Machida earned an event-high $200,000 for his controversial main event win over Rua, while “Shogun” received $155,000 for his efforts.

Other top earners included Joe Stevenson ($94,000), Cain Velasquez ($70,000), and Chael Sonnen ($54,000).

14,892 fans attended the card at the Staples Center, generating a $1,762,549 live gate.

The disclosed fighter salaries for UFC 104 were:

• Lyoto Machida ($200,000 – no win bonus) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua ($155,000)
• Cain Velasquez ($70,000 – includes $35,000 win bonus) def. Ben Rothwell ($50,000)
• Gleison Tibau ($38,000 – $19,000 win bonus) def. Josh Neer ($14,000)
• Joe Stevenson ($94,000 – $47,000 win bonus) def. Spencer Fisher ($26,000)
• Anthony Johnson ($27,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida ($15,000)*
• Ryan Bader ($30,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Eric Schafer ($13,000)
• Pat Barry ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Antoni Hardonk ($16,000)
• Chael Sonnen ($54,000 – $27,000 win bonus) def. Yushin Okami ($18,000)
• Jorge Rivera ($36,000 – $18,000 win bonus) def. Rob Kimmons ($9,000)
• Kyle Kingsbury ($16,000 – $8,000 win bonus) def. Razak Al-Hassan ($3,000)
• Stefan Struve ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Chase Gormley ($10,000)

Remember, the salaries listed above are simply those reported by the UFC to the athletic commission and do not represent a fighter’s actual earnings.

In addition to their salaries above, Barry earned an extra $120,000, while Hardonk and Stuve each received $60,000 in “fight night” bonuses.

For more UFC 104 coverage check out MMAFrenzy.com’s UFC 104 section.

* Figures reflect Johnson forfeiting $3,000 ( 20% of $15,000 show money) to Yoshida for failing to make weight.

Pictured: Lyoto Machida

In a decision that was met with boos from the live crowd and claims of robbery and calls for an immediate rematch from online fans, the judges awarded Machida the victory with 48-47 scores despite Rua winning the bout on nearly every observer’s scorecard.

Rua’s strategy relied on damaging leg and body kicks that left Machida battered after the five-round technical showdown, while Machida connected less frequently with precision strikes. Despite more frequent and damaging blows, the decision was given to the reigning champ, who was defending the title for the first time since winning the belt from Rashad Evans in May.

Machida remains undefeated, improving to 16-0 in the victory with his eight-straight wins inside the Octagon tied for second-best in the promotion’s history, while Rua falls to 18-4 in defeat.

In the UFC 104 co-headliner, Cain Velasquez cemented his status as a top heavyweight contender with a dominating win over Ben Rothwell. After blitzing the IFL veteran for the entirety of the opening round, Velasquez picked up where he left off in the second, taking Rothwell to the ground and quickly finishing him with punches.

Velasquez, now 8-0 on his career with five-straight UFC wins, remains in line for a future title show, while Rothwell falls to 30-7 and will return to the Octagon in search of his first UFC win to get him back on track.

In other main card action, Gleison Tibau used dominant takedowns to pick up a decision over Josh Neer, Joe Stevenson forced Spencer Fisher to tap to a barrage of elbows, and Antony Johnson earned a 41-second knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

On the preliminary card, The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner Ryan Bader earned a unanimous decision over Eric Schafer, Pat Barry kicked off the Spike TV card with an impressive second-round TKO of Antoni Hardonk, Chael Sonnen dominated Yushin Okami en route to a unanimous decision win, and Jorge Rivera, Kyle Kingsbury, and Stefan Struve also earned wins.

The official results for UFC 104 were:

• Lyoto Machida (c) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• Cain Velasquez def. Ben Rothwell via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:58
• Gleison Tibau def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Joe Stevenson def. Spencer Fisher via submission (strikes) — Round 2, 4:03
• Anthony Johnson def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 0:41
• Ryan Bader def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decison (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Patrick Barry def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:30
• Chael Sonnen def. Yushin Okami via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jorge Rivera def. Rob Kimmons via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 1:53
• Kyle Kingsbury def. Razak Al-Hassan via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Stefan Struve def. Chase Gormley via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 4:04

Click here for more UFC 104 coverage

Pictured: Lyoto Machida

Light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida (202.5) and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (204.5) successfully made weight for the UFC 104 main event, as did co-headliners Cain Velasquez (238) and Ben Rothwell (265).

