UFC champs Jon Jones, Anderson Silva nominated for 2013 ESPY Awards

Once again, a pair of UFC champions are nominated for an ESPY award, an honor that has thus far remained out of reach for any top-level mixed-martial-artists.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and middleweight champ Anderson Silva are among the nominees for “Best Fighter” at the 2013 ESPN Espy Awards. Also nominated in the category are boxers Canelo Alvarez, Danny Garcia and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Fans can vote on the “Best Fighter” of the year and 34 other categories at the 2013 ESPY Awards’ official website.

It’s the third straight year Jones has been nominated in the “Best Fighter” category. It’s also the third nomination for Silva, who was put up for the award in 2009 and 2012. Created in 2007 to replace the “Best Boxer” category that had been in place since 1993, the “Best Fighter” award has been claimed four times by Mayweather Jr. and twice by fellow boxer Manny Pacquaio.

To date, the lone MMA fighter to take home an ESPY award has been congenital amputee Kyle Maynard, who was named “Best Male Athlete with a Disability” at the 2012 awards. Maynard also won the same award in 2004 after posting a 35-16 record in high school wrestling and narrowly missing All-American status at the NHSCA National Wrestling Championships.

Past MMA nominees for “Best Fighter” include Georges St-Pierre, Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, Randy Couture and Edson Barboza.

The ESPY Awards, founded in 1993, honor the best achievements, moments and leading athletes of the previous year. Fan voting for the 35 award categories, including “Best Fighter” is open now at the ESPY Awards’ official website, and the awards ceremony takes place July 17 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. The show airs live on ESPN and will be hosted by award-winning actor Jon Hamm.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Jon Jones)