The World MMA Awards are awards presented by Fighters Only magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the Fighters Only silver statuette. The World MMA Awards are divided into over twenty categories. The first World MMA Awards ceremony was held in 2008. From their inception to the present, award winners have been chosen through online fan voting.^[2][3] It is the most prestigious award event in the world of MMA.^[4][5][6][7]

Active award categories

Fighters

Year	The Charles 'Mask' Lewis Fighter of the Year	Female Fighter of the Year	Breakthrough Fighter of the Year	International Fighter of the Year
2022-23[8]	Leon Edwards	Alexa Grasso	Alex Pereira	Leon Edwards
2021-22[9]	Alexander Volkanovski	Valentina Shevchenko	Paddy Pimblett	Alexander Volkanovski
2020-21[10]	Kamaru Usman	Rose Namajunas	Brandon Moreno	Israel Adesanya
2019-20[11]	Israel Adesanya	Amanda Nunes	Jorge Masvidal	Israel Adesanya
2018[12]	Daniel Cormier	Amanda Nunes	Israel Adesanya	Aung La Nsang
2017[13]	Max Holloway	Rose Namajunas	Brian Ortega	Robert Whittaker
2016[14]	Conor McGregor	Amanda Nunes	Cody Garbrandt	Khabib Nurmagomedov
2015[15]	Conor McGregor	Holly Holm	Holly Holm	Conor McGregor
2014[16]	Robbie Lawler	Ronda Rousey	Kelvin Gastelum	Conor McGregor
2013[17]	Chris Weidman	Ronda Rousey	Travis Browne	Alexander Gustafsson
2012[18]	Jon Jones	Ronda Rousey	Chris Weidman	Michael Bisping
2011[19]	Jon Jones	Miesha Tate	Donald Cerrone	Alistair Overeem
2010[20]	José Aldo	Cris Cyborg	Jon Jones	Alistair Overeem
2009[21]	Georges St-Pierre	Cris Cyborg	Brock Lesnar	Gegard Mousasi
2008[22]	Anderson Silva	Gina Carano	Demian Maia	Michael Bisping

• From 2010, Fighter of the Year was awarded as The Charles 'Mask' Lewis Fighter of the Year in commemoration of Tapout co-founder Charles Lewis Jr.^[23]
• From 2010, European Fighter of the Year was awarded as International Fighter of the Year, to the leading MMA fighter from outside of the Americas.

Fight of the Year

Year	Winner	Defeated	Method, Round	Event
2022-23[8]	Islam Makhachev	Alexander Volkanovski	UD, 5	UFC 284
2021-22[9]	Jiří Procházka	Glover Teixeira	Sub, 5	UFC 275
2020-21[10]	Deiveson Figueiredo	Brandon Moreno	M Draw, 5	UFC 256
2019-20[11]	Weili Zhang	Joanna Jędrzejczyk	SD, 5	UFC 248
2018[12]	Tony Ferguson	Anthony Pettis	TKO, 2	UFC 229
2017[13]	Eddie Alvarez	Justin Gaethje	KO, 3	UFC 218
2016[14]	Cub Swanson	Doo Ho Choi	UD, 3	UFC 206
2015[15]	Robbie Lawler	Rory MacDonald	TKO, 5	UFC 189
2014[16]	José Aldo	Chad Mendes	UD, 5	UFC 179
2013[17]	Jon Jones	Alexander Gustafsson	UD, 5	UFC 165
2012[18]	Joe Lauzon	Jamie Varner	Sub, 3	UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera
2011[19]	Frankie Edgar	Gray Maynard	S Draw, 5	UFC 125
2010[20]	Anderson Silva	Chael Sonnen	Sub, 5	UFC 117
2009[21]	Diego Sanchez	Clay Guida	SD, 3	The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale
2008[22]	Chuck Liddell	Wanderlei Silva	UD, 3	UFC 79

Knockout of the Year

Year	Winner	Knocked out	Method, Round	Event
2022-23[8]	Leon Edwards	Kamaru Usman	KO, 5	UFC 278
2021-22[9]	Michael Chandler	Tony Ferguson	KO, 2	UFC 274
2020-21[10]	Joaquin Buckley	Impa Kasanganay	KO, 2	UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen
2019-20[11]	Jorge Masvidal	Ben Askren	KO, 1	UFC 239
2018[12]	Amanda Nunes	Cris Cyborg	KO, 1	UFC 232
2017[13]	Francis Ngannou	Alistair Overeem	KO, 1	UFC 218
2016[14]	Michael Page	Evangelista Santos	KO, 2	Bellator 158
2015[15]	Holly Holm	Ronda Rousey	KO, 2	UFC 193
2014[16]	Mark Hunt	Roy Nelson	KO, 2	UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson
2013[17]	Vitor Belfort	Luke Rockhold	KO, 1	UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Rockhold
2012[18]	Edson Barboza	Terry Etim	KO, 3	UFC 142
2011[19]	Anderson Silva	Vitor Belfort	KO, 1	UFC 126
2010[20]	Maurício Rua	Lyoto Machida	KO, 1	UFC 113
2009[21]	Dan Henderson	Michael Bisping	KO, 2	UFC 100
2008[22]	Wanderlei Silva	Keith Jardine	KO, 1	UFC 84

