UFC legend Daniel Cormier didn’t pick Alex Pereira for his UFC Male Fighter of the Year, naming featherweight champion Ilia Topuria instead.
Topuria knocked out both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway en route to the featherweight’s summit, and he is one spot below Pereira as the fourth ranked UFC pound-for-pound fighter.
UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen picked Pereira as his Fighter of the Year, arguing that the Brazilian stepped in to save three UFC cards— one that was meant to feature Conor McGregor at UFC 303 — and defended his title three times.
Pereira was crowned the light heavyweight champion in November 2023 when he beat Jiri Prochazka.
This made him one of the few fighters to secure two-division status in the UFC, as he had already conquered the middleweight rankings where he battled long-term rival Israel Adesanya twice.
He defended his belt again five months later by knocking out Jamal Hill, and doing the same to Prochazka again before overcoming Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 307.
“I don’t know if one of Pereira’s wins or three of Pereira’s wins outweigh, in terms of importance, the two that Ilia Topuria had,” Cormier said on Good Guy/Bad Guy with Sonnen.
“Pereira beat two former champions in Jamahal Hill and Jiri, and then he beat a guy in Khalil Rountree, who’s really good and was ranked seventh, right? Went up in the rankings after he lost.”
Cormier went on to say how Volkanovski and Holloway were still at the very top of their game when Topuria faced them.
“Ilia Topuria beat Alexander Volkanovski, considered one of the greatest featherweights of all time,” he added.
“He’s number two to Jose Aldo and that’s partly because no one will ever go above Jose Aldo because all he did to start the division.
“He beat Max Holloway, the third best featherweight of all time. In terms of importance, he literally went in one year, Chael, and did away with the last eight years of the division.
“He went and took care of everybody from 2015 to 2024, all in one year, because from that time to now, it was always Alex Volkanovski or always Max Holloway.”
Sonnen was full of praise for Cormier’s line of argument, although he still stuck to his own guns on making Pereira Fighter of the Year.
Volkanovski rose through the featherweight division in the three years since making his UFC debut in November 2016.
He beat Holloway in December 2019 to win UFC gold for the first time before beating him again to defend the title seven months later.
The Australian then proceeded to defend the belt a further four times, which included a third victory over Holloway before dropping the belt to Topuria.
Volkanovski battled Islam Makhachev twice for lightweight gold in 2023.
He was ever so close to winning the pair’s first bout, losing out via narrow unanimous decision, but was head kicked out cold in their rematch, which many claim had a lasting effect in his bout with Topuria.
“It is not like those two guys were not fighting at the top of the sport anymore,” Cormier added.
“Volk had just fought Islam for the lightweight championship and less than a year ago, he had fought him competitively.
“Max Holloway had just won the BMF title in what is in many people’s opinion, the Knockout of the Year over Justin Gaethje, a guy at 155 pounds, who’s in the top three.
“He’s beating these greats when they are still in their prime and still fighting at the highest level.
“So, in terms of importance, in terms of being in there, beating the best back-to-back – but not only beating them, knocking them out, for me it’s Ilia Topuria. Hands down.”
Fellow UFC champions Merab Dvalishivili and Alexandre Pantoja were both mentioned as candidates for Fighter of the Year.
Dvalishvili won bantamweight gold in September by overcoming Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in the Las Vegas Sphere.
Meanwhile, Pantoja defended his flyweight belt twice in 2024, beating Steve Erceg after five rounds and submitting Japan’s Kai Asakura at UFC 310 in December.