12th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards Winners
The World MMA Awards, presented by Fighters Only magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts, are the Academy Awards or Grammy Awards for MMA. From their inception in 2012, award winners have been chosen through online fan voting, which concluded on August 18th, 2020.
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter Of The Year
Israel Adesanya
Nominees:
Henry Cejudo
Justin Gaethje
Jorge Masvidal
Douglas Lima
Female Fighter Of The Year
Amanda Nunes
Nominees:
Valentina Schevchenko
Weili Zhang
Kayla Harrison
Cris Cyborg Justino
Breakthrough Fighter Of The Year
Jorge Masvidal
Nominees:
Weili Zhang
Alexander Volkanovski
Gilbert Burns
Petr Yan
International Fighter Of The Year
Israel Adesanya
Nominees:
Weili Zhang
Kamaru Usman
Valentina Shevchenko
Aung La N Sang
Fight of the Year
Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248)
Nominees:
Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington (UFC 245)
Israel Adesanya vs Kelvin Gastelum (UFC 236)
Dustin Poirer vs Dan Hooker (UFC Vegas 4)
Josh Emmett vs Shane Burgos (UFC Vegas 3)
Knockout of the Year
Jorge Masvidal KOs Ben Askren (Flying Knee – UFC 239)
Nominees:
Cody Garbrandt KOs Raphael Assuncao (Punch – UFC 250)
Anthony Pettis KOs Stephen Thompson (Superman Punch – UFC Nashville)
Sean O’Malley KOs Eddie Wineland (Punch – UFC 250)
Douglas Lima KOs Michael Page (Punch – Bellator 221)
Submission of the Year
Demian Maia Subs Ben Askren (Rear-Naked Choke – UFC on ESPN+ 20)
Nominees:
Brent Primus SUB Tim Wilde (Gogoplata – Bellator Birmingham)
Bryce Mitchell SUB Matt Sayles (Twister – UFC on ESPN 7)
Aviv Gozali SUB Eduard Muravitsky (Heelhook – Bellator 225)
Misha Cirkunov SUB Jimmy Crute (Peruvian Necktie – UFC on ESPN+ 16)
Comeback of the Year
Stipe Miocic (Fight/Career) vs. Daniel Cormier 2
Nominees:
Eddie Alvarez (Fight/Career) vs. Eduard Folayang
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (Fight) vs. Alistair Overeem
Peter Queally (Fight) vs. Ryan Scope
Cody Garbrandt (Career)
Upset of the Year
Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway (UFC 245)
Nominees:
Henry Corrales def. Aaron Pico (Bellator 214)
Khama Worthy def. Devonte Smith (UFC 241)
Kai Asakura def. Kyoji Horiguchi (RIZIN FF 18)
Timofey Nastyukhin def. Eddie Alvarez (ONE Championship 92)
Shawn Tompkins Coach Of The Year
Trevor Wittman
Nominees:
Eugene Bareman
Sayif Saud
Mike Brown
Eric Albarracin
Trainer Of The Year
Phil Daru
Nominees:
Andre Hicks
Sunz Singh
George Lockhart
Bo Sandoval
Gym of the Year
American Top Team
Nominees:
Fortis MMA
Elevation Fight Team
Sanford
Americans Kickboxing Academy
Referee of the Year
Herb Dean
Nominees:
Jason Herzog
Mike Beltran
Frank Trigg
Marc Goddard
Ringcard Girl of the Year
Britanny Palmer
Nominees:
Cindy Baker
Jhenny Andrade
Louise McKie
Mercedes Terrell
Leading Man
Dana White
Nominees:
Densign White
Martin Lewandowski
Nobuyuki Sakakibara
Scott Coker
Best Promotion
UFC
Nominees:
PFL
KSW
ONE Championship
Bellator
Personality of the Year
Joe Rogan
Nominees:
Jon Anik
Chael Sonnen
John McCarthy
The Schmo
Analyst of the Year
Daniel Cormier
Nominees:
Robin Black
Michael Bisping
Paul Felder
Dan Hardy
Best MMA Programming
Joe Rogan Experience
Nominees:
Ariel Helwani MMA Show
UFC Embedded
Dana White’s Contender Series
Anatomy of a Fighter
MMA Media Source of the Year
ESPN
Nominees:
Sherdog
MMA Junkie
The Mac Life
The Athletic
MMA Journalist of the Year
Ariel Helwani
Nominees:
John Morgan
Mike Bohn
Brett Okamoto
Gareth Davies
Fighting Spirit of the Year
Dustin Poirier (Good Fight Foundation)
Nominees:
Justin Wren (Fight for the Forgotten)
Robbie Lawler (Reaction to losing to Askren)
Conor McGregor (PPE donation)
Walt Harris (Comeback following loss of daughter)
h/t WMMA Awards
