Neither of them were ranked. Between the two of them, they probably weren’t responsible for selling a single high-priced ticket to the UFC 306 event at Sphere this past September. But as an undercard attraction early on the pay-per-view portion of Noche UFC, Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber delivered a classic.
We’re calling it Fight of the Year, but it might be slightly more accurate to name this one Round of the Year. While the first two frames of this lightweight contest also had plenty of action, it was really the third and final round that stamped itself on the memory of fight fans that night.
You could feel it coming, too. After two competitive rounds that saw Zellhuber trying to keep Ribovics at the end of his piston jabs, there were hints that Ribovics was beginning to break through. In the corner before the last round, Zellhuber’s coach Eric Nicksick warned him that it was a close fight, so he might need to get after Ribovics in these final five minutes.
Ribovics, it seemed, had the same idea. Right away the pace went from brisk to blistering. Zellhuber dropped Ribovics with a hard elbow in close. But after catching his breath during a pause from a Zellhuber thumb to the eye, Ribovics came back with a pair of hard rights that sent Zellhuber reeling into the fence. Only that stretch of chainlink kept him upright then, with Ribovics emptying the tank in search of a finish.
For roughly the next 60 seconds or so, Ribovics followed a woozy and wobbling Zellhuber all over the Octagon, firing, on average, about one punch per second. Zellhuber avoided as many as he could. The objective of the moment was pure survival. But then, incredibly, his legs steadied and he began to fire back. Not only had he climbed back from the brink of unconsciousness, he’d somehow clawed back into contention.
Once the final horn sounded and the judges’ scores came in, Ribovics won it by the slimmest of margins. A split decision to etch his name into UFC history, but both men would take home the Fight of the Night bonus money.
While we’re heaping praise upon them for their guts and tenacity, however, maybe spare a thought for referee Jason Herzog too. A lot of officials would have seen Zellhuber stumbling and jumped in to stop it too soon. Herzog let it go and let greatness unfold. That deserves some recognition as well.
2. (Tie) Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier, UFC 302
Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr., UFC 307
If there’s a unifying theme between these two title fights that tied for second place in our staff vote, it’s that the favorite won and the champ stayed the champ in a fight that was both more competitive and more entertaining than expected.
Poirier forced Makhachev to dig deep at UFC 302 in June. The result was a gutsy performance by the lightweight king, who pulled a bit of grappling brilliance out of the toolbox to cinch in the choke in the final round. Rountree might have gotten battered as the fight wore on, but he gave as good as he got in the early going and then proved his toughness beyond all doubt after “Poatan” started to take over.
Both were worthy efforts, and with a lot of the line for all parties involved.
4. Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje, UFC 300
Finishes don’t come any more dramatic than this.
When Holloway waved Gaethje to the center of the cage during the waning seconds of Round 5, he knew exactly what he was doing. For one thing, he was giving Gaethje a chance to win the fight, which Holloway absolutely didn’t need to do. He was also inviting a brawl and a little extra pain despite knowing he was only 10 seconds or so from winning a decision.
All that alone is impressive enough. But to take that unnecessary risk and make it pay off big time with one of the greatest buzzer-beater knockouts we’ve ever seen in this sport? That’s legendary stuff right there.
5. Dan Hooker vs. Mateusz Gamrot, UFC 305
A bloody battle that ends in a split decision? Sounds like a Dan Hooker fight, alright.
Gamrot at first seemed like he might be able to control this one with his wrestling. But after a left from Hooker dropped him late in the first, the blood was flowing and the leather kept flying.
A memorable war at UFC 305 in August, and worthy of a place on any year-end list.
Here is how Uncrowned’s MMA team voted for 2024’s Fight of the Year:
Honorable mentions:
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Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai, UFC 308
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Lewis McGrillen-Evans vs. Dean Garnett, PFL Europe 3
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Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, UFC 308
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Jack Della Maddalena vs. Gilbert Burns, UFC 299
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Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira, UFC Vegas 98
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Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis, UFC 299
