Strikeforce doles out more than $350K in salaries

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jul 3, 2008

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information from the California State Athletic Commission for Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson, which took place on Friday, June 27, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that promoters are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although mixed martial arts fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that a promoter also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, pay-per-view bonuses, fight of the night bonuses, etc.), are not included in the figures below.

In the listings below, "Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in the main event. "Preliminary Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the TV or Internet broadcast.

Gross receipts for Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson totaled $355,487 based on a total attendance of 7,288. The actual paid attendance was 6,750, according to the CSAC.

-- Josh Thomson ($35,000/win bonus was $15,000) def. Gilbert Melendez ($50,000)

-- Eric Lawson ($8,000/KO-Sub Bonus of $1,000) def. Jesse Gillespie ($3,500)

-- Miesha Tate ($1,500/win bonus was $500) def. Elaina Maxwell ($4,000)

-- Bobby Southworth ($25,000/win bonus was $10,000) def. Anthony Ruiz ($200)* *Ruiz received most of his pay in an advance prior to the fight.

-- Jeremiah Metcalf ($8,500/win bonus was $5,000) def. Raymond Daniels ($10,000)

-- Chris Cariaso ($6,000/no win bonus) def. Anthony Figueroa ($5,000)

-- Billy Evangelista ($14,000/win bonus was $7,000) def. Nam Phan ($10,000)

-- Brian Caraway ($3,000/win bonus was $1,000) def. Alvin Cacdac ($3,000)

-- Cyrillo Padhilo ($2,500/win bonus was $750) def. Jesse Jones ($2,000)

-- Jorge Interiano ($1,500/win bonus was $500) def. Travis Johnson ($2,000)

-- Alexander Trivino ($1,500/win bonus was $500) def. Eric Jacob ($1,000)

-- Bobby Stack ($3,000/win bonus was $1,000) def. Jose Palacios ($3,000)