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15th Annual World MMA Awards voting open; MMA Junkie and Nolan King nominated

MMA Junkie Staff
·3 min read

Voting is underway for the 15th Annual World MMA Awards, where Israel Adesanya, Leon Edwards, Islam Makhachev, Aljamain Sterling, and Sadibou Sy are up for the top honor of Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year.

The finalists for Female Fighter of the Year are Liz Carmouche, Alexa Grasso, Seika Izawa, Amanda Nunes, and Larissa Pacheco.

MMA Junkie (MMA Media Source of the Year) and Nolan King (MMA Journalist of the Year) also are finalists.

Fighters Only Magazine again is hosting the awards. The date and location for a black-tie ceremony is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

According to Fighters Only, a panel of MMA industry experts put together the list of award nominees for a year-long period covering July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Voting is now open at WorldMMAAwards.com.

Below is the full list:

Charles 'Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year

  • Leon Edwards

  • Aljamain Sterling

  • Israel Adesanya

  • Islam Makhachev

  • Sadibou Sy

Female Fighter of the Year

  • Alexa Grasso

  • Amanda Nunes

  • Larissa Pacheco

  • Seika Izawa

  • Liz Carmouche

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

  • Dricus Du Plessis

  • Alex Pereira

  • Ilia Topuria

  • Sergei Pavlovich

  • Alexa Grasso

International Fighter of the Year

  • Leon Edwards

  • Israel Adesanya

  • Dricus Du Plessis

  • Sergei Pavlovich

  • Sadibou Sy

Fight of the Year

  • Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev (UFC 286)

  • Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler (UFC 281)

  • Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski (UFC 284)

  • Brennan Ward vs. Sabah Homasi (Bellator 290)

  • Matt Schnell vs. Su Mudaerji (UFC on ABC 3)

Knockout of the Year

Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman – Head kick (UFC 278)

Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira – Punches (UFC 287)

Sadibou Sy vs. Shane Mitchell – Spinning wheel kick (PFL 6, 2023)

Krzysztof Głowacki vs. Patryk Tołkaczewski – Punch (KSW Colosseum 2)

Ismael Bonfim vs. Terrance McKinney – Flying knee (UFC 283)

Submission of the Year

  • Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – Face crank (UFC 285)

  • Louis Glismann vs. Melvin van Suijdam – Inverted omoplata (Oktagon 43)

  • Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira – Arm-triangle choke (UFC 280)

  • Olga Rubin vs. Claire Guthrie – Buggy choke (Invicta FC 53)

  • Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash – Inverted triangle choke (ONE 159)

Comeback of the Year

  • Jon Jones (Career)

  • Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 1 (UFC 278)

  • John Hathaway (Returning from lengthy illness)

  • Matt Schnell vs. Su Mudaerji (UFC on ABC 3)

  • Yaroslav Amosov (Returning from war)

Upset of the Year

  • Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 285)

  • Larissa Pacheco vs. Kayla Harrison (PFL 10, 2022)

  • Christian Echols vs. Pat Downey (Bellator 289)

  • Jesus Pinedo vs. Brendan Loughnane (PFL 4, 2023)

  • Zebaztian Kadestam vs. Roberto Soldic (ONE Fight Night 10)

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year

  • Eugene Bareman

  • Mike Brown

  • Dave Lovell

  • Ray Longo

  • Eric Nicksick

Trainer of the Year

  • Heather Linden

  • Jonathon Reynolds

  • Everton Oliveira

  • Jordan Sullivan

  • Brandon Gallagher

Gym of the Year

  • City Kickboxing

  • American Top Team

  • Team Renegade

  • Kill Cliff FC

  • American Kickboxing Academy

Referee of the Year

  • Marc Goddard

  • Jason Herzog

  • Mark Smith

  • Herb Dean

  • Rich Mitchell

Ringcard Girl of the Year

  • Brittney Palmer

  • Louise McKie

  • Brookliyn Wren

  • Jhenny Andrade

  • Luciana Andrade

Leading Man

  • Dana White (UFC)

  • Scott Coker (Bellator)

  • Peter Murray (PFL)

  • Maciej Kawulski (KSW)

  • Ondrej Novotny (Oktagon)

Best Promotion

  • UFC

  • Bellator MMA

  • PFL

  • KSW

  • Oktagon MMA

Personality of the Year

  • Joe Rogan

  • Laura Sanko

  • Chael Sonnen

  • Daniel Cormier

  • Jon Anik

Analyst of the Year

  • Michael Bisping

  • Paul Felder

  • Dan Hardy

  • Anthony Smith

  • Kenny Florian

Best MMA Programming

  • Morning Kombat

  • The MMA Hour

  • Dana White’s Contender Series

  • The Anik & Florian Podcast

  • UFC Embedded

MMA Media Source of the Year

  • MMA Junkie

  • Sherdog

  • MMA Fighting

  • ESPN

  • Bloody Elbow

MMA Journalist of the Year

  • Nolan King

  • Ariel Helwani

  • Aaron Bronsteter

  • Marc Raimondi

  • John Morgan

Fighting Spirit Award

  • Yaroslav Amosov (Adversity – returning from war to unify the Bellator welterweight title)

  • Steven Ray (Strength – fighting for his family)

  • Biaggio Ali Walsh (Bravery – helping his community in the face of danger)

  • Themba Gorimbo (Charity – building a water pump in Zimbabwe and putting others ahead of himself)

  • Chris Barnett (Adversity – overcoming great personal loss and adversity in the cage)

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie