid. 🤓
Poor poor Ariel 😢
Topuria all the way. Pereira is fighting cans compared to Topuria. Pereira had a guy who he already knocked out and the no 8 of his divison
Right, people hating on illia hard
Better level of competicion
Ariel is difficult to work with! That's all there is to it!
Alex by a country mile, no contest. Ilia needs to beat the new guYs, starting with Diego Lopez. Max and volk as good as they are, are worn out with a lot of mileage.
no. alex is the foy
Alex and it is not even close.
If Trump is President he gives Hamzat permission to fight in the States.
0:32 it was 2-0 Max going into the 3ᴿᴰ
Did you even know they count takedowns
@@Gabe-hg5ft not really if you don’t do anything with them… but even so, I had Max winning round 1 but it was close so I can see why some people say Ilia won it. No matter what though, it was for sure either 2-0 Max or 1-1 Iila going into the 3ᴿᴰ… I think we can at least agree on that. (Which I feel shouldn’t even need said, as it’s pretty obvious but yet I’ve actually seen a few people who say it was 2-0 Ilia… lol which I just find utterly ridiculous/delusional.)
What if ufc made a ufc continental championship (funny they are aligned with wwe) so that they could get a belt on chimaev and start and build markets that way? I get it tho it’s a fake ish title and would be confusing
Alex Pereira 😊
Georgia is not a major country, by any metric.
Conor
Conor will fight Pena...he can't seem to get it together to fight a guy...
Madness, no disrespect to Ilia but he beat Volk coming off a knockout and a weight cut from 155lbs and then beat Max who just bulked up to 155lbs for the first time and had a war to win the bmf belt. He looked drained coming back down to 145lbs and Ilia was able to finally crack Max's chin. Alex has more wins in 2024 also.
That's not what Max said, according to him he felt good physically and was better than ever. Also, it is more difficult for Topuria to fight at 145 than it is for Max or Alex. Topuria has a strange build, despite his height his natural weight is between 175 and 180. When he prepared for the fight against Volka he had to lose almost 40 pounds in weight.
I don't know why but after the fight I only see excuses. Before the fight it looked completely different. Many people were very sure that Holloway would win. It's a shame that they still don't give ilia the respect
Bad excuses. So Poatan fight against a year and a half inactive due to a serious achilles tendon injury Jahamal Hill and ranked #8 Rountree (struggled to 4th round)
Whoa dude you just threw all your guys under the bus there. You’ll say anything not to give illia his due. Wasn’t max the man a few days ago
Sensible this mofo
No bud
Alex defended his belt 3 times and 2 of them are short notice. This is not even a debate Alex is the fighter of the year
If it wasn’t even a debate, we wouldn’t even be talking about this but we are. It’s a really tough one actually. Alex speedran goat status by putting on 3 defenses in a year, 2 on short notice…and ilia put on the greatest back to back wins and finishes in ufc history, against the literal goats of his division and pfp top 15 all time guys. He also knocked out a guy who is literally the hardest guy in ufc history to knock out, in a year where that guy has knockout of the year and is a legitimate title contender in 2 divisions. I lean towards ilia just because of not only the difference in skill level in the lower divisions but by who he beat
I agree , let's say Max would have won against Ilia we would be having the same discussion about him, Winning the BMF ( fake belt but still ) KNOCKOUT of the year , regaining the Featherweight Belt while possibly going up to win the Lightweight strap.
I SAY all that to make this point... ILIA should 100% be in the conversation for fighter of the year because of not just WHO he beat but also HOW he did it.
When pereira ko 2 goat on the yours division talkin brl wft is impossible 2 ko goat seguidos
ARIEL , SORRY TO SAY ILIA SERIOUSLY DIDN'T DO ENOUGH TO IMPRESS AN DESERVE THAT AWARD . ALEX SERIOUSLY DESERVE IT MORE THAN ILIA DEFINITELY SO ARIEL DON'T F
KING GO THERE . ILIA JUST ONE TITLE DEFENSE IN 1 YEAR , OUT OF 10 TOP RANKING FEATHER WEIGHT ILIA WON 3 . ALEX WON 8 MAX HOLLOWAY WON 10 .ARIEL GOT DA PICTURE 12 WIN ILIA HAD BOTTOM RANK CONTENDERS . SAY NO MORE .
