Michael Bisping has made his pick for Fighter of the Year, but one outcome could still change his decision.
The former UFC middleweight champion believes 145lb king Ilia Topuria deserves the prestigious honour but admits Alex Pereira could snatch it at the eleventh hour if he steps up at UFC 310.
“Topuria being the fighter of the year because the two wins he had were better than the three wins Pereira had,” he explained.
“I am telling you now, if Pereira does in some way, jump on this card and fight Magomed Ankalaev – win or lose, you gotta give fighter of the year to Alex Pereira.”
UFC 310 is the last PPV event of the year and was supposed to be headlined by a welterweight title scrap between champion Belal Muhammad and top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.
However, Muhammad was forced to pull out of the bout due to a bone infection in his foot, throwing the main event into disarray.
Rakhmonov has touted former UFC champion Kamaru Usman as a potential dance partner in an interim title fight, but the UFC is yet to go for it.
Magomed Ankalaev and UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira have both hinted that they were interested in saving the card, something which would tip the Fighter of the Year award in Poatan’s favour, according to Bisping.
The Brazilian has already saved one card this year, stepping in for the injured Conor McGregor at UFC 303 and beating Jiri Prochazka in a rematch to defend his light heavyweight crown for a second time.
Pereira has defended his title three times this year, knocking out Jamahal Hill, Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree Jr in devastating fashion.
The 37-year-old former kickboxer last stepped foot inside the Octagon at UFC 307 in early October, where he stopped Rountree Jr in the fourth round and left him with permanent battle scars.
Pereira revealed over the weekend that his hand “still hurts” from punching Rountree in the fight, meaning an appearance at UFC 310 now seems unlikely.
If that’s the case, Bisping is rocking with ‘El Matador’ as his 2024 Fighter of the Year, and it’s hard to disagree with.
The Spanish superstar recorded arguably the greatest back-to-back wins in UFC history this year.
The hard-hitting featherweight shut previous champion Alexander Volkanovski‘s lights off at UFC 298 before becoming the first man in history to KO Max Holloway.
Before UFC 308 last month, ‘Blessed’ had only been dropped once and never knocked out.
But that all changed when Topuria landed a huge left hook to knock the Hawaiian out cold and make a huge statement to the featherweight division and entire UFC.
Now, the No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter is hoping to run it back with Volk, who called for a second fight with Topuria after his victory over Holloway.
“We are going to do it again, you deserve that,” said Topuria as he embraced Volkanovski.
“If someone deserves it, it is him. You are the man brother.”
