Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsThe Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov fighter salaries are out and Josh Barnett received the biggest payday with $150,000 for his win over Sergei Kharitonov, $100,000, Saturday at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
The Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov fighter salaries are out and Josh Barnett received the biggest payday with $150,000 for his win over Sergei Kharitonov, $100,000, Saturday at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
All four of the Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinalists on the card earned at least six figures. On the other side of the bracket, Daniel Cormier was paid $50,000 to show and another $50,000 to win for a total of $100,000. Antonio Silva, who suffered a first-round TKO loss to Cormier, made $100,000.
Check out below the rest of the fighter purses, courtesy of the Ohio athletic commission.
Please note: The numbers below are the salaries Strikeforce reported to the commission and may not accurately reflect a fighter’s final earnings. Fighters earn additionally through sponsorships and possibly, other bonuses handed out by the promotion.
Showtime Bouts
Josh Barnett ($150,000) def. Sergei Kharitonov ($100,000)
Daniel Cormier ($50,000 + $50,000 win bonus = $100,000) def. Antonio Silva ($100,000) Luke Rockhold ($25,000 + $25,000 win bonus = $50,000) def. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza ($70,000)
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal ($85,000) def. Roger Gracie ($80,000) Pat Healy ($12,500 + $5,000 = $17,500) def. Maximo Blanco ($13,000)
Preliminary Bouts on HDNet Mike Kyle ($22,000 + $22,000 win bonus = $44,000) def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima ($5,000)
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante ($30,000 + $30,000 win bonus = $60,000) def. Yoel Romero ($10,000)
Jordan Mein ($8,000 + $8,000 win bonus = $16,000) def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos ($20,000)
Alexis Davis ($3,000 + $3,000 win bonus = $6,000) def. Amanda Nunes ($7,500)
Dominique Steele ($3,000 + $2,000 win bonus = $5,000) def. Chris Mierzwiak ($3,000)
Filed under: StrikeforceDepending on who you talk to, Strikeforce is either dying a slow death or in need of a life-saving procedure. Either way, things don’t look great for the promotion that just a few months ago, seemed poised to steal some of the U…
Depending on who you talk to, Strikeforce is either dying a slow death or in need of a life-saving procedure. Either way, things don’t look great for the promotion that just a few months ago, seemed poised to steal some of the UFC‘s spotlight.
After being purchased by the UFC’s parent company, the company has seen some of its best parts cherry-picked away for the bigger brand. Its heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is gone. Its welterweight champion Nick Diaz is gone. Its light-heavyweight champion Dan Henderson is likely to be gone soon enough.
This is good and bad of course. Those transactions are likely to lead to superfights in the UFC, but they are just as likely to damage Strikeforce or put it out of business altogether. Most of this is simple business. Zuffa now has UFC under a brighter spotlight, and so it makes sense to have all its resources available to its bigger promotion. And when it comes to Strikeforce, Zuffa wants shows to turn a profit, and that’s no simple task when events include highly paid fighters. Because of those reasons, it seems logical to move its biggest names to UFC if possible. But what about those who remain?
Saturday night’s World Grand Prix semifinals showed that Strikeforce’s remaining athletes have plenty of fight in them yet, with a series of bouts that delivered. It’s a shame that more people didn’t see them. According to reports from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, the event was sparsely populated, though at least those who attended made their share of noise.
My colleague Ariel Helwani reported on fight night that there may have been 1,500 people in the stands. Contrast that to the opening night of the Grand Prix back in February, when the excitement surrounding the tournament drew 11,287 fans to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and you can clearly see the dropoff has been fast and precipitous.
Though that is the case, we can’t really blame the fighters. There have been plenty of memorable moments in recent months, from Paul Daley and Nick Diaz producing possibly MMA’s round of the year, to Dan Henderson knocking out Fedor Emelianenko to Miesha Tate upsetting Marloes Coenen.
It was more of the same on Saturday, which boasted an overall event that — fight-for-fight — could rival the excitement level of nearly any card all year.
Just in the main card, there was Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal knocking out Roger Gracie, Luke Rockhold shocking Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, submissions by Pat Healy and Josh Barnett, and Daniel Cormier blasting his way through Antonio Silva.
While in recent Strikeforce events, there still seemed to be a bit of uncertainty about the future, now the promotion’s athletes seem to be a little more sure that they see the end coming. A week prior to the event, Lawal infamously compared the organization to a “dying cancer patient,” saying, “We’re just waiting for it to die, to pass.”
But, he added, “As long as I can get my fights in and they’re still around, I want to get them in.”
That seems to be the prevailing thought of every fighter competing under the banner. Barnett and Cormier lobbied for Strikeforce to name the Grand Prix winner as the heavyweight champion. After all, Overeem essentially vacated the belt when he was moved over to the UFC. The pair never got an answer to their request, but the winner might as well be the de facto champion, and both performed well enough to make you wonder how they would have done against Overeem had he stuck around.
