LAS VEGAS – MMAjunkie.com was on scene and reporting live from tonight's 2011 World MMA Awards red-carpet, black-tie ceremony. Yesterday's industry-wide festivities took place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Winners were announced in 22 categories. UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones earned the coveted Charles "Mask" Lewis Fighter of the Year award, and late trainer Shawn Tompkins earned a Special Lifetime Achievement award. Although the event didn't air or stream live, FOX Sports Net broadcasts the show nationally via tape delay on Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
UFC fighter Chael Sonnen and CBS Sports Network's Molly Qerim hosted tonight's ceremony, which is organized by Fighters Only. The awards honor achievements from September 2010 through August 2011.
MMAjunkie.com was nominated in the "Media Source of the Year" category, and thanks to the voting power of Junkie Nation, earned its fourth straight victory. MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter and MMAjunkie.com Radio co-host John Morgan was a finalist in the "MMA Journalist of the Year" category but fell short to colleague Ariel Helwani.
The winners included:
INTERNATIONAL FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Michael Bisping, Alexander Gustafsson, Joachim Hansen, Alistair Overeem and Dennis Siver
Winner: Alistair Overeem
GYM OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Alliance MMA, Black House, Jackson's MMA, Roufusport and Xtreme Couture
Winner: Black House
REFEREE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Herb Dean, "Big" John McCarthy, Dan Miragliotta, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki
Winner: Herb Dean
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Marloes Coenen vs. Liz Carmouche at "Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson," Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (career), Tito Ortiz (career) and Joe Warren vs. Joe Soto at Bellator 27
Nominees: Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5,
BEST TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT
Nominees: Bad Boy, Everlast, Hayabusa, Rival and Venum
Winner: Everlast
MMA JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Nominees: John Morgan, Gareth A. Davies, Josh Gross, Ariel Helwani and Ben Fowlkes
Winner: Ariel Helwani
COACH OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Rafael Cordeiro, Eric Del Fierro, Cesar Gracie, Greg Jackson and Shawn Tompkins
Winner: Greg Jackson
BEST LIFESTYLE CLOTHING
Nominees: Affliction, Bad Boy, Form Athletics, RVCA and TapouT
Winner: TapouT
PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Nominees: BAMMA, Bellator Fighting Championships, DREAM, Strikeforce and UFC
Winner: UFC
MEDIA SOURCE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: "Inside MMA" on HDNet, MMAFighting.com, "MMA Live" on ESPN, MMAjunkie.com and Sherdog.com
Winner: MMAjunkie.com
BEST TECHNICAL CLOTHING
Nominees: Bad Boy, Hayabusa, Jaco, Sprawl and Venum
Winner: Bad Boy
MMA PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Bruce Buffer, Jacob "Stitch" Duran, Joe Rogan, Bas Rutten and Burt Watson
Winner: Joe Rogan
FEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Marloes Coenen, Zoila Gurgel, Sarah Kaufman, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate
Winner: Miesha Tate
RING ENTRANCE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133, Vitor Belfort at UFC 133, Dave Herman at UFC 131, Mark Hominick at UFC 129 and Jason "Mayhem" Miller at DREAM.16
Winner: Jason "Mayhem" Miller
BREAKTHROUGH FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Donald Cerrone, Daniel Cormier, Phil Davis, Demetrious Johnson and Brian Stann
Winner: Donald Cerrone
SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24, Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin at UFC 129, Richard Hale vs. Nik Fekete at Bellator 38, Vinny Magalhaes vs. Viktor Nemkov at M-1 Challenge 25, and Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader at UFC 132
Winner: Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24
RING GIRL OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Arianny Celeste, Kelli Hutcherson, Brittney Palmer, Chandella Powell and Mercedes Terrell
Winner: Arianny Celeste
LEADING MAN OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Scott Coker, Lorenzo Fertitta, Marc Ratner, Bjorn Rebney and Dana White
Winner: Dana White
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Patricky "Pitbull" Freire vs. Toby Imada at Bellator 39, Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5, John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture at UFC 129, and Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126
Winner: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126
FIGHT OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick at UFC 129, Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber at UFC 132, Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125, Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley," and Diego Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann at UFC Live 3
Winner: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125
CHARLES "MASK" LEWIS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Dominick Cruz, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva
Winner: Jon Jones
UFC