'Hall of Fame worthy'… Michael Bisping lists his top five UFC fights of 2024
01/01/2025 05:38 AM
It's the first day of 2025, but that doesn't mean we're done looking back at what was an outstanding year of Mixed Martial Arts action in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
This time, it's Michael 'The Count' Bisping's turn to step up to the review plate, with the former middleweight champion offering his breakdown of the top five best fights of 2024.
MMA legend Michael Bisping lists his top five UFC fights of 2024
Michael Bisping has witnessed his fair share of incredible fights from the UFC broadcast booth in 2024, but there are five insane bouts that stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Coming in as his fifth-best UFC fight of 2024 was Dricus Du Plessis' middleweight title victory over Israel Adesanya; with Stillknocks retaining his title via a fourth-round rear naked choke at UFC 305.
"Israel Adesanya had his moments, but Dricus Du Plessis walked him down – and he did look a little off-rhythm, a little clumsy – but Dricus Du Plessis is an incredible fighter.
"Well done to Dricus Du Plessis, the man was able to do something to Israel Adesanya that no man has ever been able to do and let's be honest, everybody that has fought Adesanya, that has always been the gameplan – unless your name is, of course, Alex Pereira."
Bisping's fourth-ranked best fight of this past year actually went down on the final card of 2024, UFC Tampa: Covington vs Buckley – not the main event, but the co-main between Cub Swanson and Billy Quarantillo.
As aptly noted by The Count, Swanson is a "true pioneer and an OG of the mixed martial arts scene," and in the first round in Tampa, the featherweight veteran "looked like Cub Swanson in his prime.
"However, Billy Q is not a man to underestimate and in the second round, he started finding the rhythm, finding the range, and finding the chin – it didn't matter what he was landing… And that's what you want to see in a great fight, back-and-forth action.
"One guy going out and dominating doesn't make a great fight, that makes a great performance – but great fights need back-and-forth action and that's exactly what we saw [and] the crowd in Tampa was losing their minds."
Bisping's third favorite fight of 2024 came at UFC 307 – the light heavyweight showdown between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr.
"We love to see the great displays of mixed martial arts action, we love to see the knockouts, but to be the hammer and the nail, to lose a couple of rounds and still stay composed, and then comeback – get revenge and a knockout in the fourth round – that is the stuff of movies.
"It was a beautiful performance from Khalil… But it didn't matter, Pereira was never looking panicked, he was always composed… And the finishing combination was like something from a video game, he hit him with everything but the kitchen sink."
'The Diamond' earns the silver medal alongside Benoit Saint-Denis for their incredible lightweight brawl at UFC 299, with the Frenchman showing "absolutely no respect" towards his veteran opponent.
"Tremendous pressure from Benoit Saint-Denis and an incredible display of heart and willpower from Dustin Poirier – some of the shots that he ate, some of the knees flush to the mush would've finished lesser opponents but Dustin Poirier stayed in that fight.
"I was on the edge of my seat, it was some of the most entertaining two rounds of MMA action that you are likely to find – Dustin Poirier, unbelievable… That fight right there should be in the Hall of Fame one day."
And finally, and this should really come as a surprise, was Max Holloway's BMF title-winning clash with Justin Gaethje from UFC 300.
"This one had it all; the event – UFC 300, the bonuses – $300,000 a piece, and of course, Max Holloway moving up to lightweight… What an incredible fight this was.
"They both threw down, they both traded, they both gave us everything that we wanted to see in Mixed Martial Arts and of course, it ended with Max Holloway successful and Justin Gaethje unconscious – which is something that we never thought would see happen."
Holloway vs Gaethje was indeed an incredible fight, and one that deserves its own wing in the Hall of Fame – although Bloody Elbow's best fight of 2024 wasn't even mentioned by Bisping.
