Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

MMA Fighting had the World MMA Awards 2010 last night.  Winners and results from The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort are below.

This is the third year for the awards program, which was created in 2008 by Fighters Only magazine. Nominees and eventual winners are determined by online fan voting in categories such as Fighter of the Year, Knockout of the Year and Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, as well as non-fight specific categories like Ring Girl of the Year and Most Memorable Ring Entrance.

Last year’s winners included UFC president Dana White as Leading Man of the Year, Georges St-Pierre for Fighter of the Year and Brock Lesnar for Breakthrough Fighter of the Year.

At the 2010 awards, MMA Fighting is nominated for Best Media Source, and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani is up for MMA Journalist of the Year.

This year’s show is being hosted by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture with co-host Molly Qerim from the Versus network. The awards will stream live at Versus.com starting at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday. An edited one-hour highlights version of the show will air on Versus on Dec. 9 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

MMA Fighting will update here throughout the night as the winners are announced, and we’ll have behind-the-scenes comments from the winners, as well.

The show is a little late getting started, but should be underway soon. Lots of MMA celebrities – and mainstream celebs, too – on hand tonight at The Palms.

Referee of the Year
Herb Dean
John McCarthy
Dan Miragliotta
Josh Rosenthal
Mario Yamasaki
WINNER: Herb Dean
Herb thanks the best sport on earth and the best athletes on earth for his win.

Best Technical Clothing Brand
Bad Boy
Hayabusa
Jaco
TapouT
Venum
WINNER: Bad Boy

Best Technical Equipment Brand
Everlast
Fairtex
Hayabusa
TapouT
Venum
WINNER: Everlast

Media Source of the Year
Inside MMA
MMA Fighting
MMA Junkie
MMA Weekly
Sherdog
WINNER: MMA Junkie
Congrats to the folks at MMA Junkie. This is their third nomination and third win.

Best Promotion
Bellator
DREAM
Strikeforce
UFC
WEC
WINNER: UFC

Submission of the Year
Fabricio Werdum vs. Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum
Cole Miller vs. Dan Lauzon, UFC 108
Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, UFC 116
Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida, UFC 117
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, UFC 117
WINNER: Fabricio Werdum vs. Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum

Gym of the Year
American Kickboxing Academy
American Top Team
Black House
Greg Jackson
Wand Fight Team
WINNER: Wand Fight Team

MMA Journalist of the Year
Conner Cordova, MMA Religion
Gareth A. Davies, The Daily Telegraph
Ariel Helwani, MMA Fighting
John Morgan, MMA Junkie
Aaron Teweles, Freelance Journalist
WINNER: Ariel Helwani, MMA Fighting
Well … we’ll let bias come into play, just for a second. Obviously major congrats to MMA Fighting’s very own Ariel Helwani. Great speech, dedicating his win to all the fighters, as well as to the media outlets and bosses that help him pursue his dream of being an MMA journalist.

Coach of the Year
Rafael Cordeiro
Cesar Gracie
Greg Jackson
Shawn Tompkins
Firas Zahabi
WINNER: Greg Jackson

Best Lifestyle Clothing Brand
Affliction
FightChix
RVCA
Silver Star
TapouT
WINNER: TapouT

International Fighter of the Year
Shinya Aoki
John Hathaway
Dan Hardy
Alistair Overeem
George Sotiropoulos
WINNER: Alistair Overeem
Overeem is in Japan for K-1 and accepts his award via a pre-taped speech.

Ring Girl of the Year
Arianny Celeste
Rachelle Leah
Brittney Palmer
Chandella Powell
Natalie Skyy
WINNER: Arianny Celeste

Leading Man of the Year
Scott Coker
Bjorn Rebney
Michael Schiavello
Joe Silva
Dana White
WINNER: Dana White
Dana White repeats in the category. No tux for him. He’s wearing the same thing he always wears. But I guess that’s allowed. Dana thanks the fans, naturally.

Most Memorable Ring Entrance
Clay Guida
Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal
Tom Lawlor
Jason Miller
Anderson Silva
WINNER: Jason Miller
The show behind the show: Miller was back here in the post-win media room snagging a free water and realized his category was up. He was walking out as he won the award and was late getting to the stage … entrance winner, indeed.

Fight of the Year
Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki, Sengoku 14
Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, UFC 116
Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin, UFC 116
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, UFC 117
Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia, WEC 48
WINNER: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, UFC 117
Awkward timing that Silva and Sonnen get this award the day before Sonnen’s hearing for his performance enhancing drugs suspension. Silva accepts via a taped segment.

Female Fighter of the Year
Zoila Frausto
Megumi Fujii
Sarah Kaufman
Cristiane Santos
Miesha Tate
WINNER: Cristiane Santos

Knockout of the Year
Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Nogueira, UFC 110
Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua, UFC 113
Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee, UFC 114
Rich Franklin vs. Chuck Liddell, UFC 115
Anthony Njokuani vs. Chris Horodecki, WEC 45
WINNER: Mauricio Rua over Lyoto Machida, UFC 113

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
Evan Dunham
John Hathaway
Jon Jones
Charles Oliveira
George Sotiropoulos
WINNER: Jon Jones

The Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Fighter of the Year
Jose Aldo
Frankie Edgar
Brock Lesnar
Mauricio Rua
Anderson Silva
WINNER: Jose Aldo

By Matt Erickson