Long gone are the days of Gina Carano’s pathetic EliteXC contract. According to information released by CSAC, she was the top earner on a card filled with men this past Saturday, and earned $125,000 in defeat. The next highest earner was Renato “Babalu” Sobral who earned $75,000 in defeat. Gegard Mousasi only earned $2,000, but I think it’s pretty obvious the majority of his salary was paid in another form, because there’s just no way he earned only $2,000.
At the post-show press conference, Josh Gross asked a number of male fighters what they thought about fighting on a card with a female main event. Instead of taking the bait, they chose to praise the women and said it was great. What will they think about earning less than a woman, albeit one who is predominantly responsible for setting Strikeforce’s viewership record?
My guess is Gina is also receiving additional undisclosed compensation from Strikeforce. It’s nice to see her finally start earning real money for fighting, but at the same time it’s still not life-changing money, even though she is a promotion-changing star.