It pays to take a chance sometimes.
A last-minute gamble pocketed
Seth Petruzelli $50,000 for his 14-second demolition of
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson Saturday at EliteXC “Heat” at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., according to numbers released to Sherdog.com by the Florida State Boxing Commission.
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.
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