Welterweight knockout artist Anthony Johnson will likely be moving to middleweight for his next bout after weighing in 6 pounds over the division’s 170 pound limit. Johnson will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to opponent Yoshiyuki Yoshida, who weighed in at 170 pounds, but the fight will go on as scheduled.

Lightweights Josh Neer and Gleison Tibau both narrowly missed the division’s 155 pound limit for their matchup, but have agreed that neither will need to shed extra weight, instead meeting at a 157 pound catchweight.

Stop back to MMAFrenzy.com tomorrow night beginning at 7pm ET for live coverage of UFC 104.

The official weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD

• 205: Lyoto Machida (c) (202.5) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (204.5)
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• 265: Cain Velasquez (238) vs. Ben Rothwell (265)
• 155: Joe Stevenson (155.5) vs. Spencer Fisher (155)
• 170: Anthony Johnson (176) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (170)*
• 155: Josh Neer (156.5) vs. Gleison Tibau (157)**

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 205: Ryan Bader (205) vs. Eric Schafer (205.5)
• 265: Antoni Hardonk (249.5) vs. Patrick Barry (237)
• 185: Yushin Okami (185) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
• 185: Jorge Rivera (185) vs. Rob Kimmons (185)
• 205: Kyle Kingsbury (205.5) vs. Razak Al-Hassan (204.5)
• 265: Stefan Struve (243.5) vs. Chase Gormley (262)

* Johnson, who weighed in 6 pounds over the welterweight limit, will forfeit 20% of his purse to Yoshida for failing to make weight, but the fight will go on as scheduled.
** Neer and Tibau have agreed to fight at a catchweight of 157-pounds after both weighed in over the lightweight limit.

Pictured: Lyoto Machida

Notable additions to the card include middleweight contender Yushin Okami,  a winner of three-straight and 7 of his 8 UFC fights, who meets Chael Sonnen on the untelevised UFC 104 preliminary card, as well as former lightweight champion Sean Sherk, whose fight against Gleison Tibau has been shifted from UFC 103 to the UFC 104 main card.

The official fight card for UFC 104 now features:

MAIN CARD

• Lyoto Machida (c) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell
• Sean Sherk vs. Gleison Tibau
• Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher
• Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Antoni Hardonk vs. Pat Barry
• Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen
• Jorge Rivera vs. Rob Kimmons
• Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer
• Razak Al-Hassan vs. Kyle Kingsbury
• Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve

For more UFC 104 coverage check out MMAFrenzy.com’s UFC 104 section.

Pictured: Sean Sherk

Gormley had been set to fight Ben Rothwell on the UFC 104 preliminary card, a bout originally scheduled for the canceled Affliction: Trilogy event on August 1, but after Shane Carwin was pulled from a UFC 104 matchup with Cain Velasquez to instead fight heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 106 in November, Rothwell was tapped to fight Velasquez on the event’s main card.

Gormley (6-0), an NAIA All-American Wrestler, has won all 6 of his professional fights, most-recently fighting at MFC 16 in May 2008, defeating Eric Pele via unanimous decision.

Struve (17-3) suffered a first-round TKO to Junior dos Santos in February in his UFC debut, but bounced back with a second-round submission of Denis Stojnic in June despite suffering a large gash on his head that left him bleeding profusely.

For the latest UFC 104 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Pictured: Stefan Struve

Velasquez (6-0), a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State, followed up UFC knockouts of Brad Morris, Jake O’Brien, and Denis Stojnic with a unanimous decision over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99 in June. If victorious against Rothwell, Velasquez is then expected to fight the winner of the November matchup between Lesnar and Carwin.

