It pays to take a chance sometimes.
The pink-haired Floridian was set to face Aaron Rosa in a light heavyweight preliminary bout that evening before EliteXC officials approached Petruzelli (10-4) with the offer to replace a medically suspended Ken Shamrock in the heavyweight main event, which aired live on CBS. Petruzelli’s earnings included a $15,000 win bonus.
Slice took in $500,000 to help ease the first blemish of his short but explosive career. Slice (3-1) missed out on a $100,000 win bonus.
Heavyweight Andrei Arlovski (14-5) also netted $500,000 for his second-round shellacking of former International Fight League champion Roy Nelson (13-3), who was paid $80,000. Both fighters were compensated by Affliction Entertainment, which co-promoted the bout with EliteXC, and did not have reported win bonuses.
EliteXC welterweight kingpin Jake Shields (22-4-1) earned $50,000 ($40,000/$10,000 win bonus) for his successful first title defense against British bomber Paul Daley (18-7-2), who took in $12,000.
Female MMA’s brightest star, Gina Carano (7-0), took home $25,000 ($15,000/$10,000 bonus) for her rousing three-round unanimous decision over the game Kelly Kobold (16-3-1) in their 140-pound contest. Kobold earned $6,000.
Middleweights Benji Radach and Murilo "Ninja" Rua opened the live CBS event with a bang, with Radach (19-4) finishing the former EliteXC champion in the second round via ground strikes. Radach garnered $30,000 ($15,000/$15,000 win bonus) for his efforts, while the fallen Pride attraction Rua (16-9-1) earned $35,000.
Other EliteXC payouts included:
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos -- $4,000/$4,000 win bonus
Yoko Takahashi -- $2,000
Conor Heun -- $2,500/$2,500 win bonus
James Edson Berto -- $6,000
Mikey Gomez -- $2,000/$2,000 win bonus
Lorenzo Borgomeo -- $1,500
David Gomez -- $1,000
Bryan Hamade -- $500/$500 win bonus
Jorge Boechat -- $1,000
Nicolae Cury -- $750/$750 win bonus