16th annual World MMA Awards voting open; MMA Junkie and Nolan King receive nominations

Voting is underway for the 16th annual World MMA Awards, where Alex Pereira, Alexandre Pantoja, Dricus Du Plessis, Islam Makhachev, and Renan Ferreira are up for the top honor of Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year.

Female Fighter of the Year finalists are Kayla Harrison, Larissa Pacheco, Liz Carmouche, Raquel Pennington, and Zhang Weili.

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

Fighters Only Magazine again is hosting the awards. The date and location for a black-tie ceremony hasn’t been determined, although it typically coincides during the week of the UFC’s final pay-per-view event of the year in December.

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, 2023 to June 30, 2024. Voting is now open at WorldMMAAwards.com.

Below is the full list of finalists by category:

Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year

Female Fighter of the Year

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

International Fighter of the Year

Fight of the Year

Knockout of the Year

Submission of the Year

Comeback of the Year

Upset of the Year

Commentator of the Year

Analyst of the Year

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year

Trainer of the Year

Gym of the Year

Referee of the Year

Ringcard Girl of the Year

Leading Man

Best Promotion

Personality of the Year

Bruce Buffer

Daniel Cormier

Chael Sonnen

Joe Rogan

Nina-Marie Daneile

Best MMA Programming

MMA Media Source of the Year

MMA Journalist of the Year

Fighting Spirit Award

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: 16th annual World MMA Awards voting open; MMA Junkie and Nolan King receive nominations