Fighters Only’s 2011 World MMA Awards took place Wednesday night at The Pearl inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The who’s who of the mixed martial arts world, except yours truly, attended the fancy black-tie ceremony.
However, just because 5thRound.com wasn’t nominated for anything doesn’t mean we’ll completely ignore the festivities like other bitter websites did.
UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen hosted the shindig and Molly Querim returned as the show’s co-host.
Here are 2011’s winners:
INTERNATIONAL FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Michael Bisping, Alexander Gustafsson, Joachim Hansen, Alistair Overeem and Dennis Siver
Winner: Alistair OvereemGYM OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Alliance MMA, Black House, Jackson’s MMA, Roufusport and Xtreme Couture
Winner: Black HouseREFEREE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Herb Dean, “Big” John McCarthy, Dan Miragliotta, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki
Winner: Herb DeanCOMEBACK OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Marloes Coenen vs. Liz Carmouche at “Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson,” Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC on Versus 5, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (career), Tito Ortiz (career) and Joe Warren vs. Joe Soto at Bellator 27
Winner: Cheick KongoBEST TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT
Nominees: Bad Boy, Everlast, Hayabusa, Rival and Venum
Winner: EverlastMMA JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Nominees: John Morgan, Gareth A. Davies, Josh Gross, Ariel Helwani and Ben Fowlkes
Winner: Ariel HelwaniCOACH OF THE YEAR*
Nominees: Rafael Cordeiro, Eric Del Fierro, Cesar Gracie, Greg Jackson and Shawn Tompkins
Winner: Greg JacksonBEST LIFESTYLE CLOTHING
Nominees: Affliction, Bad Boy, Form Athletics, RVCA and TapouT
Winner: TapouTPROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Nominees: BAMMA, Bellator Fighting Championships, DREAM, Strikeforce and UFC
Winner: UFCMEDIA SOURCE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: “Inside MMA” on HDNet, MMAFighting.com, “MMA Live” on ESPN, MMAJunkie.com and Sherdog.com
Winner: MMAJunkie.comBEST TECHNICAL CLOTHING
Nominees: Bad Boy, Hayabusa, Jaco, Sprawl and Venum
Winner: Bad BoyLIFETIME ACHIEVMENT AWARD
Shawn Tompkins (His wife, Emilie, accepted the award)
MMA PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Bruce Buffer, Jacob “Stitch” Duran, Joe Rogan, Bas Rutten and Burt Watson
Winner: Joe RoganFEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Marloes Coenen, Zoila Gurgel, Sarah Kaufman, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate
Winner: Miesha TateRING 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” MillerBREAKTHROUGH FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Donald Cerrone, Daniel Cormier, Phil Davis, Demetrious Johnson and Brian Stann
Winner: Donald CerroneSUBMISSION OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24, Pable 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 JungRING GIRL OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Arianny Celeste, Kelli Hutcherson, Brittney Palmer, Chandella Powell and Mercedes Terrell
Winner: Arianny CelesteLEADING MAN OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Scott Coker, Lorenzo Fertitta, Marc Ratner, Bjorn Rebney and Dana White
Winner: Dana WhiteKNOCKOUT 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 SilvaFIGHT 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 MaynardCHARLES “MASK” LEWIS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Dominick Cruz, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva
Winner: Jon Jones* Renamed to ‘Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year Award’