The 2024 Irish and International Severe MMA Awards

2024 came and 2024 went, with our mad world of mixed martial arts barely stopping for breath. As a whole, this wasn’t a banner year for our beautiful sport but regardless, we are back with a series of awards to appreciate the high achievers of the past twelve months.

For the last ten years, we have picked out the best in MMA in their respective fields for our awards, and this year is no different. This year’s voting panel consists of SevereMMA founder Graeme McDonnell, MMA podcaster and media member Sean Sheehan, as well as our SevereMMA staff members Ian O’Neill, Andy Stevenson, Caoilte de Barra, Theo Lander and newcomer Paul Browne. Winners were decided with a group consensus this year, rather than on individual votes like previous years. There were no ties this year.

Sean and Graeme recorded a podcast discussing the winners, which you can listen to below. For the full winners please scroll down below that, or don’t, if you wish to avoid podcast spoilers.

Fighter of the Year: Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria knocked out both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in 2024. That basically ends any discussion. One of the most high-performing years in terms of win quality we have ever seen in MMA.

Female Fighter of the Year: Dakota Ditcheva

A huge breakout year for the Mancunian with four wins, each more impressive than the last. She’s not only 2024’s best female fighter, she’s also in the discussion for the best female fighter in the world.

Fight of the Year: Dean Garnett vs. Lewis McGrillen – Evans PFL Europe 3

In a year which lacked top-quality technical match-ups and classic fights, this one stood out. A litany of knockdowns led to an all-time classic back-and-forth MMA slobberknocker.

Submission of the Year: Khamzat Chimaev Face Crank vs. Robert Whittaker – UFC 308

What initially looked like a early tap quickly turned into one of the more gruesome face-cranks of all-time as Chimaev literally cracked Whittaker’s face.

Knockout of the Year: Max Holloway knocks out Justin Geathje for the BMF title with one second left on the clock – UFC 300

One of the greatest buzzer beater KOs of all-time as Max Holloway, in vintage fashion, pointed at the ground and bombed Justin Gaethje out of there with one second of the 1500 left. A KO made even more special by the fact that Holloway was well ahead in the fight and didn’t need a crazy late KO.

Underdog of the Year: Belal Muhammad

Not many people had predicted Belal Muhammad as a future UFC champion but 2024 saw him travel to enemy territory and take out Leon Edwards via dominant decision in front of the English fans.

Emerging Worldwide Prospect Of The Year: Paul Hughes

An Irish winner of a worldwide award might get the “biased” spidey senses going, but this was as obvious a winner as any this year. Paul Hughes went from a completely unranked and untested lightweight on the worldwide scene to beating arguably the best lightweight in Bellator/PFL and earned himself a title fight in the new year. Nobody else came close to that level of a rise.

Irish Pro Fighter Of The Year: Paul Hughes

A banner year for Irish MMA saw FAI’s Paul Hughes go 3-0, culminating in one of the greatest Irish MMA victories of all-time against Bellator’s top ranked A.J. McKee. A win which earned Hughes a title fight against Usman Nurmagomedov in January, 2025.

Emerging Irish Prospect Of The Year: Solomon Simon

One of the longest tenured amateurs in Irish MMA history has now become one of the most exciting emerging pros. The Waterford man went 2-0 with two finishes in 2024, the second of which saw him rocketed into Cage Warriors title contention after beating twenty-one fight veteran Walter Cogliandro in just his fifth professional outing.

Irish Amateur Fighter Of The Year: Damien McGuigan

The exciting FAI man went 3-0 in 2024 with an Irish Fight of the Year contender against fellow top-prospect Sheá Cleland, whom he also beat in the rematch. McGuigan also beat a top UK amateur to finish what looks like his last year in the amateur ranks.

Irish Female Fighter Of The Year: Danni McCormack

A very close call here between Danni McCormack and her old rival Shauna Bannon, who both went 1-0 in 2024. McCormack gets the nod based not only on the quality of her opponent, but also on the quality of the fight which was up there as one of the best of the year. After winning in 2017 and 2023, McCormack is now a three-time Irish female fighter of the year.

Irish Gym of the year: Fight Academy Ireland

FAI win the award for a second time after a huge year for the gym. Stand out performers Gerard Burns and Paddy McCorry had great years along with our amateur of the year, Damien McGuigan, and Irish fighter of the year/emerging worldwide prospect, Paul Hughes.

Gym of the Year: AKA/Eagles MMA

The relationship between the gyms run by the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and Javier Mendez has been one of the most fruitful in the history of MMA. 2024 saw that dominance continue with the likes of Usman Nurmagomedov, Umar Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev utterly unshakable.

Upset of the Year: Belal Muhammad def Leon Edwards – UFC 304

Entering this fight, a lot of people felt like it was just another title defence before Leon Edwards moved on to bigger and better things. Belal Muhammad had better ideas and not only caused an upset of a fight result, but the upset of the thousands of the fans in attendance.

Comeback Of The Year: Ryan Curtis

After suffering a life altering injury in training, it looked like Ryan Curtis was on a road to recovery which may have never seen him back on his feet again. That was not to be the case. The Dubliner showed as much fight as anyone this year as he defied all odds and walked again.

Worst Fight of the Year: Manel Kape vs. Mokaev – UFC 304

This one had it all. Terrible build-up, horrible fight and the winner was banished from the promotion soon after.

Non-UFC Fighter of the Year: Shamil Musaev

2024 was a banner year for quality fights and fighters outside of the UFC, if not for the chasing promotions themselves. Going 4-0, Musaev remained undefeated and took out some top rated opponents along the way.

Event of the Year: UFC Sphere

Not the best card of the year, but the greatest event MMA has ever seen. The backdrop and storytelling of the Sphere was truly mesmeric and something that will never be forgotten.

Shocking Moment Of The Year: Conor McGregor civil lawsuit fallout

A terrible year for Conor McGregor as a fighter ended even worse for him as a person as he was found liable for assault in the trial taken by Nikita Hand. McGregor was dropped by major brands in the aftermath and is at an all-time low with MMA fans, media and the general public.

Commentator Of The Year: Jon Anik

MMA commentary can go from good to bad to truly awful, even at the highest level. In the middle of all of that is the excellent Jon Anik who is constantly the most skilled and professional orator in any booth.