Looking to strike a little more coin as part of the work force? For mixed martial artists, the harder they hit, the more money they make. Those that raise their hand in victory always grab a more sizable purse than the fighter who winds up tapping out.

The UFC is at the top of the food chain in regards to the highest paid mixed martial artists. Other organizations dwindle down that monetary ladder leaving some fighters unable to quit their day job. Strikeforce recently wrote a few checks following last Friday’s clash in California. Here’s a look at what those fighters were able to put in their pockets.

Drew Fickett has been relieved of his obligation to fight Ryan Ford on July 25th for the MFC welterweight title. The details pretty much resemble a lot of he said-she said type jabber. Apparently, Fickett was in violation of his MFC contract when he agreed to a Strikeforce fight that would take place within five weeks of his match-up with Ford.

MFC owner and president Marc Pavelich learned about Fickett’s actions and responded with an irate voicemail which Fickett just recently made public. Fickett released the voicemail that contained numerous F-bombs as well as a few personal threats from Pavelich. Evidently, Pavelich was rather unhappy with Fickett and vowed that he would never fight in the MFC.

Pavelich was able to nullify Fickett’s fight with Strikeforce, but remains adamant about not letting Fickett square off with Ford on July 25th. There is an age old adage that states any publicity is good publicity. With MFC trying to find it’s way onto the mma map, Pavelich has the opportunity to cash in on these headlines. Perhaps his ego might have been hurt by Fickett, although failing to cash in on this kind of publicity will hurt his pocket even more.

So who really got the last laugh in this petty battle of words? Fickett is without a July pay day and Pavelich is without one of the more captivating bouts on his upcoming card. Before the fight even took place, MFC fans were treated to a war, only it was a war of words. And in the world of mixed martial arts, a war like that simply won’t do.

Strikeforce’s Friday night television event included a live audience of 7,488 spectators in San Jose, California. While a host of action took place at the HP Pavilion, Josh Thomson grabbed the headlines with an overwhelming victory over Gilbert Melendez. Thomson cruised to a unanimous five round win and walked away with the Strikeforce lightweight championship title.

Despite absorbing his share of bumps and bruises in the past, Thomson man-handled a seemingly inferior Melendez who was never able to pose a serious threat. It is a bit of a heartwarming story for Thomson who lost his father in the last year and also overcame shoulder surgery as well as a staph infection. Thomson improved to 15-2-1 while Melendez fell to 14-2.

In another title fight, Bobby Southworth (9-5) defended his light heavyweight championship with a similar victory over Anthony Ruiz (20-11). Southworth earned the unanimous decision as he pretty much controlled the entire five round title fight. The fight kind of lulled through the later rounds, however it lasted much longer than the pair’s previous bout. In that bout, Ruiz was awarded the victory after the fight was stopped just 52 seconds into the second round because of a Southworth cut. The title was not on the line when that fight which took place last November.

Making her Strikeforce debut, Meisha Tate (2-1) did an excellent job of looking good on her way to gaining a victorious decision over Elaina Maxwell (2-3). Tate was the victor on all the judge’s scorecards and may prove to be a promising young female fighter in the near future.

Here are the rest of the results from San Jose:

Billy Evangelista def. Nam Phan via split decision
Jeremiah Metcalf def. Raymond Daniels via submission - Round 2, 0:59
Chris Cariaso def. Anthony Figueroa via submission - Round 2, 4:34
Bobby Stack def. Jose Palacios via unanimous decision
Brian Caraway def. Alvin Cacdac via submission - Round 1, 1:39
Jesse Gillespie vs. Eric Lawson
Cyrillo Padhillo def. Jesse Jones via unanimous decision
Jorge Interiano def. Travis Johnson via TKO - Round 2, 3:00
Alexander Trivino def. Eric Jacob via submission - Round 1, 0:37