The votes are in and the winners have been announced for the 12th World MMA Awards, and some elite names are on the list.

Against the unprecedented backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the awards, produced by Fighters Only, had an extended voting period of January 2019 through July 2020. This year, the fight winners skewed exclusively to the UFC.

Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal were multiple award winners among fighters, as was UFC analyst Joe Rogan. Conversely, Ben Askren saw two of his opponents win awards at his expense.

Take a look at all the winners below:

Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya

Nominees: Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje, Douglas Lima, Jorge Masvidal

Female Fighter of the Year: Amanda Nunes

Amanda Nunes

Nominees: Cris Cyborg, Kayla Harrison, Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Jorge Masvidal

Jorge Masvidal

Nominees: Gilbert Burns, Alexander Volkanovski, Zhang Weili, Petr Yan

International Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya

Nominees: Aung La N Sang, Valentina Shevchenko, Kamaru Usman, Zhang Weili

Fight of the Year: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248)

Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Nominees: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (UFC 236), Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos (UFC on ESPN 11), Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (UFC on ESPN 12), Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington (UFC 245)

Knockout of the Year: Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren (UFC 239)

Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren

Nominees: Cody Garbrandt vs. Raphael Assuncao (UFC 250), Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page (Bellator 221), Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland (UFC 250), Anthony Pettis vs. Stephen Thompson (UFC on ESPN 6)

Submission of the Year: Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren (UFC on ESPN+ 20)

Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren

Nominees: Misha Cirkunov vs. Jimmy Crute (UFC on ESPN+ 16), Aviv Gozali vs. Eduard Muravitsky (Bellator 225), Bryce Mitchell vs. Matt Sayles (UFC on ESPN 7), Brent Primus vs. Tim Wilde (Bellator Europe 2)

Comeback of the Year: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier (UFC 241)

Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier

Nominees: Eddie Alvarez vs. Eduard Folayang (ONE Championship 99), Cody Garbrandt (career), Peter Queally vs. Ryan Scope (Bellator Europe 4), Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC on ESPN 7)

Upset of the Year: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway (UFC 245)

Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Nominees: Kai Asakura vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (Rizin FF 18), Henry Corrales vs. Aaron Pico (Bellator 214), Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Eddie Alvarez (ONE Championship 92), Khama Worthy vs. Devonte Smith (UFC 241)

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year: Trevor Wittman

Trevor Wittman

Nominees: Eric Albarracin, Eugene Bareman, Mike Brown, Sayif Saud

Trainer of the Year: Phil Daru (strength and conditioning)

Nominees: Andre Hicks (strength and conditioning), George Lockhart (nutrition), Bo Sandoval (strength and conditioning), Sunz Singh (strength and conditioning)

Gym of the Year: American Top Team

American Top Team

Nominees: American Kickboxing Academy, Elevation Fight Team, Fortis MMA, Sanford MMA

Referee of the Year: Herb Dean

Herb Dean

Nominees: Mike Beltran, Marc Goddard, Jason Herzog, Frank Trigg

Ringcard Girl of the Year: Brittney Palmer

Brittney Palmer

Nominees: Jhenny Andrade, Carly Baker, Louise McKie, Mercedes Terrell

Leading Man: Dana White (UFC)

Dana White

Nominees: Scott Coker (Bellator), Martin Lewandowski (KSW), Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Rizin FF), Densign White (IMMAF)

Best Promotion: UFC

Photo by Josh Hedges-DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC

Nominees: Bellator, KSW, ONE Championship, PFL

Personality of the Year: Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan

Nominees: Jon Anik, John McCarthy, The Schmo, Chael Sonnen

Analyst of the Year: Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier

Nominees: Michael Bisping, Robin Black, Paul Felder, Dan Hardy

Best MMA Programming: JRE MMA Show

Joe Rogan

Nominees: Anatomy Of A Fighter, Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Dana White’s Contender Series, UFC Embedded

MMA Media Source of the Year: ESPN

Laura Sanko, ESPN

Nominees: The Athletic, The Mac Life, MMA Junkie, Sherdog

MMA Journalist of the Year: Ariel Helwani

Ariel Helwani

Nominees: Mike Bohn, Gareth Davies, John Morgan, Brett Okamoto

Fighting Spirit of the Year: Dustin Poirier (Good Fight Foundation)

Dustin Poirier

Nominees: Walt Harris (Return to fighting), Robbie Lawler (How to take a loss), Conor McGregor (PPE donation), Justin Wren (Fight for the Forgotten)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/amanda-nunes-israel-adesanya-jorge-masvidal-pace-major-winners-at-world-mma-awards

While it seems former teammates Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal are in line for a grudge match in 2021, “Chaos” says he’s still waiting on “Gamebred” to sign the dotted line.

According to Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC), UFC president Dana White has suggested that’s the company’s plan, but Masvidal (35-14 MMA, 12-7 UFC) is holding things up.

“I hope it’s happening,” Covington told Chael Sonnen in the latest edition of his podcast, “You’re Welcome.” “Last I heard from Dana and the UFC, they said they were going to make it happen. I’ve been on it since Day 1, since I fought Tyron Woodley and ended his career and left him out on a stretcher. I agreed to fight Masvidal in September.”

The Covington vs. Masvidal matchup has been brewing for quite some time. Former training partners at American Top Team, the relationship has since soured, with each publicly bashing each other on repeated occasions. But the contest isn’t just about bad blood; it’s also a very meaningful fight at 170 pounds, with Covington currently ranked No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings and Masvidal at No. 6.

Both have come up short in recent title shots with reigning champion Kamaru Usman and are hoping to work themselves back into contention for a rematch. Downing another top contender would go a long way toward making that possible, and the rivalry makes it an even bigger matchup for the UFC.

Still, the two have yet to be officially paired, with Covington sitting out since his September win over Tyron Woodley in the main event of UFC Fight Night 178, and Masvidal idle since his July loss to Usman at UFC 251.

Covington puts the blame squarely on Masvidal’s shoulders.

“You know, it’s clear who wants to fight,” Covington said. “It’s clear who doesn’t want to fight. There’s probably a reason he doesn’t want to fight me. He’s experienced this before. This is the easiest paycheck of my life. This is free money. He’s not even as good as Tyron Woodley.

“Tyron Woodley’s an actual world champion, not a ‘BMF.’ If this guy, ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal, was such a ‘BMF,’ such a bad motherf-cker, he wouldn’t be running. He wouldn’t be dodging fights, so the only reason this is getting held up is because of ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/colby-covington-blames-jorge-masvidal-for-delaying-grudge-match

By Blue Corner
December 27, 2020 7:00 pm

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Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/cub-swanson-mourns-death-longtime-manager-kami-safdari

Jimmy Crute has gone 4-1 in the Octagon since emerging from Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018.

Though he lost to Misha Cirkunov last year, Crute has lost no other bouts en route to a 12-1 record. He rebounded from the loss to Cirkunov with this stellar performance against Michal Oleksiejczuk early in 2020.

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(Video courtesy of UFC)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/watch-jimmy-crutes-performance-of-the-night-win-over-michal-oleksiejczuk

2020 was a year of unexpected challenges. Like everyone else, Invicta FC adapted to a new normal, but their athletes continued to give their all inside the cage.

Here’s a look back at the best Invicta FC moments and match-ups from 2020.

TRENDING Rose Namajunas shoots down idea she doesn’t want to fight for UFC belt

(Video courtesy of Invicta Fighting Championships)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/video-invicta-fcs-best-of-2020