A photo of Carano’s cover (via USA Today) is below:

“”Knockout” casts Carano as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes. The film is a closer cousin to “La Femme Nikita” and “Kill Bill” than “Million Dollar Baby,” in that it doesn’t take place in the fight ring. Rather, [director Steven] Soderbergh considers the film as a flat out action film in the James Bond mold, and will shoot in locations around the world that include Ireland, Turkey and the U.S.

Soderbergh will surround Carano will name actors in supporting roles.”

The announcement is the latest mainstream success for Carano, who is known as the “Face of Women’s MMA,” having previously appeared on the remake of American Gladiators on NBC and ranking #16 on Maxim’s Hot 100 list.

Soderbergh is an Academy Award-winning director whose films include Traffic and Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen.

Production for the film is slated to begin in January, sidelining Carano until mid-2010 at the earliest.

Click here for the latest Gina Carano news.

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

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.

Toughill is a former Palace Fighting Championship competitor, who has amassed a 10-2-1 record in her MMA career. Her only loss in her last ten bouts was due to a disqualification for elbows at Smackgirl ‘World ReMix 2004.’ She has also garnered a professional boxing record of 8-2-1, but hasn’t competed in the sport since 2006.

Also of note, Toughill joined Carano on the second season of American Gladiators as “Steele”, the show has since been cancelled.

Click here for the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors.

Pictured: Erin Toughill

• Joining Kimbo Slice and the previously rumored fighters on The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights, according to a rumored list of cast members that has circulated in recent days, will be Jim York, Justin Wren, Mike Wessel, Scott Junk, Zak Jensen, Darrill Schoonover, Jon Madsen, Tom Blackledge, and Abe Wagner.
• Andrei Arlovski has received a 60-day medical suspension following his first-round knockout loss to Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields on June 6, which has forced his boxing debut, which was to take place on June 27, to be postponed. Rafael Calvacante, who suffered a second-round TKO loss to Mike Kyle on the event’s preliminary card, was also suspended for 60 days.
• The first UFC Gym, whose features will include an “Arm Bar” with snacks and drinks, is set to open in Concord, California.
• After making critical remarks about Miletich Fighting Systems following his UFC 98 wins, Drew McFedries has been kicked out of the gym.
• Urijah Faber has been medically suspended until December 4th after suffering a broken right hand in his WEC 41 loss to Mike Brown on June 7.
• Lightweight contenders Ricardo Lamas and Danny Castillo will meet at WEC 42 in August.
• Randy Couture will train and corner Gina Carano for her Strikeforce 145-pound title bout against Cris Cyborg on August 15 in San Jose. Tickets for the event went on sale today and start at just $30.
• During a Q&A session before the UFC 99 weigh-ins, UFC President Dana White said he’s interested in signing Josh Barnett if he beats Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Trilogy in August.
• At the post-UFC 99 press conference on Saturday, Wanderlei Silva called for a rematch with Rich Franklin after suffering a close unanimous decision loss in the UFC 99 headliner. Dana White, meanwhile, wants Franklin to move back up to light heavyweight for a run at the 205-pound title.
• The UFC will host an event in the UK in October and the promotion is planning to hold 2 events in Canada in 2010, Dana White announced during the UFC 99 Q&A.
• At the post-UFC 99 press conference, welterweight contender Mike Swick said he’d “love to fight Matt Hughes”.
• A UFC 100 viewing party will be held at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on July 11 with Frankie Edgar and Matt Hamill scheduled as special guests.
• Weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale will take place this Friday at 4pm PT (7pm ET) at the Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.
• Heavyweights Todd Duffee and Mike Russow are likely to fight at UFC 102 on August 29 in Portland, Oregon.
• Despite a planned appeal from Mostapha Al-Turk over his TKO loss to Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 99 on Saturday that was setup by an accidental eye poke, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner announced on Monday that an appeal was not possible as it was a judgment call made by referee Dan Mirgliotta.
• Weigh-ins for Friday’s Showtime-televised Strikeforce Challengers event at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington will take place on Thursday at the venue’s Club Lounge and are free and open to the public.

[Pictured: Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko]

Strikeforce has now made another contribution to the world of MMA, particularly women’s MMA. Strikeforce is already the largest promoter to feature female fights. They have also given women the first North American headlining slot with Gina Carano vs. Christiane “Cyborg” Santos on August 15. Now they have added to that list the first two high profile female bouts to be contested with five minute rounds.

Last week it was confirmed by ESPN.com that Carano v. Cyborg received permission from the California State Athletic Commission to go five minute rounds. This marked a departure from past requirements by athletic commissions that the women only fight three minute rounds. At the time, however, Strikeforce said that the length of rounds in women’s fights would be determined on a fight by fight basis depending on the rulings of the governing athletic commission.

Now Strikeforce CEO Mike Afromowitz has confirmed to MMAJunkie that the Washington State Athletic Commission has followed California’s lead. The WSAC has given its blessing to five minute rounds in women’s fights for the Friday night bout between Shayna Baszler and Sarah Kaufman. The article went on to quote Afromowitz as saying “We can’t yet commit to every women’s fight using five-minute rounds because we’re working with the athletic commissions in the various states we visit, but we hope to get to that point eventually.”

[Pictured: Shayna Baszler]

Carano-Cyborg, which will feature 5 3-minute rounds as opposed to the 5 5-minute rounds of male title bouts, headlines the Showtime-televised card, which takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

The event is also slated to feature a rematch between Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez as well as a heavyweight championship bout pitting current title-holder Alistair Overeem against Brett Rogers.

Tickets for the event go on sale to the public beginning at 10am ET on Monday, June 15th.

For more on the recently-announced event click here.

[Pictured: Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos]

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]