Israel Adesanya, Amanda Nunes, Jorge Masvidal pace major winners at World MMA Awards
The votes are in and the winners have been announced for the 12th World MMA Awards, and some elite names are on the list.
Against the unprecedented backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the awards, produced by Fighters Only, had an extended voting period of January 2019 through July 2020. This year, the fight winners skewed exclusively to the UFC.
Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal were multiple award winners among fighters, as was UFC analyst Joe Rogan. Conversely, Ben Askren saw two of his opponents win awards at his expense.
Take a look at all the winners below:
Charles "Mask" Lewis Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya
Nominees: Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje, Douglas Lima, Jorge Masvidal
Female Fighter of the Year: Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes
Nominees: Cris Cyborg, Kayla Harrison, Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Jorge Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal
Nominees: Gilbert Burns, Alexander Volkanovski, Zhang Weili, Petr Yan
International Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya
Nominees: Aung La N Sang, Valentina Shevchenko, Kamaru Usman, Zhang Weili
Fight of the Year: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248)
Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
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)
Knockout of the Year: Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren (UFC 239)
Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren
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)
Submission of the Year: Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren (UFC on ESPN+ 20)
Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren
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)
Comeback of the Year: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier (UFC 241)
Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier
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)
Upset of the Year: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway (UFC 245)
Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski
Nominees: 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)
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year: Trevor Wittman
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)
Gym of the Year: American Top Team
American Top Team
Nominees: American Kickboxing Academy, Elevation Fight Team, Fortis MMA, Sanford MMA
Referee of the Year: Herb Dean
Herb Dean
Nominees: Mike Beltran, Marc Goddard, Jason Herzog, Frank Trigg
Ringcard Girl of the Year: Brittney Palmer
Brittney Palmer
Nominees: Jhenny Andrade, Carly Baker, Louise McKie, Mercedes Terrell
Leading Man: Dana White (UFC)
Dana White
Nominees: Scott Coker (Bellator), Martin Lewandowski (KSW), Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Rizin FF), Densign White (IMMAF)
Best Promotion: UFC
Photo by Josh Hedges-DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC
Nominees: Bellator, KSW, ONE Championship, PFL
Personality of the Year: Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan
Nominees: Jon Anik, John McCarthy, The Schmo, Chael Sonnen
Analyst of the Year: Daniel Cormier
Daniel Cormier
Nominees: Michael Bisping, Robin Black, Paul Felder, Dan Hardy
Best MMA Programming: JRE MMA Show
Joe Rogan
Nominees: Anatomy Of A Fighter, Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, Dana White's Contender Series, UFC Embedded
MMA Media Source of the Year: ESPN
Laura Sanko, ESPN
Nominees: The Athletic, The Mac Life, MMA Junkie, Sherdog
MMA Journalist of the Year: Ariel Helwani
Ariel Helwani
Nominees: Mike Bohn, Gareth Davies, John Morgan, Brett Okamoto
Fighting Spirit of the Year: Dustin Poirier (Good Fight Foundation)
Dustin Poirier
Nominees: Walt Harris (Return to fighting), Robbie Lawler (How to take a loss), Conor McGregor (PPE donation), Justin Wren (Fight for the Forgotten)
