Strikeforce Salaries: Josh Barnett, Gilbert Melendez Lead Payroll

Daniel Cormier (Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

Total payroll for Saturday card on Showtime reaches $768,500

Josh Barnett and Gilbert Melendez were the two biggest money-winners at Saturday’s Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final card in San Jose, Calif.

The total payroll for the event was $768,500. HeavyMMA on Monday received the disclosed fighter purses from the California State Athletic Commission.

Barnett made $200,000 in his main event heavyweight tournament finals loss to Daniel Cormier, who pocketed $100,000 in the win – $50,000 plus a $50,000 win bonus. The two big men battled for five rounds, and both said after the fight they broke their hands early in the fight.

And lightweight champion Melendez picked up $175,000 – with no win bonus – for his five-round split decision win in a title fight against Josh Thomson. It was the pair’s third fight, with Melendez now winning two of the three. All three were title fights, and the first two times the belt changed hands. Thomson made $90,000 in the loss.

The night’s other big winner was Rafael Cavalcante, whose quick submission of Mike Kyle earned him $66,000 and avenged a nearly three-year-old loss to Kyle.

Melendez’s salary of $175,000 was a $25,000 raise from his last fight, a win over Jorge Masvidal in December. Barnett’s $200,000 was a $50,000 raise over his tournament semifinal win over Sergei Kharitonov.

The salaries do not include disclosed bonus awards, non-disclosed “discretionary” or “locker room” bonuses or any sponsorship monies.

The complete list of salaries is below:

Daniel Cormier $100,000 (inc. $50,000 win bonus) def. Josh Barnett ($200,000)
Gilbert Melendez $175,000 (no win bonus) def. Josh Thomson ($90,000)
Rafael Cavalcante $66,000 (inc. $33,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle ($25,000)
Chris Spang $12,000 (inc. $ 6,000 win bonus) def. Nah-Shon Burrell ($7,000)
Isaac Vallie-Flagg $6,000 (inc. $3,000 win bonus) def. Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante ($18,000)
Carlos Inocente $4,000 (inc. $2,000 win bonus) def. Virgil Zwicker ($3,000)
Gian Villante $24,000 (inc. $12,000 win bonus) def. Derrick Mehman ($3,000)
Quinn Mulhern $12,000 (inc. $6,000 win bonus) def. Yuri Villefort ($2,500)
Bobby Green $12,000 (inc. $6,000 win bonus) def. James Terry ($9,000)