The Best Fighter ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of combat sports. The Best Fighter ESPY Award trophy is presented to the professional or amateur boxer or mixed martial artist adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2007, subsuming the Best Boxer ESPY Award until 2019, when the Best MMA Fighter ESPY Award was established, and the ESPY Awards began awarding boxers and mixed martial arts fighters separately. In 2026, the separate awards were discontinued, and boxers and mixed martial arts fighters were once again nominated together in a single category. Balloting for the award was undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts. It was conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.
The inaugural winner of the Best Fighter ESPY Award was American welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who defeated the incumbent category title holder Oscar De La Hoya two months prior. He is one of three people to have been presented with the award more than once, winning the accolade a total of six times; Mayweather was also nominated in 2015. Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and American boxer Terence Crawford are tied for the second-most awards won, with Pacquiao winning in 2009 and 2011 and Crawford in 2018 and 2026. It has been presented to one woman in its history, American bantamweight mixed martial arts fighter Ronda Rousey in 2015. Between 2007 and 2018, boxers were most successful at the ESPY Awards with nine victories and twenty-four nominations, followed by mixed martial arts with three wins and nineteen nominations.
Winners and nominees + Best Fighter ESPY Award winners and nominees Year Image Winner Nationality Sport Sanctioning body or league Weight class Nominees 2007 Boxing Welterweight Miguel Cotto () – Boxing Randy Couture () – Mixed martial arts Quinton Jackson () – Mixed martial arts Manny Pacquiao () – Boxing 2008 (2) Boxing Welterweight Joe Calzaghe () – Boxing Holly Holm () – Boxing Kelly Pavlik () – Boxing Georges St-Pierre () – Mixed martial arts 2009 Boxing Light welterweight Welterweight Lyoto Machida () – Mixed martial arts Shane Mosley () – Boxing Anderson Silva () – Mixed martial arts 2010 (3) Boxing Welterweight Manny Pacquiao () – Boxing Georges St-Pierre () – Mixed martial arts 2011 (2) Boxing Welterweight Bernard Hopkins () – Boxing Jon Jones () – Mixed martial arts Sergio Martínez () – Boxing Georges St-Pierre () – Mixed martial arts 2012 (4) Boxing Welterweight Jon Jones () – Mixed martial arts Anderson Silva () – Mixed martial arts Andre Ward () – Boxing 2013 (5) Boxing Welterweight Canelo Alvarez () – Boxing Danny García () – Boxing Jon Jones () – Mixed martial arts Anderson Silva () – Mixed martial arts 2014 (6) Boxing Welterweight Jon Jones () – Mixed martial arts Manny Pacquiao () – Boxing Ronda Rousey () – Mixed martial arts Andre Ward () – Boxing 2015 Mixed martial arts UFC Bantamweight Donald Cerrone () – Mixed martial arts Terence Crawford () – Boxing Gennady Golovkin () – Boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. () – Boxing 2016 Mixed martial arts UFC Featherweight Canelo Álvarez () – Boxing Gennady Golovkin () – Boxing Román González () – Boxing Robbie Lawler () – Mixed martial arts 2017 Mixed martial arts UFC Flyweight Terence Crawford () – Boxing Gennady Golovkin () – Boxing Conor McGregor () – Mixed martial arts Andre Ward () – Boxing 2018 Boxing Light welterweight Vasyl Lomachenko () – BoxingRose Namajunas () – Mixed martial artsGeorges St-Pierre () – Mixed martial arts 2026 (2) Boxing Super middleweight Justin Gaethje () – Mixed martial artsClaressa Shields () – BoxingGabriela Fundora () – Boxing
Statistics
+ Winners by nationality Country Winners Nominations 9 21 2 3 1 1 0 4 0 4 0 3 0 2
+ Multiple winners and nominees Name Wins Nominations 6 1 2 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 4 0 4 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 2
See also The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year Sugar Ray Robinson Award
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