WEC fighter paydays and bonus awards for 'Torres vs Tapia'

by James Iannotti on Dec 4, 2008 4:11 PM EST Comment 45 comments

MMAmania.com has received the fighter payouts for WEC 37: "Torres vs. Tapia" from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for the promotion's year-end event held on Wednesday, December 3 at "The Joint" at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres was the big winner on the night. Not only did he retain his championship gold, but he also earned the most scratch with a $44,000 paycheck for just over a round and a half worth of work.

His opponent, Manny Tapia, was the eighth lowest paid fighter out of 20 competitors who were in action on the WEC 37 card. He took home a $6,000 payday and a nice shiner to boot.

Main card winners Brian Bowles ($16,000), Wagnney Fabiano ($22,000) and Joseph Benavidez ($17,000) were also rewarded for their respective winning efforts.

It's also worth noting that each of the 10 winners on the night came into their respective bouts as favorites, which is very unusual for a mixed martial arts event.

Without further delay here are the full WEC 37 payouts:

Miguel Torres — $44,000 ($22,000 to show, $22,000 to win)
Manny Tapia — $6,000
Miguel Torres defeats Manny Tapia via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:04 of round two

Brian Bowles — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Will Ribeiro — $4,000
Brian Bowles defeats Will Ribeiro via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:11 of round three

Wagnney Fabiano — $22,000 ($11,000 to show, $11,000 to win)
Akitoshi Tamura — $6,000
Wagnney Fabiano defeats Akitoshi Tamura via submission (head and arm choke) at 4:48 of round three

Joseph Benavidez — $17,000 ($8,500 to show, $8,500 to win)
Danny Martinez — $2,000
Joseph Benavidez defeats Danny Martinez via unanimous decision

Johnny Hendricks — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Justin Haskins — $3,000
Johnny Hendricks defeats Justin Haskins via technical knockout (strikes) at 4:07 of round two

Mark Munoz — $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Ricardo Barros — $3,000
Mark Munoz defeats Ricardo Barros via technical knockout (strikes) at 2:26 of round one

Diego Nunes — $6,000 ($3,000 to show, $3,000 to win)
Cole Province — $3,000
Diego Nunes defeats Cole Province via unanimous decision

Bart Palaszewski — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win)
Alex Karalexis — $8,000
Bart Palaszewski defeats Alex Karalexis via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:49 of round two

Cub Swansn — $10,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win)
Hiroyuki Takaya — $5,500
Cub Swanson defeats Hiroyuki Takaya via unanimous decision

Shane Roller - $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Mike Budnik - $4,000
Shane Roller defeats Mike Budnik via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:01 of round one

Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.

For example, the WEC often hands out extra cash for "Fight of the Night," "Knockout of the Night" and "Submission of the Night."

In fact, the under card bout between featherweights Cub Swanson and Hiroyuki Takaya, which went the full three rounds, earned "Fight of the Night" honors. Brian Bowles' third round finish of Will Ribeiro with a guillotine choke earned him "Submission of the Night" accolades, and Bart Paleszewski's second round stoppage of Alex Karalexis was good enough for the "Knockout of the Night."

Swanson, Takaya, Bowles and Paleszewski each pocketed an extra $7,500 for their respective efforts, according to MMA Experts Blog.

The total base fighter payroll for the event was $219,000.

For complete results and coverage of "Torres vs. Tapia" click here.

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Comments

Miguel Torres Deserves every penny of his winings. He is in the top 5 most well-rounded fighters in the WEC and UFC.

by Mark on Dec 4, 2008 4:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Man, top 10 guys getting paid UFC undercard money. Aurelio got paid more than Torres.

by NameNotRequired on Dec 4, 2008 4:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The only real shocker there for me was Tapia. I definitely think that he should have been paid more than 6k. That doesn’t seem right. 8-10k, maybe even 12k would be fair. IMO.

by Adam on Dec 4, 2008 4:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the pay-outs were really low. Hell 6k to fight for a few minutes doesn’t sound bad. But if you think for a minute, he will fight 2, MAYBE3 times a year. That is like working at McDonald’s part time. The card was lame, the show was lame, and I think UFC’s WEC is better than that. Hell was there 90 people there???? That place was tiny. UNEXCEPTABLE!!(Spelling sucks.)

by iagoof22 on Dec 4, 2008 8:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I completely agree. I was blown away at how good the guy is. I had only seen a few pieces of his previous fights but continually heard how he was in the top 5 p4p fighters by a lot of people.

by Adam on Dec 4, 2008 4:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

this was the weakest card EVER… strikeforce and elite xc cars are WAY better than this

by brendan on Dec 4, 2008 4:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

strikeforce and elitexc have their own line of cars out now? it’s easy to tell who the real mma fans are and who the posers.

by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like you vouch for the midget fights;

