Of the 42 UFC events in 2024, only 14 were pay-per-views. Over the years, PPVs have become expected to be of the highest quality, with championship fights and the biggest names in the sport competing.
But not all UFC PPVs are created equal. Though some don't turn out to be a memorable nights of fights, others exceed expectations. In 2024, it was no different.
The year will be remembered as the year of "Poatan," as Alex Pereira ruled supreme in the sport. Moreover, there was a changing of the guard in several weight classes, a group of "nerds" staking their claim as the best gym in the sport and an epic event unlike any other.
This year allowed for a new assignment on our coverage -- grading every fight on numbered PPVs and offering a final grade on each fight card. The grades are based on the quality of fights, not the names on the cards. Though UFC 306 -- Noche UFC -- will be remembered as an epic production, did it deliver when it came to the action in the Octagon? UFC 300 was stacked with high-caliber fighters, but did the card play out in practice better or worse than it looked on paper?
Here's a look at the grades for every UFC PPV in 2024.
UFC 297, Jan. 20: Strickland vs. Du Plessis
Grade: D-
The UFC's first PPV of the year limped out of the blocks. On paper, it lacked significant name value. In practice, it was an easily forgettable night of fights. Jasmine Jasudavicius' one-sided throttling of Priscila Cachoeira was an exhibition of violence and Gillian Robertson lived up to her "Savage" moniker with a beatdown of Polyana Viana to start the night. Still, the excitement was snuffed out by decisions in seven of the next eight fights. Mayra Bueno Silva simply ran out of gas in a plodding fight with Raquel Pennington for the vacant women's bantamweight title. Meanwhile, fight fans still question Sean Strickland's split decision loss to Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight belt. You know it's a bad night when "The Action Man" Chris Curtis bores us in a fight.
UFC 298, Feb. 17: Volkanovski vs. Topuria
Grade: C+
UFC 298 will be remembered as the night Ilia Topuria and Merab Dvalishvili became stars. Topuria blasted out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round to become featherweight champion and Dvalishvili ran through former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. What hurt this card was the lack of drama outside of Topuria's stunning knockout and Robert Whittaker surviving an early storm from Paulo Costa to win a unanimous decision in an entertaining middleweight fight.
UFC 299, March 9: O'Malley vs. Vera 2
Grade: B
UFC 299 had a little bit of everything. Dustin Poirier told the MMA community he wasn't done yet with his wicked knockout of Benoît Saint Denis, Jack Della Maddalena stormed back to finish Gilbert Burns just when it felt as if he was sure to taste defeat, and Michael "Venom" Page looked brilliant in his UFC debut against Kevin Holland. We can still hear the crack of Sean O'Malley's knee slamming into the face of Marlon "Chito" Vera. There was a string of forgettable decisions in the prelims, but, for the most part, UFC 299 delivered.
UFC 300, April 13: Pereira vs. Hill
Grade: A
A stacked fight card rarely delivers action worthy of the hype, but UFC 300 exceeded all expectations. Max Holloway's buzzer-beating finish of Justin Gaethje probably will hold up as the greatest knockout in UFC history for years to come. But that wasn't the only highlight on a fight card where 46% of the fighters were either champions or former champions. Alex Pereira waving off the referee after a low blow to send Jamahal Hill crashing to the canvas with a left hook and then hitting a meme celebration is arguably right behind Holloway for the year's best knockout. This card also had Diego Lopes breaking through as a star with his dismantling of Sodiq Yusuff, Kayla Harrison making her UFC debut by running over Holly Holm, Jiří Procházka weathering the storm to vanquish Aleksandar Rakic, and Renato Moicano rising for the ashes to finish Jalin Turner. It's obscene how good this card was and it remains the deepest ever assembled.
UFC 301, May 4: Pantoja vs. Erceg
Grade: C+
The UFC 300 stacked fight card left UFC 301 with little to chew on for a casual fan. But the action exceeded expectations. Steve Erceg nearly pulled off a massive upset in the main event, but Alexandre Pantoja's experience kept the flyweight title in his possession. The Fighting Nerds put the MMA world on notice as Mauricio Ruffy made his ultra-violent UFC debut, and Caio Borralho cemented himself as a contender by shredding Paul Craig. For a card that was light on name value, it delivered high-quality action. And Michel Pereira's backflip into a guillotine choke is worth your time.
