World MMA Awards 2024 nominees

The World MMA Awards 2024 nominees have been announced.

MMA Fighting has been nominated for MMA Media Source of the Year, an award that the outlet has won five times. Ariel Helwani has both been nominated for MMA Journalist of the Year, an award he was won 14 times. Meanwhile, Helwani’s popular The MMA Hour program has been nominated for Best MMA Programming.

You can vote now here. Voting will conclude on Sept. 30. The venue and date for the award ceremony will be announced shortly.

Here are your nominees for the 16th Annual Fighters Only (nomination period spanned from July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024):

Charles Lewis Fighter of the Year

Alex Pereira

Alexandre Pantoja

Dricus du Plessis

Islam Makhachev

Renan Ferreira

Female Fighter of the Year

Kayla Harrison

Larissa Pacheco

Liz Carmouche

Raquel Pennington

Zhang Weili

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

Anatoly Malykhin

Benoit Saint Denis

Diego Lopes

Ian Machado Garry

Tom Aspinall

International Fighter of the Year

Chihiro Suzuki

Dricus du Plessis

Ilia Topuria

Jack Della Maddalena

Zhang Weili

Fight of the Year

Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno (UFC 290)

Clay Collard vs. Shane Burgos (PFL 9)

Dan Hooker vs. Jalin Turner (UFC 290)

Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 299)

Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC 300)

Knockout of the Year

Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell – Overhand Right (UFC 296)

Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier – Head Kick (UFC 291)

Levy Carriel vs. Mathieu Rakotondrazanany – Head Kick (Brave CF 74)

Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje – Overhand Right (UFC 300)

Vinicius Oliveira vs. Bernardo Sopaj – Flying Knee (UFC Vegas 87)

Submission of the Year

Alexander Volkov vs. Tai Tuivasa – Ezekiel Choke (UFC 293)

Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez – Arm-Triangle Choke (UFC Mexico City)

Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Jose Johnson – Twister (UFC Vegas 78)

Diego Lopes vs. Gavin Tucker – Triangle Armbar (UFC Nashvillle)

Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – D’Arce Choke (UFC 302)

Comeback of the Year

Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez (UFC Mexico City)

Elves Brener vs. Guram Kutateladze (UFC Vegas 76)

Jose Aldo (career)

Rodolfo Bellato vs. Ihor Potieria (UFC Austin)

Tom Aspinall (career)

Upset of the Year

Dricus du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker (UFC 290)

Jason Jackson vs. Yaroslav Amosov (Bellator 301)

Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott (UFC 297)

Ovince Saint Preux vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (UFC Vegas 88)

Sean Strickland vs. Israel Adesanya (UFC 293)

Commentator of the Year

Brendan Fitzgerald

John Gooden

Jon Anik

Laura Sanko

Sean O’Connell

Analyst of the Year

Dan Hardy

Din Thomas

Michael Bisping

Paul Felder

Sayif Saud

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year

Eric Nicksick

Francisco Grasso

Marcos ‘Parrumpa’ DaMatta

Plinio Cruz

Tim Welch

Trainer of the Year

Everton Oliveira

Heather Linden

Ian Larios

Jordan Sullivan

Phil Daru

Gym of the Year

American Kickboxing Academy

American Top Team

Lobo Gym

The Fighting Nerds

Xtreme Couture

Referee of the Year

Marc Goddard

Jason Herzog

Mark Smith

Herb Dean

Keith Peterson

Ringcard Girl of the Year

Holly Barker

Brookliyn Wren

Kasia Motloch Kejsi

Luciana Andrade

Red Dela Cruz

Leading Man

Dana White (UFC)

Ed Soares (LFA)

Graham Borlan (Cage Warriors)

Martin Lewandowski (KSW)

Peter Murray (PFL)

Best Promotion

UFC

Oktagon

LFA

KSW

PFL

Personality of the Year

Bruce Buffer

Chael Sonnen

Daniel Cormier

Nina-Marie Danielle

Joe Rogan

Best MMA Programming

Morning Kombat

The MMA Hour

Dana White’s Contender Series

The Anik & Florian Podcast

UFC Embedded

MMA Media Source of the Year

MMA Fighting

Sherdog

MMA Junkie

ESPN

The Mac Life

MMA Journalist of the Year

Ariel Helwani

Aaron Bronsteter

Oscar Willis

Carlos Contreras Legaspi

Nolan King

Fighting Spirit Award

Gabriel Braga (Heart – strength to overcome the loss of his father and coach)

Leon Edwards (Composure – strength during disgusting mental antics by an opponent)

Jim Miller (Endurance – the only fighter to compete at UFC 100, UFC 200, and UFC 300)

Mark Coleman (Bravery – fearlessly rescuing family and loved ones from a burning building)

Thomas Paull (Resilience – successfully competing in MMA despite being deaf)