Submission of the Year

Year	Winner	Submitted	Method, Round	Event
2022-23[8]	Alexa Grasso	Valentina Shevchenko	Sub, 4	UFC 285
2021-22[9]	Charles Oliveira	Dustin Poirier	Sub, 3	UFC 269
2020-21[10]	Khabib Nurmagomedov	Justin Gaethje	Sub, 2	UFC 254
2019-20[11]	Demian Maia	Ben Askren	Sub, 3	UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Askren
2018[12]	Zabit Magomedsharipov	Brandon Davis	Sub, 2	UFC 228
2017[13]	Demetrious Johnson	Ray Borg	Sub, 5	UFC 216
2016[14]	Nate Diaz	Conor McGregor	Sub, 2	UFC 196
2015[15]	Ronda Rousey	Cat Zingano	Sub, 1	UFC 184
2014[16]	Ben Saunders	Chris Heatherly	Sub, 1	UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. dos Anjos
2013[17]	Urijah Faber	Ivan Menjivar	Sub, 1	UFC 157
2012[18]	Frank Mir	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	Sub, 1	UFC 140
2011[19]	Chan Sung Jung	Leonard Garcia	Sub, 2	UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis
2010[20]	Fabrício Werdum	Fedor Emelianenko	Sub, 1	Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum
2009[21]	Toby Imada	Jorge Masvidal	Sub, 3	Bellator 5
2008[22]	Georges St-Pierre	Matt Hughes	Sub, 2	UFC 79

Comeback of the Year

Year	Winner	vs.	Method, Round	Event
2022-23[8]	Leon Edwards	Kamaru Usman	KO, 5	UFC 278
2021-22[9]	Aljamain Sterling	"Ridicule and injury"	—	—
2020-21[10]	Charles Oliveira	Michael Chandler	TKO, 2	UFC 262
2019-20[11]	Stipe Miocic	Daniel Cormier	TKO, 4	UFC 241
2018[12]	Angela Lee	Mei Yamaguchi	UD, 5	Car accident, ONE FC 71
2017[13]	Justin Gaethje	Michael Johnson	TKO, 2	The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption Finale
2016[14]	Miesha Tate	Holly Holm	Sub, 5	UFC 196
2015[15]	Eddie Alvarez	Gilbert Melendez	SD, 3	UFC 188
2014[16]	Dominick Cruz	"Career"	—	—
2013[17]	Travis Browne	Alistair Overeem	KO, 1	UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen
2012[18]	Frank Mir	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	Sub, 1	UFC 140
2011[19]	Cheick Kongo	Pat Barry	KO, 1	UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry

Upset of the Year

Year	Winner	Defeated	Method, Round	Event
2022-23[8]	Alexa Grasso	Valentina Shevchenko	Sub, 4	UFC 285
2021-22[9]	Julianna Peña	Amanda Nunes	Sub, 2	UFC 269
2020-21[10]	Adriano Moraes	Demetrious Johnson	KO, 2	ONE on TNT 1
2019-20[11]	Alexander Volkanovski	Max Holloway	UD, 5	UFC 245
2018[12]	Amanda Nunes	Cris Cyborg	KO, 1	UFC 232
2017[13]	Rose Namajunas	Joanna Jędrzejczyk	TKO, 1	UFC 217
2016[14]	Michael Bisping	Luke Rockhold	KO, 1	UFC 199
2015[15]	Holly Holm	Ronda Rousey	KO, 2	UFC 193
2014[16]	TJ Dillashaw	Renan Barao	TKO, 5	UFC 173

Training, In-ring

Year	The Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year	Gym of the Year	Trainer of the Year	Referee of the Year	Ring-card Girl of the Year
2022-23[8]	Mike Brown	American Top Team	Dr. Heather Linden	Herb Dean	Brittney Palmer
2021-22[9]	Eugene Bareman	City Kickboxing	Dr. Heather Linden	Marc Goddard	Brittney Palmer
2020-21[10]	Trevor Wittman	American Top Team	Phil Daru	Herb Dean	Brittney Palmer
2019-20[11]	Trevor Wittman	American Top Team	Phil Daru	Herb Dean	Brittney Palmer
2018[12]	Mike Brown	American Top Team	Nick Curson	Herb Dean	Jhenny Andrade
2017[13]	Trevor Wittman	American Top Team	Nick Curson	John McCarthy	Jhenny Andrade
2016[14]	John Kavanagh	American Top Team	Mike Dolce	John McCarthy	Jhenny Andrade
2015[15]	Rafael Cordeiro	Jackson-Wink MMA Academy	Mike Dolce	John McCarthy	Arianny Celeste
2014[16]	Duane Ludwig	Team Alpha Male	Mike Dolce	Herb Dean	Arianny Celeste
2013[17]	Duane Ludwig	Team Alpha Male	Mike Dolce	Herb Dean	Brittney Palmer
2012[18]	Rafael Cordeiro	Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu	—	Herb Dean	Brittney Palmer
2011[19]	Greg Jackson	Black House	—	Herb Dean	Arianny Celeste
2010[20]	Greg Jackson	Wand Fight Team	—	Herb Dean	Arianny Celeste
2009[21]	Greg Jackson	Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting	—	—	Arianny Celeste
2008[22]	—	—	—	—	Arianny Celeste