Prior to being booked to fight Velasquez, Rothwell had been expected to make his Octagon debut against fellow newcomer Chase Gormley at UFC 104 in a fight that was originally scheduled for Affliction’s canceled “Trilogy” event earlier this month.

Rothwell (30-6), an IFL veteran who trains under Pat Miletich and Duke Roufus, had won 13-straight fights, including wins over Roy Nelson and Krzysztof Soszynski, before suffering his first loss in nearly four years at the hands of Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Banned last July. Rothwell rebounded at Adrenaline MMA 2 in December, scoring a first-round submission of Chris Guillen.

For the latest UFC 104 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Pictured: Cain Velasquez

White opened the call by addressing the UFC’s attempt to sign Fedor Emelianenko following the recent-collapse of Affliction’s MMA promotion, saying the UFC offered him an “amazing” deal that won’t be matched anywhere else and satisfied all requests except co-promotion. Though White expected a deal to get done, the two sides have thus far been unable to reach an agreement, though he says Fedor’s management at M-1 Global can call him anytime to accept the offer.

The first announcement by the UFC President was the signing of Belfort, who was scheduled to fight at Affliction’s recently-canceled “Trilogy” event against Jorge Santiago, a winner of four-straight who returns to the UFC for the first time since 2005 and moves up to 195-pounds* to face the light heavyweight contender Franklin.

White also announced that Henderson, Franklin’s original opponent for the UFC 103 headliner who is coming off a recent knockout of Michael Bisping, will instead wait to meet middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva in his next fight. A date for the matchup has not yet been set pending Silva’s fight against Forrest Griffin next Saturday at UFC 101, but could take place “very soon” if Silva suffers little damage in the bout.

Tito Ortiz’s return to the UFC was also made official during the press conference, with White saying the former light heavyweight champ could fight the Hall of Famer Coleman at the UFC’s New Year’s show.

Other announcements included:

• The UFC has signed a three-year deal with ESPN’s new UK network, with fights slated to be broadcast free and in HD in both the UK and Ireland.
• Former Affliction fighters Belfort, Paul Daley, Paul Buentello, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, and Dan Lauzon were confirmed to have signed with the UFC, with Javier Vazquez, LC Davis, and Mark Hominick are signed to the WEC. Up to 10 more former Affliction fighters remain in talks to join the promotions.

Minute-by-minute notes from the media conference call, including additional details on the UFC’s negotiations with Fedor and other news and notes, can be found below.

2:00pm ET: The UFC conference calls generally start a few minutes after their scheduled star time so stay tuned as we’ll be underway momentarily.

2:03pm: The call is now underway.

2:05pm: The UFC has signed Vitor Belfort, who will headline UFC 103 against Rich Franklin. Franklin’s previously-scheduled opponent Dan Henderson is next in line to fight Anderson Silva, according to White.

2:07pm: The UFC has signed a 3-year deal with ESPN UK, starting with UFC 101 on August 8th.

2:08pm: White confirms that Tito Ortiz is returning to the UFC and will retire with the promotion.

2:10pm: Dana confirms the signing of a number of Affliction fighters, says many are signed with UFC and WEC with up to 10 more still in talks. Paul Daley, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, and Dan Lauzon confirmed to have signed with the UFC, with Javier Vazquez, LC Davis, and Mark Hominick all signed to the WEC.

2:12pm: Ortiz, who is also on the call, says he was just cleared last week to resume full training following back surgery and hopes to fight before the end of the year, specifically mentioning the New Year’s show.

2:14pm: Belfort-Franklin will be at light heavyweight (205 pounds)

2:15pm: White says Mark Coleman is likely to be Ortiz’s first opponent when he returns, says Ortiz won’t get any easy fights but will be rusty after his time off.

2:17pm: Asked about what “co-promotion” means, White says M-1 wanted half but would not benefit the UFC.

2:18pm: Asked about an ESPN deal in the US, White says they’re always negotiating with networks but offers not details on rumored negotiations.

2:19pm: The Nate Marquardt-Demian Maia winner is “in the mix” at 185-pounds, but Henderson is definitely next.

2:25pm: Dana White says UFC “can’t be stopped”, is coming to TV in Russia and Japan among others.

