The 12th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards broadcast debuts Saturday night on CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET.
While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic means the traditional black-tie ceremony has been scrapped this year, the fan-voted awards will still be issued during tonight’s hour-long broadcast, hosted by karate black belt and noted actor Dolph Lundgren.
“In an especially challenging year to uphold the annual tradition of the World MMA Awards, I am deeply grateful to Dolph Lundgren for hosting our show and working with our incredible production team so the great athletes in the sport of mixed martial arts can receive their well deserved night of honors and recognition,” said Rob Hewitt, CEO of Fighters Only. “The show will go on – as it has every year since 2008.”
This year’s awards were originally planed for July 8 in Las Vegas but were postponed due to the global virus outbreak. As a result, Fighters Only broadened the eligibility window for the upcoming awards to extend from Jan. 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
The Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year nominees include Henry Cejudo, Israel Adesanya, Justin Gaethje, Jorge Masvidal and Douglas Lima. Female Fighter of the Year finalists include Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili, Kayla Harrison, Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes.
MMA Junkie (MMA Media Source of the Year), John Morgan (MMA Journalist of the Year) and Mike Bohn (MMA Journalist of the Year) were also finalists.
The Fighters Only World MMA Awards air as a part of an evening full of MMA programming on CBS Sports Network, which will also feature replays of Bellator 253 and Bellator 254 on the night.
According to Fighters Only, a panel of MMA industry experts put together the list of award nominees, with fans selecting winners through an online voting process. That expansive list includes:
Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year
Henry Cejudo
Israel Adesanya
Justin Gaethje
Jorge Masvidal
Douglas Lima
Female Fighter of the Year
Valentina Shevchenko
Zhang Weili
Kayla Harrison
Cris Cyborg
Amanda Nunes
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
Zhang Weili
Alexander Volkanovski
Gilbert Burns
Jorge Masvidal
Petr Yan
International Fighter of the Year
Zhang Weili
Kamaru Usman
Israel Adesanya
Valentina Shevchenko
Aung La N Sang
Fight of the Year
Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248)
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington (UFC 245)
Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (UFC 236)
Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (UFC on ESPN 12)
Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos (UFC on ESPN 11)
Knockout of the Year
Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren (UFC 239)
Cody Garbrandt vs. Raphael Assuncao (UFC 250)
Anthony Pettis vs. Stephen Thompson (UFC on ESPN 6)
Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland (UFC 250)
Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page (Bellator 221)
Submission of the Year
Brent Primus vs. Tim Wilde (Bellator Europe 2)
Bryce Mitchell vs. Matt Sayles (UFC on ESPN 7)
Aviv Gozali vs. Eduard Muravitsky (Bellator 225)
Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren (UFC on ESPN+ 20)
Misha Cirkunov vs. Jimmy Crute (UFC on ESPN+ 16)
Comeback of the Year
Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier (UFC 241)
Eddie Alvarez vs. Eduard Flayang (ONE Championship 99)
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC on ESPN 7)
Peter Queally vs. Ryan Scope (Bellator Europe 4)
Cody Garbrandt (career)
Upset of the Year
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway (UFC 245)
Henry Corrales vs. Aaron Pico (Bellator 214)
Khama Worthy vs. Devonte Smith (UFC 241)
Kai Asakura vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (Rizin FF 18)
Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Eddie Alvarez (ONE Championship 92)
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year
Eugene Bareman
Sayif Saud
Mike Brown
Trevor Wittman
Eric Albarracin
Trainer of the Year
Andre Hicks (strength and conditioning)
Sunz Singh (strength and conditioning)
George Lockhart (nutrition)
Bo Sandoval (strength and conditioning)
Phil Daru (strength and conditioning)
Gym of the Year
Fortis MMA
Elevation Fight Team
Sanford MMA
American Top Team
American Kickboxing Academy
Referee of the Year
Herb Dean
Jason Herzog
Mike Beltran
Frank Trigg
Marc Goddard
Ringcard Girl of the Year
Carly Baker
Jhenny Andrade
Louise McKie
Brittany Palmer
Mercedes Terell
Leading Man
Dana White (UFC)
Densign White (IMMAF)
Martin Lewandowski (KSW)
Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Rizin FF)
Scott Coker (Bellator)
Best Promotion
PFL
KSW
ONE Championship
Bellator
UFC
Personality of the Year
Jon Anik
Chael Sonnen
John McCarthy
The Schmo
Joe Rogan
Analyst of the Year
Robin Black
Michael Bisping
Paul Felder
Daniel Cormier
Dan Hardy
Best MMA Programming
Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show
JRE MMA Show
UFC Embedded
Dana White’s Contender Series
Anatomy Of A Fighter
MMA Media Source of the Year
Sherdog
ESPN
MMA Junkie
The Mac Life
The Athletic
MMA Journalist of the Year
John Morgan
Mike Bohn
Brett Okamoto
Ariel Helwani
Gareth Davies
Fighting Spirit of the Year
Dustin Poirier (Good Fight Foundation)
Justin Wren (Fight for the Forgotten)
Robbie Lawler (How to take a loss)
Conor McGregor (PPE donation)
Walt Harris (Return to fighting)