http://mmajunkie.com/news/24120/jon-jones-georges-st-pierre-fabricio-werdum-nominated-for-2011-espy-awards.mmaUFC champions Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre, as well as Strikeforce
heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum, have all been nominated for 2011
ESPY Awards.
Jones and St-Pierre were each nominated in the "Best Fighter" category
while Werdum's June 2010 submission win over Fedor Emelianenko was
nominated in the "Best Upset" category.
Fans can vote on the winners from now through July 9, and the awards show airs on ESPN on July 13.
Jones and St-Pierre are joined in the "Best Fighter" pool by standout
boxers Bernard Hopkins, Sergio Martinez and Manny Pacquiao.
No mixed martial artist has ever won the ESPY for "Best Fighter," a
category that was created in 2007 to replace the "Best Boxer" category
that had been in place since 1993.
It's St-Pierre's third nomination for an ESPY (Excellence in Sports
Performance Yearly Awards). The Canadian MMA superstar was also
nominated for the "Best Fighter" award in 2008 and 2010, but boxer Floyd
Mayweather walked away with the prize each time. Jones is nominated for
the first time.
Werdum follows UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar as just the second
mixed martial artist to ever earn a nomination outside of the "Best
Fighter" category.
Previous winners of the "Best Upset" category, which was introduced in
2004, include the U.S. men's national soccer team's June 2009 victory
over Spain, and the 2008 Super Bowl victory by the New York Giants over
the heavily favored New England Patriots.
Werdum's competition this year includes thoroughbred Blame's Breeder's
Cup upset over the previously unbeaten Zenyatta, the NFL's Seattle
Seahawks playoff upset of the depending Super Bowl champion New Orleans
Saints and Virginia Commonwealth University's improbable run to the
Final Four in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
The ESPY Awards, founded in 1993, honor the best achievements, moments
and leading athletes of the previous year. Fan voting for the 33 award
categories, including "Best Fighter" and "Best Upset," is open now at
the
ESPY Awards official website,
and the awards ceremony takes place July 13 at Nokia Theatre in Los
Angeles. The show airs live on ESPN for the second-consecutive year and
again features "Saturday Night Live's" Seth Meyers as host.
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