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Here it is, the final word on the Anderson Silva-Steven Seagal front kick controversy. Anderson said on the UFC Sem Limites show on RedeTV that Seagal did not teach him the front kick like he stated at the UFC 126 post-fight press conference. From Tatame:

“Spider” also talked about the kick that knocked Vitor Belfort out at UFC 126, confessing he didn’t learn it with Steven Seagal. “He gave me a little tip about how I could improve that kick, but it wasn’t like ‘Anderson couldn’t get that kick right before that’. That’s something thing you learn when you start fight standing. It’s a traditional kick of stand-up martial arts”, said.

While Silva didn’t admit that he did it for publicity, this lines up with reports from Brazil that suggested the Silva camp brought Seagal in as nothing more than a PR stunt.

Image via Heavy.com

Update: I messed up. It’s been brought to my attention that Anderson Silva didn’t specifically say that Steven Seagal taught him the kick at the post-fight presser, only that he “helped him perfect” it. I suppose that isn’t much different than what he’s saying here. Either way, Seagal didn’t teach him the kick per se and Seagal took way too much credit for it. Hopefully, that’s the final word on this ridiculous story.

Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin made a friendly loser gets a tattoo bet prior to their fight at UFC 126. Forrest told MMA Fighting he “definitely” wouldn’t have got one if he lost, but was Franklin at least a man of his word? Well, technically yes. He got a giant dragon tattooed on his back as seen above, but the catch is it’s fake. Franklin says nobody said it had to be real.

My “Henna” Tattoo..Ok, nobody said it had to be REAL:-) Oh, and Forrest said he would pay for the removal so he owes me a bar of soap!

Nicely played, Rich. Nicely played.

On this week’s edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew recap UFC 126 and preview Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Silva.”

ESPN MMA Live Archive

If you have trouble playing the video, you can also watch it on ESPN.com. ESPN MMA Live airs on ESPN 2 Thursday nights at 1AM ET/10PM PT.

Anderson Silva sparked an intense debate amongst mixed martial arts fans this past week after he credited his fight-ending front kick to former action movie star/Aikido master Steven Seagal. Some thought it was a legitimate claim while others thought it was an absolute joke.

Well, if this report from PVT Mag is accurate, the disbelievers were correct. The report basically suggests the Silva camp, or more specifically his manager, came up with the idea to use Seagal to get Anderson more publicity in the American media. Via MiddleEasy:

“The declaration of the champion Anderson Silva (Seagal helping him with the amazing kick) was contemplated with humor by the fans, who knows that the actor was at most twice with the Brazilian.

The approach between the two was actually a marketing maneuver planned by the agent of Anderson, Jorge Joinha, to give more visibility to it’s champion in the American media. The plan worked very well in the first stage, the problem was in the wrong dose and reached the absurdity of assigning a brilliant victory by the biggest name in the MMA of all time to a “Master of Hollywood” who never climbed in the ring. The worst of all is that Seagal, perhaps influenced by some of his films, believed and even stated in several interviews after the fight that “He (Anderson) did everything the way i taught him and made me very proud”. For God’s sake…”

If that was the case, then I have to say their plan worked. The Seagal story was all over the internet and apparently even made it on ESPN’s Rome is Burning show.

Image via Tracy Lee for Yahoo! Sports

There wasn’t anything to critique about Anderson Silva’s performance at UFC 126, but you had to figure if anyone was going to say something bad about it, it would be Chael Sonnen. And oh look, he did.

“Thank you, Anderson, for revealing yet another weakness for me to exploit in our rematch. Beating that poor punching bag doesn’t impress Uncle Chael, guy. You tipped your hand like a chump poker player at a $5 table in Atlantic City. You may have beaten Vitor, but in the process, you LOST your edge. By beating that husk, you gave me the last page of your playbook. Revel in your time, [because] it ENDS the night you face me. I will mow you down like autumn wheat, AGAIN.”

In true Chael fashion, the verbal jabs he takes at Vitor Belfort are a complete 180 from what he said about him nearly one year ago.

