Alex Pereira and 5 other fighters break into UFC record books in 2024, No.2 might never be topped again

The UFC's eventful 2024 competitive season saw championship belts changing hands, the rise of new stars, and a number of highlight reel finishes. Recently, the UFC posted a countdown video on its social media handles to honor the top record-breakers of the year.

Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira stood out as the top name, achieving three consecutive title defenses within the shortest timeframe of 175 days, thus breaking Ronda Rousey’s previous record Of 189 days.

Other record-breakers featrued on the list included Max Holloway, Valentina Shevchenko, Muslim Salikhov, Sean O'Malley, and Gerald Meerschaert.

Check out the countdown video below:

Pereira earned all three of his title fight victories in 2024 by knockout. He stepped up to fight Jamahal Hill to headline UFC 300, despite dealing with a toe injury, and won by first-round knockout.

The Brazilian also defeated Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 in a short-notice matchup after the original headliner, Conor McGregor, withdrew due to a toe injury. 'Poatan' ended the year on a high note by finishing Khalil Rountree Jr. with a fourth-round TKO, overcoming an early scare in their UFC 307 fight.

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Elaborating on the UFC record-breakers other than Alex Pereira

For the uninitiated, Max Holloway defeated Justin Gaethje at the milestone UFC 300 event to win the ceremonial BMF title. After five rounds of a striking clinic, Holloway invited Gaethje to stand and trade in the closing seconds, finishing ‘The Highlight’ at the 4:59 mark of the final round. This produced one of the most iconic finishes in UFC history, taking second place in the UFC's list of records.

Valentina Shevchenko, the most dominant champion in women's flyweight history, lost the title to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 in one of the biggest upsets of 2023. She subsequently failed to reclaim it at the Noche UFC event that year, losing by a razor-thin split decision.

However,'Bullet' dominated Grasso with her wrestling at the Noche UFC 306 event in September, becoming the first-ever two-time UFC women's flyweight champion.

Middleweight legend Anderson Silva's title reign is notable, as 'The Spider' won nine of his 11 title fights by way of finish, securing a total of his 11 UFC fights by knockout or submission. Meerschaert set a new record for the most finishes in middleweight history with his second-round submission victory over Edmen Shahbazyan, marking his 12th finish.

In other notable performances, Muslim Salikhov became the first fighter to secure two spinning back kick knockouts, finishing both Andre Fialho and Song Kenan. Former bantamweight title holder Sean O'Malley avenged his August 2020 loss against Marlon 'Chito' Vera in the UFC 299 main event, setting the record for most significant strikes (229) landed by a fighter in bantamweight title fight history.