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.

Mousasi recently spoke with Fighters Only and says he plans on honoring his Strikeforce deal, but declined to comment on the allegations surrounding M-1:

Gegard Mousasi has said he will honour his agreement with Strikeforce following recent reports that his management had misled him about the amount of money the UFC had offered him for his services.

“I am fighting in Strikeforce now and Scott has always been honest to me,” Mousasi told Fighters Only today. “I have a contract with Strikeforce and I am going to honor that.”

The DREAM double-champion then said that he did not wish to comment on allegations that his management had misled him about the value of the UFC offer.

Details on the cease and desist have not yet surfaced, though its believed to be a result of the UFC’s recent “collaboration” with Affliction that saw it acquire many of the former promotion’s contracted fighters. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker made mention of the situation during a radio appearance earlier this week, saying that Mousasi is under contract with Strikeforce and will fight Sobral at the August 15 event as announced.

Click here to check out the latest Strikeforce rumors.

Pictured: Gegard Mousasi

Strikeforce announced the fight on Monday, officially adding it to the Showtime-televised card that also includes Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos for the first-ever Strikeforce 145-pound women’s championship and a lightweight title unification between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez.

Sobral (35-7) is currently riding a five-fight win streak that includes a second-round submission of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning. After losing back-to-back UFC fights to then-champion Chuck Liddell and Jason Lambert, Sobral was cut by the promotion for failing to release a fight-ending submission in a win over David Heath. After wining back-to-back fights, “Babalu” won the 205-pound Strikeforce title last November with a first-round TKO (cut) of Bobby Southworth.

Mousasi (25-2-1) was crowned the first-ever DREAM middleweight champion by winning the promotion’s grand prix with a victory over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, but vacated the title before his first defense to move up to light heavyweight. He was last in action in May at DREAM 9, defeating Mark Hunt via first-round submission in the opening round of DREAM’s Super Hulk open weight tournament.

Click here for the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors.

[Pictured: Renato "Babalu" Sobral]

Trilogy is headlined by a heavyweight matchup between top-ranked Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett.

Also confirmed for the pay-per-view main card are Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago, and Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron, as well as Paul Buentello, who is expected to take on the winner of a June 27 bout between Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel.

The fight card for Trilogy currently features:

PAY-PER-VIEW CARD

• Fedor Emelianenko (c) vs. Josh Barnett
  WAMMA Heavyweight Championship
• Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
• Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
• Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel-Pedro Rizzo winner*
• Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron

HDNET CARD

• Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
• Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
• Deividas Taurosevicius vs. TBA
• Brett Cooper vs. Akbarh Arreola*
• Mark Hominick vs. TBA*

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats
• Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs

* Not officially announced

Mousasi, the former DREAM middleweight title-holder who vacated the belt to move up to light heavyweight, had been matched up with 185-pounder Belfort last week, only to have Belfort decline the matchup unless it was contested at middleweight. Mousasi refused, challenging Belfort to a catchweight bout, but Affliction has instead booked Sobral for his US debut.

A winner of twelve-straight fights, Mousasi (25-2-1) captured the DREAM title by defeating Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the finals of the 185-pound grand prix in September. Mousasi would never defend the title, however, relinquising the belt to move up to light heavyweight and fight in DREAM’s super hulk open-weight tournament, which kicked off on May 26 in Japan with Mousasi scoring a first-round submission of the much larger Mark Hunt to secure a spot in the semis later this year.

Sobral (31-7), who was cut from the UFC in 2007 after refusing to release a submission in a victory over David Heath, has won five-straight bouts, including a first-round TKO of Bobby Southworth in November to win the Strikeforce title and a second-round TKO of Rameu Thierry Sokoudjou in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning.

Affliction: Trilogy takes place on August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett.

MMAFrenzy.com delivers the latest Affliction news and Affliction rumors.

[Pictured: Gegard Mousasi]

Though no other matchups were confirmed, Gegard Mousasi, Ben Rothwell, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Tim Sylvia, Mark Hominick, Dan Lauzon, Chris Horodecki, and Paul Buentello will all be in action at the event, according to the card’s official poster (pictured at right).

Contrary to previous speculation, “Trilogy” won’t be Affliction’s last event, according to Affliction COO Michael D. Cohen, who revealed to MMA Fanhouse that a fourth event is being planned for late-2009 on the east coast.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Affliction news and Affliction rumors.

Jared Hamman

After Renato Babalu Sobral was forced to withdraw from his upcoming Strikeforce bout against Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante on June 6th, the promotion had to find a replacement on short notice. It seems they have done so in ProElite veteran Jared Hamman, as reported by Loretta Hunt. It is expected that the bouts victor will face off with Sobral in August for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.

Cavalcante last fought in July for EliteXC gaining a TKO victory over Travis Galbraith. The Brazilian brings a 7-1 record into the cage in June, with his only loss being a disqualification against Marcio Cruz. All of his victories have ended due to strikes, six by TKO or KO, and one by submission.

Hamman was last in action in August on a ShoXC card avenging his only loss to Poai Suganuma with a first round TKO. The American, who trains under Vladimir Matyushenko comes into the fight with a 10-1 record including eight victories via TKO or KO and two via submission.

For more information on the June 6th fight card, visit our Strikeforce – Lawler vs. Shields Rumors page.

Renato Babalu Sobral

Renato “Babalu” Sobral’s first defense of his Strikeforce title has been postponed. Sobral had initially been rumored to be facing off against Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in May, but then was later announced for June 6th. Since that time it has been confirmed that Sobral’s child is expected to be born on May 24th, forcing the fighter to withdraw from the event. This according to the fighter’s manager who spoke with MMAWeekly yesterday.

Cavalcante is still expected to take part in the June 6th event, facing off against an as yet unnamed opponent. With a win, Cavalcante is expected to get his shot against Sobral in August.

For more information on the June 6th fight card, visit our Strikeforce – Lawler vs. Shields Rumors page.