UFC Mid-Year Awards 2011: Best Fighter, Best Knockout, Best Ring Girl and More

We’re halfway through 2011, and I thought now would be a good time to take a look back at the first six months of UFC action to credit our favorite athletes with awards for their work so far.

2011 has already been filled with some unbelievable moments.

Whether it was Anderson Silva’s front-kick knockout on Vitor Belfort, Randy Couture’s retirement from the sport, the 135- and 145-pound divisions’ debut in the organization or Tito Ortiz’s return to greatness this past Saturday night, this is a year that MMA fans will always remember.

So kick back, grab a cold one and enjoy. Welcome for the 2011 mid-year UFC awards show!

Breakthrough Fighter

Winner: Brian Stann

Former WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann made his UFC debut all the way back in April of 2009. The 205-pounder stepped up to the big show but dropped two of his first four fights, including a disappointing loss to Phil Davis at UFC 109 in which he was not only out-wrestled but also out-struck by a fighter normally known as a pure wrestler.

But that loss to Davis may have revitalized Stann’s career, as he decided to drop to middleweight for his fight in 2010.

In 2011, Stann has broken out as one of the top contenders at 185, winning back-to-back fights this year against two high-ranked middleweights in Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago. Stann became just the second fighter ever (Anderson Silva) to knock out Leben at UFC 125.

Runner-Up: Demetrious Johnson

Best UFC Newcomer

Winner: Jose Aldo

I have to admit that this award is kind of a cop-out, but hey—we can’t deny the facts.

The WEC was absorbed by the UFC in 2011, and thus most of the fighters from that promotion were making their debuts in the Octagon this year.

One of those fighters was Jose Aldo, who was grandfathered in as the first featherweight champion in UFC history. The incredibly talented Aldo made his successful debut for the promotion at UFC 129, where he defeated Mark Hominick in a memorable battle.

Though the fight was close, we later found out that Aldo had battled a toe infection and was on antibiotics going into the fight, which drained his system. Aldo himself made no mention of it, but certainly this has to be considered when we examine how good he looked against a top-level opponent.

Runner-Up: Dominick Cruz

Best Gym/Team

Winner: Jackson’s Submission Fighting

When looking at 2011, there are really only two teams which could be considered the best in the UFC right now: Jackson’s Submission Fighting and Black House. The two groups currently house four of the seven UFC champions at this moment, two on each team.

Jackson’s Submission Fighting is the home of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, while UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo train with Black House.

In the end, I gave the edge to Greg Jackson’s camp, as Diego Sanchez, Donald Cerrone, Brendan Schaub, Melvin Guillard, Brian Stann and Clay Guida have all been on an absolute tear, going a combined 9-0 in the Octagon this year.

The Black House team has also done well this year, but the talent isn’t quite as deep there as it is in New Mexico.

Runner-Up: Black House

Best Knockout

Winner: Anderson Silva’s front kick to Vitor Belfort at UFC 126

Six months in, 2011 has been one of the craziest years ever for knockouts. We've had Melvin Guillard's repeated knees to the face of Evan Dunham, Travis Browne’s superman punch on Stefan Struve, Chris Leben’s uppercuts on Wanderlei Silva and even Lyoto Machida’s crane kick on Randy Couture.

But none of them were quite as impressive as what we saw in the main event at UFC 126. In a fight that was supposed to be a standup war between two old friends, Anderson Silva successfully defended his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort.

But we will never forget the crazy one-shot front kick to the mouth that finished the fight.

The two men mostly danced around the center of the cage with neither really landing many shots for the first three minutes of the fight. But once the champion struck, it was all over.

In one swift motion, Silva shot forward, extending his left foot straight to Belfort’s jaw. Belfort fell back and Silva landed a few more punches, but the damage had already been done.

Runner-Up: Sam Stout’s left hook knockout of Yves Edwards from UFC 131

Best Submission

Winner: “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung’s Twister on Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24

Much like the knockouts, 2011 has also brought us some impressive and memorable submissions. The most intense came at UFC Fight Night 24, when Chan Sung Jung, better known as the “Korean Zombie,” made history by becoming the first man to ever apply the Twister submission in the Octagon.

The move, which was invented by the legendary jiu-jitsu practitioner Eddie Bravo, has been called one of the most painful submissions ever but is not known by many fighters. In fact, Jung himself admits that he only learned about it by watching videos on YouTube.

One could say that this is not only the submission of the year but will likely be in strong consideration for submission of the decade.

Runner-Up: Clay Guida's guillotine choke on Takanori Gomi at UFC 125

Best Referee

Winner: Herb Dean

Herb Dean continued his streak of being well noted as the best referee in MMA today with an awesome display of everything a ref should be during the main event at UFC 131.

Junior dos Santos absolutely hammered Shane Carwin early in the fight, landing a punishing number of punches that looked like they may have put the former UFC interim heavyweight champion out for the count.

But Herb Dean had the best seat in the house and did an excellent job of not only checking the situation but keeping the fight going despite shock from some fans and protest from dos Santos.

