2011 Mid-Year UFC Awards: Top 5 Entrances of the Year (With Video)

After a long stretch of major MMA events ended with UFC 132, we are now midway 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 Entrance of the Year, which will be handed out to the fighter who had the most fitting and adrenaline inducing walkout of 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 entrances from the first half of 2011.

5. Urijah Faber

"California love. California knows how to party."

Event: UFC 128

Song: California Love - 2Pac (featuring Dr. Dre)

For years, we have seen Urijah Faber walk out to the same song, which pays homage to his home state of California. Faber defended the WEC Featherweight Championship several times after entering the cage to that song.

At UFC 128, nothing changed for Faber, but his entrance took on much more meaning than usual. For the first time in his illustrious career, Faber was fighting under the UFC banner.

Faber proceeded to earn a unanimous decision win over Eddie Wineland, which earned "The California Kid" a chance to capture the UFC Bantamweight Championship.

4. Phil Baroni

"B-b-b-b-b-b-bad. B-b-b-b-b-b-bad. B-b-b-b-b-b-bad. Bad to the bone."

Event: UFC 125

Song: Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood & the Destroyers

One of the biggest personalities in MMA, Phil Baroni didn't disappoint in what may go down as his final entrance with the UFC.

On the way to the Octagon for his fight with Brad Tavares, "The New York Bad A-s" walked out to a song that fit his nickname well. To add to the spectacle, Baroni wore his trademark leather jacket and sunglasses.

After rocking Tavares early in the fight, Baroni was clipped with a head kick and finished shortly after. Following the loss, Baroni was released by the UFC.

3. Quinton Jackson

"One more road to cross. One more risk to take."

Event: UFC 130

Song: One More Road to Cross - DMX

Quinton Jackson's entrances are always worthy of note, but his entrance at UFC 130 carried particular significance.

Coming off of a win over Lyoto Machida, Jackson was nearing a chance to regain the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Correctly assuming that he was one more win away from a title shot, Jackson came out to a song that alluded to his position in the 205-pound division.

With a win over Matt Hamill at the event, Jackson crossed the final road between himself and a title shot, as "Rampage" has been given a chance to win back the belt that he lost controversially to Forrest Griffin.

2. Randy Couture

"Lunatic fringe, we all know you're out there. Can you feel the resistance? Can you feel the thunder?"

Event: UFC 129

Song: Lunatic Fringe - Red Rider

It might take a wrestler to fully appreciate the final entrance of Randy Couture's career, but it was still a special moment even for those who might not be aware of the significance of the walkout song that Couture chose.

Throughout his long and successful career, Couture has always been recognized for the wrestling background that helped him achieve everything he did in MMA.

That is why Couture, who had announced he would be retiring after UFC 129, decided to honor his base discipline by walking out to the tune of the wrestler's anthem, Lunatic Fringe.

The song gained a cult-like following among the sport's community after it was used in the 1985 wrestling movie Vision Quest.

1. Mark Hominick

"Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday. I know my kingdom awaits and they’ve forgiven my mistakes. I’m coming home. I’m coming home. Tell the world that I’m coming home."

Event: UFC 129

Song: Coming Home - Diddy - Dirty Money (featuring Skylar Grey)

Heading into UFC 129, Mark Hominick had many critics pointing out that his body of work didn't seem to make him worthy of the title shot he was receiving in his home country of Canada.

In front of the largest crowd in the history of the UFC, Hominick made it clear with his song choice that he was happy to be fighting the biggest fight of his career near home.

Beyond that, Hominick silenced his detractors once he stepped into the Octagon by giving UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo one of the toughest fights of his career.

With Jason Miller now in the UFC, Hominick is sure to have some competition in the second half of 2011, but it will be hard to match the special moment that Hominick created with this entrance.

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.