UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who headlined Saturday’s UFC 104 event in Los Angeles, topped the pay-per-view event’s disclosed $922,000 fighter payroll, according to figures released Tuesday by the California State Athletic Commission.

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).

The “Machida Era” was extended in controversial fashion on Saturday, as light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida was awarded a questionable unanimous decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the main event of UFC 104 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Cain Velasquez dominated Ben Rothwell in the UFC 104 co-headliner, while Gleison Tibau, Joe Stevenson, and Anthony Johnson also earned main card wins.

All twenty-two fighters who will be in action at Saturday’s UFC 104 event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles hit the scales today to weigh in for their bouts. 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).

Anthony Johnson, Josh Neer, and Gleison Tibau were the only fighters who failed to make weight, but their fights will go on as scheduled.

The UFC on Friday announced a previously-reported switch to the UFC 104: Machida vs. Rua lineup, as Josh Neer replaces an injured Sean Sherk and takes on Gleison Tibau in a 155-pound matchup that remains on the event’s pay-per-view main card, which is headlined by a light heavyweight championship bout between title-holder Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Josh Neer will replace an injured Sean Sherk and take on Gleison Tibau in a lightweight matchup at UFC 104 on October 24 in Los Angeles.

According to Sherdog, which reported the replacement on Wednesday, the former lightweight champ Sherk recently suffered a shoulder injury while training that will sideline him for approximately four weeks.

Ten fights are now official for UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun on October 24 in Los Angeles, as the UFC on Tuesday added eight additional bouts to the event’s official lineup, joining the previously announced main event between light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as well as a confirmed heavyweight matchup between Ben Rothwell and Cain Velasquez.

A lightweight bout between former 155-pound champion Sean Sherk and Gleison Tibau has been added to the rumored lineup for UFC 103 on September 19 in Dallas, Texas, MMAFrenzy.com has confirmed.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Junior dos Santos is expected to co-headline UFC 103 alongside a main event featuring Rich Franklin against an opponent to-be-announced. Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg, and Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller are also rumored for the card.

Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson, who both recorded victories on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, topped the list of official salaries for the event, which were released today by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Sanchez earned $90,000 for his main event win over Clay Guida ($23,000), while Stevenson received $70,000 by topping Nate Diaz ($20,000) in the first bout of the Spike-televised main card.

Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida delivered on their Fight of the Year hype, engaging in a three-round war in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale on Saturday that saw Sanchez edge Guida by split decision on the judge’s scorcards.

The rest of the card failed to disappoint either as Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns traded blows in a bout that deserved Fight of the Night before being upstaged by Sanchez and Guida, Joe Stevenson looked impressive in topping Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in a technical battle, and welterweight James Wilks and lightweight Ross Perason were crowned The Ultimate Fighter 9 champions with victories on the Spike-televised main card.

Lightweight headliners Clay Guida (155) and Diego Sanchez (156) successfully made weight on Friday at the weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, as did TUF 9 welterweight finalists DaMarques Johnson (170) and James Wilks (171) and lightweight finalists Ross Pearson (156).

The event takes place on Saturday at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, the same venue which hosted today’s weigh-ins, and airs live on Spike TV beginning at 9pm ET.

Melvin Guillard vs. Gleison Tibau, Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Tomasz Drwal, and Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia has been officially added to the lineup for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, while Rory Markham vs. TJ Grant has been scratched from the card, which takes place this Saturday, June 20, at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas.

Mere hours after it was learned that Thiago Taveres had been forced out of his Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale matchup against Melvin Guillard due to an elbow injury, Gleison Tibau has been tapped to square off with Guillard in a lightweight contest on June 20th in Las Vegas.

Former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit was defeated in his anticipated UFC debut, dropping a split decision to Martin Kampmann in the UFN 18 main event.

Twenty-two of the twenty-four fighters scheduled to be in action at UFC Fight Night 18 successfully weighed in for their bouts on Tuesday at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lightweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ Efrain Escudero recently announced via Myspace Bulletin that he has been forced out of his scheduled bout on April 1. He was scheduled to take part in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 18 on the evening, against fellow rising star Jeremy Stephens.
According to MMAJunkie [...]