10 Of The Best Combat Sports Moments of 2024

Fury vs Usyk: A New Undisputed Heavyweight Champion is crowned

Riyadh has hosted some of the biggest boxing events in recent time, but none other than an undisputed Heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. The bout was originally set to take place on 17th February, but due to a facial injury that Fury suffered in training, the matchup was rescheduled for 18th May.

This super fight would be highly anticipated with both men being undefeated as well as champion of the Heavyweight division with the Gypsy King holding the WBC title, and the Ukrainian holding the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles.

It would be a close contest between the two top-class boxers, Fury seemingly did better in the first half of the fight as he caught Uysk with a few uppercuts which would have a few affects in the end of the rounds.

The ninth round caught the most attention in the bout when Usyk stunned Fury with a left hook, rocking the Manchester-born fighter and sending him stumbling against the ropes with an eventual knockdown being awarded.

After a 12-round war, Usyk did just enough to take the undisputed crown with a split decision win.

pereira saves ufc 303 with another ko win

After Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler's Welterweight bout was cancelled as the headliner for UFC 303, due to the Notorious suffering a toe in injury, it needed something big to step in.

On two weeks' notice, Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka volunteered to save the Main Event in an epic rematch for the Light Heavyweight title after the first fight ended in an arguable early stoppage with Poatan winning by second-round TKO at UFC 295.

After one of the best stare downs in Combat Sports history, Pereira knocked down Prochazka late in the first round with a left hook with many believing the fight was over.

After the Czech Republican recovered in time for the second round, it would come to a disastrous end in 13 seconds when a head kick from the Light Heavyweight Champion sent Prochazka crashing to the canvas before some follow-up strikes sealed the deal.

beterbiev becomes undisputed in an epic battle with bivol

The Kingdom Arena had the pleasure of hosting another undisputed title fight between two Russian boxers as collided for an ultimate showdown.

Artur Beterbiev was rolling with the IBF, WBC and WBO Light Heavyweight titles, while Dmitry Bivol holding the IBO and WBA titles as both fighters were next to each other in the men's boxing pound-for-pound rankings.

The battle could not be anymore narrowly close with both men testing each others limits for 12 rounds with seventh being the most enjoyable to watch as the two champions were hurt in the space of those three minutes.

Once the final bell rang, no one could really decide on a proper winner as it seemed to be an equal opinion, but the fight favoured Beterbiev as he claimed undisputed title glory, winning by majority decision.

Du plessis becomes the first man to submit adesanya

After losing the Middleweight title at UFC 293, it seemed unlikely that Israel Adesanya would be getting another shot for the 185-pound throne, but a split decision win for Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 claimed his champion status and a heated rivalry would finally be settled in the Octagon.

Stilknocks and The Last Stylebender headlined UFC 305 in Perth, Australia as the battle was brewing in the pre-fight press conference after a few words from the South African left Adesanya in tears, making this potential five-round war even more eye-catching.

The fight showed who had the clear advantage in certain aspects of the MMA game as Adesanya was proving to be difficult to deal with on the feet, while Du Plessis was dominant on the ground.

In an exciting fight, Du Plessis put UFC 305 to an end in the fourth round, after stunning Adesanya with a few punches near the cage, before taking the New Zealander down and submitting him with a Rear-Naked Choke to make his first successful title defence in the UFC.

garcia shocks haney in new york

New York has not been a big of an attraction in Boxing since Saudi Arabia has taken some of the biggest fights of the year, but one bout which did get its chance to shine was the WBC super Lightweight title battle between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia.

Sadly, King Garcia would miss championship weight limit and was not eligible to win the title as the only thing he could do was try and break Haney's undefeated record.

Haney looked as if he was cruising to victory, up until the seventh round when Garcia managed to change the course of the fight, landing a knockdown in rounds seven, ten and eleven which would be enough to earn a majority decision win.

