Bellator 172 salaries: Josh Koscheck cashes $75,000 in Bellator debut

A handful of main card fighters led by Bellator mainstay Patricky Freire and former UFC fighters Cheick Kongo and Josh Koscheck carried the disclosed payroll for Bellator 172, according to figures released by the California State Athletic Commission to MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

Freire scored the biggest disclosed payday at Bellator 172, earning $80,000 for his second-round knockout win over former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson in the night’s main event, which took place Feb. 18 at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., and aired live on Spike TV.

Both Kongo and Koscheck notched in at a close second place, with each fighter pocketing $75,000 for their main card performances. Kongo defeated Oli Thompson via unanimous decision, while Koscheck suffered an upset loss via first-round TKO to Mauricio Alonso in his Bellator debut. Both fighters were slated to receive a flat fee rather than a show/win split, regardless of whether they won or lost.

Aside from those three names, no fighter on the card topped $20,000 in disclosed earnings, according to commission figures.

A complete list of Bellator 172’s salaries can be seen below. As always, these figures do not represent a fighter's total earnings, as certain sponsorship incomes, contractual bonuses, or discretionary bonuses are not publicly disclosed.

Main Card (Spike TV)

• Patricky Freire ($40,000 + $40,000 = $80,000) def. Josh Thomson ($10,000)
• Cheick Kongo ($75,000 + no win bonus = $75,000) def. Oli Thompson ($25,000)
• Anatoly Tokov ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Francisco France ($12,000)
• Veta Arteaga ($6,000 + $6,000 = $12,000) def. Brooke Mayo ($8,000)
• Mauricio Alonso ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Josh Koscheck ($75,000)

Preliminary Card (MMA Fighting)

• James Terry ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000) def. J.C. Llamas ($2,500)
• Nikko Jackson ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Cesar Gonzalez ($1,000)
• Juan Cardenas ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Luis Vargas ($1,000)
• Bobby Escalanate ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Anthony Do ($1,500)
• Jeremy Murphy ($1,200 + $1,200 = $2,400) def. Matt Ramirez ($1,800)
• J.J. Okanaovich ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Zach Andrews ($1,500)
• Justin Tenedora ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Roque Reyes ($1,000)
• Martin Sano ($2,000) vs. Diego Herzog ($2,500) ruled majority draw
• Gaston Bolanos ($4,000 + no win bonus = $4,000) def. Abner Perez ($1,000)
• Abraham Vaesau ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Dominic Sumner ($1,000)