Ilia knocking out Max is far more impressive than anything Poatan did, tf are you on about
@smartwater598
Oh please lol. Max is ten times the fighter of anyone Alex beat this year. You wanna talk bad defense, Hill didn't even see the first left hook Alex threw. And Jiri doesn't even know what defense is
Ummmmm I hate Steph Curry
Wtf you saying top 5 lol. Alex beat Jiri and Jamahal- who were both ex champs lol.
with no defenses lol
11 k views hmmm
This is an easy casual test, if you say Ilia you actually have an idea of what you’re talking about, if you say pereira, you watch Nina drama and think Dana is an honest person
Let’s also consider the lesser damage Alex took in ALL 3 fights vs ilia who got pieced up in both the max and VOLK fights
khalil the no.8 guy dropped alex ....
KO’ing max is more impressive than KO’ing VOLK who was coming off a short notice KO himself … which was like 9 months ago
Poatan not only took short notice fights to save cards, but did all 3 in less time than ilia took between the VOLK & max fights & he KO’d all 3 opponents.
His fame and fan support is larger than Iliad as well
he saved one card ufc 303 lol
Ilia is just recency bias, this happens after every PPV. His achievements are great no doubt, but Pereira is the FOTY. He's beat like 5 former champions. Won the belt in 2 weight classes and saved like 3 ? fight cards this year. Short notice, broken toe, with a cold all kinds of stuff. The guy is the goat of mma right now.
Where talking fighter of this year and this year Alex only beat 2 former champions not 5 and those 2 champions don’t have title defenses their not pound for pound their not future hall of famers and their not legends of the sport and they didn’t have as much of an impact in the ufc as volk and max who are the greatest ever at 145 legends
@@theunprofessional9837 Jiri is a legend already. Personally i cant put aside the full achievements, which are just better for perierer. If i were forced to only judge on this year alone i would still pick perierer due to the short notice fights and fighting injured and and while clearly sick in another fight and the insane dominant finishes. Nobody else is doing that in this day and age. He is truly another breed.
@@barrelrolldog unfortunately jiri it’s not legend and l like jiri but he never defended that belt at all to prove he’s an actual champion for real u have to defend it to prove that u actually are a champion bc he won that belt by beating a 40 plus year old glover who looks like a grandpa
@@barrelrolldog and fighting short notice just means u did a solid for the company that’s it credential wise it doesn’t mean much quality wise volk and max are just legends of the sport an have had a huge bigger impact than jiri and hill
@@theunprofessional9837 Jiri has been a champ across multiple organizations and won one of the best fights in UFC history. The fact that you think fighting on short notice is just 'doing the company a solid' shows the flaws in your thinking. The sport was built on guys like Alex. Its not just doing a 'solid'. You really have so much to lose from doing short notice fights with your own title on the line, not to mention when injured. I'm sure Ilia will have a great career ahead of him but this year theres no way anyone takes the FOTY title from Alex.
Alex is fighter of the year. Stepped up multiple times with injuries. Beat former champs, beat a super dangerous Khalil, and the way he does it is magical. Topuria beat a Max that put on size just to drop down and beat Alex who came off of getting knocked the F out.
khalil's best win was smith and jjiri and hill had no defenses lol
@ashleyaboley8894 Khalil looked super dangerous when he fought Alex, though, so who cares who he beat? Jamahal and Jiri are former champs, regardless of title defenses.
Volk went through a war, then got KOed and had to drop back down to 145 a few months later....
Max moved up to 155 and has been through a million wars before moving back down to 145. Those 2 wins are really good, but get f u c k i n g real.
Ilia's "wins" needs asterisks. Volk just came off of a brutal knockout, came into the fight injured, and was fighting at 25%. Max had a hard weight cut and got caught with a lucky punch.
Yes and Khabib had a lucky submission against Poirier and Jones fought an over-emotional Cormier and Pereira finished a unfocused Hill. Stop crying and bow down for the new king of the FW division.
wheres the evidence max had a hard weight cut he said his weight cut was fine
By that logic Alex had 2 lucky shots against Hill and Jiri, and only lost to Roundtree because it was on elevation, making excuses is really easy for any fighter
After Ilia KOs top fighters , you only have excuses..