• From 2012, Coach of the Year was awarded as The Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year in commemoration of trainer Shawn Tompkins.^[24]

Promotion

Year	Leading Man	Personality of the Year	Analyst of the Year	Best Promotion
2022-23[8]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Michael Bisping	UFC
2021-22[9]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Michael Bisping	UFC
2020-21[10]	Dana White	Daniel Cormier	Michael Bisping	UFC
2019-20[11]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Daniel Cormier	UFC
2018[12]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Daniel Cormier	UFC
2017[13]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Dominick Cruz	UFC
2016[14]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Dominick Cruz	UFC
2015[15]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	Dominick Cruz	UFC
2014[16]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	—	UFC
2013[17]	Dana White	Chael Sonnen	—	UFC
2012[18]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	—	UFC
2011[19]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	—	UFC
2010[20]	Dana White	Joe Rogan	—	UFC
2009[21]	Dana White	—	—	UFC
2008[22]	Dana White	—	—	UFC

Media

Year	Media Source of the Year	Journalist of the Year	Best MMA Programming
2022-23[8]	ESPN MMA	Ariel Helwani	Dana White's Contender Series
2021-22[9]	ESPN MMA	Ariel Helwani	Morning Kombat
2020-21[10]	ESPN MMA	Ariel Helwani	Morning Kombat
2019-20[11]	ESPN MMA	Ariel Helwani	JRE MMA Podcast
2018[12]	MMA Fighting	Ariel Helwani	The Ultimate Fighter
2017[13]	MMA Fighting	Ariel Helwani	The Ultimate Fighter
2016[14]	MMA Fighting	Ariel Helwani	The Ultimate Fighter
2015[15]	MMA Fighting	Ariel Helwani	UFC Embedded
2014[16]	MMAjunkie.com	Ariel Helwani	—
2013[17]	MMA Fighting	Ariel Helwani	—
2012[18]	Sherdog	Ariel Helwani	—
2011[19]	MMAjunkie.com	Ariel Helwani	—
2010[20]	MMAjunkie.com	Ariel Helwani	—
2009[21]	MMAjunkie.com	John Morgan	—
2008[22]	MMAjunkie.com	—	—

• From 2010, Best Media Coverage was awarded as Media Source of the Year.

Special Achievement

Year	Lifetime Achievement Award[25]	Fighting Spirit of the Year
2022-23[8]	Ken Shamrock	Themba Gorimbo (Charity – building a water pump in Zimbabwe and putting others ahead of himself)
2021-22[9]	Kirik Jenness	Kevin Holland (Bravery - in and out of the cage, helping his community in the face of danger on several occasions)
2020-21[10]	Matt Hughes	Brandon Moreno (Perseverance - from being cut, to fighting back and becoming the first Mexican UFC champion)
2019-20[11]	Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov	Dustin Poirier (Charity - Good Fight Foundation)
2018[26]	Wanderlei Silva	—
2017	John McCarthy	—
2016	Tito Ortiz	—
2015[15]	Bruce Buffer	—
2014[16]	Burt Watson	—
2013[17]	Royce Gracie	—
2012[18]	Leon Tabbs	—
2011[19]	Shawn Tompkins	—
2010[20]	Randy Couture	—
2009[21]	Charles Lewis, Jr.	—
2008[27]	John McCarthy	—

Defunct award categories

MMA Clothing & Equipment Brand of the Year

• 2015 Bad Boy^[15]
• 2016 Venum^[14]
• 2017 Reebok^[13]
• 2018 Reebok^[12]

Best MMA Brand

• 2008 Ultimate Fighting Championship^[22]
• 2009 TapouT^[21]

Most Memorable Ring Entrance

• 2010 Jason Miller^[20]
• 2011 Jason Miller^[19]

Best Lifestyle Clothing Brand

Best Overall Clothing.

• 2008 TapouT^[22]

Best MMA Clothing.

• 2009 TapouT^[21]

Best Lifestyle Clothing Brand.

• 2010 TapouT^[20]
• 2011 TapouT^[19]
• 2012 Bad Boy^[18]
• 2013 Bad Boy^[17]
• 2014 Bad Boy^[16]

Best Technical Clothing Brand

Best MMA Shorts.

• 2008 Sprawl^[22]
• 2009 TapouT^[21]

Best Technical Clothing Brand.

• 2010 Bad Boy^[20]
• 2011 Bad Boy^[19]
• 2012 Clinch Gear^[18]
• 2013 Venum^[17]
• 2014 Venum^[16]

Best Technical Equipment

Best MMA Gloves.

• 2008 Fairtex^[22]
• 2009 UFC / Century^[21]

Best Technical Equipment.

• 2010 Everlast^[20]
• 2011 Everlast^[19]
• 2012 Pretorian^[18]
• 2013 Bad Boy^[17]
• 2014 Everlast^[16]