On Tuesday, the California State Athletic Commission released the salaries for this past weekends Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal event, which took place on December 17th at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
Topping the payroll were main card fighters Gilbert ‘El Nino’ Melendez and Gegard Mousasi, who both walked away with $150,000 for their wins Saturday night. Earning the third highest payout was women’s featherweight champ Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, who earned $66,000 for her sixteen seconds of work.
Melendez successfully defended his lightweight title against Jorge Masvidal ($23,000) earning a unanimous decision. While former light heavyweight champ, Mousasi, also earned a unanimous decision defeating Ovince St. Preux ($17,000) during the Showtime telecast. And ‘Cyborg’ demolished Japanese challenger Hiroko Yamanaka ($8,000) by knockout in the first round.
The full Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal payroll is as follows (according to MMAjunkie.com):
Main Card (Showtime)
Gilbert Melendez: $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Jorge Masvidal: $23,000
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus) def. Hiroko Yamanaka: $8,000
Gegard Mousasi: $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Ovince St. Preux: $17,000
K.J. Noons: $65,000 ($30,000 win bonus) def. Billy Evangelista: $20,000
Preliminary Card
Caros Fodor: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Justin Wilcox: $12,000
Roger Bowling: $14,200 ($7,000 win bonus)* def. Jerron Peoples: $1,600*
Devin Cole: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Gabriel Salinas-Jones: $3,000
Eddie Mendez: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus) def. Fernando Gonzalez: $3,000
Herman Terrado: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus) def. Chris Brown: $3,000
* – Peoples surrendered $200 of his $2,000 show money to Bowling and $200 to the CSAC because he missed weight