(Yeah, it’s basically a teacher’s salary, but putting a smile on Judo Gene‘s face makes it all worthwhile.)
Strikeforce paid out $368,000 in total disclosed salaries to the fighters who competed on Saturday’s Rousey vs. Kaufman card, with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza eating up over a quarter of the total, the greedy bastard. Actually, Souza’s $94,000 paycheck was odd in that his win bonus was only about 30% of his to-show money, rather than the full 100% that almost everybody else on the Zuffa payroll gets.
The night’s biggest star Ronda Rousey only earned a $40,000 purse — I know, ladies, I know — though it was still enough to put her in second place on the event’s cash-money leaderboard. Check out the full salary list after the jump, and keep in mind that these figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships and undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions for taxes, insurance, and license fees.
Ronda Rousey: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Sarah Kaufman: $17,000
Ronaldo Jacare Souza: $94,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus)
Derek Brunson: $13,000
Tarec Saffiedine: $35,000 (includes $17,500 win bonus)
Roger Bowling: $10,000
Anthony Smith: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Lumumba Sayers: $7,000
Ovince St. Preux: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus)
T.J. Cook: $3,000
Miesha Tate: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus)
Julie Kedzie: $5,000
Adlan Amagov: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Keith Berry: $2,000
Germaine De Randamie: $15,000 (includes $7,500 win bonus)
Hiroko Yamanaka: $8,000
Bobby Green: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Matt Ricehouse: $5,000
Underpaid: Julie Kedzie. First off, still no Fight of Night bonuses in Strikeforce? (Short answer: No, so stop asking.) The preliminary card war between Kedzie and Tate certainly would have earned one if it was held in the UFC. Instead, Kedzie only walked away with a piddling five grand for a thrilling performance in which she gave Miesha all she could handle before succumbing to an armbar in the third round. At a certain point, doing it for the love of the sport just isn’t enough. On a related note, TJ Cook took one hell of a beating to get paid just $3,000 for a main-card fight.
Overpaid: Nobody, really. In terms of work output, Derek Brunson didn’t do a hell of a lot to earn his five-figure check — though suffering a concussion at the hands of Jacare Souza isn’t what we’d consider an easy day at the office.