Later in the fight, he would stop the bout temporarily to allow the doctor to check cuts on Carwin’s head to make sure that the fight could continue. Though the doctor allowed the fight to keep going, Dean did his job by taking care of the fighter’s safety in the face of controversy.

“He’s the best referee ever in the history of the sport,” UFC President Dana White said after the bout.

Who could really argue?

Runner-Up: Josh Rosenthal

Biggest Upset

Winner: Charlie Brenneman defeats Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4

The UFC on Versus 4 main event was originally scheduled to be Anthony “Rumble” Johnson vs. Nate Marquardt in Marquardt’s UFC welterweight debut. But Johnson was forced out of the bout with just weeks to spare, leaving a huge hole on the card.

In stepped Rick Story, who was coming off a huge victory over Thiago Alves at UFC 130. Story and Marquardt, many believed, would be an even better bout than the original main event.

But when Marquardt failed his pre-fight physical, the UFC was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Pennsylvania native Charlie Brenneman, whose opponent had also dropped out just days prior to the fight, was available and stepped in to fight Story in what would be one of the more one-sided betting lines we have seen this season.

But as we always say, when two men step into the cage, anything can happen.

Brenneman dominated most of the fight with his wrestling, which was a big surprise considering that wrestling had seemed to be Story’s strongest skill going into the bout.

Brenneman held onto his opponent and deployed what many would consider to be somewhat of a “lay and pray” technique without doing too much damage but was able to avoid the numerous submission attempts from Story on his way to winning a unanimous judges’ decision.

Despite Story being a -500 favorite in the money lines, Brenneman had shocked the world and cemented his place as the biggest upset so far in 2011.

Runner-Up: Tito Ortiz defeats Ryan Bader at UFC 132

Best Ring Girl

Winner: Brittney Palmer

So what is the criteria to being the “best” ring girl?

To be honest with you, I really can’t answer that question. But Brittney Palmer is so ridiculously hot that I had to find a way to get her onto this list to split up the barrage of the half-naked men you’ve been forced to look at so far.

Best Ring Girl in the UFC has been a shoo-in for Arianny Celeste in recent years, but when the WEC officially merged with the UFC in 2011, things got very interesting.

Palmer had been the top ring girl for the WEC, but the fame that came with that was not quite on the level of what comes with being in the UFC.

Runner-Up: Arianny Celeste

Fight of the Half-Year

Winner: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125

With so many awesome fights already in the books in 2011, it was almost impossible to narrow down a top 10, let alone a No. 1 fight of the year.

You see, everyone’s opinion of what makes a “great” fight is different.

Some people like to see a standup battle between two sluggers. Others enjoy more of the grappling aspect, many want to see a big knockout or submission to end the fight and still some more enjoy a tightly contested battle that leaves them wondering who would actually come out with a “W” on the judges’ scorecards.

Obviously it’s impossible to incorporate all of those things into one fight, but I believe the UFC 125 main event between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard contained about as many aspects of that list as could possibly be put into one fight.

Given that it was a championship fight, fans were treated to 25 minutes of fast-paced action that included numerous near knockouts by Maynard in the first round, awesome back-and-forth standup throughout the rest of the fight and impressive takedown defense from both men.

It all led up to the judges’ decision, which had everyone on pins and needles, as no one had a definitive answer on who won the fight.

In the end, the fight was so close that it was actually scored a draw, with one judge scoring the bout 48-46 for Maynard, one 48-46 for Edgar and one an even 47-47.

Though the draw left us somewhat unfulfilled, the fight itself was absolutely incredible. It will be a treat when these two warriors go to battle for the third time, as is expected to happen sometime before the year’s end.

Runner-Up: Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick at UFC 129

Best Fighter

Winner: Jon Jones

Last but certainly not least comes the award for the best fighter in all of the UFC.

Given the dominant champions that the promotion currently has in just about every division, as well as the impressive up-and-comers, this was truly the toughest award to pick a winner for.

But after examining the skills each fighter possesses, the competition they have faced as well and the dominance of their victories, one name stood out from the pack.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones is the best fighter of the half-year in 2011.

Jones started off 2011 by absolutely destroying fellow up-and-coming prospect Ryan Bader at UFC 126. There were quite a few doubters who believed that Jones hadn’t been challenged enough yet in his young career, but those critics were put to rest when “Bones” assaulted Bader with both his standup and ground-and-pound before finally securing a mounted guillotine choke to secure the victory.

Immediately after the fight, Jones was told that Rashad Evans was dropping out of his UFC 128 title shot against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and that Jones would have an opportunity to fight for the championship if he thought he was ready. Jones emphatically accepted, and the fight was on.

This was unquestionably Jones’ biggest fight, but he came in as calm and confident as ever. Jones exploded with his unpredictable striking on Shogun early and often.

After two rounds of one-sided pummeling, Jones finally finished his legendary opponent off with a body punch and knee to the head to become the youngest UFC champion in history.

At 23 years old, the sky is the limit for this unbelievable light heavyweight. He is scheduled to fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 this fall in what will be his first title defense.

Runner-Up: Georges St-Pierre