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Chuck Liddell

Below is the pay scale for UFC 66, courtesy of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (all figures are in US dollars):


Chuck Liddell: $250,000
Tito Ortiz: $210,000
Andrei Arlovski: $145,000
Michael Bisping: $24,000
Thiago Alves: $22,000
Gabriel Napao: $18,000
Forrest Griffin: $16,000
Yushin Okami: $16,000
Keith Jardine: $14,000
Jason MacDonald: $10,000
Tony DeSouza: $7,000
Chris Leben: $7,000
Christian Wellisch: $6,000
Marcio Cruz: $5,000
Carmelo Marrero: $5,000
Rory Singer: $5,000
Eric Schafer: $4,000
Anthony Perosh: $3,000

Total Fighter Payroll: $767,000

Fedor Emelianenko (left) in action against Mark Hunt.

Fedor Emelianenko was interviewed by the Japanese media after his victory against Mark Hunt. Here's what Fedor had to say:


Interviewer: It seemed like a tough fight. What are your thoughts on your fight with Mark Hunt?

Fedor: It wasn't really as hard of a fight as it looked, in my opinion. I think Mark Hunt fought a good match.

Interviewer: What was the main reason for him to be able to escape the first armlock attempt?

Fedor: It wasn't his power, I let it go. I was trying to get into a different position, but that didn't happen.

Interviewer: He got an armlock on you. What was your mental state like then?

Fedor: It wasn't completely sunk in so I was deciding what to do.

Fedor Emelianenko Did the weight difference bother you? Did you have any counterplan for that?

Fedor: I didn't have a specific plan for that, but I definitely felt the weight difference, especially when he was on top.

Interviewer: Can you tell us what your goals for the coming year will be?

Fedor: I want to focus on training young fighters. Also, I would like to get a bit of rest. And another thing is that I want to build my new house. Of course I want to continue training and remain as the champion.

Interviewer: Out of the fighters you have not fought yet, are there any that you would like to face?

Fedor: I'm not really sure but I want to fight a strong fighter. I have a foot injury so I want to get some rest first.

Interviewer: What do you think of Mirko Filipovic's transfer to the UFC?

Fedor: It's a personal issue, so I can't say much. But I presume such a time came for Mirko. Maybe he wants to change weight classes. It's a personal issue so I don't really know.

Interviewer: How about the anticipated fight with Josh Barnett?

Fedor: Since Josh and I are friends, I don't really want to fight him. But if that time comes, then I expect to fight.

Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira (left) punishing Josh Barnett with a knee.

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira was asked about his victory over Josh Barnett by Gracie Magazine. Here's what Minotauro had to say:


"I think the first time I fought him (Barnett), I went in wanting to hit so much, with rage, that it threw me off more than it motivated me. This time, I went out there the right way. I hit him a lot, my boxing was sharp, and my knees landed.

He tried the guillotine at the end but it did not worry me, it only impressed the judges. That is what he likes to do, and it's what I messed up with in our first fight; I fought an open ground game, and he took advantage of that to get some holds here and there that impressed the judges. This time I controlled him and hit him, but I felt slow because I had a cold." -Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira

HEAVYWEIGHT


1.) Fedor Emelianenko Russia
2.) Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira Brazil
3.) Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic Croatia
4.) Josh Barnett USA
5.) Fabricio Werdum Brazil
6.) Mark Hunt New Zealand
7.) Alexander Emelianenko Russia
8.) Sergei Kharitonov Russia
9.) Tim Sylvia USA
10.) Eric Pele USA


LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT


1.) Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua Brazil
2.) Vanderlei Silva Brazil
3.) Ricardo Arona Brazil
4.) Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira Brazil
5.) Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson USA
6.) Chuck Liddell USA
7.) Alistair Overeem Holland
8.) Renato 'Babalu' Sobral Brazil
9.) Randy Couture USA
10.) Vitor Belfort Brazil


MIDDLEWEIGHT


1.) Paulo Filho Brazil
2.) Kazuo Misaki Japan
3.) Dan Henderson USA
4.) Anderson Silva Brazil
5.) Denis Kang Canada
6.) Murilo Bustamante Brazil
7.) Matt Lindland USA
8.) Yoshihiro Akiyama Japan
9.) Kazushi Sakuraba Japan
10.) Rich Franklin USA


WELTERWEIGHT


1.) Georges St-Pierre Canada
2.) Matt Hughes USA
3.) B.J. Penn USA
4.) Diego Sanchez USA
5.) Karo Parisyan USA
6.) Sean Sherk USA
7.) Jake Shields USA
8.) Carlos Condit USA
9.) Shinya Aoki Japan
10.) Frank Trigg USA


