Jon Jones named ‘Fighter of the Year’ at the 2011 World MMA Awards

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones bags the Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year award. One of the highlights of the 2011 Fourth Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards which took place last Wednesday, November 30th at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Chael Sonnen and CBS Sports Network’s Molly Qerim hosted the BodyBuilding.com sponsored show.

Other highlights include Strikeforce champion Meisha Tate bagging the award for Female Fighter of the Year and a well-deserved Special Lifetime Achievement award for the late Canadian kickboxer and mixed martial artist, Shawn Tomkins. The show which honored achievements from September 2010 to August 2011 will soon broadcast nationally on FOX Sports Net via tape delay on Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (Eastern/Pacific time).

2011 Fourth Annual Fighters Only World MMA Award Nominees and Winners include:

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
Winner: Cheick Kongo

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

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