Voting is about to begin for the 2012 Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Awards. This year’s edition again features more than a dozen categories. These awards recognise notable achievements made by fighters, promotions and other individuals associated with the sport over the course of the past year.
Members of nine different mixed martial arts publications compiled the list of nominations for this year’s awards. A full list of categories and nominees, as well as fight videos for best fight, knockout and submission, is available below. Winners in each category will be announced at the end of December.
Fight of the Year
a) Sarah Kaufman vs Alexis Davis – Strikeforce: Rousey vs Tate (Part 1 | Part 2)
b) Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate – Strikeforce: Rousey vs Tate (Full Fight)
c) Leslie Smith vs Kaitlin Young – Invicta Fighting Championships 1 (Full Fight)
d) Jessica Penne vs Lisa Ellis – Invicta Fighting Championships 1 (Full Fight)
e) Rosi Sexton vs Aisling Daly – Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 47 (Full Fight)
f) Sara McMann vs Shayna Baszler – Invicta Fighting Championships 2 (Full Fight)
g) Miesha Tate vs Julie Kedzie – Strikeforce: Rousey vs Kaufman (Full Fight)
Female Fighter of the Year
*All nominees in the following five categories are eligible for votes*
Female Featherweight (137-146) of the Year
a) Julia Budd (2-0 in 2012)
b) Marloes Coenen (1-0 in 2012)
c) Ediene Gomes (1-0 in 2012)
d) Germaine de Randamie (1-0 in 2012)
Female Bantamweight (127-136) of the Year
a) Alexis Davis (1-1 in 2012)
b) Sarah Kaufman (1-1 in 2012)
c) Sara McMann (2-0 in 2012)
d) Ronda Rousey (2-0 in 2012)
Female Flyweight (117-126) of the Year
a) Jessica Eye (4-0 in 2012)
b) Munah Holland (3-1 in 2012)
c) Barb Honchak (2-0 in 2012)
d) Michelle Ould (2-0 in 2012)
Female Strawweight (107-116) of the Year
a) Jessica Aguilar (2-0 in 2012)
b) Carla Esparza (2-0 in 2012)
c) Ayaka Hamasaki (3-0 in 2012)
d) Felice Herrig (3-0 in 2012)
Female Atomweight (97-106) of the Year
a) Stephanie Frausto (2-1 in 2012)*
b) Jessica Penne (2-0 in 2012)
c) Naho Sugiyama (1-1 in 2012)
d) Michelle Waterson (2-0 in 2012)
*Note: Loss was at 115 pounds.
Female Newcomer of the Year
a) Joanne Calderwood (4-0 in 2012)
b) Jessamyn Duke (2-0 in 2012)
c) Emily Kagan (2-0 in 2012)
d) Karolina Kowalkiewicz (2-0 in 2012)
e) Eeva Siiskonen (2-0 in 2012)
f) Paige VanZant (2-0 in 2012)
Note: Fighters in this category must have made their pro debuts and had at least two pro wins during the 2012 calendar year in order to be eligible.
Amateur Female Fighter of the Year
a) Cortney Casey (5-1 in 2012)
b) Brittany Dugas (4-0 in 2012)
c) Rebecca Heintzman (6-0 in 2012)
d) Kaiyana Rain (4-0 in 2012)
e) Tecia Torres (5-0 in 2012)
Note: Fighters in this category must have had at least three amateur fights and no more than one pro fight during the 2012 calendar year in order to be eligible.
