Holly Holm and Demetrious Johnson Named Fighters of the Year on Inside MMA's 2015 Bazzie Awards

(PRESS RELEASE) -- LOS ANGELES – Newly crowned UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm, who unseated reigning champ Ronda Rousey in November, and UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who twice defended his belt in 2015, took home top honors as female and male fighters of the year tonight on INSIDE MMA’s 2015 Bazzie Awards show hosted by Bas Rutten and Ron Kruck.



Holm also won KO of the year for her devastating knockout of Rousey, while Legacy Fighting Championship’s Dylan Ashburn won submission of the year for his brutal twister submission of Donis Francois at Legacy 38 and fight of the year honors went to the bloodbath between Robbie Lawler and Rory McDonald at UFC 189 in July.

Rounding out the awards show, undefeated UFC bantamweight and AXS TV Fights alum Thomas Almeida won breakthrough fighter of the year, Lion Fight’s Gaston Bolanos was named AXS TV Fights Rising Star and Patricio Freire won comeback of the year for his KO of Daniel Weichel at Bellator 138.



AXS TV’s INSIDE MMA, the longest running and only independent MMA news show on television, has handed out the Bazzie Awards, named after series host and UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten, since 2008. The winners are voted on by Rutten, Rice, correspondent Ron Kruck and the INSIDE MMA news team.

The complete list of winners and nominees are below (winners in bold):

MALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:

Demetrious Johnson (winner)

Donald Cerrone

Daniel Cormier

Justin Gaethje

Liam McGeary

Conor McGregor

FEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:

Holly Holm (winner)

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Cris “Cyborg” Justino

Ronda Rousey

Miesha Tate

FIGHT OF THE YEAR:

Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald II - UFC 189 (winner)

Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne - UFC 187

Vitaly Bigdash vs. Igor Svirid - One Championship 32

Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson - UFC 192

Justin Gaethje vs. Luis Palomino - WSOF 19

SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR:

Dylan Ashburn vs. Donis Francois - Legacy Fighting Championship 38 (winner)

Braden Crowell vs. Darren Romkee - Summit FC 11

Tyrone Henderson vs. Hong Young-Gi - Road FC 21

Liam McGeary vs. Tito Ortiz - Bellator 142

Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano - UFC 184

Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez - UFC 188

KO OF THE YEAR:

Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey - UFC 193 (winner)

Harris Bonfiglio vs. BJ Prak - Reality Fighting

Jay-ar Campos vs. Michael Vojantic - Clan Wars 21

Paul Felder vs. Danny Castillo - UFC 182

Chris Gardner vs. Chris Henderson - VCFC

Hisaki Kato vs. Joe Schilling - Bellator 139

Frank Mir vs. Todd Duffee - UFC Fight Night 71

Alex Morono vs. Valdir Araujo - Legacy Fighting Championship 44

AXS TV FIGHTS RISING STAR:

Gaston Bolanos - Lion Fight (winner)

Ricardo Ramos - Legacy Fighting Championship

Andrew Sanchez – Resurrection Fighting Alliance

Luke Sanders - Resurrection Fighting Alliance

Valentina Schevchenko - Legacy Fighting Championship/Legacy Kickboxing

Eric Spicely - CES MMA

BREAKTHROUGH FIGHTER:

Thomas Almeida (winner)

Max Holloway

Henry Cejudo

Liam McGeary

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Donald Cerrone

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR:

Patricio Freire vs. Daniel Weichel - Bellator 138 (winner)

Thiago Alves vs. Jordan Mein - UFC 183

Vitaly Bigdash vs. Igor Svirid - One Championship 32

David Burrow vs. Anthony Njokuani - Legacy Fighting Championship 38

Thales Leites vs. Tim Boetsch – UFC 183

ABOUT AXS TV FIGHTS

AXS TV Fights presents more LIVE mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other television network with 40+ LIVE world-class fight cards each year. "The Voice" Michael Schiavello and UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich call all the action as champions, challengers, and top prospects take center stage every Friday night at 10pE/7pP. AXS TV Fights can be found online, on Facebook and on Twitter. AXS TV is widely distributed in the U.S. via AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECTV, DISH, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS, and other cable, satellite and telco providers. The network is also carried in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.