While some of the MMA year-end awards are easy to choose, others are not. In 2024, two UFC champions made compelling cases for Fighter of the Year — light heavyweight title holder Alex Pereira, and featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. While Pereira had one more win than Topuria this year, is that enough to earn "Poatan" the crown?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and José Youngs previews the site's upcoming 2024 year-end awards, and give their rankings for Fighter of the Year, discuss whether or not Pereira or Topuria should win the award, along with Knockout of the Year, Fight of the Year, and Submission of the Year. Additionally, they'll answer some listener questions about the fallout from UFC Tampa, the UFC's massively successful year, and much more. 

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Conor McGregor says he's agreed to his next fight, but it's not in the UFC. On Monday morning, McGregor says he's agreed to a boxing match in India with WWE star Logan Paul, and then he'll head back to the UFC.

MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee react to McGregor's latest head-scratching comments, discuss if there's any smoke to the tweet, and that this means for his UFC future.

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On the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, Matt Brown and Damon Martin discuss what comes next for Colby Covington after a lopsided loss at UFC Tampa and if his days as an elite contender are already over. Plus we discuss how far Joaquin Buckley could go at welterweight and discuss Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 plus much more.

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Joaquin Buckley is officially a player in the UFC's welterweight championship conversation after battering Colby Covington en route to a third-round TKO win in the main event of UFC Tampa. After an incredible 4-0 run in 2024, where does "New Mansa" go heading into 2025?

On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what's next for Buckley after the biggest win of his career. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Cub Swanson after his Fight of the Night knockout of Billy Quarantillo, Manel Kape following his phenomenal finish of Bruno Silva, Dustin Jacoby after his highlight-reel knockout of Vitor Petrino, along with fellow main card winners Daniel Marcos and Navajo Stirling, and more.

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Joaquin Buckley may not have ended 2024 with a bang, but he did close the show with a sensational performance.

On Saturday, Buckley earned a third-round TKO victory over Colby Covington in the main event of UFC Tampa after battering “Chaos” en route to a doctor’s stoppage due to a nasty cut on Covington’s right eye.

Following Saturday’s event, the final UFC card of the year, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and E. Casey Leydon react to Buckley’s big win, his unique callout of Kamaru Usman, where Covington goes from here, Cub Swanson’s possible swan song, Manel Kape’s case for a flyweight title shot, and the rest of the night filled with incredible knockouts and finishes.

• Follow Jed Meshew: @JedKMeshew

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UFC Tampa goes down this Saturday at Amalie Arena in the final UFC fight card of 2024. Headlined by a five-round welterweight matchup between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley, the event is stacked with 12 other big matchups to end the year on a strong note.

It’s the final UFC fight card of 2024, so ahead of this weekend’s event, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Mike Heck preview Saturday’a lineup, discuss how close the main event winner will be to a title shot, what’s at stake in the co-main event between Cub Swanson and Billy Quarantillo, debate if Manel Kape can sneak into a flyweight title shot with a win, highlight other pivotal matchups, give shine to some low-key bangers, answer viewer questions, and more.

Catch the UFC Tampa preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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Former UFC interim champ Colby Covington steps in on short notice this weekend for his first fight in a year when he faces the surging Joaquin Buckley in the main event of UFC Tampa. What is on the line for Covington and Buckley in a very interesting welterweight division?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew answer fan questions about the Covington vs. Buckley matchup, Covington's media day, UFC Tampa, and more. Additionally, topics may include the fallout from UFC 310, Alexandre Pantoja's dominant title defense against Kai Asakura and what could be next for the flyweight champ, Shavkat Rakhmonov's competitive win over Ian Machado Garry, the official announcement of the Global Fight League and the surprising roster of fighters, and much more on our monthly fan Q&A episode.

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The final UFC event of 2024 is upon us.

This Saturday, UFC Tampa takes place at Amelie Arena in Tampa, FL, headlined by a welterweight contest between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley. It's the final event of the year and No Bets Barred is here to break it all down.

MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew takes a deep dive into UFC Tampa and his favorite bets on this final card. Topics discussed include whether Covington still has the juice to compete against a top talent like Buckley, if Cub Swanson is too old to stick around against Billy Quarantillo, the sneaky great lightweight banger between Joel Alvarez and Drakkar Klose, the next level up in THE CLIMB, and much more.

Tune in for episode 111 of No Bets Barred.

• Follow Jed Meshew: @JedKMeshew

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On the latest episode of The Fighter vs The Writer, Matt Brown and Damon Martin react to the fallout from UFC 310 including Shavkat Rakhmonov’s win and Alexandre Pantoja calling out Demetrious Johnson. Brown also addresses Merab Dvalishvili getting into an altercation with a fan and he recounts his own incident punching a fan in Brazil. Brown also reacts to Dana White saying he wants fighters like Anthony Smith and Chris Weidman to retire after losses on Saturday.

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Alexandre Pantoja had little to gain and a lot to lose at UFC 310, but he made the most of a tricky situation and turned in another sterling performance. The reigning flyweight champion notched the third straight defense of his flyweight title, taking the best shots that octagon newcomer Kai Asakura had to offer before putting him to sleep with a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.

Asakura was already an out-of-left field challenger, so what’s next for Pantoja, who has beaten many of his rivals, some of them twice over?

On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what’s next for Pantoja following the Pound-for-Pound great’s latest exploits. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry following a back-and-forth co-main event contest that may have raised both fighters’ stocks, Ciryl Gane after a controversial win in his rematch with Alexander Volkov, along with fellow main card winners Bryce Mitchell and Doo Ho Choi, and more.



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