Matt Brown calls Ilia Topuria a 'lock' for Fighter of the Year over Alex Pereira: 'That debate's pretty well settled'
10/29/2024 09:00 AM
With three title defenses in just about six months' time, Alex Pereira appeared destined to win Fighter of the Year in 2024, but now it appears Ilia Topuria may have just staked his own claim to that crown.
On Saturday night at UFC 308, Topuria became the first person to knock out Max Holloway in what served as the first defense of his featherweight title after already demolishing former champion Alexander Volkanovski back in February. UFC legend Matt Brown argues that pair of wins, coupled with the dramatic way that Topuria dispatched arguably two of the greatest featherweights of all-time, has already secured him the year-end award over Pereira or anybody else for that matter.
"Alex didn't knock out three pound-for-pound greats. Ilia knocked out two pound-for-pound greats," Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. "As great as those guys were that Alex fought, they weren't Holloway or Volkanovski.
"I don't think anybody expected anybody on this planet to do what Ilia did. If Max and Volk had fought 170-pounder guys, I don't think they would expected for both of them to get knocked out. As impressive as Alex was … this is one of those where it's too bad we can't have two Fighter of the Year awards, because they both deserve it. You don't want to take a damn thing away from Alex."
Pereira added three knockout wins to his resume in 2024 with title defenses against Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree. Champions rarely compete three times in any given calendar year so by that number alone, Pereira had a leg up on any possible competition.
As impressive as that was, Brown says three title defenses from Pereira just can't measure up to what Topuria did to Volkanovski and Holloway in consecutive fights.
Topuria may have one less win overall in 2024, but his level of competition was unmatched when it came to championship victories.
"I don't think you can compare to that," Brown explained. "I'm all on the Ilia train for Fighter of the Year. Again, I wish we could give something to Alex. What he did was remarkable but it wasn't Max Holloway and Volkanovski. If Alex did that to Jon Jones, we'd be like OK, you go it, buddy. That wasn't available to him. Alex beat the guys that were available. Ilia beat two of the best legends, career winners in the history of this sport. Knocked them out. Max Holloway does not get knocked out. Nobody knocks out Max Holloway."
"You've got to give it Ilia. That debate's pretty well settled. I think most people are going to be on that train."
While he picked Topuria to win on Saturday, Brown admits he was ultra-impressed by the way "El Matador" stuck to his strategy and found a way to dismantle Holloway on the feet. Even he didn't necessarily expect Topuria to flatten Holloway inside three rounds, but that's exactly what happened.
"That was what I said leading into this fight — what Ilia's going to have to do at some point is land that fight changing shot," Brown said. "I knew he landed the fight-changing shot when he hurt Max. I thought for sure Max was going to come back though. I thought OK, there's that fight changing shot, it's really going to be Ilia beating up Max now for the next at least round or two but Max is going to stick around.
"I was just so impressed with how Ilia took his time, placed his shots so well, just some of the best boxing we've seen in MMA. The way that he strategizes everything so well, keeps himself in such good position all the time."
A Fighter of the Year award is certainly a great achievement, but Brown believes that might just be the tip of the iceberg for what Topuria could accomplish during his career.
Topuria has already taken out a pair of all-time greats at featherweight, and it's tough to see him losing to anybody competing at 145 pounds right now.
"That's what makes Ilia so special," Brown said. "He's such a good boxer but those other little things that funnel you into his boxing, that's some very high level stuff right there that really gets my blood pumping to watch.
"I think he's got a lock for Fighter of the Year this year. He's got a long reign ahead of him. He's still got a long way to go to be up there with the [Georges St-Pierre's] and Anderson Silva's, but he's right on that path."
