''UFC 61: Bitter Rivals'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event held by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

on Saturday, July 8, 2006. The event took place at the

Mandalay Bay Events Center The Michelob Ultra Arena, formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts Int ...

, in the

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

suburb of

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

and was broadcast live on

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Background

The main event was a Heavyweight Championship match between champion Tim Sylvia and former champion Andrei Arlovski. This was the third time these fighters had met, they had split the first two meetings. The co-main event was the highly anticipated rematch of TUF 3 coaches

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz () is an American politican and retired mixed martial artist and Submission grappling, submission grappler. Ortiz is best known for his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC ...

and

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock ( né Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known ...

. It was announced during the event that

Chuck Liddell Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007) and i ...

would fight PRIDE star

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, ...

in November if Liddell won his upcoming match against Renato "Babalu" Sobral at '' UFC 62''. Negotiations between the UFC and PRIDE failed however and the Liddell–Silva fight never occurred in November 2006. The two would eventually meet in December 2007 at UFC 79. The number of pay-per-view buys for UFC 61 in the United States was approximately 775,000, which set a new UFC buyrate record and generated gross PPV revenue of approximately $30,960,000. The disclosed fighter payroll for the event was $686,000. With a live gate at $3,350,775, it nearly eclipsed the all-time mark for UFC events set at '' UFC 57''.

Results

Bonus awards

*Fight of the Night: Joe Stevenson vs. Yves Edwards *Knockout of the Night: Jeff Monson *Submission of the Night: Hermes Franca

Reported payouts

Tito Ortiz: $210,000 Tim Sylvia: $120,000 Ken Shamrock: $100,000 Andrei Arlovski: $90,000 Frank Mir: $56,000 Joe Stevenson: $24,000 Jeff Monson: $20,000 Drew Fickett: $12,000 Josh Burkman: $10,000 Yves Edwards: $8,000 Hermes Franca: $8,000 Cheick Kongo: $6,000 Josh Neer: $6,000 Dan Christison: $5,000 Joe Jordan: $4,000 Anthony Perosh: $3,000 Kurt Pellegrino: $2,000 Gilbert Aldana: $2,000 Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $686,000

References

Sources

Mixed martial arts show results, Mandalay Bay, July 8, 2006 (PDF)
Nevada State Athletic Commission. Retrieved July 13, 2006.
UFC Fighter Salaries for 2006
(includes fighter salaries for UFC 61)
UFC 61 Surpasses $30 Million in Pay-Per-View Sales
*https://www.fightopinion.com/2006/07/20/ufc-61-payouts/ UFC 61 payouts

External links

UFC 61 cardUFC 61 website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufc 061 Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events 2006 in mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship events at Mandalay Bay Events Center 2006 in sports in Nevada July 2005 sports events in the United States