Gilbert Melendez, Gegard Mousasi Lead Salaries at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Cris "Cyborg" Santos

Champ, ex-champ each earn $150,000 in wins

Gilbert Melendez and Gegard Mousasi each made $150,000 for their wins Saturday at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal, combining for more than half of the $580,000 total purse on the card. The California State Athletic Commission released the list of fight purses to HeavyMMA.com on Tuesday night.

Melendez got his guaranteed $150,000 for a five-round lightweight title fight victory over Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal brought in $23,000 in the loss, which headlined the card in San Diego. And former light heavyweight champion Mousasi made his $150,000 for a unanimous decision win over Ovince St. Preux. OSP, who had an eight-fight winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in Strikeforce, made $17,000. Neither Melendez nor Mousasi received win bonuses in their contracts – just the guaranteed $150,000, win or lose.

In the night’s co-main event, Cris “Cyborg” Santos returned after a long layoff and defended her women’s featherweight title with ease. Santos stormed through Hiroko Yamanaka with a knockout in just 16 seconds and earned $66,000, including a $33,000 win bonus. The quick stoppage meant Santos made $4,125 per second in the fight – making more in two seconds, before even getting to the center of the cage, than Yamanaka made for the entire fight. The Japanese fighter, competing for the first time outside Japan, made $8,000 in the loss.

The other top earner on the card, which aired live on Showtime, was KJ Noons. Noons snapped a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Billy Evangelista. He made $35,000 in show money and another $30,000 in win bonus. Evangelista made $20,000 in the fight, which opened the Strikeforce telecast.

The complete list of salaries is below:

Gilbert Melendez $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Jorge Masvidal ($23,000)
Cris “Cyborg” Santos $66,000 (inc. $33,000 win bonus) def. Hiroko Yamanaka ($8,000)
Gegard Mousasi $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Ovince St. Preux ($17,000)
KJ Noons $65,000 (inc. $30,000 win bonus) def. Billy Evangelista ($20,000)
Caros Fodor $20,000 (inc. $10,000 win bonus) def. Justin Wilcox ($12,000)
Roger Bowling $ 14,000 (inc. $7,000 win bonus) def. Jerron Peoples ($2,000)
Devin Cole $12,000 (inc. $6,000 win bonus) def. Gabriel Salinas ($3,000)
Eddie Mendez $6,000 (inc. $3,000 win bonus) def. Fernando Gonzalez ($ 3,000)
Herman Terrado $6,000 (inc. $3,000 win bonus) def. Chris Brown ($3,000)