I think a lot of people are missing something in the Gina Carano weigh-in scandal. Yes, she failed to make weight, but she also failed to try to make weight. 3.5 pounds (or 3 pounds depending on if the clothing rule is true) is a lot to lose at that weight (and yes, weight is a more difficult thing to manage for women in general - not being sexist, just being realistic), but she probably could have done it. Since she had the deal in place to trade those 3.5 pounds for an eighth of her purse even before she went to the weigh-in, she had time where she could have been cutting weight that she instead spent cutting a deal.

I'm guessing that the thinking went something like this: Carano could attempt the cut and end up weakened in mind and body which would mean risking her win bonus - and therefore a full half of her pay.  Or she could save herself a miserable cut and just get to where she could on the scale but come in as fresh and strong as possible, all for an eighth of her pay. That means making 75% more than if she lost the fight.

And I'd call that a pretty savvy deal.

Yes, you can argue that it would be better for her to have made weight. But was that a realistic option? Should she have spent the limited training time she had focusing on sharpening up her striking and jiu-jitsu, or going on a "Crash" (pardon the pun) diet? Now that we know the pressure she was under in having to agree to take this fight in order to keep her job with NBC, and recognizing that we don't know everything else going on in her personal life that might have been affecting her weight, it's easy to see that while the choice she made wasn't ideal, it may have been the smartest economic move available to her.