Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg
| Company type | Event |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts |
| Founded | August 15, 2009 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California , United States |
Area served | United States |
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg was a mixed martial arts competition organized by Strikeforce, taking place in San Jose, California, on August 15, 2009. Broadcast live on Showtime, this event marked the first major MMA card to be headlined exclusively by female fighters.
Background
The headline fight featured Gina Carano facing off against Cris Cyborg for the first-ever Strikeforce Women's Championship at . The title match was contested over five rounds, each lasting five minutes.
Joe Riggs pulled out of his scheduled bout against Nick Diaz due to an adverse reaction to medication. Jay Hieron stepped in as Riggs’s replacement to challenge Diaz for the Welterweight Championship. However, Diaz failed a pre-fight drug screening and was subsequently denied a license to compete. Consequently, former Ultimate Fighter participant Jesse Taylor took Diaz’s place, converting the fight into a non-title matchup.
The previously planned fight between Renato Sobral and Gegard Mousasi, originally set for the canceled Affliction: Trilogy event, was rescheduled for this card and elevated to serve as a defense of Sobral’s Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Championship title.
Josh Thomson, who was initially slated to unify his lightweight championship with interim titleholder Gilbert Melendez, withdrew because of injury. His replacement, Mitsuhiro Ishida, faced Melendez in an interim title contest.
A scheduled bout involving Erin Toughill was called off; she remained on standby as a reserve fighter should either Carano or Cyborg be unable to participate.
The event drew an audience of 13,976 spectators with live gate revenue totaling $736,000 and achieved an average viewership of 576,000 on Showtime. The combined fighter payroll amounted to $468,500.
Reported payout
The disclosed fighter payments submitted to the California State Athletic Commission do not include sponsorship earnings or bonuses:
- Cris Cyborg ($25,000 – including a $5,000 victory bonus) defeated Gina Carano ($125,000)
- Gegard Mousasi ($25,000 – no win bonus) defeated Renato Sobral ($75,000)
- Gilbert Melendez ($50,000 – no win bonus) defeated Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
- Fabrício Werdum ($50,000 – including a $25,000 win bonus) defeated Mike Kyle ($14,000)
- Jay Hieron ($55,000 – including a $30,000 victory bonus) defeated Jesse Taylor ($12,000)
- Scott Lighty ($4,000 – no win bonus) defeated Mike Cook ($2,500)
- Justin Wilcox ($5,000 – including a $2,500 win bonus) defeated David Douglas ($5,500)
- James Terry ($6,000 – including a $3,000 win bonus) defeated Zak Bucia ($2,000)
- Alex Trevino ($3,500 – including a $1,500 victory bonus) defeated Isaiah Hill ($2,000)
Ratings
Broadcast on the Showtime cable channel, the event averaged 576,000 viewers and reached a peak audience of 856,000 during the main event between Carano and Justino. This performance established a new MMA viewership record for Showtime, surpassing the previous high set by the card headlined by Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott, which averaged 522,000 viewers. Moreover, it more than doubled Strikeforce’s previous top average of 275,000 viewers from Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.
See also
- Strikeforce (mixed martial arts)
- List of Strikeforce champions
- List of Strikeforce events
- 2009 in Strikeforce