Whether they do or don’t, it’s obvious that the fighters will continue to do what they do. As anyone who has worked at a company in trouble probably knows, it’s not always easy to concentrate on your job when the future is in doubt. At this time next year, anything is possible. Maybe Lorenzo Fertitta finds a way to make the math work and Strikeforce is still running, or maybe Showtime doesn’t want to give up on mixed martial arts and extends its option. Or maybe neither of those things happens, and Strikeforce is just a memory, with its talent absorbed into the exploding UFC.
Either way, the fighters continue to leave us with good memories. It shouldn’t be possible to take away so much talent and not hurt the product, but as Cormier, Rockhold and the rest showed on Saturday night, you can take away the fans and the spotlight, but you can’t take away their pride.
King Mo, during the UFC application process post-fight interview. Props: Showtime Sports
Last night, the real story behind “Barnet vs. Kharitonov had nothing to do with the heavyweight grand prix. It had nothing to do with the middleweight championship of a sinking organization. Last night, as with every other Strikeforce show since the promotion was purchased by Zuffa, was little more than an audition. It was about who will get a UFC contract when Strikeforce goes under, and who will have to go through TUF. The fans knew it, the announcers knew it, going as far as confirming the Belfort vs. Le rumor, and the fighters definitely knew it.
Despite Strikeforce’s best efforts to hype Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov as a potentially close fight, we all knew what to expect: A repeat of Kharitonov vs. Monson, except with a far superior version of Jeff Monson. Because of this, it’s hard to be impressed with anything that Josh Barnett does at this point. The tournament’s biggest names and most intriguing matchups for Barnett- Fedor, Werdum and Overeem- were all removed well before last night. Barnett has become such an overwhelming favorite to win that when he wins, he’s simply living up to expectations. He was paired up against an opponent with weak grappling credentials, knew he would dominate the fight once Kharitonov was on the ground, and fought accordingly. At least the tournament was set up so that he would get to face a competent grappler in the finals.
King Mo, during the UFC application process post-fight interview. Props: Showtime Sports
Last night, the real story behind “Barnet vs. Kharitonov” had nothing to do with the heavyweight grand prix. It had nothing to do with the middleweight championship of a sinking organization. Last night, as with every other Strikeforce show since the promotion was purchased by Zuffa, was little more than an audition. It was about who will get a UFC contract when Strikeforce goes under, and who will have to go through TUF. The fans knew it, the announcers knew it, going as far as confirming the Belfort vs. Le rumor, and the fighters definitely knew it.
Despite Strikeforce’s best efforts to hype Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov as a potentially close fight, we all knew what to expect: A repeat of Kharitonov vs. Monson, except with a far superior version of Jeff Monson. Because of this, it’s hard to be impressed with anything that Josh Barnett does at this point. The tournament’s biggest names and most intriguing matchups for Barnett- Fedor, Werdum and Overeem- were all removed well before last night. Barnett has become such an overwhelming favorite to win that when he wins, he’s simply living up to expectations. He was paired up against an opponent with weak grappling credentials, knew he would dominate the fight once Kharitonov was on the ground, and fought accordingly. At least the tournament was set up so that he would get to face a competent grappler in the finals.
Oh, about that: Looks like the answer to overcoming Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva’s sheer size and strength lies in exploiting that glass chin. Much like he did in his fight with Jeff Monson, Cormier kept the one dimensional grappler standing as often as possible. Although he showed off his wrestling credentials with an occasional takedown, Cormier refused to fight Silva in his comfort zone by forcing the fight to be stood up every time Silva was on his back. That strategy will work against Antonio Silva, but is his striking good enough to do that against Josh Barnett? For that matter, is Josh Barnett’s grappling going to prove too much for Cormier at this point in his career? We’ll have to wait until Cormier recovers from the hand injury he suffered, which will more than likely be early 2012. Assuming that Strikeforce is around at this time, of course.
If there’s one fighter who didn’t seem to realize that last night was an audition, it was “Jacare” Souza. Souza seemed to buy into the nonsense that some people were spewing about how Jacare vs. Anderson Silva would be a fight worth watching, and seemed to believe that as long as he could go the distance against Luke Rockhold, the judges would give him the fight. Yes, it was far closer than the 50-45 fight that some people seemed to believe it was. Yes, Jacare probably should have lost by split decision instead of unanimous decision. But does it really matter? A losing effort, no matter how close, is still a losing effort. Still, give Luke Rockhold the credit that he deserves for his performance last night. After shaking off the cobwebs that come with over a year and a half away from competition during the first round, Luke Rockhold fought like someone who saw the fight for the audition that it was. It’ll be interesting to see who he gets to defend the title against (again, assuming Strikeforce is around long enough for him to do so).
Other than that, King Mo showed that having “good striking for a Gracie” is like being “a good fighter for a professional reporter”, shutting out Roger Gracie’s lights early. Do we even bother angling for a fight against Dan Henderson, or do we just assume that both guys will be in the UFC before the next Strikeforce card? That isn’t rhetorical, comments section. Also, Pat Healy managed to survive Maximo Blanco’s wild strikes- some of which illegal- long enough to spoil Blanco’s hype. Healy sure has a habit of killing the hype for Strikeforce prospects. Let’s see if that translates into a step up in competition for him.
