Mixed martial arts (MMA) has gained a lot of strength within the entertainment industry globally. And, as with other sectors such as cinema or football, there are awards that serve to reward the performances and developments that different actors have had within this sport. Thus, the prestigious ‘World MMA Awards’, which are like the Oscars or the Ballon d’Or, will be awarded at the end of the year in 20 different categories, including the fighter of the year.
That is where the controversy emerges, since, despite always being something very subjective, there are objective data that position Ilia Topuria (16-0-0) as one of the great candidates, a priori, to win the award for the best fighter of 2024. However, there are several factors that have caused El Matador not to have even been nominated in the list of the five candidates to win the award. , something that has caused a lot of indignation among Spanish mixed martial arts fans.
Thus, among the athletes who are called to be part of the list with the possibility of being awarded are Alexandre Pantoja (UFC flyweight champion), Alex Pereira (UFC light heavyweight champion), Islam Makhachev (lightweight champion of the UFC), Dricus Du Plessis (UFC middleweight champion) and Renan Ferreira (former PFL heavyweight champion). For many experts, Ilia Topuria would be missing from this list and, furthermore, he would be in charge of competing for first place with Alex Pereira, since the former has won the belt against Alexander Volkanovski and has defended it against Max Holloway and the Brazilian has managed to execute three successful defenses in the calendar year.
We’re just 13 DAYS away from the live event in Las Vegas for the 16th edition of the World MMA Awards!
Who do you think will be crowned Fighter of the Year?
*The nomination period ran from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.*
Sponsored by Saunafin. pic.twitter.com/4d4fpMMzuj
— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) November 22, 2024
But that’s where the ‘trick’ is. The magazine in charge of carrying out these awards, ‘Fighters Only’, specifies in its bases that the vote does not refer to the calendar year, but rather the period included is taken as a reference. between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. In this way, neither Topuria’s victory against Josh Emmett, which took place on June 24, 2023, nor his last victory against Max Holloway, which took place on October 26, 2024, would be counted, only counting his assault on the title. before Volkanovski in February of this year.
Given this scenario, numerous criticisms have emerged that suggest that Topuria is, without a doubt, the man of 2024, since having knocked out two legendary fighters and former champions like Volkanovski and Holloway should be above any achievement that another athlete has obtained this year. . But the reality is that the period is what it is and that Topuria has been left out of that list.
#controversial #exclusion #Ilia #Topuria #MMA #Golden #Ball
