Voting is underway for the 17th annual World MMA Awards, where Ilia Topuria, Merab Dvalishvili, Alexandre Pantoja, Magomed Ankalaev and Gadzhi Rabadanov are up for the top honor of Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year.
Female Fighter of the Year finalists are Kayla Harrison, Dakota Ditcheva, Jasmine Jasudavicius, Valentina Shevchenko and Natalia Silva.
In addition, MMA Junkie (Media Source of the Year) and Mike Bohn (Journalist of the Year) also are finalists.
Fighters Only Magazine again is hosting the awards. The date and location for a black-tie ceremony hasn’t been determined, although it typically coincides during the week of the UFC’s final pay-per-view event of the year in December.
According to Fighters Only, a panel of MMA industry experts put together the list of award nominees for a year-long period covering July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Voting is now open at WorldMMAAwards.com.
Below is the full list of finalists by category:
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year
- Magomed Ankalaev
- Merab Dvalishvili
- Alexandre Pantoja
- Gadzhi Rabadanov
- Ilia Topuria
Female Fighter Of The Year
- Dakota Ditcheva
- Kayla Harrison
- Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Valentina Shevchenko
- Natalia Silva
Breakthrough Fighter Of The Year
- Sean Brady
- Reinier de Ridder
- Dakota Ditcheva
- Jean Silva
- Joshua Van
International Fighter Of The Year
- Phil De Fries
- Reinier de Ridder
- Jack Della Maddalena
- Dricus Du Plessis
- Paddy Pimblett
Fight Of The Year
- Jack Della Maddelana def. Belal Muhammad, UFC 315
- Uman Nurmagomedov def. Paul Hughes, PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai
- Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber, UFC 306
- Nazim Sadykhov def. Nikolas Motta, UFC on ABC 8
- Joshua Van def. Brandon Royval, UFC 317
Knockout Of The Year
- Shara Magomedov def. Arman Petrosyan, UFC 308
- Gustavo Oliveira def. Anas Azizoun, PFL Europe 2
- Mauricio Ruffy def. King Green, UFC 313
- Roberto Soldic def. Sayid Arslanaliev, ONE 171
- Fares Ziam def. Matt Frevola, UFC Fight Night 243
Submission Of The Year
- Khamzat Chimaev def. Robert Whittaker, UFC 308
- Virna Jandiroba def. Amanda Lemos, UFC on ESPN 60
- Paddy Pimblett def. King Green, UFC 304
- Stevie Ray def. Lewis Long, PFL Europe 3
- Jean Silva def. Bryce Mitchell, UFC 314
Comeback Of The Year
- Jared Cannonier def. Gregory Rodrigues, UFC Fight Night 251
- Gabe Greeb def. Matheus Camilo, UFC Fight Night 256
- Toshiomi Kazama def. Charalampos Grigoriou, UFC on ESPN 61
- Gerald Meerschaert def. Edmen Shahbazyan, UFC on ESPN 62
- Phil Rowe def. Ange Loosa, UFC on ESPN 69
Upset Of The Year
- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott, UFC 311
- Reinier de Ridder def. Bo Nickal, UFC on ESPN 67
- Yuneisy Duben def. Shannon Clark, DWCS 70
- Gabriella Fernande def. Wang Cong, UFC Fight Night 248
- Reug Reug def. Anatoly Malykhin, ONE 169
Commentator Of The Year
- Jon Anik
- Brendan Fitzgerald
- John Gooden
- Sean O’Connell
- Michael Schiavello
Analyst Of The Year
- Michael Bisping
- Paul Felder
- Dan Hardy
- Laura Sanko
- Din Thomas
Shawn Tompkins Coach Of The Year
- Mike Brown, American Top Team
- Khabib Nurmagomedov, Abdulmanap School
- Pablo Sucupira, The Fighting Nerds
- Make Valle, Valle Flow Striking
- John Wood, Syndicate MMA
Trainer Of The Year
- Bandon Gallagher
- Heather Linden
- Everton Oliveira
- Charles Hu Stulll
- Andrew Wood
Gym Of The Year
- Abdulmanap School
- American Top Team
- The Fighting Nerds
- Syndicate MMA
- Valle Flow Striking
Referee Of The Year
- Mike Beltran
- Herb Dean
- Jason Herzog
- Marc Goddard
- Mark Smith
Ringcard Girl Of The Year
- Red De La Cruz, UFC
- Kasia Kejsi, KSW
- Nikota Uhlirova, OKTAGON MMA
- Brookliyn Wren, UFC
- Noche UFC octagon girls
Leading Man Of The Year
- Graham Boylan, Cage Warriors
- Peter Murray, PFL
- Nobuyuki Sakakibara, RIZIN FF
- Ed Soares, LFA
- Dana White, UFC
Best Promotion
- Cage Warriors
- LFA
- PFL
- RIZIN FF
- UFC
Personality Of The Year
- Bruce Buffer
- Daniel Cormier
- Nina Drama
- Joe Rogan
- Chael Sonnen
Best MMA Programming
- The Anik & Florian Podcast
- The Ariel Helwani Show
- Dana White’s Contender Series
- JAXXON Podcast
- The Ultimate Fighter
MMA Media Source Of The Year
- ESPN
- MMA Fighting
- MMA Junkie
- Sherdog
- Uncrowned
MMA Journalist Of The Year
- Mike Bohn, MMA Junkie
- Aaron Bronsteter, Sportsnet
- Ben Fowlkes, Uncrowned
- Ariel Helwani, Uncrowned
- Damon Martin, MMA Fighting
Fighting Spirit Award
- Ben Askren (surviving double lung transplant)
- Jeff Brady (heroism)
- Ryan Curtis (surviving spinal injury)
- Adam Hicks (battling through brain cancer)
- Francis Ngannou (return to fighting after son’s death)
