Cristiane Cyborg

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg Salaries

The California State Athletic Commission has released the official list of fighter salaries following Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg which took place on Saturday, August 15 at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos ($25,000) def. Gina Carano ($125,000)
Gegard Mousasi ($2,000) def. Renato “Babalu” Sobral ($75,000)
Gilbert Melendez ($50,000) def. Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
Fabricio Werdum ($50,000) def. Mike Kyle ($14,000)
Jay Hieron ($55,000) def. Jesse Taylor ($12,000)
Scott Lighty ($4,000) def. Mike Cook ($2,500)
Justin Wilcox ($5,000) def. David Douglas ($5,500)
James Terry ($6,000) def. Zak Bucia ($2,000)
Alex Trevino ($3,500) def. Isaiah Hill ($2,000)

Remember that this is only the base salary that a fighter received. Bonuses, deductions, and other undisclosed fees are not included.

Cyborg Stops Carano, Captures Women’s 145-Pound Title

In the biggest bout in female mixed martial arts history, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos stopped Gina Carano via TKO to become the Strikeforce women’s 145-pound champion.

From the opening bell, the fight had a feverish pace as Cyborg immediately came forward and put the pressure on Carano with a flurry of hard strikes against the cage. As Cyborg attempted an early takedown, fans saw Carano sweep Cyborg and gain the mount. Before Carano could put up any offense, Cyborg went for a quick heel hook but Carano calmly escaped.

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Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg Weigh-In Results

The fighters are currently hitting the scales in preparation for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. Be sure to check back often as we provide you with up to the minute weigh-in results.

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg will be headlined by a 145 lbs female title fight between Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos. Also featured on the card will be an interim lightweight title bout between Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida and a heavyweight title bout between Fabricio Werdum and Mike Kyle.

Main Card:

Gina Carano (143 lbs) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5 lbs)
Jay Hieron (169 lbs) vs. Jesse Taylor (172 lbs) *
Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201 lbs) vs. Gegard Mousasi (204 lbs)
Gilbert Melendez (155 lbs) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (155 lbs)
Mike Kyle (219 lbs) vs. Fabricio Werdum (228 lbs)

Preliminary Bouts:

Mike Cook (205 lbs) vs. Scott Lighty (202 lbs)
David Douglas (156 lbs) vs. Justin Wilcox (154 lbs)
Zak Bucia (170 lbs) vs. James Terry (169 lbs)
Isaiah Hill (156 lbs) vs. Alex Trevino (156 lbs)

* Taylor weighed in at 172 lbs and has two hours to weigh-in at the 171 lbs limit.

Ortiz, “Babalu” Come Face-to-Face

The unspoken dislike between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and Renato “Babalu” Sobral may have been turned up a notch on Saturday night after the two exchanged words in the crowd during Strikeforce’s “Shamrock vs. Diaz” event in San Jose.

During an intermission before the televised portion of the card was to air on Showtime, Sobral approached Ortiz and the two began exchanging words, possibly concerning a proposed fight between the two that was once expected to take place under the Affliction banner last year but never came to fruition.

Once “Babalu” became visibly heated and didn’t seem to be content to leave Ortiz alone, fellow veteran fighter Joe Riggs came over and separated the two. Sherdog.com has a brief clip of the incident.

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Diaz Batters Shamrock in Strikeforce Debut

Many former EliteXC fighters were victorious during Strikeforce’s first event of the year on Saturday night in San Jose, California, but none of those wins were more emphatic than the one brash UFC and PRIDE veteran Nick Diaz earned over longtime veteran Frank Shamrock.

A younger, faster, and more well-conditioned Diaz pummeled Shamrock on the feet and on the ground over the course of nine minutes in the featured attraction of Strikeforce’s “Shamrock vs. Diaz” show before finally putting “The Legend” away, possibly for good, at least in terms of the sport’s relevant stars.

“I give everything to Nick Diaz,” Shamrock graciously said after the fight. “I trained for him 100% and I didn’t take him lightly. I knew he was a dangerous opponent, but I stepped up. I always fight the best and I come to entertain, but Nick kicked my ass tonight. There’s no two ways about it. He beat me.”

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Photos: Strikeforce/Showtime Presser

Here’s a small gallery of photos from this past Thursday’s pre-fight press conference for Strikeforce’s “Shamrock vs. Diaz” event, which takes place on April 11 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and will be televised live on Showtime.

