St. Pierre Nominated for ESPY
Georges St. Pierre
(Pictures) may have another coveted piece of
hardware soon.
Although the sport's top welterweight will have the chance to add to a row of gold UFC title belts on Aug. 9 when he defends his crown against top contender Jon Fitch (Pictures), the 170-pound ace has been nominated for the 2008 Best Fighter ESPY award. ESPN announced the nominees Tuesday.
The ESPY Awards are a series of annual sports awards created by cable sports broadcasting giant ESPN. Since 1993, the "Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly" awards outstanding individual team and athletic achievement, as well as honoring many of the greatest moments from the past year in athletics.
St. Pierre, 27, rebounded from his shocking April 2007 loss to Matt Serra (Pictures) with three straight dominant performances, taking a commanding decision over Josh Koscheck (Pictures) last August before capturing the UFC welterweight interim title in December by destroying rival Matt Hughes (Pictures). "Rush" successfully completed his climb back to the top in April, trouncing Serra over two lopsided frames in front of a partisan Montreal crowd to unify the welterweight crown.
In nomination, St. Pierre faces a field of four standout boxers. Again nominated for the award is last year's recipient, recently retired pugilist Floyd Mayweather Jr., who knocked out previously undefeated 140-pound king Ricky Hatton in December. Kelly Pavlik and Joe Calzaghe have also earned their way onto the ballot with recent stellar performances.
The lone female in the category is Holly "Hottie" Holm, twice Ring Magazine's female fighter of the year in 2005 and 2006, and the current girlfriend of MMA middleweight notable Joey Villasenor (Pictures).
From 1993 to 2006, ESPN awarded the Best Boxer honor. In 2007, the category was redesigned as the Best Fighter award to include mixed martial artists.
Last year, MMA icon Randy Couture (Pictures) and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (Pictures) were both nominated for the inaugural prize.
The Best Fighter ESPY winner will be announced on July 16, and will air on Sunday, July 20.
Although the sport's top welterweight will have the chance to add to a row of gold UFC title belts on Aug. 9 when he defends his crown against top contender Jon Fitch (Pictures), the 170-pound ace has been nominated for the 2008 Best Fighter ESPY award. ESPN announced the nominees Tuesday.
The ESPY Awards are a series of annual sports awards created by cable sports broadcasting giant ESPN. Since 1993, the "Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly" awards outstanding individual team and athletic achievement, as well as honoring many of the greatest moments from the past year in athletics.
St. Pierre, 27, rebounded from his shocking April 2007 loss to Matt Serra (Pictures) with three straight dominant performances, taking a commanding decision over Josh Koscheck (Pictures) last August before capturing the UFC welterweight interim title in December by destroying rival Matt Hughes (Pictures). "Rush" successfully completed his climb back to the top in April, trouncing Serra over two lopsided frames in front of a partisan Montreal crowd to unify the welterweight crown.
In nomination, St. Pierre faces a field of four standout boxers. Again nominated for the award is last year's recipient, recently retired pugilist Floyd Mayweather Jr., who knocked out previously undefeated 140-pound king Ricky Hatton in December. Kelly Pavlik and Joe Calzaghe have also earned their way onto the ballot with recent stellar performances.
The lone female in the category is Holly "Hottie" Holm, twice Ring Magazine's female fighter of the year in 2005 and 2006, and the current girlfriend of MMA middleweight notable Joey Villasenor (Pictures).
From 1993 to 2006, ESPN awarded the Best Boxer honor. In 2007, the category was redesigned as the Best Fighter award to include mixed martial artists.
Last year, MMA icon Randy Couture (Pictures) and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (Pictures) were both nominated for the inaugural prize.
The Best Fighter ESPY winner will be announced on July 16, and will air on Sunday, July 20.
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