Combat sports, notably MMA, provided memorable matches in 2024. The fight between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia was perhaps the most bizarre because of the shocking result and the added twist: Garcia missed the 140-pound weight limit the day before the fight by a whopping 3.2 pounds, negating his opportunity to win Haney’s WBC super lightweight championship but also resulting in Garcia paying the champ $1.5 million for the fight to proceed.
On April 20, Garcia stunned the boxing world by repeatedly dropping Haney, who had not been knocked down in his previous 31 fights. Garcia floored him in the 7th,10th, and 11th rounds on his way to a 115-109, 114-110, 112-112 victory at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. On May 1, it was announced that Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine. On June 20, the New York State Athletic Commission changed the result to a no-contest and suspended Garcia for a year. Haney has not returned to the ring since.
On May 18, Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis won a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield in 1999. Usyk defeated Tyson Fury 115-112, 113-114, 114-113 by split decision, with Fury receiving a standing eight count in the tenth round that proved to be the deciding factor. The much-anticipated rematch occurred on Dec. 21.
Mexican boxing superstar Canelo Álvarez fought twice in 2024, defeating fellow Mexican Jaime Munguía on May 4 and Puerto Rican pugilist Edgar Berlanga on Sept. 14, handing both the first loss of their careers. Canelo enters 2025 as the unified WBC, WBA, and WBO super middleweight champion. American boxing superstar Gervonta Davis fought once in 2024, earning an eighth-round knockout of Frank Martin on June 15.
In mixed martial arts, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones returned to the octagon on November 16 and further cemented his GOAT status with a win over Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. It was the first defense of his heavyweight title and he sealed the victory with a spinning back kick toward the end of the third round in only his second match as a heavyweight.
“Bruce Lee [said] that he doesn’t fear the man that knows 10,000 kicks, but the man who has worked one kick 10,000 times,” Jones said of the work he put in perfecting the kick that ended the match.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou returned to MMA competition for the first time since January 2022 when he took on Renan Ferreira on October 19. The Cameroonian defeated the 6’8” Brazilian Renan Ferreira by knockout in under 4 minutes of the first round to become the first-ever Professional Fighters League (PFL) Super Fights heavyweight champion. Ngannou suffered a tragedy outside of the sports world when his 15-month-old son, Kobe, died due to a brain malformation in April.
Although UFC leadership would lead you to believe that Jones taking on UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is the fight everyone wants to see, it is Jones versus Ngannou. However, with both champions under contract with different companies, it is a dream fight we may never see and Jones versus Aspinall could happen sometime in 2025.
In the boxing world, 2025 will get off to a great start with major fights scheduled in the first 60 days of the year. WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) will defend his title against Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-1, 10 KOs) in a 12-round bout scheduled for March 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. At a press conference earlier this month, Davis predicted a knockout victory. Davis fighting Roach is not an awful fight, and he did try to schedule one with Vasiliy Lomachenko, who may soon retire.
Still, a matchup versus the undefeated WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), who will defend his title on the undercard a week before against Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs), would be more compelling. Stevenson is fighting on the undercard of the rematch between Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) in Saudi Arabia. Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev edged out a 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114 win in the first contest.