LIGHTWEIGHT


1.) Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro Brazil
2.) Takanori Gomi Japan
3.) Mitsuhiro Ishida Japan
4.) Marcus Aurelio Brazil
5.) Hayato Sakurai Japan
6.) Joachim Hansen Norway
7.) Tatsuya Kawajiri Japan
8.) Gesias Cavalcante Brazil
9.) Koutetsu Boku Japan
10.) Hermes Franca Brazil


FEATHERWEIGHT


1.) Gilbert Melendez USA
2.) Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto Japan
3.) Ivan Menjivar El Salvador
4.) Hideo Tokoro Japan
5.) Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira Brazil
6.) Hatsu Hioki Japan
7.) Mark Hominick Canada
8.) Jeff Curran USA
9.) Tyson Griffin USA
10.) Jens Pulver USA



AFP fighter rankings can be viewed at AFP TOP 10

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Fedor Emelianenko (left) vs. Mark Hunt

PRIDE: 'Shockwave 2006'
December 31st, 2006
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


Fedor Emelianenko defeats Mark Hunt by keylock at 8:16, RD 1.
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira defeats Josh Barnett by unanimous decision.
James Thompson defeats Hidehiko Yoshida by TKO at 7:50, RD 1.
Takanori Gomi defeats Mitsuhiro Ishida TKO at 1:14, RD 1.
Kazuyuki Fujita defeats Eldari Kurtanidze by TKO at 2:09, RD 1.
Gilbert Melendez defeats Tatsuya Kawajiri by unanimous decision.
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua defeats Kazuhiro Nakamura by unanimous decision.
Akihiro Gono defeats Yuki Kondo by split decision.
Shinya Aoki defeats Joachim Hansen by submission at 2:24, RD 1.
Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Ikuhisa Minowa by KO at 1:18, RD 1.

Yoshihiro Akiyama (left) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

K-1: 'Premium 2006 Dynamite!!'
December 31st, 2006
Osaka Dome
Osaka, Japan


Yoshihiro Akiyama defeats Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO at 5:37, RD 1.
Hong Man Choi defeats Bobby Ologun by TKO at 0:16, RD 1.
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto defeats Istvan Majoros by TKO at 3:46, RD 1.
Genki Sudo defeats Damacio Page by triangle choke at 3:05, RD 1.
'Giant' Silva defeats Akebono by keylock at 1:02, RD 1.
Hideo Tokoro defeats Royler Gracie by unanimous decision.
Taiei Kin defeats Tokimitsu Ishizawa by KO at 2:48, RD 1.
Katsuhiko Nagata defeats Shuichiro Katsumura by TKO at 4:12, RD 1.
Andy Ologun defeats Ken Kaneko by unanimous decision.
Yukiya Naito defeats Kim Dong Wook by TKO at 1:11, RD 3.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (right) getting submitted by Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira.

During the UFC 66 event, the UFC announced that it has supposedly signed PRIDE reject Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic to a fight contract in 2007.

Filipovic signed with the UFC after DSE/PRIDE chose not to re-sign him to a new contract, after failing to win the PRIDE heavyweight belt and failing to beat PRIDE's top 3 heavyweights.

However, it's interesting to note that Filipovic did not even make the trip over from Croatia for the supposedly big announcement of his UFC signing.

In his time in PRIDE, Filipovic failed to win the PRIDE heavyweight title, thoroughly losing to the champion Fedor Emelianenko in the title fight.

Filipovic also failed to beat the top 3 heavyweights in PRIDE: the current PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, former PRIDE heavyweight champion Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, and former K-1 champion Mark Hunt.

Filipovic did, ironically, easily beat former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett three times while in PRIDE.

Chuck Liddell on his way to knocking out Tito Ortiz (bottom).

UFC 66: 'Liddell vs Ortiz II'
December 30th, 2006
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, NV


Chuck Liddell defeats Tito Ortiz TKO at 3:59, RD 3.
Keith Jardine defeats Forrest Griffin by TKO at 4:41, RD 1.
Jason MacDonald defeats Chris Leben by guillotine choke at 4:03, RD 1.
Andrei Arlovski defeats Marcio 'Pe de Pano' Cruz by KO at 3:15, RD 1.
Michael Bisping defeats Eric Schafer by TKO at 4:24, RD 1.
Thiago Alves defeats Tony DeSouza by KO (Knee) 2 1:10
Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Carmelo Marrero by armbar at 3:22, RD 1.
Yushin Okami defeats Rory Singer by TKO at 4:03, RD 3.
Christian Wellisch defeats Anthony Perosh by unanimous decision.