The 15th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards ceremony took place Thursday night at the SAHARA Las Vegas as leading figures from the world of mixed martial arts came together to celebrate the best of the sport.
The Awards, which honored the achievements between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, were hosted once again by former UFC title challenger, MMA analyst, and personality Chael Sonnen, as 23 Fighters Only statuettes were awarded to the night's big winners.
Here's a full list of the award winners and nominees from the event.
Charles 'Mask' Lewis Fighter of the Year
- WINNER: Leon Edwards
- Aljamain Sterling
- Israel Adesanya
- Islam Makhachev
- Sadibou Sy
Female Fighter of the Year
- WINNER: Alexa Grasso
- Amanda Nunes
- Larissa Pacheco
- Seika Izawa
- Liz Carmouche
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
- WINNER: Alex Pereira
- Dricus Du Plessis
- Ilia Topuria
- Sergei Pavlovich
- Alexa Grasso
International Fighter of the Year
- WINNER: Leon Edwards
- Israel Adesanya
- Dricus Du Plessis
- Sergei Pavlovich
- Sadibou Sy
Fight of the Year
- WINNER: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski (UFC 284)
- Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev (UFC 286)
- Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler (UFC 281)
- Brennan Ward vs. Sabah Homasi (Bellator 290)
- Matt Schnell vs. Su Mudaerji (UFC on ABC 3)
Knockout of the Year
- WINNER: Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman - Head kick (UFC 278)
- Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira - Punches (UFC 287)
- Sadibou Sy vs. Shane Mitchell - Spinning wheel kick (PFL 6, 2023)
- Krzysztof Glowacki vs. Patryk Tolkaczewski - Punch (KSW Colosseum 2)
- Ismael Bonfim vs. Terrance McKinney - Flying knee (UFC 283)
Submission of the Year
- WINNER: Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko - Face crank (UFC 285)
- Louis Glismann vs. Melvin van Suijdam - Inverted omoplata (Oktagon 43)
- Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira - Arm-triangle choke (UFC 280)
- Olga Rubin vs. Claire Guthrie - Buggy choke (Invicta FC 53)
- Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash - Inverted triangle choke (ONE 159)
Comeback of the Year
- WINNER: Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 2 (UFC 278)
- Jon Jones (Career)
- John Hathaway (Returning from lengthy illness)
- Matt Schnell vs. Su Mudaerji (UFC on ABC 3)
- Yaroslav Amosov (Returning from war)
Upset of the Year
- WINNER: Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 285)
- Larissa Pacheco vs. Kayla Harrison (PFL 10, 2022)
- Christian Echols vs. Pat Downey (Bellator 289)
- Jesus Pinedo vs. Brendan Loughnane (PFL 4, 2023)
- Zebaztian Kadestam vs. Roberto Soldic (ONE Fight Night 10)
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year
- WINNER: Mike Brown
- Eugene Bareman
- Dave Lovell
- Ray Longo
- Eric Nicksick
Trainer of the Year
- WINNER: Heather Linden
- Jonathon Reynolds
- Everton Oliveira
- Jordan Sullivan
- Brandon Gallagher
Gym of the Year
- WINNER: American Top Team
- City Kickboxing
- Team Renegade
- Kill Cliff FC
- American Kickboxing Academy
Referee of the Year
- WINNER: Herb Dean
- Marc Goddard
- Jason Herzog
- Mark Smith
- Rich Mitchell
Ringcard Girl of the Year
- WINNER: Brittney Palmer
- Louise McKie
- Brookliyn Wren
- Jhenny Andrade
- Luciana Andrade
Leading Man
- WINNER: Dana White (UFC)
- Scott Coker (Bellator)
- Peter Murray (PFL)
- Maciej Kawulski (KSW)
- Ondrej Novotny (Oktagon)
Best Promotion
- WINNER: UFC
- Bellator MMA
- PFL
- KSW
- Oktagon MMA
Personality of the Year
- WINNER: Joe Rogan
- Laura Sanko
- Chael Sonnen
- Daniel Cormier
- Jon Anik
Analyst of the Year
- WINNER: Michael Bisping
- Paul Felder
- Dan Hardy
- Anthony Smith
- Kenny Florian
Best MMA Programming
- WINNER: Dana White's Contender Series
- Morning Kombat
- The MMA Hour
- The Anik & Florian Podcast
- UFC Embedded
MMA Media Source of the Year
- WINNER: ESPN
- MMA Fighting
- Sherdog
- MMA Junkie
- Bloody Elbow
MMA Journalist of the Year
- WINNER: Ariel Helwani
- Aaron Bronsteter
- Marc Raimondi
- John Morgan
- Nolan King
Fighting Spirit Award
- WINNER: Themba Gorimbo (Charity – building a water pump in Zimbabwe and putting others ahead of himself)
- Yaroslav Amosov (Adversity – returning from war to unify the Bellator welterweight title)
- Steven Ray (Strength – fighting for his family)
- Biaggio Ali Walsh (Bravery – helping his community in the face of danger)
- Chris Barnett (Adversity – overcoming great personal loss and adversity in the cage)
Lifetime Achievement Award
- WINNER: Ken Shamrock
