UFC Mid-Year Awards: Top 5 Upsets of 2011

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 Upset of the Year, which will be handed out to the fighter who earns the most unpredictable win 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 upsets from the first half of 2011.

5. Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader

Heading into UFC 132, Tito Ortiz's job was on the line. According to UFC President Dana White and Ortiz himself, a loss to Ryan Bader would have meant the end of "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" in the UFC.

Ortiz wasn't given much of a chance to keep his career going, as he was labeled a significant underdog against Bader. However, Ortiz proceeded to drop Bader with a right hand in the first round.

Instead of trying to ground-and-pound his way to a finish, Ortiz latched onto a guillotine attempt, which quickly forced Bader to tap.

4. Melvin Guillard vs. Evan Dunham

Heading into his fight with Evan Dunham in January 2011, Melvin Guillard had won three straight fights, but he was coming off a lackluster win over Jeremy Stephens. Despite his immense physical abilities, many expected Guillard to have yet another setback in his career once he received this step up in competition.

Nonetheless, Guillard completely overwhelmed Dunham in the stand-up and finished the fight in under three minutes. Finally, Guillard had broken through and become a serious lightweight contender.

3. Dennis Siver vs. George Sotiropoulos

After winning eight consecutive fights, many called for the UFC to give George Sotiropoulos a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.

However, Sotiropoulos was given a perceived step in the opposite direction with a fight against Dennis Siver. Although he was an underdog heading into the fight, Siver completely shut down Sotiropoulos' attack by defending takedowns with ease and unleashing his dangerous striking game.

2. Brian Ebersole vs. Chris Lytle

Originally, Chris Lytle was expected to meet Carlos Condit at UFC 127. However, an injury forced Condit out of that bout and he was replaced by UFC newcomer Brian Ebersole.

Ebersole had more than 60 professional fights heading into the event, but he wasn't expected to pose much of a threat to the equally experienced Lytle.

Ebersole's unorthodox style and submission defense ended up causing Lytle problems, though, and the Australian-based fighter pulled off the upset in Sydney, Australia.

1. Dustin Poirier vs. Josh Grispi

Josh Grispi was initially supposed to fight for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 125. However, an injury caused Jose Aldo to back out of that fight, forcing Dustin Poirier to step in as a replacement.

At the time, Grispi was considered the brightest young contender in the division and was heavily favored over Poirier.

However, Poirier, who had only recently moved to featherweight after a loss to Danny Castillo, dominated Grispi from the start of the fight to the finish.

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.