UFC Honors: What you need to know about the MMA awards

With 2020 in the rearview mirror, and the UFC not having an event for another week, they are handing out end-of-year awards.

The awards handed out are UFC Performance of the Year, UFC Fight of the Year, Toyo Tires’ UFC Knockout of the Year, Toyo Tires’ UFC Submission of the Year, Toyo Tires’ UFC Event of the Year, and Toyo Tires’ UFC Comeback of the Year.

The KO heard 'round the 🌍! Is @NewMansa94's finish, the KO of the Year?[ 🏆 #UFCHonors Presented by @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/usNmt5lNHY

— UFC (@ufc) December 6, 2020

But, what is exactly are these awards and how are the winners selected?

Who picks the winners?

Depending on the award, the winners are either chosen by the fans or by UFC president, Dana White.

White will pick the Performance of the Year and the Fight of the Year while the fans choose the rest. The winner is determined in a poll and announced on the UFC's social media channels.

“Every year, there are so many great fights and so many unbelievable performances in UFC,” White stated. “It’s going to be almost impossible to pick the best, but I’m going to have fun trying. It’s also cool that the fans will get to vote in some categories, like ‘Knockout of the Year’ and ‘Event of the Year.’ Toyo Tires is a great partner and we’re looking forward to working with them on this.”

When do the nominees gets announced?

The nominees will be made public every December, following the final UFC event of the year.

Absolutely insane 😱@BeneilDariush takes home the #UFCHonors Fan Choice 'Comeback of the Year'[ 🏆 Presented by @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/OMuYdPcYYg

— UFC (@ufc) January 5, 2021

This year, the final event happened to be on December 19, so the nominees were slowly released afterwards.

What are the awards?

According to the UFC press release, the awards and how they are chosen are as follows:

• Toyo Tires’ UFC Knockout of the Year will be chosen by the fans and awarded to the fighter with the most sensational knockout win.
• Toyo Tires’ UFC Submission of the Year will be chosen by the fans and awarded to the fighter with the most sensational submission win.
• Toyo Tires’ UFC Event of the Year will be chosen by the fans with criteria from the excitement surrounding an event to the performance of the card as a whole.
• Toyo Tires’ UFC Comeback of the Year will be chosen by the fans and awarded to the fighter with the greatest turnaround performance.
• The UFC Performance of the Year will be chosen from among the standout Performance of the Night winners of that year.
• The UFC Fight of the Year will be chosen from among the standout Fight of the Night Presented by Toyo Tires winners of that year.

All UFC Honors Award winners will also receive a trophy celebrating their achievement, along with a set of tires from Toyo Tires.