• Andreas Hale, ESPNDec 19, 2024, 07:53 AM ET

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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.