Those in attendance at the press conference included former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock, Nick Diaz, former EliteXC champions Jake Shields and Robbie Lawler, and female MMA star Cris “Cyborg” Santos.

All photos were taken by Tom Casino and come courtesy of Showtime. Quotes from the press conference are here.

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Changes Hit XMMA 7 Main Card

The Quebec-based XMMA promotion has announced a pair of changes to its upcoming “Inferno” event, which is slated to take place on February 7 at the Cepsum Center on the campus of the University of Montreal. Headliners Phil Baroni and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos have been forced off the card after suffering separate injuries during recent training sessions.

Baroni, who was set to take on rising welterweight prospect Guillaume de Lorenzi, will now be replaced by former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver, who has been mentioned in the media quite frequently over the past weeks due to his release from Bellator Fighting Championships’ project with ESPN Deportes after he directed controversial comments towards newly-elected United States President Barack Obama.

Koppenhaver last competed at a Desert Rage event in November of last year, where he scored a first-round knockout of David Anderson. Following his time on “TUF”, Koppenhaver racked up a 1-1 record in the UFC before his departure, earning a third-round TKO of cast mate Jared Rollins and falling to Japanese veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

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Cris Cyborg Signs With Canada’s XMMA

Former EliteXC female standout Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has signed with Quebec-based XMMA and is expected to make her debut at the promotion’s next planned show on February 27.

Santos revealed the deal to Tatame.com during a recent interview. She plans on completing the one-fight deal at the February show and then intends to head to the United States in hopes of promoting a potential showdown against Gina Carano:

“I still don’t know who I’m fighting, but I’m well trained and I’ll fight in the same category I used to compete at EliteXC (66kg), so no big deal”, said Cris, training at Chute Boxe academy for the next challenge.

“I’ll keep my training and whatever happens there is God’s will. I’ll be well trained and prepared for everything”, guarantees Santos, revealing that the dream fight against Gina Carano is still in her mind. “I only signed a one-fight deal at Canada and then I’ll go to United States to try to promote a fight with her.”

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EliteXC Announces Partial Oct 4. Card

EliteXC has officially announced the televised main card for the upcoming third edition of “Saturday Night” Fights, which will be broadcast on CBS and will take place at the BankAtlantic Center, in Sunrise, Florida on October 4.

The show’s main event will feature EliteXC heavyweight sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson taking on the biggest test of his young career thus far in the form of UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock. EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields will defend his title against top British welterweight Paul Daley in the night’s co-main event.

Additional featured bouts include a women’s 140 lb. bout between the ever-popular Gina Carano and female veteran Kelly Kobold-Gavin and a middleweight affair between former EliteXC middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua and UFC and IFL veteran Benji Radach.

Another female bout between Brazilian standout Cris Cyborg and Yoko Takahashi will serve as the show’s swing bout, meaning that it could be featured on the CBS broadcast time-permitting. Also announced for the non-televised undercard was Edson Berto vs. Mike Aina and the participation of UFC veterans Crafton Wallace and Seth Petruzelli.

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Lawler Stops Smith to Retain EliteXC Belt

Robbie Lawler prevented history from repeating itself Saturday night as he wore down Scott Smith before finally finishing him with a barrage of knees in the second round of their EliteXC middleweight title fight at the Stockton Arena in California.

The two exchanged blows for the second time in two months, this instance serving as the main event of EliteXC’s “Unfinished Business” event, which became the promotion’s second such show to be broadcast on primetime network television via CBS. Their original meeting saw both men battle back and forth for fifteen minutes before Lawler inadvertently poked Smith in the eye in the third round. The ringside doctor ultimately ruled that Smith was unable to continue due to vision problems and the fight was ruled a no-contest.

Early on, it looked as if Lawler would once again earn a decisive opening round in his favor, stunning Smith with a trio of jabs. Smith bounced back however, continuing to push the pace and catching Lawler with a right hand late in the round, following up with a flurry that swung momentum in his favor. Smith then opened up a cut just inches away from the previous one Lawler suffered in their first bout. The blood forced Lawler to turn it up a notch, leading to a flurry of knees in the clinch that knocked Smith down twice.

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