World MMA Awards Results: Every Winner And Nominee

On Thursday in Las Vegas at The Theater at the Virgin Hotels, the 16th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards show took place. MMA legend Chael Sonnen served as the host for the event, with awards handed out to the top fighters and contributors to the sport.

Here is a look at all of the winners and nominees. It’s important to note that the time period considered for nomination is between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.

Basically, anything that happened between UFC 290 and UFC 303 was in bounds.

Lifetime Achievement Award – Mark Coleman (Winner)

Coleman is one of the greatest heavyweights in MMA history and is largely considered the king of the ground-and-pound style. Coleman is also an NCAA Division I wrestling champion and the first UFC heavyweight champion.

Charles Lewis Fighter of the Year – Alex Pereira (Winner)

In case you’re wondering, Ilia Topuria had two wins during the nomination period: a unanimous decision win over Josh Emmet and his title-winning KO of Alexander Volkanovski. Even still, Pereira taking the FOTY award shouldn’t be shocking to anyone. He is on an epic run.

Here are the other nominees:

• Alexandre Pantoja
• Dricus du Plessis
• Islam Makhachev
• Renan Ferreira

Female Fighter of the Year – Zhang Weili (Winner)

Unanimous decision wins over Amanda Lemos and Xiaonan Yan got it done for Weili in a rough time period for stand-out performances in women’s MMA.

Other nominees:

• Kayla Harrison
• Larissa Pacheco
• Liz Carmouche
• Raquel Pennington

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year – Tom Aspinall (Winner)

Aspinall has risen to become one of the biggest stars in MMA. I spoke to him recently about his pursuit of Jon Jones, coming back from injury, and more.

Other nominees:

• Anatoly Malykhin
• Benoit Saint Denis
• Diego Lopes
• Ian Machado Garry

International Fighter of the Year – Dricus du Plessis (Winner)

I could make a strong argument that Topuria’s accomplishments were superior to DDP. Both had two wins, but there was no question who won Topuria’s two fights. Yet, there are many who believe Sean Strickland deserved to win his fight with DDP.

At any rate, DDP has had himself a great year.

Other nominees:

• Chihiro Suzuki
• Ilia Topuria
• Jack Della Maddalena
• Zhang Weili

Fight of the Year – Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC 300) (Winner)

The most memorable fight from the most memorable UFC event during the nomination period.

Other nominees:

• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno (UFC 290)
• Clay Collard vs. Shane Burgos (PFL 9)
• Dan Hooker vs. Jalin Turner (UFC 290)
• Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 299)

Knockout of the Year – Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje – Overhand Right (UFC 300) (Winner)

Quite possibly the greatest KO in MMA history, let alone the nomination period.

Other nominees:

• Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell – Overhand Right (UFC 296)
• Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier – Head Kick (UFC 291)
• Levy Carriel vs. Mathieu Rakotondrazanany – Head Kick (Brave CF 74)
• Vinicius Oliveira vs. Bernardo Sopaj – Flying Knee (UFC Vegas 87)

Submission of the Year – Diego Lopes vs. Gavin Tucker – Triangle Armbar (UFC Nashville) (Winner)

Lopes’ submission wizardry was on full display in this fight, and it’s part of the reason he has skyrocketed up the featherweight rankings.

Other nominees:

• Alexander Volkov vs. Tai Tuivasa – Ezekiel Choke (UFC 293)
• Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez – Arm-Triangle Choke (UFC Mexico City)
• Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Jose Johnson – Twister (UFC Vegas 78)
• Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – D’Arce Choke (UFC 302)

Comeback of the Year – Tom Aspinall (Winner)

This category needs to be split into two. As it is, it combines nominees who have come back from absence in the sport due to injury or hardship and those who have come back to win fights. It’s tough to compare the two concepts.

Other nominees:

• Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez (UFC Mexico City)
• Elves Brener vs. Guram Kutateladze (UFC Vegas 76)
• Jose Aldo (career)
• Rodolfo Bellato vs. Ihor Potieria (UFC Austin)

Upset of the Year – Sean Strickland vs. Israel Adesanya (UFC 293) (Winner)

For major fights, I would give the nod to Strickland. However, there were some massive upsets on DWCS and on the prelims of cards that were perhaps even bigger upsets.