2:29pm: Timeline for Henderson-Silva depends on Silva’s fight with Griffin, but could be “very soon” if Silva sustains little damage.

2:30pm: The UFC has “no interest” in Arlovski or Sylvia.

2:30pm: White says he’s working to fulfill his promise of base jumping off the Mandalay Bay since UFC 100 surpassed 1.5 million buys.

2:32pm: White says he “doesn’t know” about a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

2:33pm: White says he’s “ready to make a deal” to bring Fedor Emelianenko to the UFC and was confident deal was going to happen, says M-1 can call him anytime.

2:38pm: White says major deal which was being worked on last month in Los Angeles should be finalized soon, but offers no details.

2:39pm: White says he “buried the hatchet” with Affliction, including Tom Atencio.

2:41pm: UFC 100 drew 25 million viewers, UFC 101 episode of UFC Unleashed had 18 million viewers in Mexico. Live event in the works for the country.

2:44pm: Co-promotion with M-1 will “never happen,” partially due to the Fertitta’s gaming license.

2:54pm: Dana says UFC showed Fedor and M-1 “nothing but respect,” offer allowed Fedor to fight Sambo “every Thursday night” if he wanted to.

2:57pm: Ortiz calls Strikeforce’s Scott Coker “an awesome guy,” but says there’s not enough competition in Strikeforce.

2:59pm: Dana says unlike boxing, UFC would put big fights on network TV if deal gets done.

3:00pm: Ortiz reiterates that contract with UFC runs until his career is over, wants to fight as long as possible.

–END–

* Dana White announced that Franklin-Belfort would be at 205-pounds, but Franklin updated his Twitter to say that the fight will be at a 195-pound catchweight at Belfort’s request.

Both fighters will be making their Octagon debut at the pay-per-view card, which is expected to be headlined by light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

An IFL veteran who trains under Pat Miletich and Duke Roufus, Rothwell (30-6) had won 13-straight fights, including wins over Roy Nelson and Krzysztof Soszynski, before suffering his first loss in nearly four years at the hands of Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Banned last July. Rothwell rebounded at Adrenaline MMA 2 in December, scoring a first-round submission of Chris Guillen.

Gormley (6-0), an NAIA All-American Wrestler, has won all 6 of his professional fights, most-recently fighting at MFC 16 in May 2008, defeating Eric Pele via unanimous decision.

Rumors are making the rounds that the UFC has picked up approximately 20 former Affliction fighters, including Rothwell and Gormley, in its recently-announced collaboration with the former-promotion. UFC President Dana White will “break news” during a Friday press conference, with the rumored fighter acquisitions expected to be announced then.

Pictured: Ben Rothwell

Trilogy is headlined by a heavyweight matchup between top-ranked Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett.

Also confirmed for the pay-per-view main card are Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago, and Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron, as well as Paul Buentello, who is expected to take on the winner of a June 27 bout between Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel.

The fight card for Trilogy currently features:

PAY-PER-VIEW CARD

• Fedor Emelianenko (c) vs. Josh Barnett
  WAMMA Heavyweight Championship
• Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
• Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
• Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel-Pedro Rizzo winner*
• Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron

HDNET CARD

• Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
• Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
• Deividas Taurosevicius vs. TBA
• Brett Cooper vs. Akbarh Arreola*
• Mark Hominick vs. TBA*

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats
• Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs

* Not officially announced

MMA Fanhouse confirmed the matchup at Wednesday’s Affliction: Trilogy press conference with Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio.

Rothwell won 13-straight bouts between 2005 and 2007, including notable victories over Krzysztof Soszynski and Roy Nelson, but suffered a third-round knockout to Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Banned last July. He rebounded in December with a first-round knockout of Chris Guillen at Adrenaline 2 and will now look for his first Affliction victory against Gormley.

A winner of all six of his professional bouts, Gormley was last in action in May 2008 when he picked up a unanimous decision victory over Eric Pele at MFC 16.

Affliction: Trilogy is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Affliction news and Affliction rumors.

[Pictured: Ben Rothwell]