Josh Barnett def. Sergei Kharitonov via submission (head-arm triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:28
Daniel Cormier def. Antonio Silva via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 3:56
Luke Rockhold def. Ronaldo Souza via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal def. Roger Gracie via KO (punch) – Round 1, 4:33
Pat Healy def. Maximo Blanco via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:24
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Mike Kyle def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante def. Yoel Romero via KO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:51
Jordan Mein def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:18
Alexis Davis def. Amanda Nunes via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:53
Dominique Steele def. Chris Mierzwiak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Filed under: StrikeforceCINCINNATI — Heading into Saturday night’s Strikeforce event, American Kickboxing Academy middleweight Luke Rockhold predicted a perfect 4-0 night for himself and his teammates. It was an ambitious prediction that ended up bein…
CINCINNATI — Heading into Saturday night’s Strikeforce event, American Kickboxing Academy middleweight Luke Rockhold predicted a perfect 4-0 night for himself and his teammates. It was an ambitious prediction that ended up being accurate, but it also seemed at least somewhat like the kind of thing you say to boost everyone’s confidence rather you really believe it or not.
But Rockhold, who took a close decision over Ronaldo Souza to claim the Strikeforce middleweight title, insisted he knew all along that his squad would end the night undefeated.
“I don’t speak nonsense,” he told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I was just really confident in my team.”
One of Rockhold’s coaches — AKA’s Javier Mendez — wasn’t quite so sure, however.
“I was confident, honestly, with 3-1,” Mendez told MMA Fighting. “I was hoping for four, but my concern was Mike Kyle.”
As Mendez explained, it wasn’t that he thought Kyle was outmatched against Marcos Rogerio de Lima on the prelim portion of the card. Instead, he was worried about whether Kyle had been healthy enough to adequately prepare for the fight.
“He just got through going through a broken hand. He didn’t get to spar [in training],” Mendez said. “We didn’t want him sparring because we were afraid he would re-break his hand. So I was concerned with him. I wasn’t concerned with Mo [Lawal], wasn’t concerned with Daniel [Cormier], but I was most confident in Luke.”
As it turned out, Rockhold’s fight was the biggest nail-biter of the night for the AKA crew. He and Souza went back and forth for five rounds, the outcome was difficult to call as they stood in the center of the cage awaiting the judges’ decision.
“I felt good about it,” Rockhold said afterward. “I might have got a little rocked, but I came back strong and I think I won some rounds.”
Mendez was similarly confident, but even he couldn’t justify giving all five rounds to Rockhold, as judge Bruce Snell did.
“I thought we had it for sure, based on the fifth round, how he came out and what he did. It was pretty close there, but when he came out and did the most damage, being the aggressor, I knew he had it,” Mendez said. “But the score of 50-45 for Luke? Whoever that was, no. That was wrong. I thought it was 48-47 for Luke.”
However you score it, the AKA squad went home unbeaten thanks to the decision wins for Rockhold and Kyle, and knockout victories by Lawal and Cormier. With that, the whole team returned to San Jose, Calif. with smiles on their faces and a renewed swagger in their step. Just ask the new Strikeforce middleweight champ.
“AKA,” Rockhold grinned. “Watch out. Don’t step on our turf.”
CINCINNATI — MMA Fighting spoke to Luke Rockhold on Saturday following his Strikeforce middleweight title win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, how he felt after the grueling fight, what he would like to do next and a questionable judge’s scorecard.
CINCINNATI — MMA Fighting spoke to Luke Rockhold on Saturday following his Strikeforce middleweight title win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, how he felt after the grueling fight, what he would like to do next and a questionable judge’s scorecard.
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsRonaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold battled for 25 minutes for the Strikeforce middleweight title on Saturday night, and in the end the judges awarded the hard-fought battle to Rockhold, making him the new middleweigh…
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold battled for 25 minutes for the Strikeforce middleweight title on Saturday night, and in the end the judges awarded the hard-fought battle to Rockhold, making him the new middleweight champion.
Jacare was a heavy favorite, but Rockhold fought toe-to-toe with him for five rounds, and in the end all three judges agreed that Rockhold had won it, with one judge scoring it 50-45 and two others scoring it 48-47.
An emotional Rockhold tried his best to thank all his coaches, training partners and sponsors afterward.
“It’s amazing,” Rockhold said through tears. “I couldn’t do it without everybody — so many people to thank, so many.”
Rockhold was extremely inexperienced going into the fight, with only eight fights on his record, all eight of which were finished in the first round. In fact, Rockhold’s 25 minutes in the cage with Jacare represented more fighting time than he had in his entire MMA career prior to Saturday night.
“I won the fight in five rounds,” Rockhold said. “I had never been out of the first round.”
The fight was almost entirely standing up, with the two of them on the ground for only about half a round of the five-round affair. That played against the strengths of Jacare, a world-class Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist. Rockhold fought the fight he wanted to fight, and he ended it a champion.
The Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov fighter salaries are out and Josh Barnett received the biggest payday with $150,000 for his win over Sergei Kharitonov, $100,000, Saturday at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
Depending on who you talk to, 
CINCINNATI — Heading into Saturday night’s 