Press Release – Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Fighters Only, the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) magazine, confirmed the launch of its fifth annual awards today. Devised to celebrate success and achievement within the MMA industry, the Fighters Only Awards give fans across the globe the opportunity to cast their vote on which athletes, brands and industry professionals have made the greatest impact on the sport over the previous 12 months.


(View the whole list of categories and nominees at the bottom)



Voting is now open across 22 award categories including: ‘Fight of the Year’, ‘Knockout of the Year’ and ‘Submission of the Year’ while an additional ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award will also be presented during the live ceremony to a surprise recipient.


With the voting website now live and already taking fans’ votes, this fifth Awards also witnesses another first in the illustrious history of mixed martial arts, with female fighting sensation Ronda Rousey capping a remarkable 12 months by being nominated in a record-breaking four categories. As well as ‘Female Fighter of the Year’, Rousey is shortlisted for ‘Breakthrough Fighter of the Year’, ‘Submission of the Year’ and for the annual leading award, the ‘Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year’.

And this year’s awards ceremony also sees the introduction of a brand-new award category – and one that is voted for entirely by MMA devotees. The ‘Fans’ Highlight Reel Moment of the Year’ award is 100% nomination based. No shortlists, no candidates, just an open invitation to those voting to select their personal highlight from 2012; whether it occurred inside or outside the ring.

“The last year has absolutely flown by but not without giving us 12 months’ worth of highlight-reel action, record-breaking achievements and emotional farewells,” says Rob Hewitt, President and CEO of Fighters Only. “We are back to celebrate them all in what will be yet another star-studded night of glamor and entertainment which will surpass everything we have ever done to date.”


The incredible success of the 2011 event saw a relative who’s who of MMA take to the red carpet. And the Fighters Only Awards is set to return even bigger and better this year with a live ceremony to be held in Las Vegas, with confirmation of date and venue coming soon.

This black-tie event will be sponsored by Bodybuilding.com, the internet’s most-visited health and fitness site and largest online retailer of nutritional supplements. Along with Sandee (a Fightshop.com brand) the manufacturer of the world’s toughest combat sports equipment and the second-oldest Muay Thai brand in the world, and Infinite Labs, one of the fastest-growing, research-based Sports Nutrition brands in the athletic industry.


The website http://www.WorldMMAAwards.com is now open and already taking votes, but in addition fans are also able to download a free iPhone application, which makes voting even easier and ensures we attract the maximum global response and the most accurate selection of winners.




CHARLES ‘MASK’ LEWIS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

Benson Henderson
Daniel Cormier
Jon Jones
Nate Diaz
Ronda Rousey

FEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

Jessica Aguilar
Miesha Tate
Ronda Rousey
Sara McMann
Sarah Kaufman

BREAKTHROUGH FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

Chris Weidman
Luke Rockhold
Michael Chandler
Renan Barao
Ronda Rousey

INTERNATIONAL FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

Alexander Gustafsson
Chan Sung Jung
Martin Kampmann
Michael Bisping
Stefan Struve

FIGHT OF THE YEAR

Dan Henderson vs ‘Shogun’ Rua, UFC 139
Dustin Poirier vs Chan Sung Jung, UFC on Fuel TV 3
Jake Ellenberger vs Diego Sanchez, UFC on Fuel TV 1
Jamie Varner vs Joe Lauzon, UFC on Fox 4
Michael Chandler vs Eddie Alvarez, Bellator 58

KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR

Adam Khaliev vs Alexei Belyaev, League S-70 1st Round
Anthony Pettis vs Joe Lauzon, UFC 144
Brian Rogers vs Vitor Vianna, Bellator 61
Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim, UFC 142
Stephen Thompson vs Dan Stittgen, UFC 143

SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR

Chan Sung Jung vs Dustin Poirier, UFC on Fuel TV 3
Charles Oliveira vs Eric Wisely, UFC on Fox 2
Frank Mir vs ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, UFC 140
Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate, Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey
Rousimar Palhares vs Mike Massenzio, UFC 142

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

Alan Belcher (career)
Frank Mir vs ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, UFC 140
Mike Swick (career)
JP Joubert vs Norman Wessels, EFC Africa 15
Tim Boetsch vs Yushin Okami, UFC 144

SHAWN TOMPKINS COACH OF THE YEAR

Andre Pederneiras
Cesar Gracie
Greg Jackson
Javier Mendez
Rafael Cordeiro

LEADING MAN OF THE YEAR

Bjorn Rebney
Dana White
Lorenzo Fertitta
Shannon Knapp
Victor Cui

BEST PROMOTION

Bellator FC
Invicta FC
One FC
Strikeforce
UFC

GYM OF THE YEAR

American Kickboxing Academy
Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Kings MMA
Nova Uniao
Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

Bas Rutten
Bruce Buffer
Joe Rogan
Jon Anik
Mauro Ranallo

REFEREE OF THE YEAR

Herb Dean
John McCarthy
Josh Rosenthal
Marc Goddard
Mario Yamasaki

RINGCARD GIRL OF THE YEAR

Arianny Celeste
Brittney Palmer
Jade Bryce
Kelli Hutcherson
Mercedes Terrell

BEST LIFESTYLE CLOTHING BRAND

Bad Boy
Dethrone
Headrush
Punishment
TapouT

BEST TECHNICAL CLOTHING BRAND

Bad Boy
Hayabusa
Jaco
Clinch Gear
Venum

BEST TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT

Everlast
Fairtex
Hayabusa
Pretorian
Venum

MEDIA SOURCE OF THE YEAR

ESPN
Inside MMA
MMA Fighting
MMA Junkie
Sherdog

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Ariel Helwani
Ben Fowlkes
Gareth A Davies
John Morgan
Karyn Bryant


Source: http://www.themmanews.com/world-mma-awa ... -the-year/