Only thing WEC is missing now is the women fights;

Women vs Midgets anyone?

by Anger Jack on Dec 4, 2008 6:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

kANGERooJACK. cant really tell who you are replying to, but since your under me, i’ll assume it’s me. if the wec put on carano/cyborg, i’d be fine with that! midgets i dont watch, sounds liike your the expert on that one. what is it that your so angry about?

by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 7:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

damn you ager jack!! you just brought back painful memories of the time a strip club had midget strippers!! was hoping to forget that but you said the magic word aaaaagggghhhhhh!!!!!!

by day1er on Dec 4, 2008 7:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It’s dwarves…not midgets. you guys are SO politically incorrect. But I would LOVE to see me some female midget fights!!!

by chefdaddy on Dec 5, 2008 3:25 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea he obviously isnt a real mma fan couse he misspelled a word… This was weaker than the elite xc cards or any strikeforce event!!

by mike22 on Dec 4, 2008 6:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

lol thanks mike… they couldnt come up with any other argument but to clown on me for my spelling, good job b-dub… keep em coming… poser? what do you think i come on here to PRETEND to like mma? that makes a boatload of sense…

by brendan on Dec 4, 2008 7:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

MIKE 22. troll, no one mispelled anything, a letter was left off. elitexc is dead! yeah ive heard the rumors that someone? is looking to buy them, so what? until they put on another show, they are not worth mentioning. and what channel does strikeforce air on. nbc at 3 am. if you thought last night’s wec card sucked, then i really question wether or not you actually even know what it is you are watching!

by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 7:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

BRENDAN. whatever dude. you have an unabashed history of hating on everything ufc,zuffa,dana,wec on this site and nuthugging every org that’s not. everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you made a comparison, and a bad one at that. it wasn’t the best card ever, but it definitely wasn’t the WORST EVER.(it was’nt even the worst this year). since when did you start comparing the wec to zombie elite and strikeforce? i guess you got tired of looking like a fool, trying to compare them to the UFC. it was a FREE event, with one of the top 10 p4p fighters in the world. if you don’t like it, dont watch it. then you wont have anything to be disappointed about. imo, a REAL fan doesn’t try and find fault with anything and everything, just b/c they have some ultimate agenda, or hold some kind of a grudge, they take the good with the bad.

by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 9:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thats funny… i didnt watch it, and it was still terrible… can you give me a card that was worse this year than that one? in the top 3-4 promotions?

by brendan on Dec 5, 2008 1:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

why? you probably didnt watch them either. your the onlt one who’s funny-not funny ha ha though.

by b.w. on Dec 5, 2008 10:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Benevidez got $17,000? I guess it pays to be in Fabers camp. The guy was just quick with no real power behind any of the shots he gave Hernandez.

by the_mexicutioner on Dec 4, 2008 4:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

before you guys complain, realize this, you got to see a top 5 P4P guy for free, and secondly, who cares. Tapia made 6k, go ahead and complain for him guys! He go t a title shot, and a shot at big money with a win! Realistically, the event wasn’t that good, even the main event wasn’t a great fight, and the pay reflects that!
don’t get me wrong, I watched, but wasn’t impressed. Torres has been a guy I like for a while, but it wasn’t close to his best performance!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 4:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Totally agree with you, Kevin. Tapia had the amount he was contracted for to fight. If he won, he controlled his pay potential. He wasn’t gonna hope to complete the fights on his contract on the undercard so he can get more money before he gets that big opportunity. I also thought it’s one of the more lackluster shows WEC has put on,but more often than not they put on great shows. It happens.

On another topic, Kevin, I know you don’t like white girls but, whoa, you had to like that ref, huh? Talk about hotness!!

by PJJ on Dec 4, 2008 5:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

lol, I’m not sexist, but if I’m getting punched repeatedly in the face, I don’t want the fate of another punch landing in the hands of a woman, sorry. herb dean can get in front of that punch, she can’t. yeah, she was hot, about as hot as cyborg!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 5:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

let me clarify too, would I fight for 6k? maybe, maybe not! I’m sure no one would be complaining for these guys if they saw their sponsor list/pay checks!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 4:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not complaining about their pay. Quite frankly, I don’t give a darn. Your point about the opportunity associated with a title shot is legitimate. However, the 6k still seems light.
Do you really think that these guys receive a lot of sponsor money? I definitely find that hard to believe. Name some reputable, decent sized companies that are/will dole out 4 and 5 figure checks to have these guys endorse their product or advertise for them?

by Adam on Dec 4, 2008 5:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

6 K would have probably been double if he would have won. As far as sponsorship, companies pay a lot of money for a one minute commercial. Getting your logo shown for up to 15 minutes, depending on how the fight goes, has to be worth some coin. I wonder how much condom depot pays. Lots of guys have their logo.

by James S on Dec 4, 2008 5:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

