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

Rodrigo Damm

On the heels of reports that Lyle Beerbohm and Mitsuhiro Ishida were under consideration to fight Gilbert Melendez on Saturday at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, The Fight Network is reporting that Rodrigo Damm (8-2) has been tapped to replace the injured Josh Thomson and square off with Melendez (14-2) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz will headline the Showtime-broadcast event while Melendez-Damm is expected to co-headline the card.

Josh Koscheck

• Josh Koscheck will be unable to fight Chris Wilson at UFC 98 as scheduled after suffering a foot injury. The promotion is looking for a replacement for the matchup, which was to take place on the televised main card but will now likely be shifted to the unaired prelims. [The Wrestling Observer]
• Murilo “Ninja” Rua’s DREAM debut slated for Sunday at DREAM 8 in in doubt after opponent Dong Sik Yoon was forced out of the contest due to an undisclosed injury. DREAM is attempting to find a replacement for the bout. [Nightmare of Battle]
• All twenty-two fighters who will compete tonight at Bellator’s debut event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida successfully made weight yeterday for their bouts.
• In the wake of his recent controversy, UFC President Dana White will reportedly no longer do video blogs, has pulled out of a planned reality series, and will greatly reduce his public role with the UFC. [The Wrestling Observer]
• A featherweight matchup between Diego Nunes and Cub Swanson scheduled for Sunday at WEC 40 has been scratched due to a hand injury suffered by Nunes. A replacement will not be made on such short notice and the 145-pound bout has been removed from the card. [Versus]
• Mitsuhiro Ishida could rematch Gilbert Melendez at Strikeforce’s April 11th event in place of the injured Josh Thomson. [Fight Ticker]

Shinya Aoki

The majority of the field for the DREAM featherweight tournament quarterfinals was set on Sunday at DREAM 7 as six 145-pound fighters advanced into the second round of the grand prix. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto was granted a first-round bye, while the eighth and final tournament slot will be filled by the winner of a DREAM 8 fight between Hideo Tokoro and Daika Hata.

Masakazu Iminari, Hiroyuki Takaya, Yoshiro Maeda, Abel Cullum, Joe Warren, and Bibiano Fernandes advanced on Sunday while notables Chase Beebe and Micah Miller failed to make it into the second-round. Tatsuya Kawajiri, Shinya Aoki, and Mitsuhiro Ishida picked up non-tournament victories.

FEATHERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT (Opening Round)

• Masakazu Iminari def. Atsushi Yamamoto via split decision
• Hiroyuki Takaya def. Jong Won Kim via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:40
• Yoshiro Maeda def. Micah Miller via unanimous decision
• Abel Cullum def. Akiyo Nishiura via unanimous decision
• Joe Warren def. Chase Beebe via TKO (cut) — Round 1, 10:00
• Bibiano Fernandes def. Takafumi Otsuka via unanimous decision

NON-TOURNAMENT BOUTS

• Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Ross Ebanez via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:03
• Shinya Aoki def. David Gardner via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 5:58
• Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision

• Kazuo Misaki def. Joe Riggs via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:29
• Josh Thomson def. Ashe Bowman via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:14
• Terry Martin def. Cory Devela via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:08
• Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Justin Wilcox via submission (armbar) – Round1, 1:21
• Trevor Prangley def. Anthony Ruiz via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)
• Luke Stewart def. Jesse Juarez via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:55
• Eric Lawson def. Kenneth Seegrist via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 1, 3:07
• Brandon Magana def. Brandon Thatch via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Dave Martin def. Jesse Gillespie via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)