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This year’s Fighters Only World MMA Awards are shaping up to be as hotly contested as ever, making your vote more critical than ever to ensure the right person heads home with the much-sought-after silver statuette.
As is tradition two more categories will also be added to this year’s ceremony, taking the pile of winners’ envelopes to 22, one of which we can reveal as being a ‘Comeback of the Year’ award. For a look at all the categories, and their respective shortlists keep logging into:
worldmmaawards.com
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It’s been a truly thrilling 12 months in mixed martial arts, yet just in case you are sitting there scratching your head trying to remember who knocked out that champion, on that bill, on that night, here is a taste of some of the stand-out highlights to get your voting juices flowing…
Undoubtedly one of the most fiercely contested awards this year is destined to be the ‘Knockout of the Year’ prize. Won last year by ‘Shogun’ Rua for his incredible finish of Lyoto Machida, even that dramatic KO would struggle to stand up next to the catalogue of finishes that MMA has born witness to over the past 12 months; emphatically some of the most sensational knockouts in the sport’s illustrious history.
After a whole host of mouth-dropping public executions, this year’s KO vote could well go right to the wire… Remember Anderson Silva’s front kick against Vitor Belfort? Lyoto Machida’s crane kick finish of Randy Couture? Seemingly defeated Chieck Kongo’s right cross reversal against Pat Barry? Carlos Condit’s left hook winner over Dan Hardy? John Makdessi’s spinning back-fist showreel finish against Kyle Watson? And that’s just from inside the UFC Octagon.
Then there is ‘Submission of the Year.’ How are you guys going to vote for one winner of that award after witnessing the likes of Phil Davis’ one-armed kimura against Tim Boetsch, Valentijn Overeem’s cracking neck crank which bombed Ray Sefo out of the reserve round of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, Tito Ortiz’s UFC career-saving guillotine against Ryan Bader, and lest we forget, Pablo Garza’s insane flying triangle or ‘The Korean Zombie’ Jung Chan Sung’s twister against Leonard Garcia? All breathtaking stuff.
Another hot zone is perhaps the category of ‘Female Fighter of the Year.’ Out of the usual line-up of champions and fanboy favourites, stars like Christiane Santo and, Gina Carano have all failed to enter the cage inside the last year, opening the door to allow a new collection of female fighters to breakthrough into the spotlight. After capturing the Strikeforce welterweight title and then defending it in a likely ‘Fight of the Year’ contender, Marloes Coenen put herself in contention, alongside the likes of Bellator champion Zoila Gurgel, 3-0 in the last calendar year, and resurgent US submission specialist Tara LaRosa.
We hope those moments have gone some way into stoking fierce debate at your gym or workplace. Just remember to not only argue for your favourite but to visit online too and make your vote count. |
