Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg
| Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg | ||||
| Promotion | Strikeforce | |||
| Date | August 15, 2009 | |||
| Venue | HP Pavilion | |||
| City | San Jose, California, United States | |||
| Attendance | 13,976[1] | |||
| Total gate | $736,000[1] | |||
| Total purse | $468,500[2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce. It was held in San Jose, California on August 15, 2009.[3] The event aired live on the Showtime cable network and marked the first time two women headlined a major MMA event.
Background
[edit]The main event featured Gina Carano taking on Cris Cyborg for the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Championship contested at 145 pounds (66 kg).[4]
Five five-minute rounds are now featured for the women's championship bout.[5]
Joe Riggs pulled out of his bout with Nick Diaz on July 23, 2009, due to suffering an adverse reaction to a drug.[6] Diaz was then slated to face Jay Hieron for the Welterweight Championship belt.[7] However, Diaz missed a pre-fight drug test mandated by the California State Athletic Commission and was denied a license to compete. Diaz was replaced with former Ultimate Fighter contestant Jesse Taylor and the fight became a non-title bout.[8]
Renato Sobral was set to face off against Gegard Mousasi at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1, 2009, but the match was scrapped following the cancellation of the event. The fight was instead moved to this event, and changed to a title fight for Strikeforce's Light-Heavyweight Championship belt, which was already held by Sobral.[9]
Josh Thomson, who was set to unify his lightweight championship with interim champion Gilbert Melendez, was unable to do so because of an injury. Mitsuhiro Ishida replaced him and the bout was changed to an interim title bout for Melendez' belt.[10]
A previously announced bout featuring Erin Toughill[11] was called off. She became the reserve fighter in case either Gina or Cris were unable to fight.[12]
The event drew an average of 576,000 viewers on Showtime.[13]
Results
[edit]| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Women's Featherweight | Cris Cyborg | def. | Gina Carano | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:59 | [a] |
| Light Heavyweight | Gegard Mousasi | def. | Renato Sobral (c) | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:00 | [b] |
| Lightweight | Gilbert Melendez (ic) | def. | Mitsuhiro Ishida | TKO (punches) | 3 | 3:56 | [c] |
| Heavyweight | Fabrício Werdum | def. | Mike Kyle | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 1:24 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Welterweight | Jay Hieron | def. | Jesse Taylor | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Justin Wilcox | def. | David Douglas | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 3:16 | |
| Lightweight | Alexander Trevino | def. | Isaiah Hill | Submission (keylock) | 1 | 3:56 | |
| Welterweight | James Terry | def. | Zak Bucia | TKO (head kick and punches) | 1 | 1:23 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Scott Lighty | def. | Mike Cook | TKO (punch to the body) | 1 | 2:05 | |
- ^ For the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Championship.
- ^ For the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.
- ^ For the interim Strikeforce Lightweight Championship.
Reported payout
[edit]The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the California State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses.[2]
- Cris Cyborg ($25,000 – includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Gina Carano ($125,000)
- Gegard Mousasi ($25,000 – no win bonus) def. Renato Sobral ($75,000)
- Gilbert Melendez ($50,000 – no win bonus) def Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
- Fabrício Werdum ($50,000 – includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle ($14,000)
- Jay Hieron ($55,000 – includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Jesse Taylor ($12,000)
- Scott Lighty ($4,000 – no win bonus) def. Mike Cook ($2,500)
- Justin Wilcox ($5,000 – includes $2,500 win bonus) def. David Douglas ($5,500)
- James Terry ($6,000 – includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia ($2,000)
- Alex Trevino ($3,500 – includes $1,500 win bonus) def. Isaiah Hill ($2,000)
Ratings
[edit]The event averaged 576,000 viewers on the Showtime cable network. It peaked with 856,000 viewers for the night's main event between Carano and Justino. The Carano vs. Cyborg event set a new MMA ratings record for Showtime, eclipsing a card headlined with Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott, which averaged 522,000 viewers. It also more than doubled Strikeforce's previous offering, Lawler vs. Shields, an event that averaged 275,000 viewers.[14]
See also
[edit]- Strikeforce (mixed martial arts)
- List of Strikeforce champions
- List of Strikeforce events
- 2009 in Strikeforce
References
[edit]- ^ a b ""Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" draws 13,976 spectators for $736K live gate". MMAjunkie.com. 2009-08-18. Archived from the original on 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- ^ a b "Gina Carano Tops Strikeforce "Carano vs. Cyborg" Fighter Salaries". MMAFrenzy.com. 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- ^ Morgan, John (June 7, 2009). "Strikeforce returns home to San Jose, Calif., in August for "Carano vs. Cyborg"". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
- ^ Stupp, Dann (June 10, 2009). "Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos fight for Strikeforce's 145-pound title on Aug. 15". mmajunkie.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
- ^ "CARANO, CYBORG, WOMEN GET 5-MINUTE ROUNDS". mmaweekly.com. June 16, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
- ^ "Home | Cesar Gracie Academy".
- ^ Morgan, John. "Jay Hieron replaces Joe Riggs, Meets Nick Diaz For Strikeforce Welterweight Title on Aug 15". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ Marrocco, Steven (2009-08-10). "CSAC: DIAZ NOT LICENSED; TAYLOR IN VS. HIERON". MMAweekly.com. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- ^ Morgan, John. "Renato "Babalu" Sobral to defend Strikeforce title against Gegard Mousasi on Aug. 15". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ Stupp, Dann. "Mitsuhiro Ishida replaces Josh Thomson, meets Gilbert Melendez, at Aug. 15 Strikeforce event". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ Morgan, John (June 27, 2009). "Erin Toughill official for "Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" event on Aug. 15". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
- ^ RSS feed. "Erin Toughill Off August Strikeforce Card". MMA FanHouse. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ "Strikeforce Diaz vs. Daley peaks at 806,000 viewers".
- ^ Meltzer, Dave. "Carano-Santos a ratings hit – UFC – Yahoo! Canada Sports". Ca.sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2009-08-23.