“Companies pay a lot of money for a one minute commercial” Do you really think that this is applicable to the “companies” found on the trunks of WEC fighters. WTF do you think these dinky dink companies get the “coin” to pay a bunch of unknown fighters a lot of money. This isn’t Harley Davidson, Burger King and Budweiser were talking about.

by Adam on Dec 4, 2008 6:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

free products and a couple thousand bucks though! free shorts, shirts, gloves, condoms etc!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 6:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

word up, if i was a popular fighter id looooooove the condom depot sponsorship.

by medecine balls on Dec 4, 2008 7:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Adam, i never said they were getting budweiser during super bowl ad money. You are assuming a lot more than you are reading. All i am saying is its not crazy to think that Tapia made more money off of sponsors than his fight purse by selling ad space to companies that can’t afford commercial time.

by James S on Dec 4, 2008 8:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Condom Depot must sell a ton raincoats, cuz their name is on everyone’s @ss.

by chefdaddy on Dec 5, 2008 3:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah adam, but say 2500-5000 per sponsor. most guys had at least 10 on their banner. not to mention free products!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 5:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The WEC also doesn’t have PPV revenues supporting their payrolls like the UFC does.

by Jason on Dec 4, 2008 5:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

JASON. good point, but i think the people who are complaining probably already know this and just need a reason to hate.

by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 6:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Soon they will have WEC PPV – “Midgets vs Women 1”

I’d totally buy it if they can keep the price below 20

by Anger Jack on Dec 4, 2008 6:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

are they hot women or fatties?? I’d watch fatties!!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 6:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

AJ.id be down with carano/cyborg on wec, but midgets? nah, i’ll pass. i would never pay to watch the wec, but i’ll watch it for free and support it when it deserves it, like last night. i guess some “fans” will never be happy unless their are all big name fights on every event.

by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 8:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

they had a bunch of great fighters on their main card. Pretty much everyone deserved more money.

by Bill Maher on Dec 4, 2008 6:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

based on what?
do you think there is a gun to these guys heads when signing their contracts? They sign to fight for WEC for a few reasons 1) exposure and 2) it’s the best place to fight for the smaller weight guys!
All you guys that call for huge pay days for all fighters got to see first hand where that gets you: elite is out of business and affliction has put on 1 show, and will be out of business after the 2nd.
zuffa and strikeforce have shown the proper business model for ,,a. It’s actually common sense, pay out less than you bring in! You guys fail to see that the insurance costs are huge, not to mention camera crew, announcers, judges, doctors etc. Plus there was about 2000 people at the event (it seemed like). Where exactly is all the money you want paid coming from?

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 6:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yep yep, one step at a time and you can go a lot further

by Nish on Dec 4, 2008 9:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ok, i hope every one understand that these guys sign CONTRACTS, they know what they are getting paid before they fight. Why do you guys always start b**ching about what fighters get paid, your not the one getting in the cage to fight they are and they are the ones who sign the contracts, SO STOP WHINING!!!!! If they didn’t feel it was enough then they wouldn’t fight.

by InsaneConker on Dec 4, 2008 6:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No whining. Just comments. I know what a contract is.

by Adam on Dec 4, 2008 6:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

6k for max 15 minutes (25 for a belt) times about 4 fights a year or more. double if you win plus sponsorship money. even if you manage 2 sponsorships at only 1k each thats a bonus of 8k a year. so if you only win 3/4 of your fights your making 50 grand a year and thats decent money considering most have little to no education. but they pay to train right? so both me and my wife paid tuitions and got student loans and had jobs while in school for our careers. why are athletes held at a different level than the rest of us? besides, if you dont like the money you make at your job, do like the rest of us do, get another line of work.

by Egads on Dec 4, 2008 7:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

little or no education? do your research, compare the college graduate or attending rate or percentage of mma and that of any other professional sport. I’d be willing to bet you, outside of maybe golf and tennis, (but take NFL and NBA) that there are more college graduates in mma!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 7:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

a little nit picky on the overall point im making. i really hope you’re right. if they are educated as you say then you make my point for me and they can all supplement their “meagre” fight salaries by working in their educated fields or change their careers back to make more money. some fight because they love it, others do because they are making decent money doing something they love. 50k a year may be small potatoes for some but decent money for 70%+ of the population. all im trying to say is stop putting all “entertainers” up on a higher pedestal. that goes for atheletes and actors. besides im one of the few who seem to understand that there are more than just atheletes on a fight promotions payroll. people are still getting paychecks between events on top of all the money that goes into an actual event.

by Egads on Dec 4, 2008 9:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

don’t get me wrong, I’m agreeing with you. these guys (most of them) are educated and could do other things with their lives! They fight because they enjoy it and who really wants to work a 9-5? We’re on the same page buddy, I came off wrong, my bad!

by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 9:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs