The 12th annual World MMA Awards took place on December 26. This time around, the voting period was extended, stretching from January 2019 to July 2020.
The award show, produced by Fighters Only, featured categories that highlighted not only fighters, but also MMA media outlets and figures.
Here are the categories and winners:
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[Male] Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya
Nominees: Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje, Douglas Lima, Jorge Masvidal -
Female Fighter of the Year: Amanda Nunes
Nominees: Cris Cyborg, Kayla Harrison, Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili -
Upset of the Year: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway (UFC 245)
Kai Asakura vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (Rizin FF 18), Henry Corrales vs. Aaron Pico (Bellator 214), Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Eddie Alvarez (ONE Championship 92), Khama Worthy vs. Devonte Smith (UFC 241) -
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Jorge Masvidal
Nominees: Gilbert Burns, Alexander Volkanovski, Zhang Weili, Petr Yan -
Analyst of the Year: Daniel Cormier
Nominees: Michael Bisping, Robin Black, Paul Felder, Dan Hardy -
Ringcard Girl of the Year: Brittney Palmer
Nominees: Jhenny Andrade, Carly Baker, Louise McKie, Mercedes Terrell -
Knockout of the Year: Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren (UFC 239)
Nominees: Cody Garbrandt vs. Raphael Assuncao (UFC 250), Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page (Bellator 221), Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland (UFC 250), Anthony Pettis vs. Stephen Thompson (UFC on ESPN 6) -
Leading Man: Dana White (UFC)
Nominees: Scott Coker (Bellator), Martin Lewandowski (KSW), Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Rizin FF), Densign White (IMMAF) -
International Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya
Nominees: Aung La N Sang, Valentina Shevchenko, Kamaru Usman, Zhang Weili -
Fight of the Year: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248)
Nominees: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (UFC 236), Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos (UFC on ESPN 11), Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (UFC on ESPN 12), Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington (UFC 245) -
Comeback of the Year: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier (UFC 241)
Nominees: Eddie Alvarez vs. Eduard Folayang (ONE Championship 99), Cody Garbrandt (career), Peter Queally vs. Ryan Scope (Bellator Europe 4), Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC on ESPN 7) -
Best Promotion: UFC
Nominees: Bellator, KSW, ONE Championship, PFL -
Submission of the Year: Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren (UFC on ESPN+ 20)
Nominees: Misha Cirkunov vs. Jimmy Crute (UFC on ESPN+ 16), Aviv Gozali vs. Eduard Muravitsky (Bellator 225), Bryce Mitchell vs. Matt Sayles (UFC on ESPN 7), Brent Primus vs. Tim Wilde (Bellator Europe 2) -
MMA Journalist of the Year: Ariel Helwani
Nominees: Mike Bohn, Gareth Davies, John Morgan, Brett Okamoto -
Coach of the Year: Trevor Wittman
Nominees: Eric Albarracin, Eugene Bareman, Mike Brown, Sayif Saud -
Trainer of the Year: Phil Daru (strength and conditioning)
Nominees: Andre Hicks (strength and conditioning), George Lockhart (nutrition), Bo Sandoval (strength and conditioning), Sunz Singh (strength and conditioning) -
Referee of the Year: Herb Dean
Nominees: Mike Beltran, Marc Goddard, Jason Herzog, Frank Trigg -
Personality of the Year: Joe Rogan
Nominees: Jon Anik, John McCarthy, The Schmo, Chael Sonnen -
Best MMA Programming: JRE MMA Show
Nominees: Anatomy Of A Fighter, Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Dana White’s Contender Series, UFC Embedded -
MMA Media Source of the Year: ESPN
Nominees: The Athletic, The Mac Life, MMA Junkie, Sherdog -
Gym of the Year: American Top Team
Nominees: American Kickboxing Academy, Elevation Fight Team, Fortis MMA, Sanford MMA -
Fighting Spirit of the Year: Dustin Poirier (Good Fight Foundation)
Nominees: Walt Harris (Return to fighting), Robbie Lawler (How to take a loss), Conor McGregor (PPE donation), Justin Wren (Fight for the Forgotten)
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