(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Gina Carano were the top earners at last Saturday's Strikeforce event, despite each of them respectively losing their Light Heavyweight and Womens' Middleweight titles.
The total disclosed payroll for the event came in just shy of half a million at $468,500.
Cristiane Santos ($25,000) ended up on the short-end of the stick after demolishing Carano to take home the Strikeforce Middleweight title.
However, no one faired off worse than Gegard Mousasi, who pulled off a tremendous upset against Babalu, only to earn a pathetic $2,000.
Gilbert Melendez ($50,000), Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000), and Jay Hieron (55,000) were also among the top salaries for the historic card, which featured, for the first time, two women headlining a major MMA event.
The women’s side of the sport had humble beginnings and most thought it would never even make a major fight card let alone headline one, but they were proven wrong with this past Saturday’s Strikeforce event.
Unfortunately, the event was out-drawn in TV viewers by a UFC 100 re-broadcast on SpikeTV, which was aired the exact same time.
UFC 100 drew 513,000 viewers to 181,000 for Carano vs. Cyborg.
But the buzz surrounding the Carano vs. Cyborg fight was huge. And as long as Carano is around and her pretty face isn’t busted up too much in her next few fights, she’ll be a big-time draw.
However, the main question is whether or not Carano can keep bankrolling $100,000 plus in MMA. There’s probably only one fight at the moment that could allow her to get close to that dollar range again, and that’s a rematch with Cyborg.
But for that fight to take place, Strikeforce will need to do its best UFC impression and get the hype machine rolling back in favor of Carano again. They need to promote her with the zeal of a top UFC fighter and build up a possible opponent of hers as a warm-up to a Cyborg rematch.
Then, with any luck, Carano will smash that competitor and set up a much-anticipated rematch with Cyborg that could be another big draw.
However, don’t expect Cyborg’s camp to settle for just $25,000 (including a $5,000 win bonus) the second time around.
*The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that promoters are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses, and do not include sponsorships, ‘fight night’ bonuses, portions of pay-per-view revenue, nor miscellaneous fees and taxes.*
The official fighter salaries for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg were:
- Cris “Cyborg” Santos ($25,000 – includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Gina Carano ($125,000)
- Gegard Mousasi ($2,000 – no win bonus) def. Renato Sobral ($75,000)
- Gilbert Melendez ($50,000 – no win bonus) def Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
- Fabricio Werdum ($50,000 – $25,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle ($14,000)
- Jay Hieron ($55,000 – $30,000 win bonus) def. Jesse Taylor ($12,000)
- Scott Lighty ($4,000 – no win bonus) def. Mike Cook ($2,500)
- Justin Wilcox ($5,000 – $2,500 win bonus) def. David Douglas ($5,500)
- James Terry ($6,000 – $3,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia ($2,000)
- Alex Trevino ($3,500 – $1,500 win bonus) def. Isaiah Hill ($2,000)
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