The tightest race of our year-end awards for 2024 came in the Upset of the Year category. Given MMA is a sport where one punch can change everything, that’s not at all surprising. Upsets can and do happen, and there were plenty of them this year. As to who was in the running, well, read on.
Upset of the Year 2024
Eddie Law: Duben KO’s Clark at DWCS 70. Plenty of candidates in an actual official UFC bout, but the win must go to Yuneisy Duben who was a dog in her fight against Shannon Clark at DWCS 70 where Clark was a -700 favorite on the books. Add on top of that the fact that Duben showed up to Las Vegas with nearly nothing, almost didn’t make the trip for the fight, and still came out with the biggest “holy sh*t” moment on DWCS this season.
Jay Anderson: Reug Reug vs. Malykhin. Oumar Kane shouldn’t have had a chance against MMA’s first triple-champ, Anatoly Malykhin. “Reug Reug” was more of a spectacle, a hulking fighting who looked like a beast but had proven to tire in fights with all that muscle on his frame. At least, that was the general consensus. Yet he managed to claim a split decision victory over the previously undefeated Malykhin, who also held middleweight and light heavyweight gold for ONE Championship.
Gabriel Gonzalez: Gabriella Fernandes vs Wang Cong. It was very clear what was “supposed” to happen. Wang, at home in China and coming off a pretty vicious KO victory in her UFC debut was set up to keep the ball rolling continue a potential fast track toward former foe Valentina Shevchenko not unlike Alex Pereira did to Israel Adesanya. Instead, Fernandes wrote her own script in stunning fashion, stopping Cong for a beautiful finish that showed exactly why fights are won in the cage and not on paper.
Bryson Hester: Gabriella Fernandez vs. Wang Cong. A lot of close fights for one but one of the largest statistical upsets of the year came at UFC Macau at the end of November. Cong, a UFC newcomer with extensive kickboxing experience and even a win over UFC flyweight champion, Valentina Schevchenko, entered the fight as a heavy favorite. After some initial trouble Gabriella did the seemingly impossible not only dropping her opponent, but sinking in a submission and earning a gigantic victory and a bonus as well.
Patrick McCorry: Wang vs. Fernandes. Maybe recency bias, but who doesn’t love a massive underdog like Fernandes pulling off that kind of win. Then the post-fight interview on top of that as well. Amazing.
Cade Morehouse: Upset of the year goes to Nikolas Motta defeating top prospect Tom Nolan by knockout! That fight and performance stands out to me because of how big of an underdog Motta was; no one picked him to win that fight or thought he stood a chance. Not only that but it was a major rough stretch for Motta having a No Contest versus Trey Ogden and getting knocked out by Manuel Torres. So this bounce back against a highly touted prospect stands out the most for me!
Brett Cagle: Belal Muhammad defeats Leon Edwards to capture UFC gold. Chicago’s own Belal Muhammad was able to capture championship gold in his opponent’s backyard. At the time Leon Edwards was on a 12-fight winning streak that spanned over eight years. As a (+190) betting underdog Muhammad controlled the entire fight from the opening bell earning a Unanimous decision win. Traveling to England and completely dismantling a proven champion on his own home soil earns Muhammad upset of the year for me.
Mathis Desjardins: Oumar Kane def. Anatoly Malykhin [ONE 169]. Anatoly Malykhin came in as an undefeated, seven-to-one betting favourite with two stoppage wins over Reinier de Ridder and was in conversations about whether or not he could defeat Francis Ngannou. While Malykhin arguably won, and the fight taking place in a ring instead of a cage might have had an effect on its outcome, ‘Reug Reug’ wasn’t even supposed to be remotely competitive with him. This was by far the most shocked I was at a result this year.
End result: It was a close one, but Gabriella Fernandes’ upset of Wang Cong stands as our 2024 Upset of the Year!
