This year’s World MMA Awards is set to go down next month.
Fighters Only announced Wednesday that the 13th Annual World MMA Awards will take place on Dec. 10 at Worre Studios in Las Vegas. Trophies will be awarded for Male and Female Fighter of the Year, Knockout and Submission of the Year, Fight of the Year, and media awards will be handed out as well.
MMA Fighting is nominated for Media Source of the Year, an award it has previously won five times, and nominations were also given to MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti and the host of The MMA Hour Ariel Helwani. Helwani is a 10-time Journalist of the Year award winner.
Winners have been determined by a fan vote that concluded on Sept. 8. The nominees were based on combat sports events that occurred in a 12-month period between July 2020 and July 2021.
Fans and guests are expected to be in attendance for this year’s ceremony, which aired without an audience last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadcast information has yet to be announced.
See the full list of nominations below:
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Male Fighter of the Year
Female Fighter of the Year
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
Jirí Prochazka
Brandon Moreno
Yaroslav Amosov
International Fighter of the Year
Yaroslav Amosov
Jan Blachowicz
Fight of the Year
Paul Daley vs. Sabah Homasi – Bellator 257
Edson Barboza vs. Shane Burgos – UFC 262
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno I – UFC 256
Jiří Prochazka vs. Dominick Reyes – UFC on ESPN 23
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Miguel Baeza – UFC on ESPN+ 47
Knockout of the Year
Joaquin Buckley vs. Impa Kasanganay – Back Kick – UFC on ESPN+ 37
Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal – Punch – UFC 261
Cory Sandhagen vs. Frankie Edgar – Flying Knee – UFC on ESPN+ 42
Shane Burgos vs. Edson Barboza – Punch – UFC 262
Mamed Khalidov vs. Scott Askham – Flying Switch Kick – KSW 55
Submission of the Year
A.J. McKee vs. Darrion Caldwell – Neck Crank – Bellator 253
Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill – Armbar/Triangle – UFC 264
Jimmy Flick vs. Cody Durden – Flying Triangle – UFC on ESPN+ 41
Anthony Hernandez vs. Rodolfo Vieira – Guillotine – UFC 258
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje – Triangle – UFC 254
Comeback of the Year
Paul Daley vs. Sabah Homasi – Bellator 257
Thanh Le vs. Martin Nguyen – ONE: Inside the Matrix
Sean Strickland (Career)
Rose Namajunas (Career)
Charles Oliviera vs. Michael Chandler – UFC 262
Upset of the Year
Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson – ONE on TNT 1
Shana Dobson vs. Mariya Agapova – UFC on ESPN 15
Clay Collard vs. Anthony Pettis – PFL 2021 #1
Ok Rae Yoon vs. Eddie Alvarez – ONE on TNT 4
Anthony Hernandez vs. Rodolfo Vieira – UFC 258
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year
Eric Nicksick
Henri Hooft
Trevor Wittman
Jason Parillo
Trainer of the Year
Phil Daru
Sam Calavitta
Jordan Sullivan
Chase Cichos
Bo Sandoval
Gym of the Year
American Top Team
City Kickboxing
Elevation Fight Team
RVCA
Sanford MMA
Referee of the Year
Herb Dean
Dan Miragliotta
Mark Smith
Jason Herzog
Marc Goddard
Ringcard Girl of the Year
Luciana Andrade
Brookliyn Wren
Kasia Motloch Kejsi
Leading Man of the Year
Ed Soares
Mohammed Shahid
Densign White
Best Promotion of the Year
Bellator MMA
LFA
Brave Combat Federation
UAE Warriors
UFC
Personality of the Year
Analyst of the Year
Robin Black
Best MMA Programming
Morning Kombat
Dana White’s Contender Series
DC & Helwani
JRE MMA Show
UFC Embedded
MMA Media Source of the Year
The Mac Life
BT Sport
ESPN MMA
MMA Fighting
MMA Junkie
MMA Journalist of the Year
John Morgan
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Brett Okamoto
Ariel Helwani
Oscar Willis
Fighting Spirit of the Year
Khabib Nurmagomedov (Compassion vs. Justin Gaethje – transitioned from an arm bar to triangle to avoid distressing Gaethje’s parents)
Terrance McKinney (Recovery – from overcoming drug addiction and near death to UFC call up and winning debut)
Brandon Moreno (Perseverance – from being cut, to fighting back and becoming the first Mexican UFC champion)
Dustin Poirier (Charity – continued efforts with The Good Fight Foundation giving back to the local community in Louisiana)
Dana White (Leadership – when all sports were down and out due to Covid-19, against all the odds, Dana White made Fight Island real)