2011 Mid-Year UFC Awards: Top 5 Most Exciting Fighters of the Year

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 Most Exciting Fighter of the Year, which will be handed out to the fighter who has had the most entertaining fights 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 most exciting UFC fighters from the first half of 2011.

5. Brian Ebersole

If you attempt a cartwheel kick in the UFC, you deserve a nomination for this award.

In addition to his unorthodox style, Brian Ebersole also has one of the most entertaining in-fight personalities in the business.

His behavior may be just as easily classified as strange, but you can't deny that Ebersole was extremely exciting in his upset win over Chris Lytle.

4. Edson Barboza

Coming from a strong muay thai background, Edson Barboza has some of the flashiest striking in the UFC. That was on full display in his UFC 128 fight against Anthony Njokuani.

After an excellent display of striking from both fighters, Barboza put an exclamation point on the fight by ending it with a spinning hook kick as the third round came to an end.

Barboza took a unanimous decision victory and a Fight of the Night bonus for his spectacular performance.

3. Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva has taken his criticisms for unexciting fights against Thales Leites and Demian Maia. However, the UFC Middleweight Champion can provide more excitement than any fighter on this planet when he decides to let his wide striking arsenal go.

At UFC 126, Silva scored one of the more spectacular knockouts in UFC history by landing a front kick to the chin of Vitor Belfort, which allowed the champion to retain his belt for an eighth consecutive title defense.

2. Jon Jones

In a time when fans have been relentlessly campaigning against talented fighters who are willing to grind out boring decisions, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has been a breath of fresh air.

As he showed in wins over Ryan Bader and Mauricio Rua, Jones is constantly looking to finish his opponent from all areas, regardless of how skilled they are.

1. Chris Leben

Unlike the other fighters on this list, Chris Leben isn't undefeated in 2011. However, that simply goes to show that being the most exciting fighter can have its consequences.

From the beginning to the end of his fights, Leben swings for the fences and looks for the finish. If Leben isn't able to finish the fight, his opponent will either need to finish "The Crippler" or engage in an all-out war.

Both of Leben's fights in 2011, a loss to Brian Stann and win over Wanderlei Silva, ended in first-round beatdowns. There's no reason to expect Leben won't put on another exciting fight in the main event of UFC 138 against Mark Munoz, which will be the first five-round non-title fight in UFC hsitory.

Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.