Manny Tapia

(Fred Sanford, bitch. Photo courtesy of the WEC 40 weigh-ins gallery on Combat Lifestyle.)

From tonight's "Torres vs. Mizugaki" show at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago, Illinois:

Rafael Dias def. Mike Budnick via unanimous decision
Akitoshi Tamura def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision
Rani Yahya def. Eddie Wineland via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:07 of round 1
Wagnney Fabiano def. Fredson Paixao via unanimous decision
Dominick Cruz def. Ivan Lopez via unanimous decision [fight halted in third round after Lopez took an illegal knee and couldn't continue; match went to the scorecards, with the incomplete third round included]
Anthony Njokuani def. Bart Palaszewski via TKO, 0:27 of round 2

('Yeah, we're buds now.  So can I borrow $10,000?' Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle's WEC 37 Aftermath gallery.)

Payouts for WEC 37 are now public, and thankfully no one dropped below the dreaded $2,000 hard deck, though Danny Martinez walked right to the edge and looked over.  What he saw was poverty.  And he saw that it was not good, and this displeased him.

What’s interesting to note is that of the ten bouts at WEC 37, the betting favorite won all ten.  In seven of those bouts, the favorite made more in show money than his opponent.  Just some fun little trivia for you.  And now, the figures:  

Miguel Torres: $44,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus)
Manny Tapia: $6,000
Wagnney Fabiano: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus)
Akitoshi Tamura: $6,000
Brian Bowles: $23,500(includes $8,000 win bonus and $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus)
Will Ribeiro: $4,000
Joseph Benavidez: $17,000 (includes $8,500 win bonus)
Danny Martinez: $2,000
Johny Hendricks: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Justin Haskins: $3,000
Mark Munoz: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Ricardo Barros: $3,000
Diego Nunes: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Cole Province: $3,000
Bart Palaszewski: $15,500 (includes $4,000 win bonus and $7,500 KO of the Night bonus)
Alex Karalexis: $8,000
Cub Swanson: $17,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus and $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Hiroyuki Takaya: $12,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Shane Roller: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Mike Budnik: $4,000

Thoughts...

Before he scored three consecutive knockouts at UFC 2 — and way before he harpooned Butterbean at Yamma 1 — Patrick Smith was busy smashing fools in the sport karate circuit. This video (posted on the UG) was just too ridiculous/amazing not to share. Watch as Smith breaks some boards to fire himself up for the match, then executes a perfect side-kick to the balls / reverse-roundhouse combo to knock his opponent off the fighting stage, Bloodsport-style. I've said it before and I'll say it again: ROBOTE IS THE STRONGEST.

After the jump: The full Torres/Tapia fight from last night.

("No, I hate you more!" Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Miguel Torres aims to make his second bantamweight belt defense against the undefeated Manny Tapia, Brian Bowles and Will Ribeiro scrap for the chance to take on the winner, and top featherweights Wagnney Fabiano and Akitoshi Tamura make their WEC debuts. Not too shabby a night for sub-lightweight MMA, if you ask us. Hit that "Read More" link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest updates from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

(Aww, just wait till you get older and can grow a real mustache!)

Depending on how you look at it, betting on WEC fights is usually either a sign that you know something about a small-time, up-and-comer that the bookies don’t, or else it’s an indicator that you have a real gambling problem.  As in a Pete Rose kind of problem.  And that ain’t cool.  Just ask Pete Rose, who will still tell you he doesn't have a problem, but will also tell you that he is not in the baseball Hall of Fame.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  If you know the fighters you can have plenty of fun putting down an educated wager on a WEC fight.  Plus, it’s on free TV, so you can take that money that in the future you’ll have to spend on WEC pay-per-views and gamble it away!  Nah, that was a joke.  If you think like that then you really do have a problem.  

Here are the odds on tonight’s action, courtesy of BestFightOdds.

Miguel Torres (-525) vs. Manny Tapia (+400)
Brian Bowles (-145) vs. Will Ribeiro (+140)
Akitoshi Tamura (+300) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (-360)
Joseph Benavidez (-290) vs. Danny Martinez (+250)
Johnny Hendricks (-430) vs. Justin Haskins (+350)
Mark Munoz (-600) vs. Ricardo Barros (+525)
Diego Nunes (-175) vs. Cole Province (+160)
Bart Palaszewski (-260) vs. Alex Karalexis (+220)
Hiroyuki Takaya (+180) vs. Cub Swanson (-185)
Shane Roller (-255) vs. Mike Budnik (+220)

Thoughts…