The MMA India Show finally released its first-ever annual awards show. There were 10 international categories and 2 Indian categories.
Throughout the course of 2019, MMA fans were blessed with some of the best fights from different promotions. We saw UFC making its debut on ESPN, which is truly the worldwide leader in sports broadcasting.
Moreover, we saw Asian MMA organisation ONE Championship signing broadcast deals with Star Sports. ONE showed it’s commitment to the Indian market by signing Ritu Phogat, who is arguably one of the most popular wrestlers in India.
Last month, we released a list of 12 categories along with nominees for our inaugural MMA India Show Awards and we had a panel of 3 judges who were given the uphill task of selecting winners across each category.
The three judges were:
1. John Hyon Ko (South Korea based MMA Journalist and host of Kumite TV)
2.Jitendra Khare (MMA coach and Team Relentless owner)
3. Daniel Issac (AIMMAA founder)
Male Fighter of the Year
- Israel Adesanya
- Jorge Masvidal
- Alexander Volkanovski
- Kamaru Usman
WINNER: Israel Adesanya
Female Fighter of the Year
- Amanda Nunes
- Valentina Shevchenko
- Julia Budd
- Weili Zhang
WINNER: Amanda Nunes
Breakthrough fighter of the Year
- Jorge Masvidal
- Israel Adesanya
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Alexander Volkanovsk
WINNER: Jorge Masvidal
Fight of the Year
- Israel Adesanya vs Kelvin Gastelum
- Paulo Costa vs Yoel Romero
- Max Holloway vs Dustin Poirier
- Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington
- Jeremy Stephens vs Yair Rodriguez 2
- Daniel Cormier vs Stipe Miocic 2
WINNER: Paulo Costa vs Yoel Romero
Commentator of the Year
- Paul Felder
- Dominick Cruz
- Michael Bisping
- Daniel Cormier
- Dan Hardy
- Joe Rogan
WINNER: Joe Rogan
Submission of the Year
- Misha Cirkunov’s Peruvian necktie at UFC Vancouver
- Aviv Gozali’s 11-second submission at Bellator 225
- Angela Lee’s RNC of Jingnan Xiong with 12 seconds left
- Paul Craig subs Kennedy Nzechukwu with a triangle in the third
- Bryce Mitchell twister at UFC D.C.
WINNER: Bryce Mitchell twister at UFC D.C.
Upset of the Year
- Eddie Alvarez’s ONE Championship debut
- Jorge Masvidal KOs Darren Till in London
- Corey Anderson KO of Johnny Walker
- Pettis’ superman hook KO of Wonderboy
WINNER: Eddie Alvarez’s ONE Championship debut
Coach of the Year
- Mike Brown
- Firas Zahabi
- Eric Albaraccin
- Eugene Bareman
- Javier Mendez
- Mark Henry
WINNER: Eugene Bareman
Best Promotion
- UFC
- Bellator
- ONE Championship
- KSW
- BRAVE CF
WINNER: UFC
Knockout of the Year
- Kevin Lee KO of Gregor Gilespie
- Corey Anderson KO of Johnny Walker
- Jorge Masvidal KO of Ben Askren
- Nico Price KO of James Vick
- Valentina Shevchenko KO of Jessica Eye
WINNER: Jorge Masvidal KO of Ben Askren
Indian Fighter of the Year
- Rahul K Raju
- Srikant Sekhar
- Ritu Phogat
- Puja Tomar
- Mohammad Farhan
- Roshan Mainam
- Manthan Rane
- Manthan Rane
- Anshul Jubli
WINNER: Rahul K Raju
Indian Fight of the Year
- Angad Bisht vs. Jacky Gehlot: Matrix Fight Night 3
- Mankomal Kaur vs Tejaswini Nandedkar (X1 International Women’s fight Night)
- Dhruv Chaudhary vs. Sumeet Khade: Matrix Fight Night 3
- George Lalmuanawma vs Imkongsunep Jamir (X1 International)
WINNER: Angad Bisht vs. Jacky Gehlot: Matrix Fight Night 3
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