“I hope Anderson (Silva) wins (at UFC 112) because I think Vitor (Belfort) is a lot tougher fighter. If I had to choose between the two, I’m going to take the low road and take the easier opponent to the championship… I really do think Vitor Belfort, in truth, has never lost a fight in the stand-up realm,” Sonnen said. “The blueprint to beat Vitor is out there, but it’s not to stand up with him.”

So in a span of a year, Vitor went from the better fighter to a “poor punching bag?” Yep, that sounds like Chael Sonnen.

The funny thing is for all his talk about Silva’s weaknesses (that to his credit Sonnen did exploit at UFC 117), it was the same weakness Sonnen’s opponents have been exploiting for years that cost him the title at UFC 117.

Image via CombatLifestyle.com

The NSAC has released the fighter salaries for UFC 126. Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional undisclosed discretionary bonuses, pay-per-view revenue sharing bonuses 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.

Anderson Silva (with his KO bonus), Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin all tied with highest payouts for UFC 126, each earning a disclosed $275,000. New UFC light heavyweight title contender Jon Jones wasn’t far behind with $215,000 with his bonuses factored. It’s quite a staggering number for someone still in a relatively early stage of his career. Donald Cerrone must be thrilled to finally be in the UFC. He broke six figures for the first time in his career with the FOTN bonus.

Payouts

Courtesy of MMA Junkie:

• Anderson Silva: $200,000 (no win bonus)
  Vitor Belfort: $275,000
• Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($125k + $150k win bonus)
  Rich Franklin: $75,000
• Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70k + $70k)
  Ryan Bader: $20,000
• Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16k + $16k)
  Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000
• Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28k + $28k)
  Antonio Banuelos: $9,000
• Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18k + $18k)
  Paul Kelly: $19,000
• Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9.5k + $9.5k)
  Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000
• Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5k + $5k)
  Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000
• Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18k + $18k)
  Gabe Ruediger: $8,000
• Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10k + $10k)
  Ricardo Romero: $10,000
• Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14k + $14k)
  Kenny Robertson: $6,000

Bonuses

$75,000 bonus to each fighter.

• Knockout of the Night – Anderson Silva
• Submission of the Night – Jon Jones
• Fight of the Night – Donald Cerrone & Paul Kelly

Total Payout

A disclosed total of $1,605,000, including all bonuses, was paid out to the fighters.

On this week’s edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew recap UFC 126 (above). The actual full episode of ESPN MMA Live was posted Saturday before the fights and I didn’t get it up in time. That can be seen below, but it is irrelevant now.

ESPN MMA Live Archive

If you have trouble playing the video, you can also watch it on ESPN.com. ESPN MMA Live airs on ESPN 2 Thursday nights at 1AM ET/10PM PT.

Full UFC 126 photo gallery at Heavy.com. Rundown of post-fight news, notes and quotes coming out of UFC 126…

—10,893 spectators filed into the Mandalay Bay last night to witness Anderson Silva take on Vitor Belfort. Live gate receipts totaled roughly $3.6 million.

— Anderson Silva pocketed an extra $75,000 for his stunning front kick knockout of Vitor Belfort. Jon Jones picked up the Submission of the Night bonus for choking out Ryan Bader. Donald Cerrone got his first taste of the UFC fight night bonuses for his fight with Paul Kelly. They both took home $75,000 for Fight of the Night.

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MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani spoke with Dana White, Anderson Silva, Steven Seagal, Jon Jones, Miguel Torres, Donald Cerrone, Chad Mendes, Demetrious Johnson, Kid Yamamoto, Kyle Kingsbury and Yushin Okami following UFC 126.

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Anderson Silva told reporters at the post-fight press conference that Steven Seagal helped him perfect the front kick he knocked out Vitor Belfort with at UFC 126.

“Steven Seagal helped me perfect that kick. That was a kick we were working on before I stepped in,” Silva said through a translator at the post-fight press conference. “This was a kick that I trained a lot.”

He throws it low with his lead leg in this video, but it is indeed Seagal who’s showing it to him.

Gif via ZombieProphet. Video via MMA Supremacy.

Update: Ariel Helwani talks to Steven Seagal about the kick.