"Liar Liar Pants on Fire!!!"

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Anthony Johnson spoke to Ariel Helwani of Versus.com and would like everyone to know that Josh Koscheck is a two-faced faker and that eye "injury" he suffered during their fight at UFC 106 was yellow bellied cowardice!

"I think when he really got in my head was whenever he grabbed the wrong eye. You know what I mean? And he was BS-ing around. That really got in my head," Johnson said.

"Oh yeah, he was faking. That was a knee from hell and it was meant to end his night. But then to block it and then grab the eye that I didn't even touch, you know, it really got to me. But it is what it is. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, and he pulled the trick out of the hat and used it against me, and it worked. Mentally, it worked."

...

"I lost a lot of respect for him, but he's a fighter. Win, lose or draw, you gotta do what you gotta do to win. And if that's the way he wants to win, that's the way he wants to win. But he still is a great fighter and I pray I get to fight him again. It won't be like it was the last time."

WKR loves Anthony Johnson's bravado but someone needs to warn him that trash talking Josh Koscheck doesn't end well. Just look what happened to Natasha and Logan after they spoke up.

Weren't these guys suppose to be popular? via media.ufc.tv

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Dave Meltzer has the early pay-per view estimates for UFC 106 and they are not pretty (via MMA Payout)

The first week cable estimate on UFC 106 was 330,000, which is even lower than earliest projections we had. UFC 104 with Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua came in at 450,000 in a cable estimate and 460,000 in a trending estimate. Keep in mind the general rule of thumb by nature of how numbers are reported in the U.S. is that the final number since most UFC buys are in the U.S. will wind up 10-15% above these original numbers, so it's likely Machida-Rua ends up at 500,000, which isn't bad, and UFC 106 winds up 360,000 to 375,000, which for that fight is a gigantic disappointment. Trending numbers right now are indicating about a 27% drop from 104.

Some observers were beginning to believe that 400,000 to 450,000 PPV buys was the new bottom of the barrel for the UFC. If these early number are right then it shows that is not the case and will lend fodder for those that believe that the UFC has peaked in terms of U.S. popularity. 

UFC 106 didn't just have bad pay-per view returns. The show was plagued by comped tickets and an empty stadium. All told approximately 37% of UFC 106's tickets were comped and 46% of the ideal gate value (if the event had been sold out) was comped.

So what went wrong?

It was probably a compilation of multiple factors that lead to UFC 106 being a "gigantic disappointment". Obviously the Lesnar-Carwin main even being canceled is at the top of the list then there is the issue of their replacement's purported popularity. Tito Ortiz was coming off an eighteen month layoff while Forrest Griffin was embarrassed at UFC 101, which could have affected their standing with casual fans. Not to mention the fact that November was a month loaded with  MMA events including UFC 105, which was shown on Spike for free the week before. Finally there is the Las Vegas economy, which is still in the dumps.

All of these factors could have combined to make a perfect storm for a bad event for the UFC.

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

via media.ufc.tv

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Jake Rosholt found himself the latest victim of the UFC's constant roster trimming. Rosholt announced on his twitter account that he was cut from the promotion.

Rosholt (6-2) went 1-2 in the UFC and last fought at UFC 102, where he was submitted by Kendall Grove. Jake received $15,000 of base salary in the loss to Grove.

Jake Rosholt was a NCAA Division I wrestling champion at Oklahoma State and was a four-time All-American wrestler. Many considered Rosholt to be one of the top wrestling prospect within the organization.

Last week the UFC cut another underperforming UFC 106 fighter, in Brock Larson, who was being paid more than Rosholt. With both Larson and Jake being cut it appears that the UFC has sent a signal to the remaining fighters on their roster: win or find a new job.

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

So long Brock, we hardly knew ye....

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Following back-to-back losses Brock Larson has been cut by the UFC.

Brock Larson (26-4) re-entered the UFC when Zuffa folded the WEC welterweight division into the UFC.

In the WEC, Larson was a welterweight standout, going 4-1 in the promotion with his lone loss coming to WEC welterweight champion, Carlos Condit. At the time Larson came back to the UFC his record was 24-2 with his other loss coming to Jon Fitch in an early stint in the UFC.

Expectations were high for Brock Larson and he won his first two bouts in the UFC but then dropped back-to-back losses to Mike Pierce and Brain Foster. Those two fighters had a combined record of 0-1 in the UFC when they fought Larson.

Zuffa probably cut Brock Larson due to his salary. Larson received $26,000 from his fight at UFC 106, making him the 6th highest paid (base-salary) fighter on the fight card. Since Larson was unable to beat UFC newcomer, justifying paying some $26,000 to lose to fighters who receive $6,000 in base salary doesn't make much sense. 

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

WKR's Cage Cast is back to talk about UFC 106's live gate numbers and to figure out this judging issue.

You can download the episode here, subscribe to our RSS feed here and check us out on iTunes. The streaming version is below. Send feedback to watchkalibrun@gmail.com.

Quick side note: As is the case when you record something regarding breaking news sometimes things end up being wrong. There was some confusion over the UFC 106's live gate. The gate was $3 million dollars but the UFC did comp a bunch of tickets worth over $2 million. Ignore WKR's top of the head math and talk about the event being in the red.

Also we talk about the news that Michael Bisping, not Yoshihiro Akiyama, may fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110.

Finally we talk about the worst kept secret in the UFC. Kimbo Slice and his TUF 10 finale fight with Houston Alexander. 

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

SBN coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale

Picture courtesy of Dan Stupp of MMA Junkie via assets.sbnation.com

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Holy empty stadium Batman!

MMA Junkie is reporting that UFC 106 77% of the live gate were comped tickets.

However, 3,898 tickets were complimentary and accounted for a staggering $2,331,250 worth of the $3,003,250 live gate (77.6 percent in all). In other words, the Nov. 21 event drew only 6,631 paid tickets worth $672,000.

This information throws  into serious doubt Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz's drawing power. Perhaps the failure of the Lesnar-Carwin fight to materialize was the reason so many of the premium tickets weren't sold.

Throughout UFC 106 one of the hot topics of discussion online was the lack of an audience during the preliminary fights. Usually UFC events are near capacity during the early action. It appears that we know now the culprit for all the empty seats.

[Update: Note by Zak Woods, 11/24/09 7:23 PM EST ]

UFC 106 still pulled in a live gate of $3 million though the $2.3 million figure  represents the worth of the comped tickets.

That makes more sense.

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and I am sure most people don't feel like doing work. So WKR decided to provide everyone with some more office distractions by uploading the music that fighters walked out to at UFC 106. Plus we got an email suggesting that we make this a new feature and WKR does what the people want! In the interest of full disclosure I am somewhat musically illiterate so bear with us while we get this new feature figured out.

Forrest Griffin walked out to "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba

Tito Ortiz walked out to "Mosh" by Eminem

Josh Koscheck walked out to "Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

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via media.ufc.tv

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Spike's live broadcast of UFC 106's preliminary card drew 1.3 million viewers.

The broadcast featured four fights, two of which --the Kendall Grove-Jake Rosholt fight and the Marcus Davis-Ben Saunders fight-- were shown live.

This marks the third time that the UFC has shown a portion of preliminary card live on Spike and we are beginning to see a trend in viewership.

UFC 103's preliminary portion drew 1.4 million viewers as did UFC 104's preliminary card. With UFC 106 drawing 1.3 million viewers it appears that live preliminary cards have a ratings plateau of approximately 1.5 million viewers.

So why can't these preliminary broadcasts out draw an Ultimate Fight Night?

WKR believes it is because fans go to bars or other social gatherings to watch the pay-per view broadcast making it difficult to catch the live Spike broadcast. If anyone has ever gone to a BW3's to watch an UFC event you know you have to arrive early or you will have to stand in the corner looking like an awkward loner...

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

In all the talk of judging and controversy at UFC 106 WKR would be remiss if we didn't mention the Josh Koscheck Anthony Johnson bout.

In the first round Koscheck was the victim of an illegal blow to the head, courtesy of Anthony Johnson's knee. Immediately after the knee landed, time was called and Josh Koscheck proceeded to clutch his left eye in pain (pictured above). The broadcast featured replay after replay showing the knee striking Koscheck's forearm, which in turn hit the right side of his face. The replay, and Joe Rogan's commentary, seemed to indicate that Koscheck was exaggerating the injury, much to the disgust of Logan Stanton and Natasha Wicks.

WKR was prepared to write a defense of Koscheck's actions but then we were provided with this visual evidence of the validity of Josh's response.

The freeze frame provided by Bloodyelbow shows Anthony Johnson's thumb poking Koscheck's left eye.

Quick side note: Joe Rogan tweeted this about the above picture,

"For all the folks that said @JoshKoscheck faked his eye poke, here's the evidence that you're wrong: http://bit.ly/5GiP4i."

Uh, Joe, weren't you the one implying that Koscheck wasn't injured during UFC 106?

Anyway, after Koscheck recovered from the illegal knee/eye poke the fight resumed but took a potentially nasty turn in the second round as Josh Koscheck proceeded to poke Anthony Johnson in the eye, twice!

For WKR, this is the equivalent of a pitcher throwing at an opponent's head after his teammate has been struck by a pitch. It is very hard not to conclude that there was some form of reciprocity involved with Koscheck's open handed jabs.

Furthermore, it is strange that there isn't an outcry for a rematch in the MMA community considering that the bout was marred by illegal actions by both fighters.

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

via www.ftpbluff.com

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There were some early reports regarding fighter salaries for UFC 106 but the entire salary list is now public.

• Forrest Griffin $250,000 ($150,000 to show, $100,000 to win) def. Tito Ortiz $250,000.
• Josh Koscheck** $106,000 ($53,000 to show, $53,000 to win) def. Anthony Johnson* $17,000.
• Paulo Thiago $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win) def. Jacob Volkmann $6,000.
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira* $100,000 ($70,000 to show, $30,000 to win) def. Luiz Cane $19,000.
• Amir Sadollah $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win) def. Phil Baroni $25,000.
• Ben Saunders $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win) def. Marcus Davis $27,000.
• Kendall Grove $44,000 ($22,000 to show, $22,000 to win) def. Jake Rosholt $15,000.
• Brian Foster $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win) def. Brock Larson $26,000.
• Caol Uno $20,000 (no win bonus as fight was a majority draw) vs. Fabricio Camoes $10,000 (no win bonus as fight was a majority draw).
• George Sotiropoulos $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win) def. Jason Dent $8,000.

*- all fighters received a $70,000 "Fight Night" bonuses. Josh Koscheck received two bonuses for both "Fight of the Night" and "Submission of the Night."

Total base salary for the fight card was $766,000.

Total bonus money -including "Fight Night" bonuses- was $534,000. Without "Fight Night" bonuses, bonus money was $254,000.

Total salary for UFC 106 was $1.3 million.

Update: WKR forgot to include Dustin Hazelett who was awarded a full purse ("to show" and "to win" money) when Karo Parisyan withdrew from their fight. Hazelett's salary was not disclosed by the NSAC but at UFC 91 he received $14,000 to show and $14,000 to win.

Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz's base salaries made up 52.2% of the total base salary for UFC 106 but once bonuses are added Griffin and Ortiz's salaries made up 38.4% of the total salary for UFC 106. "Fight Night" bonuses made up 19.2% of the total salary.

SBN coverage of UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

After the jump WKR will try out a new feature where we rank the fighters based upon their perceived value to Zuffa (based on "to show" money). Followed by our own rankings.

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