Other nominees:

• Dricus du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker (UFC 290)
• Jason Jackson vs. Yaroslav Amosov (Bellator 301)
• Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott (UFC 297)
• Ovince Saint Preux vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (UFC Vegas 88)

Commentator of the Year – Jon Anik (Winner)

Anik is the best, but Laura Sanko deserves some serious consideration. Her insights are strong, and her expertise shines through in her commentary.

Other nominees:

• Brendan Fitzgerald
• John Gooden
• Laura Sanko
• Sean O’Connell

Analyst of the Year – Michael Bisping (Winner)

Paul Felder is the best in the business at this point. He’s taken over for Brian Stann as the most coherent and consistently strong color analyst in the UFC.

Other nominees:

• Dan Hardy
• Din Thomas
• Paul Felder
• Sayif Saud

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year – Plinio Cruz (Winner)

Coaching Pereira has taken Coach Cruz to another level. It’s proof of how leaning into one star fighter can benefit a coach’s career.

Other nominees:

• Eric Nicksick
• Francisco Grasso
• Marcos ‘Parrumpa’ DaMatta
• Tim Welch

Trainer of the Year – Ian Larios (Winner)

Larios isn’t just a chef to some of the top fighters in the UFC. He’s also a master when it comes to utilizing social media to highlight his work in conjunction with his clients’ success.

Other nominees:

• Everton Oliveira
• Heather Linden
• Jordan Sullivan
• Phil Daru

Gym of the Year – The Fighting Nerds (Winner)

This winner was a no-brainer. Behind Carlos Prates, Caio Borralho, Jean Silva, and Mauricio Ruffy, the Fighting Nerds have four legitimate title contenders on the upswing.

Other nominees:

• American Kickboxing Academy
• American Top Team
• Lobo Gym
• Xtreme Couture

Referee of the Year – Herb Dean (Winner)

Goddard deserved to get the nod here. Dean has become a bit too slow on the trigger with stoppages of late. It’s a super-tough gig, but Goddard almost never misses.

Other nominees:

• Marc Goddard
• Jason Herzog
• Mark Smith
• Keith Peterson

Ringcard Girl of the Year – Luciana Andrade (Winner)

Other nominees:

• Holly Barker
• Brookliyn Wren
• Kasia Motloch Kejsi
• Red Dela Cruz

Leading Man – Dana White (UFC) (Winner)

Who else could it have been?

Other nominees:

• Ed Soares (LFA)
• Graham Borlan (Cage Warriors)
• Martin Lewandowski (KSW)
• Peter Murray (PFL)

Best Promotion – UFC (Winner)

See above.

Other nominees:

Personality of the Year – Nina-Marie Danielle (Winner)

Nina Drama has taken over the MMA interview space.

Other nominees:

• Bruce Buffer
• Chael Sonnen
• Daniel Cormier
• Joe Rogan

Best MMA Programming – Dana White’s Contender Series (Winner)

The best sports-based reality show ever created.

Other nominees:

• Morning Kombat
• The MMA Hour
• The Anik & Florian Podcast
• UFC Embedded

MMA Media Source of the Year – ESPN (Winner)

Other nominees:

• MMA Fighting
• Sherdog
• MMA Junkie
• The Mac Life

MMA Journalist of the Year – Ariel Helwani (Winner)

It’s fitting that he’s Canadian. Similarly to a great from another one of Helwani’s passions, when it comes to MMA journalism, he is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

Other nominees:

• Aaron Bronsteter
• Oscar Willis
• Carlos Contreras Legaspi
• Nolan King

Fighting Spirit Award – Mark Coleman (Bravery) (Winner)

There’s no way Coleman doesn’t win it after nearly dying while rescuing his family from a burning building.

Other nominees:

• Gabriel Braga (Heart – strength to overcome the loss of his father and coach)
• Leon Edwards (Composure – strength during disgusting mental antics by an opponent)
• Jim Miller (Endurance – the only fighter to compete at UFC 100, UFC 200, and UFC 300)
• Thomas Paull (Resilience – successfully competing in MMA despite being deaf)

I’ve had the opportunity to attend one of these ceremonies. It’s a lot of fun, but as of now, it may as well be called the UFC Awards Show. Rarely does a fighter or representative from another promotion win anything.

There’s no argument here. No one in the PFL or any other MMA organization had an accomplishment during the nomination period that warranted a victory in any category.

We’ll see if Dakota Ditcheva or even Francis Ngannou can do something to change that for the 2025 World MMA Awards.