UFC 2011 Mid-Year Awards: Top 5 Trash Talkers of the Year

After a long stretch of major MMA events ended with UFC 132, we are now mid-way through the calender year. As we wait for the MMA schedule to pick back up, Bleacher Report will be taking a look a several different mid-year awards.

This installment will focus on the UFC Trash-talker of the Year, which will be handed out to the individual who does the best job of hyping their fights or getting under their opponents' skin in 2011. Already, there have been plenty of options for the award, but we had to narrow it down to five nominees.

Here are the top five UFC trash-talkers from the first half of 2011.

5. Jacob Volkmann

After defeating Antonio McKee at UFC 125, Jacob Volkmann was asked by Ariel Helwani who he would like to fight next.

Any man who has the testicular fortitude to call out the President of the United States of America deserves a nomination for this award.

4. Antonio McKee

After losing to Jacob Volkmann at UFC 125, it was made clear that Antonio McKee's biggest weapon was his mouth.

Heading into the fight, McKee had been undefeated against lesser competition for nearly eight years. McKee made it no secret that he planned on continuing his success in his UFC debut.

In an interview with Sherdog, McKee even went as far as calling himself '"the Muhammad Ali of MMA."

3. Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz hasn't done much quotable trash talking in 2011, but he has continued to antagonize his opponent inside the Octagon.

In his fight with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 125, Diaz taunted his South Korean opponent throughout the 15 minutes the two spent in the Octagon.

While on his feet, Diaz continually threw his hands in the air to provoke Kim. Even when the fight went to the ground, Diaz began throwing verbal jabs at Kim off of his back.

2. Jorge Rivera

Jorge Rivera had never been known as a fighter to stir up controversy leading into his fights until this year. However, prior to his fight at UFC 127, Rivera unleashed a series of videos mocking his opponent, Michael Bisping.

Rivera accomplished his initial goal of getting under Bisping's skin, but he ended up losing to the Englishman by technical knockout in the second round.

Still, Rivera's ability to anger Bisping may have set the stage for Bisping's next opponent, Jason Miller, to become the biggest trash talker of 2011.

1. Chael Sonnen

Chael Sonnen hasn't even fought in 2011, so for him to remain as relevant as he has shows just how well Sonnen uses his words to stir up controversy.

Though, after calling out just about every Brazilian fighter on the planet, Sonnen has been booked to make his return against fellow countryman Brian Stann.

Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter here.