Israel Adesanya named Fighter of the Year at World MMA Awards, full list of winners revealed

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was named winner of the Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year award at the World MMA Awards.

Adesanya took home the top prize of the night in being voted as the best fighter of the year, and he was among a number of deserving award winners at the 12th World MMA Awards. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 12th edition of the Fighters Only World MMA Awards took place remotely on December 27, 2020. It should be noted the awards timeline for inclusion stretched from January 2019 to July 2020. Check out the full list of this edition’s winning fighters below (via MMAjunkie.com).

Charles Mask Lewis Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya
Female Fighter of the Year: Amanda Nunes
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Jorge Masvidal
International Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya
Fight of the Year: Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248
Knockout of the Year: Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren at UFC 239
Submission of the Year: Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren at UFC on ESPN+ 20
Comeback of the Year: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier at UFC 241
Upset of the Year: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway at UFC 245

Aside from Adesanya and the other fighters who won the awards above, a number of other categories were voted on. Check out the list of the other winners below.

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year: Trevor Wittman
Trainer of the Year: Phil Daru
Gym of the Year: American Top Team
Referee of the Year: Herb Dean
Ringcard Girl of the Year: Brittney Palmer
Leading Man: Dana White
Best Promotion: UFC
Personality of the Year: Joe Rogan
Analyst of the Year: Daniel Cormier
Best MMA Programming: Joe Rogan Experience
Media Souce of the Year: ESPN
Journalist of the Year: Ariel Helwani
Fighting Spirt of the Year Award: Dustin Poirier for Good Fight Foundation

What do you think about Israel Adesanya winning the Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year Award? What do you think of the other award winners? Sound off Penn Nation!