2024 in UFC

The year 2024 is the 31st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.

Class action: anti-trust lawsuit
On August 9, 2023, U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware granted class action status to more than 1,200 former UFC fighters who competed between December 2010 and June 2017 and are suing for $800 million upward to $1.6 billion in wages, as the lawsuit claims Zuffa had abused its power to suppress UFC fighters' wages. The anti-trust law also permits private plaintiffs to be able to recover three times the damages suffered, meaning the UFC may ultimately pay several billions of dollars worth of damages. The case has a scheduled April 8, 2024 trial date. On March 20, 2024, TKO, UFC parent company reached an agreement to settle all claims in the class action lawsuits for $335 million where the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes.

Drug Free Sport International partnership
The UFC announced a new partnership with Drug Free Sport International, begin in January 2024, the same company that oversees the anti-doping programs of the NCAA, MLB, NFL, and NBA. The administration of the UFC Anti-Doping Program, including sanctioning decisions, will be handled exclusively and independently by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), where the former FBI agent George Piro would serve as the independent administrator of the UFC's anti-doping program.

Vince McMahon resigned over sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit
On September 12, 2023, Endeavor merged with professional wrestling promotion WWE to form a new publicly traded company under the stock symbol "TKO". TKO executive chairman Vince McMahon resigned on January 26, 2024 after Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit against McMahon for sex trafficking and sexual assault.

UFC Performance Institute
In February 2024, the third Performance Institute was opened in Mexico City, Mexico.

Acquired by Silver Lake private equity
On April 2, 2024, it was announced by TKO that Endeavor was privately taken 100% by its largest investor, Silver Lake, three years after Endeavor three-year run as a public company where Endeavor purchased the UFC for just over $4 billion in 2016.

New glove (June 2024)
On April 12, 2024, UFC announced a new glove where changes were made to reduce hand injuries and eye pokes (every 14 fights with an average delay of 50 seconds), while maintaining dexterity and not affecting performance. The new gloves were already tested during the ten weeks of the Dana White's Contender Series 2023 and gloves were used starting in June 2024. New features of the gloves include: (1) a wristband locking system to prevent grabbing of the gloves; (2) all seams are now on the palm side with a lack of seams on top of the hands to minimize abrasions and cuts; (3) removal of finger binding that allows the hand to close maturely to reduce eyes pokes, abrasions, and cuts; (4) padding to the sides of the index and pinky finger of the glove to protect bone; (5) ergonomic curved wristband for better fit around the wrist scooped or angled finger holes to eliminate bunching on the inside of the fisted hand lining; (6) and thicker foam padding for maximum flexibility and protection with an updated law profile hook and loop that minimizes snag and reduces weight; they have an authentication and data chip which allows the UFC to identify a pair of gloves to a fighter in a specific fight.

The gloves come in XXXS to XXXXL sizes with weight lighter by 1 to 1.5 ounces compared to the previous gloves; the new glove weighs between 3 and 4.9 oz. New gloves include five different glove colors: gun-metal gloves will be used for traditional UFC fights; gold gloves with an octagon trim for championship fights and main event bouts; black gloves for “The Ultimate Fighter”; blue gloves for Dana White’s Contender Series; and red gloves for Road to the UFC tournaments.

Releases and retirements
These fighters have either been released from their UFC contracts, announced their retirement, or joined other promotions:


 * A.J. Dobson - Released in March - Middleweight
 * Abubakar Nurmagomedov - Released in February - Welterweight
 * Albert Duraev - Released in February - Middleweight
 * Andrei Arlovski - Released in June - Heavyweight
 * Anton Turkalj - Released in April - Light Heavyweight
 * Bryan Barberena - Released in March - Middleweight
 * Carlos Candelario - Released in March - Flyweight
 * Cynthia Calvillo - Released in April - Women's Strawweight
 * Daniel Lacerda - Released in March - Flyweight
 * Danny Henry - Released in April - Featherweight
 * David Dvorak - Released in June - Flyweight
 * Denys Bondar - Released in March - Flyweight
 * Devin Clark - Released in February - Light Heavyweight
 * Fernie Garcia - Released in March - Featherweight
 * Igor Severino - Released in March -Flyweight
 * Jamie Pickett - Retired in March - Middleweight
 * Joanne Wood - Retired in March - Women's Flyweight
 * Josh Parisian - Released in March - Heavyweight
 * Juancamilo Ronderos - Released in February - Flyweight
 * Khusein Askhabov - Released in March - Featherweight
 * Luis Saldaña - Released in March - Featherweight
 * Makhmud Muradov - Released in May - Middleweight
 * Malcolm Gordon - Retired in January - Flyweight
 * Mark Madsen - Retired in February - Lightweight
 * Marc Diakiese - Released in June - Lightweight
 * Mateus Mendonçą - Released in March - Flyweight
 * Matt Brown - Retired in May - Welterweight
 * Michelle Waterson-Gomez - Retired in June - Women's Strawweight
 * Nate Maness - Released in June - Flyweight
 * Phil Hawes - Released in February - Middleweight
 * T.J. Brown - Released in January - Featherweight
 * Tyson Pedro - Retired in March - Light Heavyweight
 * Yohan Lainesse - Released in January - Welterweight
 * Stephanie Egger - Released in February - Women's Bantamweight
 * Valentine Woodburn - Released in April - Welterweight
 * Zac Pauga - Released in February - Light Heavyweight

