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.
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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.
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Below is the full list of finalists by category:
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the YearFemale Fighter Of The YearBreakthrough Fighter Of The YearInternational Fighter Of The YearFight 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 YearAnalyst Of The YearShawn Tompkins Coach Of The Year
Mike Brown, American Top Team
Khabib Nurmagomedov, Abdulmanap School
Pablo Sucupira, The Fighting Nerds
Make Valle, Valle Flow Striking
Trainer Of The YearGym Of The YearReferee Of The YearRingcard Girl Of The Year
Nikota Uhlirova, OKTAGON MMA
Leading Man Of The Year
Graham Boylan, Cage Warriors
Nobuyuki Sakakibara, RIZIN FF
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Best PromotionPersonality Of The YearBest MMA Programming
The Anik & Florian Podcast
Dana White’s Contender Series
MMA Media Source Of The YearMMA Journalist Of The Year
Aaron Bronsteter, Sportsnet
Damon Martin, MMA Fighting
Fighting Spirit Award
Ben Askren (surviving double lung transplant)
Ryan Curtis (surviving spinal injury)
Adam Hicks (battling through brain cancer)
Francis Ngannou (return to fighting after son’s death)
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: 17th annual World MMA Awards voting open; MMA Junkie, Bohn nominated