"MMA's Hawk Tuah," "You guys are jealous" - Fans divided as Nina-Marie Daniele bags 'Personality of the Year' award over Joe Rogan and three others

The combat sports community has reacted to Nina-Marie Daniele bagging the 'Personality of the Year' award over industry veterans like Joe Rogan and a few others. Fans chimed in with mixed reactions, with some criticizing Daniele and others supporting her.

The World MMA Awards 2024 transpired at The Theater at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Various fighters and non-fighters who serve as on-screen personalities -- including analysts, ring card girls, etc. -- were nominated and/or awarded for their contributions to the sport of MMA.

The nomination period for this year's awards considered the happenings in the timeframe from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The prestigious ceremony marked the 16th Annual MMA Awards event.

Nina-Marie Daniele received the 2024 'Personality of the Year' award, which, as the name suggests, is granted to the year's most intriguing MMA personality.

Netizens soon weighed in on Nina-Marie Daniele's big win, with some likening her to fellow social media influencer, Haliey Welch aka the 'Hawk Tuah' girl. Referencing Welch, whose meteoric rise in the influencer realm has elicited condemnation from certain quarters, one X user labeled Daniele as her MMA version:

"MMA's Hawk Tuah."

One commenter suggested that Daniele's MMA award win seemed forced. Another opined that awards are being given out to anyone. An observer jibed at Daniele and the other 'Personality of the Year' nominees, tweeting:

"How boring was everything else if she won"

Some even reiterated the longstanding accusations of her supposedly being an industry plant. A fan asserted:

"Industry plant of the year"

On the contrary, several netizens came to Daniele's defense. A commenter hailed her victory, while another seemed to similarly celebrate her win. An X user praised the selection and wrote:

"Easy choice"

Some of Daniele's supporters often cite her unconventional interview style as a major motivator for UFC fighters to display a different side of their personalities and establish a deeper connection with the fans. One fan implied that some of her interviews were impressive.

Another observer lambasted her detractors by writing:

"She earned that one big time... you guys are jealous sad boy haters"

Check out the screenshots of a few reactions below:

Screenshots of tweets

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Nina-Marie Daniele's fellow 'Personality of the Year' award nominee hosted the World MMA Awards 2024

The five persons nominated for 'Personality of the Year' at the World MMA Awards 2024 were Nina-Marie Daniele, ex-UFC superstar Chael Sonnen, ex-UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion and current color commentator Daniel 'DC' Cormier, longtime octagon announcer Bruce Buffer, and veteran UFC color commentator and podcast mogul Joe Rogan.

Nina-Marie Daniele, who's consistently been interviewing UFC fighters and crafting comedy skits with some of them since 2022, defeated the aforementioned bigwigs. Incidentally, Sonnen was also the event's host.

Speaking on the dais, 'The Bad Guy' appeared to allude to Daniele's NSFW content as a professional model:

"Also, we got a newcomer, Nina Drama, and she's up for 'Personality of the Year.' Nina, are you out there tonight? Oh, Nina, I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you with your clothes on."

Daniele tweeted a video of the same and wrote:

"Uncle Chael Sonnen did me dirty LMAO"

Watch the video below: