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The NSAC has released the fighter payouts for UFC 109. Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional “locker room” bonuses, pay-per-view revenue sharing, or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

UFC 109 took place earlier this evening at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the night’s main event, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman finally met in the Octagon.

In the co-main event, Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen battled it out for a shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Demian Maia returned to action against Dan Miller.

Frank Trigg fought for his job against Matt Serra.

Mike Swick stepped in to take Paulo Thiago.

Results, thoughts, bonuses and live gate (when available) after the jump.

Love him or hate him, Chael Sonnen is a character. He has been bashing everyone lately in interviews including UFC 109 main event competitor Mark Coleman. But now that he’s actually face-to-face with Coleman in Vegas, he seems to be singing a different tune as Cagewriter masterfully captures in the above video. Even Nate Marquardt picked up on it.

Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen meet in a middleweight bout this Saturday at UFC 109.

Chael Sonnen takes on Nate Marquardt on Feb. 6 at UFC 109.

Nate Marquardt takes on Chael Sonnen on Feb. 6 at UFC 109.

With Anderson Silva out of commission until possibly April, it looks like the UFC has decided to put together a number one contender’s match between Vitor Belfort and Nate Marquardt.

Vitor Belfort has been told that Anderson Silva will not be recovered from his elbow surgery in time for a February and has been offered a contenders elimination bout with Nate Marquardt, a source close to the Brazilian tells Fighters Only.

Belfort – and fans – have been expecting a fight with Anderson next and Belfort has been making training camp preparations as such, but now it looks like his next opponent will be Greg Jackson’s fighter Marquardt.

The UFC wanted Vitor Belfort in the title fight for multiple reasons — he’s exciting, has name value, and most importantly, he hasn’t lost to Anderson Silva — so I’m sure they aren’t too crazy about risking Silva-Belfort by putting Vitor in a title eliminator. However, Belfort-Marquardt is a fairly big fight, and right now the UFC needs fights they can sell.

If nothing else, Team Anderson should finally be happy. They’ve been whining about a number one contender’s match for six months now.

Image via Sherdog

Update: Heavy.com says this fight isn’t happening.

Contrary to reports from other sources, Heavy.com learned from sources close to the UFC on Tuesday afternoon that a contender’s bout between Vitor Belfort and Nate Marquardt is “not happening”.

Ariel Helwani is hearing Marquardt-Sonnen is still on for UFC 109.

Quick rundown of fight and scheduling announcements and notes.

It looks like Cain Velasquez and his camp have decided to take the UFC 108 fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira after all. MMA Weekly is reporting the two will meet at UFC 108 likely in the headliner or a co-main event slot.