Another impactful 12 months have somehow come and gone in mixed martial arts. The Professional Fighters League, Rizin Fighting Federation, ONE Championship, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and Invicta Fighting Championships all moved forward in one form or another, the sport continuing to wax and wane across various cities, countries and continents. Rules changed. Drug testing relaxed. Promotions folded. Once-bright flames faded or burned out altogether.

Through it all, the Ultimate Fighting Championship remained the industry standard bearer. What began with a light heavyweight reckoning between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker in the UFC Fight Night 234 headliner on Jan. 13 concluded with Joaquin Buckley’s cut-induced dismissal of Colby Covington in the UFC on ESPN 63 main event on Dec. 14. Dricus Du Plessis, Ilia Topuria, Belal Muhammad, Merab Dvalishvili, Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko rose to the top of their respective weight classes, two of them for a second time. Meanwhile, Sean Strickland, Alexander Volkanovski, Leon Edwards, Sean O’Malley, Raquel Pennington and Alexa Grasso were among those who ceded power in what was another volatile campaign for the Las Vegas-based powerhouse.

The spaces in between were filled with fights that stretched the bounds of our collective imagination, devastating knockouts, bone-crunching submissions, emotionally charged rivalries and the rise of new stars like Dakota Ditcheva, Carlos Prates, Paul Hughes and Mauricio Ruffy.

A complete rundown of Sherdog.com’s 2024 Year-End Awards:

• Fighter of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Women's Fighter of the Year by Sean Sheehan
• Fight of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Knockout of the Year by Brian Knapp
• Submission of the Year by Ben Duffy
• Story of the Year by Tristen Critchfield
• Beatdown of the Year by Ben Duffy
• Event of the Year by Jay Pettry
• Breakthrough Fighter of the Year by Ben Duffy
• Robbery of the Year by Tyler Treese
• Round of the Year by Tyler Treese
• Comeback Fighter of the Year by Ben Duffy
• Upset of the Year by Ben Duffy
• Entrance of the Year by Jay Pettry
• The Sheehan Awards by Sean Sheehan

Sherdog’s Year-End Awards were voted upon by the following panel of staff members: Mike Fridley, Brian Knapp, Tristen Critchfield, Ben Duffy, Jay Pettry, Tyler Treese, Sean Sheehan, Dayne Fox, Tom Feely, Keith Shillan, Devin Tejada, Marcelo Alonso, Joao Baptista and Jeff Villanueva.