He may not have seized the Bellator heavyweight strap, but Cheick Kongo still came away the biggest earner at Bellator 115. The former UFC veteran took home $50,000 in a losing effort opposite Bellator heavyweight champ Vitaly Minakov, according to figures released to MMAFighting.com by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Minakov, who successfully defended his belt by claiming a unanimous judges’ decision in the night’s main event, pocketed $35,000 in victory.
The combined salaries of the two headliners accounted for nearly 54-percent of the event’s total payroll.
Other than Kongo and Minakov, season nine middleweight tournament finalist Mikkel Parlo was lone fighter to break into five digits, as Parlo earned $14,000 for his dominant unanimous decision win over Johnny Cisneros ($2,000) on the night’s televised opener, which aired live on Spike TV.
Bellator 115 took place April 4, 2014 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
A complete list of fighter salaries can be seen below.
Main card (Spike TV)
Vitaly Minakov ($17,500 + $17,500 = $35,000) def. Cheick Kongo ($50,000)
Herman Terrado ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000) vs. Justin Baesman ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000)
Kelly Anundson ($2,000 + $2,000 = $4,000) def. Volkan Oezdemir ($4,000)
Mikkel Parlo ($7,000 + $7,000 = $14,000) def. Johnny Cisneros ($2,000)
Preliminary Card (Online)
Rudy Morales ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000) def. Jimmy Jones ($3,000)
Rick Reeves ($4,000 + $4,000 = $8,000) def. James Terry ($3,000)
Freddie Aquitania ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000) def. Josh Appelt ($6,000)
Sinjen Smith ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Jason Powell ($1,000)
Benito Lopez ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Oscar Ramirez ($1,000)