Debut UFC fighters
The following fighters fought their first UFC fight in 2024:


 * Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady - UFC Fight Night 238
 * AJ Cunningham - UFC Fight Night 238
 * André Lima - UFC on ESPN 53
 * Angel Pacheco - UFC on ESPN 54
 * Antonio Trócoli - UFC on ABC 6
 * Bekzat Almakhan - UFC Fight Night 238.
 * Bernardo Sopaj - UFC Fight Night 238
 * Bolaji Oki - UFC Fight Night 236
 * Brendson Ribeiro - UFC 298
 * Carli Judice - UFC on ESPN 58
 * Carlos Prates - UFC Fight Night 236
 * Carlos Vera - UFC 298
 * César Almeida - UFC Fight Night 240
 * Chang Ho Lee - UFC on ABC 6
 * Charalampos Grigoriou - UFC Fight Night 239
 * Chris Padilla - UFC on ESPN 55
 * Connor Matthews - UFC on ESPN 54
 * Danny Barlow - UFC 298
 * Danny Silva - UFC Fight Night 239
 * Dariya Zheleznyakova - UFC on ESPN 53
 * Dione Barbosa - UFC 301
 * Dylan Budka - UFC Fight Night 240
 * Ernesta Kareckaitė - UFC 301
 * Fatima Kline - UFC on ESPN 59
 * Felipe Bunes - UFC Fight Night 234
 * Felipe Lima - UFC on ABC 6
 * Hyder Amil - UFC Fight Night 236
 * Ibo Aslan - UFC on ESPN 54
 * Igor Severino - UFC on ESPN 53
 * James Llontop - UFC on ESPN 55
 * Jean Matsumoto - UFC Fight Night 240
 * Jean Silva - UFC Fight Night 234
 * Julia Polastri - UFC on ESPN 58
 * Jhonata Diniz - UFC on ESPN 55
 * Kayla Harrison - UFC 300
 * Long Xiao - UFC on ABC 6
 * Luis Pajuelo - UFC on ESPN 53
 * Magomed Gadzhiyasulov - UFC on ABC 6
 * Marquel Mederos - UFC Fight Night 235
 * Michael Page - UFC 299
 * Mitch Ramirez - UFC Fight Night 239
 * Mitch Raposo - UFC 302
 * Maurício Ruffy - UFC 301
 * Oban Elliott - UFC 298
 * Oumar Sy - UFC Fight Night 241
 * Puja Tomar - UFC on ESPN 57
 * Pedro Falcão - UFC Fight Night 240
 * Ramon Taveras - UFC 297
 * Robelis Despaigne - UFC on ESPN 56
 * Robert Bryczek - UFC Fight Night 236
 * Ronaldo Rodríguez - UFC Fight Night 237
 * Serhiy Sidey - UFC 297
 * Steven Nguyen - UFC on ESPN 53
 * Thomas Petersen - UFC Fight Night 235
 * Timothy Cuamba - UFC Fight Night 236
 * Tom Nolan - UFC Fight Night 234
 * Tuco Tokkos - UFC Fight Night 241
 * Valter Walker - UFC Fight Night 240
 * Victor Hugo - UFC Fight Night 240
 * Vinicius Oliveira - UFC Fight Night 238
 * Zhang Mingyang - UFC 298

Suspended fighters
The list below is based on fighters suspended either by (1) United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) or World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for violation of taking prohibited substances or non-analytical incidents, (2) by local commissions on misconduct during the fights or at event venues, or (3) by the UFC for reasons also stated below.

The Ultimate Fighter
The following The Ultimate Fighter seasons are scheduled for broadcast in 2024:

Past events

 * 1. André Lima was awarded an honorary "Bite of the Night" bonus after Igor Severino was disqualified for biting him.