UFC 66 explained

UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz
Promotion:	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date:	December 30, 2006
Venue:	MGM Grand Garden Arena
City:	Paradise, Nevada
Attendance:	13,761 (12,191 paid)^[1]
Gate:	$5,397,300
Buyrate:	1,050,000^[2]
Purse:	$767,000 (disclosed)^[3]

UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 30, 2006 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

Background

UFC 66s main event was a championship fight with two of the UFC's biggest light heavyweight stars, Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell defending his title against former champion Tito Ortiz. This fight was first announced by Ortiz at the UFC 63 weigh-ins on September 22, 2006.^[4]

The co-main event saw Forrest Griffin take on "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine. The card also saw the return of former Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski and The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner Michael Bisping's first bout in the UFC since winning that season. During the event, it was made official that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic had signed a contract with the UFC, and would make his debut with the organization at UFC 67.^[5]

The event was the UFC's first show at MGM Grand Arena since UFC 56, and was nearly sold-out, producing the highest live gate revenue in North American mixed martial arts history,^[1] extending the previous record at UFC 57 by over $2,000,000 (USD). At the time, it was estimated to be the UFC's biggest pay-per-view success with just over 1 million buys.^[6]

The disclosed fighter payroll for the event was $767,000.^[3]

Bonus awards

• Fight of the Night: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz
• Knockout of the Night: Keith Jardine
• Submission of the Night: Jason MacDonald

Reported salaries

UFC 66 Fighters' Salaries:^[3]

• Chuck Liddell: $250,000 ($250,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Tito Ortiz: $210,000 ($210,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Andrei Arlovski: $145,000 ($90,000 to fight; $55,000 win bonus)
• Michael Bisping: $24,000 ($12,000 to fight; $12,000 win bonus)
• Thiago Alves: $22,000 ($11,000 to fight; $11,000 win bonus)
• Gabriel Gonzaga: $18,000 ($9,000 to fight; $9,000 win bonus)
• Forrest Griffin: $16,000 ($16,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Yushin Okami: $16,000 ($8,000 to fight; $8,000 win bonus)
• Keith Jardine: $14,000 ($7,000 to fight; $7,000 win bonus)
• Jason MacDonald: $10,000 ($5,000 to fight; $5,000 win bonus)
• Chris Leben: $7,000 ($7,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Tony DeSouza: $7,000 ($7,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Christian Wellisch: $6,000 ($3,000 to fight; $3,000 win bonus)
• Marcio Cruz: $5,000 ($5,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Carmelo Marrero: $5,000 ($5,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Rory Singer: $5,000 ($5,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Eric Schafer: $4,000 ($4,000 to fight; no win bonus)
• Anthony Perosh: $3,000 ($3,000 to fight; no win bonus)

See also

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
• List of UFC champions
• List of UFC events
• 2006 in UFC

External links

• Official UFC 66 website
• Official UFC 66 Fight Card
• UFC 66 Fight Previews

Notes and References

1. Web site: UFC 148 draws a reported 15,016 attendance for $7 million live gate . 2012-07-08 . 2012-08-01 . mmajunkie.com.
2. Web site: UFC PPV REVENUE TOPS $200 MILLION IN 2006 . Trembow . Ivan . 2007-03-01 . 2012-08-01 . mmaweekly.com.
3. Web site: FIGHTER SALARIES FOR UFC 66 & UFC FIGHT NIGHT 7 . mmaweekly.com . 2007-01-03 . 2012-08-01 . Trembow . Ivan.
4. Web site: Future looks 'Icy' for Ortiz . Boston Herald . 2012-08-01.
5. Web site: UFC CONFIRMS CRO COP'S SIGNING; A LOOK AT TITLE PICTURES . Trembow . Ivan . 2006-12-31 . 2012-08-01 . mmaweekly.com.
6. Web site: UFC 66 To Make MMA History . chron.com . Sievert . Steve . 2012-08-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090114073630/http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2006/12/ufc_66_to_make_mma_history.html . 2009-01-14 .