2021 World MMA Awards Winners

Here are the winners for the 13th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards. Did any winners surprise or did voters make the right choices?

Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Male Fighter of the Year
Kamaru Usman - winner
• Brandon Moreno
• Yaroslav Amosov
• Charles Oliveira
• Jan Blachowicz

Female Fighter of the Year
• Mackenzie Dern
• Kayla Harrison
• Valentina Shevchenko
Rose Namajunas - winner
• Manon Fiorot

International Fighter of the Year
• Vadim Nemkov
Israel Adesanya - winner
• Yaroslav Amosov
• Robert Whittaker
• Jan Blachowicz

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
• Khamzat Chimaev
• Jiří Procházka
Brandon Moreno - winner
• Yaroslav Amosov
• Kevin Holland

Fight of the Year
• Paul Daley vs. Sabah Homasi - Bellator 257
• Edson Barboza vs. Shane Burgos - UFC 262
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 1 – UFC 256 - winner
• Jiří Procházka vs. Dominick Reyes – UFC on ESPN 23
• Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Miguel Baeza – UFC on ESPN+ 47

Submission of the Year
• AJ McKee vs. Darrion Caldwell - Neck Crank - Bellator 253
• Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill - Armbar/Triangle - UFC 264
• Jimmy Flick vs. Cody Durden - Flying Triangle - UFC on ESPN+ 41
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Rodolfo Vieira - Guillotine - UFC 258
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje - Triangle - UFC 254 - winner

Knockout of the Year
Joaquin Buckley vs. Impa Kasanganay - Back Kick - UFC on ESPN+ 37 - winner
• Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal - Punch - UFC 261
• Cory Sandhagen vs. Frankie Edgar - Flying Knee - UFC on ESPN+ 42
• Shane Burgos vs. Edson Barboza - Punch - UFC 262
• Mamed Khalidov vs. Scott Askham - Flying Switch Kick - KSW 55

Comeback of the Year
• Paul Daley vs. Sabah Homasi - Bellator 257
• Thanh le vs. Martin Nguyen - ONE: Inside the Matrix
• Sean Strickland (Career)
• Rose Namajunas (Career)
Charles Oliviera vs. Michael Chandler – UFC 262 - winner

Upset of the Year
Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson - ONE on TNT 1 - winner
• Shana Dobson vs. Mariya Agapova - UFC on ESPN 15
• Clay Collard vs. Anthony Pettis - PFL 2021 #1
• Ok Rae Yoon vs. Eddie Alvarez - ONE on TNT 4
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Rodolfo Vieira - UFC 258

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year
• Eric Nicksick
• Henri Hooft
• Mike Brown
Trevor Wittman - winner
• Jason Parillo

Trainer of the Year
Phil Daru - winner
• Sam Calavitta
• Jordan Sullivan
• Chase Cichos
• Bo Sandoval

Gym of the Year
American Top Team - winner
• City Kickboxing
• Elevation Fight Team
• RVCA
• Sanford MMA

Referee of the Year
Herb Dean - winner
• Dan Miragliotta
• Mark Smith
• Jason Herzog
• Marc Goddard

Ringcard Girl of the Year
• Arianny Celeste
• Luciana Andrade
• Brookliyn Wren
Brittney Palmer - winner
• Kasia Motloch Kejsi

Leading Man of the Year
Dana White - winner
• Ed Soares
• Mohammed Shahid
• Densign White
• Scott Coker

Best Promotion of the Year
• Bellator MMA
• LFA
• Brave Combat Federation
• UAE Warriors
UFC - winner

Personality of the Year
• Jon Anik
Daniel Cormier - winner
• Joe Rogan
• Laura Sanko
• Chael Sonnen

Analyst of the Year
• Robin Black
Michael Bisping - winner
• Paul Felder
• Dan Hardy
• John McCarthy

Best MMA Programming
Morning Kombat - winner
• Dana White’s Contender Series
• DC & Helwani
• JRE MMA Show
• UFC Embedded

MMA Media Source of the Year
• The Mac Life
• BT Sport
ESPN MMA - winner
MMA Fighting
MMA Junkie

MMA Journalist of the Year
• John Morgan
• Shaheen Al-Shatti
• Brett Okamoto
Ariel Helwani - winner
• Oscar Willis

Fighting Spirit of the Year
• Khabib Nurmagomedov (Compassion vs. Justin Gaethje - transitioned from an arm bar to triangle to avoid distressing Gaethje’s parents)
• Terrance McKinney (recovery - from overcoming drug addiction and near death to UFC callup and winning debut)
Brandon Moreno (Perseverance - from being cut, to fighting back and becoming the first Mexican UFC champion) - winner
• Dustin Poirier (Charity - continued efforts with The Good Fight Foundation giving back to the local community in Louisiana)
• Dana White (Leadership - when all sports were down and out due to Covid-19, against all the odds, Dana White made Fight Island real)

International fighter of the year lol

This like the intercontinental title in wrestling?

4 Likes

Bisping is bar none the best when hes not with DC.

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Can’t believe they don’t do thread of the year anymore

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nunes wasn’t nominated for female fighter of the yr?

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Simone Biles won athlete of the year for quitting. These award givers love quitters.

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Awesome for Brandon Moreno. Saw him on a billboard for a smaller promotion like 2 years ago and here he is with the belt.

Personality of the year they nominated Anik!!! Wtf the guy is the most predictable shill robot of all times.

Then Bisping, I am his biggest fan but he is not exactly an analyst, more of an entertainer.

Also, Piotr Yan is missing on the best fighter lists

Herb won ref of the year? Really?

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Nobody cares. Mma awards are more pointless and pathetic than movie or music awards.

She likely only had one fight when the nominations were made. She beat Megan Anderson and no one cared.

Yet you clicked AND posted.

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And that proves what exactly.

Lol @ Moreno vs Fig being fight of the year…no fuckin way

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Nah, you’re right…it’s not as if the thread title is misleading.

Yet you A. Clicked on the thread B. Presumably read the thread and C. Took the time to post your thoughts on the thread topic.

Proof positive that no one – least of all you – cares.

How is there no Quote of the Year? Mariana Rodriguez talking about herb dean for sure!!!


They could have had ref of the year herb dean present the award himself, awkward as that might have been.

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I just saw Espn winning. That is the last place you go to for MMA news lol