Ratings for the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10 dropped 29 percent to 2.9 million from the series record 4.1 million who tuned in for the TUF 10 debut. [Spike TV]

Pictured: Anderson Silva

Renato “Babalu” Sobral ($70,000), Jay Hieron ($55,000), Gilbert Melendez ($50,000), and Fabricio Werdum ($50,000) were also among the top earners for the event, according to the official fighter salaries released by the California State Athletic Commission on Tuesday.

Gegard Mousasi, who won the Strikeforce light heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of “Babalu” in the card’s co-headliner, officially made just $2,000, but is assumed to have made significantly more, with his previous contract for Affliction’s now-defunct promotion calling for a reported salary of $125,000.

The official attendance for the Showtime-televised event was 13,976 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose for a live gate of $735,710, with a disclosed fighter payroll of $468,500.

The official fighter salaries for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg were:

• Cris “Cyborg” Santos ($25,000 – includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Gina Carano ($125,000)
• Gegard Mousasi ($2,000 – no win bonus) def. Renato Sobral ($75,000)
• Gilbert Melendez ($50,000 – no win bonus) def Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
• Fabricio Werdum ($50,000 – $25,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle ($14,000)
• Jay Hieron ($55,000 – $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 – $2,500 win bonus) def. David Douglas ($5,500)
• James Terry ($6,000 – $3,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia ($2,000)
• Alex Trevino ($3,500 – $1,500 win bonus) def. Isaiah Hill ($2,000)

For more Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg coverage check out MMAFrenzy.com’s Strikeforce category.

Pictured: Gina Carano

“I did not grease in the fight. The athletic commission was with me the whole time. I didn’t bring any grease with me. I didn’t think there was much grappling in the fight anyway. It’s kind of funny, but kind of weak. I beat him good and there’s no way I greased.”

For more Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg coverage check out the Strikeforce section on MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Gilbert Melendez (left) and Mitsuhiro Ishida

After an exciting start to the main event that saw Cyborg pick Carano apart with powerful punches, Santos used a late flurry of ground and pound to force the referee to step in and stop the bout just one second remaining before the end of the opening frame.

With the victory, Cyborg improves to 8-1 with eight-straight wins dating back to 2005, while Carano falls to 7-1 after suffering he first career loss.

In other main card bouts, Gegard Mousasi became the new Strikeforce light heavyweight champion with a 60-second knockout of Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gilbert Melendez retained the promotion’s interim lightweight title with a third-round TKO of Mitsuhiro Ishida, and heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum submitted Mike Kyle in the opening round to kick off the Showtime broadcast.

Jay Hieron, Scott Lighty, Justin Wilcox, James Terry, and Alex Trevino were all victorious on the event’s preliminary card.

The official results for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg were:

• Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos def. Gina Carano via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:59
• Gegard Mousasi def. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (c) via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:00
  Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship
• Gilbert Melendez (c) def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:56
  Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Championship
• Fabricio Werdum def. Mike Kyle via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:24
• Jay Hieron def. Jesse Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Scott Lighty def. Mike Cook via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:05
• Justin Wilcox def. David Douglas via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 3, 3:16
• James Terry def. Zak Bucia via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:23
• Alex Trevino def. Isiah Hill via submission (key lock) — Round 1, 3:56

Pictured: Cris “Cyborg” Santos

Carano tipped the scale at 143-pounds, while “Cyborg” weighed in at 144.5.

The rest of the 18-fighter card also successfully made weight with the exception of Jesse Taylor, who weighed in one pound over the welterweight limit for his main card bout against Jay Hieron. A late-replacement, Taylor has one hour to shed the extra pound.

The official weigh-in results are:

MAIN CARD

• Gina Carano (143) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5)
  Strikeforce 145-pound Women’s Championship (vacant)
• Renato “Babalu” Sobral (c) (201) vs. Gegard Mousasi (204)
  Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship
• Gilbert Melendez (c) (155) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (155)
  Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Championship
• Mike Kyle (219)vs. Fabricio Werdum (228)
• Jay Hieron (169) vs. Jesse Taylor (172)*

PRELIMINARY CARD

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

* Taylor has one hour to lose one pound and reach the 171-pound non-title welterweight limit.

The promotion has already secured a replacement, as Mitsuhiro Ishida will fill in for Thomson and take on Melendez in a rematch of their own with the interim title on the line.

Strikeforce announced the latest lineup change on Thursday. Welterweight contender Joe Riggs and heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem also withdrew from the event due to injuries in recent weeks.

The card was bolstered by the addition of a light heavyweight championship contest between title-holder Renato “Babalu” Sobral and challenger Gegard Mousasi, a fight that was set to take place at the recently-canceled Affliction: Trilogy event.