UFC 302, June 1: Makhachev vs. Poirier
Grade: C-
Outside of Islam Makhachev snuffing out the spirited effort of Dustin Poirier with a fifth-round finish, and Kevin Holland's grotesque armbar submission of Michal Oleksiejczuk, UFC 302 was a slog to get through. We still don't know what Paulo Costa was doing in his listless performance against Sean Strickland. Nine of the 12 fights went to decision and none were particularly thrilling to watch.
UFC 303, June 29: Pereira vs. Procházka 2
Grade: C+
This was a card of two extremes: brutal and relatively fast finishes, and plodding decisions that lacked drama. The bad outweighed the good early, but the Diego Lopes-Dan Ige bout was thrilling, considering the circumstances. In addition, Alex Pereira's brilliant performance en route to a devastating knockout elevated this card to slightly above average.
UFC 304, July 27: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2
Grade: C
Seven consecutive decisions on a fight card that took place after midnight local time doesn't lend itself to a good grade. Fortunately, Paddy Pimblett and Tom Aspinall performed exceptionally to salvage a pretty average card. Fights expected to deliver (Arnold Allen-Giga Chikadze and Gregory Rodrigues-Christian Leroy Duncan) underwhelmed and a highly anticipated flyweight battle with bad blood at the root (Muhammad Mokaev-Manel Kape) was an overwhelming disappointment. It's not a great sign when UFC CEO Dana White says he's done raising postfight bonuses because of how this event played out.
UFC 305, Aug. 17: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya
Grade: B
A slow start on the prelims had this card trending toward a forgettable night. But the main card of UFC 305 delivered with an epic middleweight title fight that formally coronated a new king of the middleweights, a thrilling battle between lightweights jockeying for position in the title picture, and statement wins by Carlos Prates and Kai Kara-France propped the duo up as challengers to fight for the flyweight championship. Skip the prelims and get right to the main card for the action.
UFC 306 (Noche UFC), Sept. 14: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili
Grade: B-
Noche UFC was on a roll until the main and co-main events sucked the life out of the building with their lack of excitement. Before that, we were gifted with a fight-of-the-year candidate (Esteban Ribovics-Daniel Zellhuber), a stunning comeback win (Ronaldo Rodríguez-Ode' Osbourne) and an emerging star with a breakout performance (Diego Lopes). Unfortunately, the two fights everyone waited for failed to deliver fireworks. You can't win them all.
UFC 307, Oct. 5: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.
Grade: B-
Anchored by a stellar main event and an exciting welterweight clash, UFC 307's highs almost balanced its lows. Go out of your way to watch the masterful (and extraordinarily violent) performance of Alex Pereria versus Khalil Rountree Jr. and Joaquin Buckley's wicked finish of Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. The rest of the card was fine but nothing to write home about.
UFC 308, Oct. 26: Topuria vs. Holloway
Grade: A
With five fights receiving grades of A or A-minus, UFC 308 delivered on all accounts. After a sluggish start to the card, Mateusz Rębecki and Myktybek Orolbai's bloody fight was engaging, with five of the next seven fights ending inside the distance. The sheer variety of action should also be noted as we saw a violent knockout of a legend (Ilia Topuria-Max Holloway), a vicious trouncing of a former champion (Khamzat Chimaev-Robert Whittaker), a knockout-of-the-year contender (Shara Magomedov-Armen Petrosyan) and the rise of a vicious striker (Ibo Aslan TKO of Rafael Cerqueira). Skip the first two fights, then buckle up for a ride.
UFC 309, Nov. 16: Jones vs. Miocic
Grade: C
As a whole, UFC 309 underwhelmed. Very few fights were competitive and there was an overall lack of excitement from the outcomes. There wasn't a single fight on the card that I'd suggest you go out of your way to see. With so little drama and several fights that looked better on paper than in practice, the UFC's return to Madison Square Garden didn't produce the fireworks of previous cards at the historic arena.
UFC 310, Dec. 7: Pantoja vs. Asakura
Grade: C
Sometimes, fight cards don't jump off the page with name recognition but deliver inside the Octagon. This wasn't one of those times. Between a pair of head-scratching decisions, a few fights that performed well under expectations and a one-sided main event, this won't be a fight card anyone will be rushing back to watch again.