Josh Thomson (Strikeforce)
Rousey earns $32,000 in bantamweight title victory
Former middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and former lightweight champ Josh Thomson paced the list of salaries at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on Saturday night.
The fight card, which was broadcast live on Showtime, took place at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The list of salaries on Monday was provided to HeavyMMA by the Ohio Athletic Commission. The combined total payroll for the 18 fighters on the card was $543,500.
Souza earned $92,000 for his third-round submission victory over Bristol Marunde. Of that total, $70,000 was Souza’s base show money; his win bonus was an additional $22,000. And Thomson received a flat fee of $80,000 for his fight against K.J. Noons in the co-main event. That fight expected to draw fireworks as a potential title eliminator for the next challenger for champion Gilbert Melendez. Thomson won a unanimous decision, but was highly critical of his own performance and in post-fight interviews said he was bothered by the boos of the crowd for what it deemed to be a less-than-exciting fight. Noons made $38,000 in the loss.
New women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey made $32,000 for her first-round submission win over Miesha Tate, who earned $19,000 in show money, but relinquished her title. Rousey made $15,000 to show and received an additional $17,000 win bonus.
The night’s other big earners included Scott Smith, who made $65,000 in a first-round submission loss to Lumumba Sayers that lasted just 1:34. It was Smith’s fourth consecutive loss. Sayers made $10,000 for the win. And Kazuo Misaki returned to Strikeforce for the first time in several years and made a flat $50,000 for his split decision victory over Paul Daley, who earned $45,000.
The complete list of salaries is below:
Ronda Rousey $32,000 (inc. $17,000 win bonus) def. Miesha Tate ($19,000)
Josh Thomson $80,000 (no win bonus) def. K.J. Noons ($38,000)
Kazuo Misaki $50,000 (no win bonus) def. Paul Daley ($45,000)
Lumumba Sayers $10,000 (inc. $5,000 win bonus) def. Scott Smith ($65,000)
Ronaldo Souza $92,000 (inc. $22,000 win bonus) def. Bristol Marunde ($10,000)
Sarah Kaufman $25,000 (inc. $10,000 win bonus) def. Alexis Davis ($4,000)
Roger Bowling $16,000 (inc. $8,000 win bonus) def. Brandon Saling ($5,000)
Pat Healy $22,500 (inc. $5,000 win bonus) def. Caros Fodor ($12,000)
Ryan Couture $10,000 (no win bonus) def. Conor Heun ($8,000)