UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier has revealed his choice for Knockout of the Year — and it’s not Max Holloway’s finish of Justin Gaethje.
With mixed martial arts’ leading promotion concluding its schedule for 2024, focus has turned to a number of categories for the annual year-end awards. And perhaps the most discussed is who delivered the top KO across the past 12 months.
Leading the way for most appears to be the top moment from this past April’s milestone UFC 300 pay-per-view, which saw Holloway sleep Gaethje with just one second remaining to capture the symbolic BMF crown.
But while many are selecting that as their pick for 2024, Poirier actually has Holloway on the wrong end of his choice…
During a recent appearance on ESPN MMA‘s Good Guy/Bad Guy show with Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, Poirier pointed to featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria’s brutal finish of “Blessed” at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Explaining his choice, the Louisianan noted Holloway’s status as a fighter yet to be dropped or even hurt significantly on the feet in MMA before October’s numbered event at Etihad Arena.
“Just how elusive (Holloway) is there but also the guys he fought, he’s never been put down,” Poirier said. “Taking big shots and always answering the bell, always getting back up, always showing up to the next round. Never really seen him rocked or stumble that much. And to get put down for the first time after 30-plus UFC fights is, to me, Knockout of the Year.”
The result marks one of two candidates for KO of the Year that Topuria delivered in 2024. Eight months prior, the Spaniard rendered Alexander Volkanovski unconscious in the second round of their title fight in Anaheim.
Having defended the belt at Holloway’s expense to close out his year, “El Matador” will no doubt look to display more violence in 2025, perhaps with a different UFC championship on the light given his recent lightweight tease.
