The major MMA promotions have wrapped up their schedules for 2024, so it's time to crown this year's MMA News award winners.
Getting the ball rolling will be the Female Fighter of the Year, as we determine which woman among the UFC, PFL, and ONE Championship rosters stood out from the rest in 2024.
Voting Panel:
Harvey Leonard, Kyle Dimond, Andrew Starc, Thomas Albano, Ryan Jarrell, Andrew Ravens
Honorable Mentions:
8. Zhang Weili - UFC strawweight champion
7. Natália Silva - UFC flyweight contender
6. Virna Jandiroba - UFC strawweight contender
Now, on to the five female fighters who received the most votes for this year's award, including the 2024 winner.
5. Jasmine Jasudavicius - UFC Flyweight Contender
2024 marked flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius' third calendar year competing under the UFC banner, and it was by far her best.
After going 1-1 in 2022 and 2-1 in 2023, the Canadian standout enjoyed an unbeaten 3-0 year in the Octagon. After initially bouncing back from her setback against Tracy Cortez by submitting Priscila Cachoeira on home soil this past January, the 35-year-old outpointed highly regarded debutant Fatima Kline in Colorado before getting another finish in front of her compatriots at the expense of Ariane Lipski da Silva.
Having risen to #12 in the rankings with three straight wins, two of which earned her Performance of the Night bonuses, Jasudavicius has earned fifth place in this year's MMA News award.
4. Cris Cyborg - Bellator Featherweight & PFL Super Fights Featherweight Champion
MMA legend Cris Cyborg marks one of two fighters to crack the top five with just one fight in 2024.
The former UFC featherweight queen and current Bellator champion spent much of this year expressing discontent at her struggle to secure a debut in the PFL. But that finally came to fruition at the Battle of the Giants pay-per-view in October, where she competed for the inaugural PFL Super Fights featherweight belt against the promotion's first and only two-weight title winner, Larissa Pacheco.
The 39-year-old showed that she's got plenty left in the tank, emerging victorious from a brutal five-round battle. In doing so, Cyborg ended Pacheco's 10-fight win streak, which included a victory over Kayla Harrison and consecutive PFL season triumphs at 155 and 145 pounds.
3. Valentina Shevchenko - UFC Flyweight Champion
Like Cyborg, another all-time MMA great in Valentina Shevchenko also delivered in a big way with her sole appearance in the cage this year.
After a defeat and draw against Alexa Grasso in 2023, many had written off "Bullet's" chances of returning to the flyweight throne when she and the Mexican completed their trilogy at Noche UFC inside the Sphere this past September. But more than just proving her detractors wrong, Shevchenko utterly dominated Grasso across five rounds to begin a second reign at 125 pounds.
That one-sided performance defied the expectations of most, meaning Shevchenko gets the bronze in this year's award.
2. Kayla Harrison - UFC Bantamweight Contender
The top UFC fighter in the 2024 award is Kayla Harrison, whose debut year on MMA's biggest stage couldn't have gone much better.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo swapped the PFL for the UFC, arriving in the Octagon for the first time at the milestone UFC 300 event this past April. The 2019 and 2021 PFL title winner was tasked with beating Holly Holm if she was to immediately stake her claim for a bantamweight title shot.
More than just beat the former champion, Harrison ran through her en route to finding the submission finish in round two. And after missing out on the next opportunity at the gold, the Ohio native extended her UFC record to 2-0 by outpointing another top-five contender in Ketlen Vieira.
After entering this year with many doubting her ability to even make the weight, Harrison's perfect run to place herself in position for a championship shot in 2025 has earned her the runner-up spot.
1. Dakota Ditcheva - 2024 PFL Flyweight Champion
The rise of Dakota Ditcheva has been quite something, and 2024 saw her break through on the global stage.
After going 3-0 in 2023 to achieve regional title glory under the PFL Europe banner, the British striking specialist set her sights on emerging victorious from the PFL's inaugural flyweight season. With the likes of Liz Carmouche and Taila Santos on the roster, the year promised to provide answers to those who questioned Ditcheva based on her level of competition.
Through the regular season and semifinal, "Dangerous" dispatched Lisa Mauldin, Chelsea Hackett, and Jena Bishop with first-round finishes. Her journey to the championship final in Riyadh last month only boosted the hype — but it increased dramatically when she entered the cage on Nov. 29.
To secure gold and $1 million in prize money, Ditcheva had to get the better of Santos, a longtime top-five contender in the UFC whom many believe deserved the nod over Shevchenko in their 2022 title fight. The undefeated 26-year-old passed the test with flying colors, dominating the Brazilian before blitzing her with body shots in round two for the finish.
With a 4-0 year to capture another PFL title and establish herself as one of the world's best in MMA at 125 pounds, top spot was only ever going to "Dangerous" Dakota Ditcheva in 2024.