Knockout of the Year
a) Vanessa Porto def. Luana Teixeira by KO (Punch) at 0:41 of Round 1. (Watch)
b) Sheila Gaff def. Jennifer Maia by KO (Punches) at 0:10 of Round 1. (Watch)
c) Munah Holland def. Marianna Kheyfets by KO (Punch) at 4:45 of Round 2. (Watch)
d) Kaline Medeiros def. Stephanie Eggink by KO (Punch) at 0:07 of Round 1. (Watch)
e) Joanne Calderwood def. Ashley Cummins by KO (Knee To The Body) at 3:13 of Round 1. (Watch)
f) Sheila Bird def. Christina Barry by KO (Punches) at 0:11 of Round 1. (Watch)
Submission of the Year
a) Marta Chojnoska def. Paulina Suska by Sub. (Scarf Hold Armlock) at 0:42 of Round 1. (Watch)
b) Ayaka Hamasaki def. Yuka Tsuji by Sub. (Kimura) at 3:41 of Round 1. (Watch)
c) Sarah D’Alelio def. Vanessa Porto by Sub. (Reverse Triangle Choke) at 3:16 of Round 1. (Watch)
d) Jessica Penne def. Naho Sugiyama by Sub. (Triangle Choke) at 2:20 of Round 2. (Watch)
e) Stephanie Frausto def. Amy Davis by Sub. (Guillotine Choke) at 0:48 of Round 1. (Watch)
f) Jessica Eye def. Zoila Gurgel by Tech. Sub. (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 0:58 of Round 1. (Watch)
Promotion of the Year
a) Bellator Fighting Championships
b) Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
c) Invicta Fighting Championships
d) Jewels
e) North American Allied Fight Series
f) Strikeforce
g) Super Fight League
h) Tuff-N-Uff
Sponsor of the Year
a) Babes of MMA
b) Brawl and Maul Fight Performance Wear
c) Fear The Fighter
d) Fight Chix
e) FighterGirls
f) Loyalty Before Royalty
g) MMA Chick
h) Polanti Watches
i) Tussle Fight Gear
j) VII A.D. Jewelry Art by Sevan Avakian
k) Xtreme Female Fight Gear
Headline of the Year
a) Ronda Rousey Signs With The UFC
b) Shannon Knapp and Janet Martin Form All-Female Invicta Fighting Championships
c) Strikeforce Cancels Events, Rumoured To Fold In Early 2013
Fan Vote: 2012 Favourite Female Fighter
Inspirational Female Fighter of the Year
The winner of this year’s award will be revealed in a special announcement later this month.
(Logo Courtesy of Kristin Usry, WMMARoundup.com)
Good Luck Jessica Eye
Alexis Davis represents a long standing representation of commitment, victory and integrity.
Xtreme Female Fight Gear and Loyalty Before Royalty for sponsor of the year? No websites or socia media presence at all picked before Babes of MMA and MMA Chick?
Go Alexis Davis!!
Tak, I think you actually raise a valid point about the sponsor category. We usually try to keep the list fairly small, but there were a ton of companies that supported female fighters this year and we could probably stand to add a few more in there as nominees. I’ll check on that with the others and perhaps we can expand the category this year.
Edit: Yeah, we’ve added a few more nominees in. All deserving of consideration.
Good Luck Jess Evil Eye!!! Eyebelieve!! 🙂
good luke Shayna!!
Good luck little warrior
Eye believe!
Good Luck Barb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Luck Jessica…Eye believe!!
Go Bec! You’re a Star and we’ll see your name in plenty more of these categories next year!
Lets hear it for bad ass Barb Honchak!!!!
Picked Rosi Sexton for Favourite Female Fighter, amazing fighter, great rolemodel and still in retirement giving so much to the sport of MMA.
Good luck Barb, u deserve it!
Get behind Bec “ROWDY” Hyatt, Aussie pride doin us proud! Go Bec!!
Why no love for Ronda Rousey? Any of her arm bars could be considered for sub of the year.
Cat zingano folks 🙂 if you don’t know her yet you will soon
Good luck Barb!
Lil warrior
Jessica “Evil” Eye. Bringing intense commitment. EYEBELIEVE!!!!!
I asked this on another site, as well, but why isn’t Ronda’s vicious arm bar of Tate not up for Submission of the Year?
Honchack!
Sue and JT, armbars and rear-naked chokes are generally left out of the category in favour of less common submission holds. A flying armbar would probably make it in, but the category usually rewards unique submissions that aren’t seen very often.
Jessamyn Duke’s 4000 FB friends, 2100 FB Fanpage fans and 1800 Twitter followers are wondering why they can’t vote for her as their Fan Favorite? Seriously???
And while we’re talking about The Gun, her submission of Allen after getting her hair yanked, losing her mouthpiece, and being pounded in the face was totally badass and certainly a SOTY contender.
EYE BELIEVE!!! Jessica Eye should win this hands down!!!