The PRIDE and Shooto veteran Ishida (18-5-1) is coming off a May loss to Mizuto Hirota after previously defeating Justin Wilcox in his Strikeforce debut as well as picking up a victory over Daisuke Nakamura at DREAM 7. “The Endless Warrior” previously defeated Melendez via unanimous decision in December 2007.

Melendez (14-3) first won the Strikeforce lightweight title in 2006 with a split decision win over Clay Guida. After three-straight victories and the loss to Ishida, “El Nino” defended the title with a victory over Gabe Lemley before losing to Thomson via unanimous decision in their first meeting. Injuries prevented Thomson from defending the title, so Melendez was crowned the interim lightweight champ with a second-round knockout of Rodrigo Damm earlier this year.

Click here for the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors.

Pictured: Gilbert Melendez

“I broke it right at the ankle, so I had to have some plates put in with some screws,” Thomson said. “It was a double break in the fibia. I had a break in the lower part of the bone and a break in the upper part of the bone. I got eight screws and a plate put in.

“It was kind of a nasty break. The good thing is it wasn’t a jagged break. There was no compound fracture.”

Now nearly four months later, Thomson admitted he’s not yet 100 percent.

“I guess you could say that two weeks ago I was on crutches,” Thomson said.

Thomson admitted he was considering his options, one of which included withdrawing from the contest.

“I’m still talking right now with my cornermen and my management about moving the fight back to October or me just not fighting [Melendez],” Thomson said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not taking this fight serious. I’m doing what I can to win this fight. That’s the bottom line.”

Thomson also admitted he hasn’t been able to follow his usual training routine while his leg continues to heal.

“It’s moving right along, I guess you could say,” Thomson said. “I’ve decided to go with the non-training method for this fight – kind of play it by ear and see what happens. There’s a lot of things I couldn’t do. I’m not training like I was able to for the first fight, and we’re going to see what happens.”

Thomson gained the Strikeforce lightweight belt by defeating Melendez via unanimous decision in June of 2008. He has yet to defend the belt, however. Thomson’s last fight was against Ashe Bowman in a non-title fight at “Stikeforce: At The Mansion II”, which he won via first round TKO. He was then slated to make his first title defense against Melendez earlier this year, but was forced to withdraw when he first sustained the injury that is jeopardizing the currently scheduled match up.

It is not yet clear if Thomson has made his struggles known to Strikeforce, or if they are seeking possible a replacement opponent for Melendez at this time. Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com to follow this story as it develops.

Update 11:28 AM July 28, 1009: Thomson later went on the popular MMA forum, The UnderGround and changed his story on the possibility of withdrawing from the bout.

Pictured: Josh Thomson

Though no location was announced for the Showtime-televised card, the event is expected to take place at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California.

Carano (7-0) was last in action in October, topping Kelly Kobold via unanimous decision in EliteXC, while Cyborg (7-1) defeated Hitomi Akano via third-round TKO in her most-recent bout at Strikeforce in April.

In addition to Carano-Cyborg, Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson will unify his title in a rematch with interim 155-pound champion Gilbert Melendez.

Thomson won the title from Melendez last June in a unanimous decision victory. The pair were originally scheduled to rematch at Strikeforce’s April 11 Showtime debut, but a broken ankle forced Thomson out of the bout. Following his win over Melendez, Thomson (16-2) defeated Ashe Bowman via first-round TKO last September in a non-title bout. Melendez (15-2) returned to action in April, defeating Rodrigo Damm via second-round TKO to win the interim belt.

[Pictured: Gina Carano]

Frank Shamrock took home more than half of the total disclosed salaries for Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, earning $369,790 for his TKO loss to Nick Diaz. While Diaz only acquired $39,950 (including a $10,000 win bonus) for the victory. The second highest earner on the evening was Scott Smith who took home $49,940 (with a $25,000 win bonus) for his knockout victory over Benji Radach.

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz took place Saturday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event drew in 15,211 attendees for a live gate of around $750,000, barely enough to cover payroll.

The official salaries exclude some bonuses, taxes, fees, sponsor payments, and other miscellaneous payments and fees.

The official salaries for Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz were:

• Nick Diaz: $39,950 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Frank Shamrock: $369,790
• Gilbert Melendez: $49,890 (no win bonus) def. Rodrigo Damm: $9,190
• Scott Smith: $49,940 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Benji Radach: $16,940
• Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos: $18,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Hitomi Akano: $1,450
• Brett Rogers: $39,940 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Ron “Abongo” Humphrey: $3,205
• Luke Rockhold: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Buck Meredith: $1,540
• Eric Lawson: $9,950 (includes $2,000 win bonus) def. Waylon Kennell: $1,950
• Raul Castillo: $7,890 (includes $3,500 win bonus) def. Brandon Michaels: $1,500
• James Terry: $3,940 (includes $2,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia: $1,500
• Shingo Kohara: $940 (no win bonus) def. Jeremy Tavares: $940
• Total Disclosed Payroll: $634,415