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Jeff Chiu / Associated Press
Gina Carano, right, is punched by Cris “Cyborg” Santos, of Brazil in a Strikeforce mixed martial arts Female Middleweight Championship match on Saturday in San Jose, Calif. Santos won by TKO in the first round to win the championship.
Sun Archives
- ‘Cyborg’ does all the talking in and out of cage (8-16-2009)
- Strikeforce Notebook: Hieron leaves San Jose somewhat happy (8-16-2009)
- ‘Cyborg’ TKOs Carano (8-15-2009)
- Carano-‘Cyborg’ set to make history (8-13-2009)
- UFC to counter-program Strikeforce event (8-12-2009)
- Latest Strikeforce fight goes up in smoke (8-11-2009)
- Even in Philly, UFC's White still talking about Fedor, Strikeforce (8-7-2009)
- Fedor signs with Strikeforce, M-1 to co-promote (8-3-2009)
- Xtreme Couture's Hieron to face Nick Diaz at Strikeforce show (7-30-2009)
- Female fighters a big hit in Big Apple (7-16-2009)
No doubt the biggest fight in female mixed martial arts history Saturday night was quite the successful event as Strikeforce’s bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos drew 13,976 fans to HP Pavilion in San Jose for an estimated live gate of $735,710.
But the show airing on Showtime played second fiddle to UFC’s counter-programming of the promotion’s historic UFC 100 event from July (well, depending on how you view the ratings).
The Spike TV replay of the UFC’s July 11th pay-per-event featuring a heavyweight title bout between champ Brock Lesnar and Las Vegas’ Frank Mir outdrew Strikeforce’s live broadcast by nearly four times, but Spike TV is also a basic cable channel available in nearly 100 million homes. While Strikeforce's event was aired on Showtime, a subscriber-based channel purchased by nearly 20 million homes.
The Spike telecast drew two million viewers, but it's overall household rating average of 1.5 was actually smaller than Showtime's 2.1 rating, which had a total of 576,000 viewers.
Both the UFC and Strikeforce cleaned up in the coveted 18-34 male demographic with Spike drawing 513,000 viewers to Showtime’s 181,000.
Saturday's broadcast was the highest-rated MMA show for Showtime, besting the 522,000 viewers who watched Kimbo Slice defeat David "Tank" Abbott in February 2008.
“If you remember our April 11 card (Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz), the UFC counter programmed us that show too,” said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. “It’s part of their business model. I don’t take it personally. We are going to keep doing what we are doing.”
In related Strikeforce news, the California State Athletic Commission released the official salaries from Saturday’s event (these are base salaries that.
The headlining Carano made $125,000, which was $100,000 more than the victor Santos recorded.
Gegard Mousasi, making his American MMA debut scored only $2,000 for his quick victory over Renato "Babalu" Sobral, who made $75,000.
Xtreme Couture’s Jay Hieron took home $55,000, including a $30,000 win bonus, for his efforts in preparing for multiple opponents. “The Ultimate Fighter” season No. 7 standout Jesse Taylor recorded $12,000 in his loss to Hieron.
The total disclosed payroll was $468,500.
Why wasn't the Hieron-Taylor fight shown?
Yeah, pretty disappointing for Hieron not to be shown, especially considering he was fighting for a title before Monday's dealings with Nick Diaz. But with only four bouts on the Showtime broadcast and three of them featuring title fights, Strikeforce officials must have wanted to showcase Fabricio Werdum -- a possible opponent for Fedor. Judging from the fans reaction in San Jose (they didn't like the wrestling and lack of action from Hieron-Taylor), it might have been the right call. Definitely a nice win in a tough spot for the local guy though.
Who watches this stuff? Same people who like cock-fighting I suppose. Another sad commentary on the state of our society I am afraid.
Wow, those fighters are getting robbed blind by the promoters of both organizations!
Boxers in fights at this level would be paid in the millions.
TV Money from Showtime and Spike is probably huge, but it looks like the fighters aren't seeing a dime of it.
Darn shame for them too, considering how short an MMA career is likely to be.