Dec. 7, 2011 - UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones, the youngest champion in UFC history, is one of eight finalists in ESPN SportsNation’s 2nd Annual Awesomest Dude of the Year contest.
The contest is held in a bracket format with the winners of each round being determined by online fan voting. Voting in the first round is now open. All voting will be held exclusively on SportsNation’s Facebook page, located at www.Facebook.com/SportsNation.
In the first round, Jones is matched up against WWE Superstar and actor Duane “The Rock” Johnson.
Jones received the nomination based on a stellar year in the UFC. He has won all three of his fights so far in 2011. On Feb. 5 at UFC 126, he defeated Ryan Bader by submission in a win that would ultimately earn him a title fight. Just six weeks later at UFC 128, Jones earned the Light Heavyweight belt by dominating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua with a third-round TKO/KO. At UFC 135 on Sept. 24, Jones capped off his first title defense with a submission victory over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. It was the first time Jackson had ever been submitted in his legendary UFC career.
Jones is scheduled to fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on Dec. 10. A victory would give Jones three title fight wins in one year, and also three wins over former UFC champions in one year, which has yet to happen in the UFC. Rua and Jackson were also previous title holders.
Other athletes nominated are NFL stars Jared Allen and Tim Tebow, NBA stars Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin, extreme sports legend Travis Pastrana and top U.S. women’s soccer player Hope Solo.
Last year, U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan won the inaugural “Awesomest Dude of the Year” award with over 270,000 votes in the final round, defeating WWE Superstar John Cena.