2011 Mid-Year UFC Awards: Top 5 Events of the Year

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

This installment will focus on the UFC Event of the Year, which will be handed out to the most successful and exciting UFC event 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 events from the first half of 2011.

5. UFC on Versus 4

When UFC on Versus 4 lost its biggest star, Nate Marquardt, because of a failed medical exam, it appeared the event was going to be a major disappointment. On the contrary, the event turned out to be one of the best of the year.

The event got off to a strong start with a stacked preliminary card that featured wins from Tyson Griffin, Joe Lauzon and Michael Johnson. The main card took the event to another level of excitement, though.

After accepting the fight only moments prior to weigh-ins, Charlie Brenneman pulled off an upset over Rick Story in front of his hometown fans. Then, Cheick Kongo pulled off one of the most spectacular come-from-behind knockouts in MMA history after getting knocked down multiple times by Pat Barry.

4. UFC 126

Loaded with big names, UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. did not disappoint.

Former WEC stand-outs Miguel Torres, Donald Cerrone, Chad Mendes and Demetrious Johnson all made their UFC debuts at the event. Japanese stars Michihiro Omigawa and Norifumi Yamamoto also made appearances.

In one of the defining fights of his young career, Jon Jones submitted Ryan Bader in the second round. In the following fight, Forrest Griffin edged out Rich Franklin in a battle of former UFC champions.

Finally, UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva capped off the night in style with his well-documented front-kick knockout of Vitor Belfort. The win gave Silva his eighth consecutive title defense.

3. UFC 132

After getting off to a slow start with four straight decisions, UFC 132 received its first spark once the event's preliminary show went live on Spike TV. In the first of two bouts televised on Spike TV, Rafael dos Anjos upset George Sotiropoulos with a brutal first-round knockout.

From that point forward, UFC 132 was full of non-stop excitement. Melvin Guillard and Carlos Condit followed up on dos Anjos' knockout with first round stoppages of their own.

Another quick knockout from Chris Leben set the stage for what would become an excellent five-round chess match between UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.

2. UFC 125

On the first day of the year, UFC 125 provided viewers with a little bit of everything MMA has to offer.

Daniel Roberts and Clay Guida recorded impressive submissions. Brad Tavares, Jeremy Stephens and Brian Stann scored the knockouts for the night.

For those who root for the underdog, Dustin Poirier and Diego Nunes earned major upsets in their respective bouts against Josh Grispi and Mike Brown.

Finally, UFC Lightweight Champion and Gray Maynard fought to a draw in an epic Fight of the Year candidate.

1. UFC 129

After selling out 55,000 tickets, UFC 129 hosted the largest North American attendance in the history of the UFC. In addition to the record-breaking audience, UFC 129 also showcased plenty of entertaining fights.

The event opened with two spectacular finishes in the first two bouts of the night. Pablo Garza secured a Submission of the Year candidate with his flying triangle against Yves Jabouin. Then, John Makdessi finished Kyle Watson with a flashy spinning back-fist.

The event's main card featured two title fights. The main event between UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields was a bit of a disappointment, but the second championship bout between UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick stands as one of the best fights of the year.

MMA legend Randy Couture also made his final appearance at UFC 129. After being knocked out by a Lyoto Machida front-kick, Couture announced his retirement from the sport.

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.