This year’s World MMA Awards will stream on ESPN+ for the second straight year with a familiar host in place.
Fighters Only revealed earlier this week that Chael Sonnen will host the 14th annual event, which takes place Thursday at at the SAHARA Las Vegas. Trophies will be awarded for Male and Female Fighter of the Year, Knockout and Submission of the Year, Fight of the Year, and media awards will be handed out as well.
The show is set to begin at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT.
“I am delighted to have Chael back to host the Fighters Only World MMA Awards once again. He has always done a fantastic job hosting our event.
“There is always a fun sense of unpredictability in what Chael will say and this is an important element to the awards. So now he is back once again, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday night,” Fighters Only CEO
MMA Fighting is nominated for Media Source of the Year, an award it has previously won five times, and nominations were also given to MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti and the host of The MMA Hour Ariel Helwani. Helwani is an 11-time Journalist of the Year award winner.
See the full list of nominations below.
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year
Female Fighter of the Year
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
Johnny Eblen
International Fighter of the Year
Alexander Volkanovski
Roberto Soldic
Mateusz Gamrot
Islam Makhachev
Fight of the Year
Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira – UFC 275
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler – UFC 268
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega – UFC 266
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns – UFC 273
Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez – UFC Vegas 42
Knockout of the Year
Michael Chandler (front kick) vs. Tony Ferguson – UFC 274
Ignacio Bahamondes (wheel kick) vs. Roosevelt Roberts – UFC Vegas 34
Sergio Pettis (spinning backfist) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi – Bellator 272
Molly McCann (spinning back elbow) vs. Luana Carolina – UFC London
Roman Faraldo (flying knee) vs. Robert Turnquest – Bellator 271
Submission of the Year
Jiri Prochazka (rear-naked choke) vs. Glover Teixeira – UFC 275
Stevie Ray (modified body lock) vs. Anthony Pettis – PFL 5
Oliver Enkamp (inverted triangle choke) vs. Mark Lemminger – Bellator 281
Jessica Andrade (standing arm-triangle choke) vs. Amanda Lemos – UFC Vegas 52
Charles Oliveira (rear-naked choke) vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC 269
Comeback of the Year
Sergio Pettis vs. Kyoji Horiguchi – Bellator 272
Carla Esparza (career)
Clay Guida vs. Leonardo Santos – UFC on ESPN 31
Aljamain Sterling (overcoming intense ridicule and injury)
Chris Curtis (career)
Upset of the Year
Julianna Peña vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 269
Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Michal Materla – KSW 70
Matheus Scheffel vs. Bruno Cappelozza – PFL 5
Ben Parrish vs. Christian Edwards – Bellator 266
Seika Izawa vs. Ayaka Hamasaki – RIZIN 33
Best Promotion of the Year
UFC
Bellator
PFL
Cage Warriors
KSW
Leading Man of the Year
Dana White (UFC)
Scott Coker (Bellator)
Peter Murray (PFL)
Graham Boylan (Cage Warriors)
Kerrith Brown (IMMAF)
Referee of the Year
Jason Herzog
Marc Goddard
Mike Beltran
Mark Smith
Keith Peterson
Analyst of the Year
Personality of the Year
Best MMA Programming
UFC Embedded
Dana White Contender Series
The MMA Hour
JRE MMA Show
Morning Kombat
MMA Media Source of the Year
MMA Fighting
MMA Junkie
ESPN
BT Sport
Sherdog
MMA Journalist of the Year
Ariel Helwani
John Morgan
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Aaron Bronsteter
Mike Bohn
Coach of the Year
Eugene Bareman
Eric Nicksick
Henri Hooft
Diego Lima
Gym of the Year
City Kickboxing
Xtreme Couture
American Top Team
Kill Cliff FC (formerly Sanford MMA)
Fortis MMA
Trainer of the Year
Phil Daru
Jordan Sullivan
Andrew Wood
Heather Linden
Corey Peacock
Ringcard Girl of the Year
Luciana Andrade
Brooklyn Wren
Chrissy Blair
Fighting Spirit of the Year
Kevin Holland (Bravery – in and out of the cage, helping his community in the face of danger on several occasions)
Aaron Aby (Heart – surviving cancer and battling cystic fibrosis to become a top contender in Cage Warriors)
Bryce Mitchell (Charity – dedicating half of his UFC 272 fight purse to help children in medical need in his native Arkansas, with a special mention for Dana White who matched Mitchell’s contribution)
Alexander Volkanovski (Determination – demonstrating a champion’s will to overcome adversity and battling through a seemingly inescapable submission from Brian Ortega)
Robbie Lawler (Compassion vs. Nick Diaz – displaying true respect & genuine care for his opponent’s wellbeing in life)