UFC 61: Bitter Rivals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, July 8, 2006.

The co-main event was the highly anticipated rematch of TUF 3 coaches Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.

It was announced during the event that Chuck Liddell would fight PRIDE star Wanderlei Silva in November if Liddell won his upcoming match against Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 62.

Negotiations between the UFC and PRIDE failed however and the Liddell–Silva fight never occurred in November 2006.

Tito Ortiz: $210,000 Tim Sylvia: $120,000 Ken Shamrock: $100,000 Andrei Arlovski: $90,000 Frank Mir: $56,000 Joe Stevenson: $24,000 Jeff Monson: $20,000 Drew Fickett: $12,000 Josh Burkman: $10,000 Yves Edwards: $8,000 Hermes Franca: $8,000 Cheick Kongo: $6,000 Josh Neer: $6,000 Dan Christison: $5,000 Joe Jordan: $4,000 Anthony Perosh: $3,000 Kurt Pellegrino: $2,000 Gilbert Aldana: $2,000 Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $686,000