2021 World MMA Awards Results

MMA Fighting will have the 2021 World MMA Awards results from Friday night’s ceremony at the 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.

The 2021 World MMA Awards will be televised on ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Here are your Nominees for the 13th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards (winners are noted below):

Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Male Fighter of the Year

Kamaru Usman - (Winner)

Brandon Moreno

Yaroslav Amosov

Charles Oliveira

Jan Blachowicz

Female Fighter of the Year

Mackenzie Dern

Kayla Harrison

Valentina Shevchenko

Rose Namajunas - (Winner)

Manon Fiorot

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

Khamzat Chimaev

Jirí Prochazka

Brandon Moreno - (Winner)

Yaroslav Amosov

Kevin Holland

International Fighter of the Year

Vadim Nemkov

Israel Adesanya - (Winner)

Yaroslav Amosov

Robert Whittaker

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 - (Winner)

Jiří Procházka 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 - (Winner)

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

AJ 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 - (Winner)

Upset of the Year

Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson - ONE on TNT 1 - (Winner)

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

Mike Brown

Trevor Wittman - (Winner)

Jason Parillo

Trainer of the Year

Phil Daru - (Winner)

Sam Calavitta

Jordan Sullivan

Chase Cichos

Bo Sandoval

Gym of the Year

American Top Team - (Winner)

City Kickboxing

Elevation Fight Team

RVCA

Sanford MMA

Referee of the Year

Herb Dean - (Winner)

Dan Miragliotta

Mark Smith

Jason Herzog

Marc Goddard

Ringcard Girl of the Year

Arianny Celeste

Luciana Andrade

Brookliyn Wren

Brittney Palmer - (Winner)

Kasia Motloch Kejsi

Leading Man of the Year

Dana White

Ed Soares

Mohammed Shahid

Densign White

Scott Coker

Best Promotion of the Year

Bellator MMA

LFA

Brave Combat Federation

UAE Warriors

UFC - (Winner)

Personality of the Year

Jon Anik

Daniel Cormier - (Winner)

Joe Rogan

Laura Sanko

Chael Sonnen

Analyst of the Year

Robin Black

Michael Bisping

Paul Felder

Dan Hardy

John McCarthy

Best MMA Programming

Morning Kombat - (Winner)

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 - (Winner)

MMA Fighting

MMA Junkie

MMA Journalist of the Year

John Morgan

Shaheen Al-Shatti

Brett Okamoto

Ariel Helwani - (Winner)

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) - (Winner)

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)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Matt Hughes