McGregor was named Fighter of the Year at the event, which was held in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night. While McGregor lost to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, voters apparently put more weight on his star power and victories over Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo Jr. Conor McGregor won “Best Fighter”, beating Robbie Lawler and boxers Gennady Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez and Roman Gonzalez.
Advertisement
The 34-year-old native of Albuquerque, New Mexico dethroned Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title by knocking out the previously-unbeaten competitor with a left head kick and polished her off with follow-up shots on the ground to compel referee Herb Dean to intervene at the 0:59 second mark of round two. McGregor was also up for the “Best Breakthrough Athlete” award, but lost out to Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta.
Holly Holm also took home an ESPY, earning the “Best Upset” category for her victory over Ronda Rousey a year ago. Her competition in this category was #15 seeded Middle Tennessee State defeating Michigan State in the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament, and Roberta Vinci defeating Serena Williams in the 2015 US Open.
Advertisement
McGregor is looking to avenge his loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in late August. Robbie Keane won the Best MLS Player award previous year, but he’s been succeeded in 2016 by Toronto FC’s Italian striker Sebastian Giovinco.
