Winners of 16th Annual World MMA Awards

The 16th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards were held in Las Vegas on December 5, 2024. The official results were published by Fighters Only the following day. The Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year award recognized work from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, so some later 2024 fights fell outside its eligibility period.

Fighter awards

• Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year: Alex Pereira
• Female Fighter of the Year: Zhang Weili
• Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Tom Aspinall
• International Fighter of the Year: Dricus du Plessis

Fight and performance awards

• Fight of the Year: Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje, their April 2024 bout in Las Vegas
• Knockout of the Year: Holloway’s final-second knockout of Gaethje in that bout
• Submission of the Year: Diego Lopes’ triangle armbar finish over Gavin Tucker in August 2023
• Comeback of the Year: Tom Aspinall, for returning from injury to win the interim heavyweight title in November 2023
• Upset of the Year: Sean Strickland’s win over Israel Adesanya in September 2023

Other winners

• Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year: Plinio Cruz
• Trainer of the Year: Ian Larios
• Gym of the Year: The Fighting Nerds
• Referee of the Year: Herb Dean
• Lifetime Achievement and Fighting Spirit awards: Mark Coleman
• Commentator of the Year: Jon Anik
• Analyst of the Year: Michael Bisping
• Ringcard Girl of the Year: Luciana Andrade
• Leading Man: Dana White
• Best Promotion: the Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Personality of the Year: Nina-Marie Danielle
• Best MMA Programming: Dana White’s Contender Series
• MMA Media Source of the Year: ESPN
• MMA Journalist of the Year: Ariel Helwani

See the complete results from Fighters Only. The original video embed on this page is private and unavailable, so it has been removed.