However, the bout was declared as a No Contest due to Garcia testing positive for a drug test, meaning that Haney would still be unbeaten on his record and kept his WBC Lightweight Championship.

holloway delivers the greatest ko at ufc 300

UFC 300 proved to be one of the best Combat Sports events of all time with numerous incredible fights and stoppages, but the one moment that stood out more than any other was the BMF title fight between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway at 155-pounds.

Gaethje became the first fighter to defend the BMF Championship after winning it at UFC 291 against Dustin Poirier, with many believing Holloway should be next in line to fight the former interim 155-pound champion as he was known just as well to put on some of the most entertaining wars in the Octagon.

The five-round clash had a lot to offer; Holloway broke Gaethje's nose with a spinning back kick at the end of the first round, the Highlight managed to become the first fighter to knock down Blessed, despite no being fazed, and both fighters continued to exchange strikes.

In the last 10 seconds of the fight, Holloway offered to stand and bang for the remainder of the final round. Gaethje accepted the offer and both men started swinging until the last second when the former UFC Featherweight Champion landed a brutal right-hand punch which knocked Gaethje out cold and made the crowd go wild as they saw a new BMF title holder.

dubois surprises joshua with a huge upset at wembley

Wembley Stadium has hosted some of the biggest all-English fights from Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte, to Carl Froch vs George Groves II. But there has been no other explosive battle in Britain's biggest stadium quite like Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois.

A lot of the UK Boxing fans expected Joshua to win this matchup as he was on a great redemption arc after an incredible knockout win over Francis Ngannou, which highly overshadowed Dubois' TKO victory against Filip Hrgovic.

Dynamite did the unexpected when he knocked down AJ at the end of the first round, before another in round three, and flooring him twice in round four with a knockout win closing in in the fifth round.

Round five had everyone on their feet when Joshua rocked Dubois with a wicked right hand, gradually sending him to the corner. In a crazy exchange of punches, Dubois managed to leave the former World Heavyweight Champion down and out, leaving 96,000 jaws dropping as soon as the war ended.

aspinall makes a statement towards the g.o.a.t of the ufc

UFC 295 held Tom Aspinall's greatest moment in the Octagon on 17 days' notice when he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich by first-round KO to become the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, giving him the high possibility of facing the undisputed champion, Jon Jones.

In a heap of frustration for UK fight fans, Jones was focused on squaring off with Stipe Miocic meaning Aspinall would have to defend his interim belt in order to get his recognition from the recognised best in the UFC.

The Salford-born fighter had a chance to avenge his only loss in the UFC when he faced Curtis Blaydes in the Co-Main Event at UFC 304. When the two last fought, Blaydes won in just 15 seconds after Aspinall suffered a horrific knee injury.

A fight which was not looking to go past the first round, didn't even last two minutes as Aspinall knocked down Razor Blaydes before a few follow-up shots on the ground saw the bout end in a minute. It would be a significant way to send a message to the G.O.A.T of the UFC as the dream Heavyweight bout comes closer to reality in 2025.

zhang potentially ends wilder's career

When Beterbiev vs Bivol was cancelled for 1st June in Riyadh, it turned to two credible Heavyweights to headline the event as Zhilei Zhang took on Deontay Wilder in a heavy-hitting battle.

Both men had a big similarity of losing to Joseph Parker in their last fight, meaning redemption was at stake. It was more needed for Wilder when he had only one bout in his four as he was in desperation for victory.

A knockout seemed likely in this fight as both boxers were known for their high knockout percentage, meaning that there would be something to cheer about at the Kingdom Arena.

The fifth round witnessed Zhang wobble the Bronze Bomber with a vicious right hand before connecting another one which knocked Wilder down. The Alabama boxer managed to rise to his feet, but had not convinced the referee that he fully recovered, giving the referee no choice but to stop the fight and potentially put an end to Wilder's career.

topuria does the unthinkable in abu dhabi