What’s the story?
According to mmafighting.com, the nominees for the 2017 World MMA Awards were announced on Monday afternoon by the magazine Fighters Only. The nominees for the awards are listed below:
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year--
Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Stipe Miocic, Cody Garbrandt, Donald Cerrone
Female Fighter of the Year--
Cris Cyborg, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Amanda Nunes, Angela Lee, Angela Hill
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year--
Cody Garbrandt, Doo Ho Choi, Michael Page, Derrick Lewis, Yair Rodriguez
International Fighter of the Year--
Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Gegard Mousasi, Michael Bisping, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor
Fight of the Year--
Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 (UFC 202), Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva (UFC FN 84), Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit (UFC 195), Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi (UFC 206), Michael Chandler vs. Benson Henderson (Bellator 165)
Knockout of the Year--
Michael Page (vs. Cyborg Santos, Bellator 158), Anthony Johnson (vs. Glorver Teixeira, UFC 202), Yair Rodriguez (vs. Andre Fili, UFC 197), Landon Vannata (vs. John Makdessi, UFC 206), Michael Chandler (vs. Pitbull Freire, Bellator 157)
Submission of the Year--
Ben Rothwell (vs. Josh Barnett, UFC on FOX 18), Thiago Moises (vs. David Catillo, RFA 36), Miesha Tate (vs. Holly Holm, UFC 196), Nate Diaz (vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 196), Mackenzie Dern (vs. Montanna Stewart, Legacy 61)
Comeback of the Year--
Dominick Cruz (career), Miesha Tate (vs. Holly Holm, UFC 196), Dan Henderson (vs. Hector Lombard, UFC 199), Nate Diaz (vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 196), Michael Bisping (vs. Anderson Silva, UFC FN 84)
Upset of the Year--
Zac Riley (vs. Hugo Viana, RFA 34), Bryan Barberna (vs. Warlley Alves, UFC on FOX 18), Joe Taimanglo (vs. Darrion Caldwell, Bellator 159), Brandon Moreno (vs. Louis Smolka, UFC FN 96), Michael Bisping (vs. Luke Rockhold, UFC 199)
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year--
Din Thomas, Greg Jackson, Marcus Marinelli, Jason Parillo, John Kavanagh
Trainer of the Year--
Jake Bonacci (S&C coach), Lawrence Herrera (S&C coach), Loren Landow (S&C coach), Mike Dolce (Nutrionist), George Lockhart (Nutrionist)
Gym of the Year--
Team Alpha Male, American Kickboxing Academy, American Top Team, Jackson-Wink Arena, SBG Ireland
Referee of the Year--
John McCarthy, Herb Dean, Marc Goddard, Leon Roberts, Yves Lavigne
Ringcard Girl of the Year--
Arianny Celeste, Carly Baker, Brittney Palmer, Mercedes Terrell, Jhenny Andrade
Leading Man--
Dana White, Scott Coker, Marc Ratner, Jeff Novitzky, Victor Cui
Best Promotion--
UFC, Bellator MMA, Legacy, KSW, One Championship
Personality of the Year--
Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, Brendan Schaub, Jimmy Smith, Matt Serra
Analyst of the Year--
Dan Hardy, Dominick Cruz, Robin Black, Brian Stann, Chael Sonnen
Best MMA Programming--
The MMA Hour, Lookin’ for a Fight, UFC Embedded, Ultimate Fighter, UFC Breakdown
MMA Media Source of the Year--
Sherdog, Flocombat, Bloddy Elbow, MMA Fighting, MMA Junkie
MMA Journalist of the Year--
Shaun Al-Shatti, Ariel Helwani, Brett Okamoto, Karim Zidan, Ben Fowlkes
MMA Clothing and Equipment Brand of the Year--
Venum, Everlast, Bad Boy, Virus, Hayabusa
In case you didn’t know...
World MMA Awards ceremony was first held in 2008. From their inception to the present, award winners have been chosen online through fan voting. It’s the most prestigious awards in the world of MMA.
Here is the link to register your vote.
The heart of the matter
The World MMA Awards are presented by Fighters Only magazine to honour exceptional performances in various aspects of MMA.
What next?
The World MMA Awards will take place later this year. Conor McGregor is an early favourite to win the Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year award.
Sportskeeda’s Take
In previous years, the awards have been dominated by fighters from UFC. UFC president Dana White has won all the eight Leading Man of the Year awards that have been awarded till now.
The awards are expected to be dominated by UFC this year too. However, it will be a welcome change if other young fighters outside the UFC also win some awards this year.
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