“EYE BELIEVE” Jess is your winner!!!!!!!!!
Jessica Eye goes undefeated for the year & totally dominated every one she faced!! Without a doubt EYEBELIEVE .. Jessica Evil Eye!!!
EYE BELIEVE!!!!
Alexis Davis you ROCK!
Jessica Eye goes undefeated for the year & totally dominated every one she faced!! Without a doubt EYEBELIEVE .. Jessica Evil Eye!!!
GOOD LUCK JESS !!! You SOOO DESERV THIS
Good luck Jessica Eye you deserve it !!!!!
Robert, while you do raise an interesting point about Ronda’s arm bar being less unique and innovative than those of some of the other nominees, I would like you to consider the following: no submission by ANY fighter in the modern MMA era has had the profound impact that Ronda’s arm bar versus Tate has had. That submission turned Dana White into a fan of Rousey, and by extensiion, WMMA. That arm bar changed the course of WMMA and put women into the octagon on MMA’s largest stage. No sane person can deny that it was the most important submission in the history ofWMMA… yet somehow it doesn’t qualify for Submission of the Year. I suggest some rethinking is in order.
Good luck Jessica Eye <3 u……
Jessica Eye your the Best!!!!!
Jessica Eye is flat out awesome! She deserves to win this for sure. She’s so tough and works so hard. What an inspiration she is to everyone. EYEBELIEVE.
Congrats to all the nominees! Honored to be nominated as a sponsor and hope to build on our roster of fighters as the years go by. Will always support the ladies 100%! Keep rocking women’s MMA!!
good luck cat”alpha”zingano!
Why isn’t Amanda Nunes any where on the list…
@Robert, I agree with everything JT said about Ronda Rousey and I would also like to point out that she actually did pull off a flying arm bar against D’Alelio. Granted there was controversy about the tap, but chances are D’Alelio would have tapped sooner or later.
Polanti Watches Sponsor of the Year, guess I am a bit impartial
Alexis davis should win this
Good Luck Barb
thank you for thinking of VII A.D. as a nominee for sponsor of the year. we have been fortunate to be worn on some of the toughest, most dedicated professionals and hope to continue doing so.
Submission of the Year
a) Marta Chojnoska def. Paulina Suska by Sub. (Scarf Hold Armlock) at 0:42 of Round 1. (Watch)
b) Ayaka Hamasaki def. Yuka Tsuji by Sub. (Kimura) at 3:41 of Round 1. (Watch)
c) Sarah D’Alelio def. Vanessa Porto by Sub. (Reverse Triangle Choke) at 3:16 of Round 1. (Watch)
d) Jessica Penne def. Naho Sugiyama by Sub. (Triangle Choke) at 2:20 of Round 2. (Watch)
e) Stephanie Frausto def. Amy Davis by Sub. (Guillotine Choke) at 0:48 of Round 1. (Watch)
f) Jessica Eye def. Zoila Gurgel by Tech. Sub. (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 0:58 of Round 1. (Watch)
Regarding not having Rondas armbars on the list due to them not being “unique” enough..
Guillotine…never been done before right? Kimura? never seen that one..Triangle! Wow that is a rare submission!!..but Armbars..yawn..right?? Your criteria is obviously slanted to keep Rousey away from the award, very grand of you, underhanded even..
Ronda won a ton of awards last year (http://www.mmarising.com/articles/2011/12/31/2011-womens-mixed-martial-arts-awards-winners/) and the submission criteria has been in place since before she had her first pro bout. I think that we should make some adjustments to improve the category for next year, but it definitely isn’t slanted for or against any fighter. Ronda has won as many awards so far as anyone. More than anyone, I think.
Winning in past years should not factor into this year’s awards. Part of the reason Tate won the award for Submission of the Year, if I read the description correctly, is that she was the first to ever submit Coenen in competition. Was it impressive? Sure. But as I’ve stated earlier in the comments, Ronda’s arm bar versus Tate changed the course of WMMA history. Without it, women would still be on the outside looking in, as far as MMA’s most prominent promotion. It’s all well and good that you want to acknowledge other fighters for their efforts, but to exclude THAT arm bar, considering it’s ramifications, is just plain irresponsible.