Michael Bisping has shared his pick for Fighter of the Year, but he’s open to a last-minute switch if light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira steps up at UFC 310.
Right now, the UFC veteran believes featherweight Ilia Topuria deserves the honor, thanks to the quality of his two impressive wins this year. Topuria just handed Max Holloway the first KO loss of his career and earlier in the year at UFC 298, he sent Alexander Volkanovski to the shadow realm.
Those are two literal legends of the sports, that Topuria destroyed in back-to-back fights. So, his status as Fighter of the Year is a hard stance to argue with.
However, with Pereira already boasting three victories in 2024, Bisping feels that if he steps in to save the UFC 310 card, it would be enough to clinch the title.
For Bisping, it’s not just about the wins — it’s about stepping up when the promotion needs it most.
“Topuria being the fighter of the year because the two wins he had was better than the three wins Pereira had. 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.”
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Right now, the last PPV of the year is in jeopardy as Belal Muhammad has pulled out of his first title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to a toe surgery. While Rakhmonov has proposed an interim title fight with Kamaru Usman, if need be, Belal has claimed he will only be out for 6 weeks, so an interim champion does seem sort of pointless.
The UFC might still go for it. After all, a champion vs champion fight does garner a lot more eyeballs. However, none of this comes to pass, there’s a good chance a phone rings in the Poatan household in Brazil.
Pereira to save the card at UFC 310?
The light heavyweight champ stirred up excitement by posting a phone emoji on social media, hinting he might take the fight on short notice, as he’s already done twice this year. He’s knocked out Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree Jr. in the three successful title defenses but does he have another fight in him?
After all, the Rountree Jr. fight did seem to chip away at him. Poatan had even claimed that he was due some time off. So, is he fighting again?
Here’s the letdown: MMA Fighting reports the fight isn’t happening!
So, with Pereira unlikely to appear at UFC 310, the flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura will now headline.
But that doesn’t mean, the Brazilian doesn’t still qualify for the position of the Fighter of The Year.
