Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Fabricio Werdum nominated for 2011 ESPY Awards
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jun 24, 2011 at 3:45 pm ET
http://mmajunkie.com/dyn/images/figh...n-jones-20.jpg
UFC 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.
