(‘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…
Overpaid: No one, really. Except maybe ring announcer Joe Martinez. I don’t know what he’s getting paid for that gig, but he’s the kind of ring announcer who seems like he’s constantly making fun of ring announcers. Then again, I guess that’s part of the job.
Underpaid: Manny Tapia. Honestly, six grand to fight in the main event? It wouldn’t be so bad, but when guys like Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller are making eight grand for untelevised bouts, and Mark Munoz makes ten g’s, Tapia deserves to be a little pissed off. That hair dye ain’t free, you know.
Regarding your comment about ring announcer Joe Martinez – like him or not, the guy does bring class to the sport and I think the fighters appreciate what he does. Fans seem to respond well to him too. The guy is straight to the point and he gets the fact that he is not the show, unlike other announcers who get in there and do a bunch of vocal and bodily antics in some effort to be recognized. I like him, just saying, and I’ve met the dude – he’s just as regular as your neighbor.