Robert Whittaker lost out in the Fighter of The Year category but was able to claim the International Fighter of the Year at the World MMA Awards.
Organised by Fighters Only Magazine and hosted this year by actor Jeremy Piven, the awards took place at the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST).
The annual awards are organised by Fighters Only Magazine and this year was hosted by actor Jeremy Piven.
Award winners are chosen through online fan voting and the awards are recognised as the most prestigious in the MMA community.
After claiming the UFC middleweight title, Whittaker beat Volkan Oezdemir, Darren Till, Kamaru Usman and fellow Australian Martin Nguyen to the award.
Nguyen was also nominated for the Breakthrough Fighter of the Year and Upset of the Year.
In the Fighter of the Year category, Max Holloway came away victorious out-voting Ryan Bader, Rafael dos Anjos, Robert Whittaker and Demetrious Johnson while Rose Namajunas took home the Female Fighter of the Year.
Whittaker was nominated in a third category with his UFC 213 bout against Yoel Romero up for nomination as Fight of the Year.
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year
- Ryan Bader
- Rafael dos Anjos
- Robert Whittaker
- Demetrious Johnson
- Max Holloway (WINNER)
Female Fighter of the Year
- Julia Budd
- Angela Lee
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
- Cris Cyborg
- Rose Namajunas (WINNER)
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
- Martin Nguyen
- Volkan Oezdemir
- Brian Ortega (WINNER)
- Darren Till
- Francis Ngannou
International Fighter of the Year
- Volkan Oezdemir
- Martin Nguyen
- Darren Till
- Robert Whittaker (WINNER)
- Kamaru Usman
Fight of the Year
- Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC 211
- Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero – UFC 213
- Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Johnson – TUF 25 Finale
- Aung La N Sang vs. Vitaly Bigdash – One Championship: Light of a Nation
- Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje – UFC 218 (WINNER)
Knockout of the Year
- Matt Brown KO Diego Sanchez – UFC Norfolk
- Edson Barboza KO Beneil Dariush – UFC Fortaleza
- Paul Daley KO Brennan Ward – Bellator 170
- Francis Ngannou KO Alistair Overeem – UFC 218 (WINNER)
- Aaron Pico KO Justin Linn – Bellator 183
Submission of the Year
- Diego Brandao SUB Murad Machaev – Fight Nights Global 38
- Brett Johns SUB Joe Soto – TUF 26 Finale
- Ali Bagov SUB Bubba Jenkins – ACB 54
- Brian Ortega SUB Cub Swanson – UFC Fresno
- Demetrious Johnson SUB Ray Borg – UFC 216 (WINNER)
Comeback of the Year
- Justin Gaethje def. Michael Johnson – TUF 25 Finale (WINNER)
- Uriah Hall def. Krzysztof Jotko – UFC Pittsburgh
- Nathaniel Wood def. Josh Wood – Cage Warriors 86
- Darren Elkins def. Mirsad Bektic – UFC 209
- Derrick Lewis def. Travis Browne – UFC Halifax
Upset of the Year
- Martin Nguyen def. Marat Gafurov – One Championship: Quest for Greatness
- Darren Elkins def. Mirsad Bektic – UFC 209
- Brent Primus def. Michael Chandler – Bellator 180
- Rose Namajunas def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – UFC 217 (WINNER)
- Zach Freeman def. Aaron Pico – Bellator 180
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year
- Duke Roufus
- Trevor Wittman (WINNER)
- Firas Zahabi
- Matt Hume
- Duane Ludwig
Trainer of the Year
- Sam Calavitta – S&C Coach
- Nick Curson – S&C Coach (WINNER)
- Phil Daru – S&C Coach
- Tyler Minto – Nutritionist
- Michelle Ingels – Nutrionist
Gym of the Year
- Roufusport
- Gracie Technics
- Kings MMA
- American Top Team (WINNER)
- Tristar
Referee of the Year
- Jason Herzog
- Mike Beltran
- Herb Dean
- Marc Goddard
- John McCarthy (WINNER)
Ringcard Girl of the Year
- Angelica Anderson
- Carly Baker
- Jhenny Andrade (WINNER)
- Arianny Celest
- Mercedes Terrell
Best Promotion
- LFA
- One Championship
- KSW
- UFC (WINNER)
- Bellator MMA
Analyst of the Year
- Paul Felder
- Jimmy Smith
- Dominick Cruz (WINNER)
- Pat Miletich
- Brian Stann
Best MMA Programming
- MMA Junkie Radio
- The Ultimate Fighter (WINNER)
- Sherdog Roundtable
- THE MMA Hour
- UFC Embedded
MMA Media Source of the Year
- FloCombat
- Bloody Elbow
- Sherdog
- MMA Junkie
- MMA Fighting (WINNER)
MMA Journalist of the Year
- Karim Zidan
- Brett Okamoto
- Chuck Mindenhall
- John Morgan
- Ariel Helwani (WINNER)
