Chris Weidman pocketed $98,000 for his upset win over Anderson Silva at UFC 162 last weekend, and it sounds like he wasn’t the only member of his circle to profit from the victory.
Weidman was slightly more than a 2:1 underdog against Silva (+220), who was nearly a 1:3 favorite (-280) entering their middleweight title fight in Las Vegas. Not only did Weidman make $98,000 for the fight (including a $24,000 win bonus and $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus), but he also made his friends a ton of money with the win.
Weidman made the revelation during an interview with ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth. Hubbarth asked Weidman what he thought of being an underdog for the proposed rematch between him and Silva when he brought up the point.
“[Being an underdog again means] my friends get to win some more money,” Weidman told Hubbarth. “They actually did pretty good for themselves on this fight. Everybody’s trying to buy me dinner because I made them some money. I guess I’ll make them some more money on this next one.”
Weidman also talked about Silva clowning him in the octagon, a move that backfired because it gave Weidman a chance to sneak in some big punches and deliver a knockout.
[Watch: Anderson Silva knocked out while clowning around]
“He’s done that in all of his fights,” Weidman said of Silva clowning. “He gets inside his opponents’ heads. If you have any insecurities at all, lack of confidence, he’s going to make that even worse and expose you, make you feel like you don’t belong in the cage with him.”
Weidman somewhat defended Silva for the way he taunts his opponents by recognizing that it’s a strategy, but he said it didn’t bother him because Silva wasn’t hitting him while dancing.
Despite initially saying he was not interested in a rematch, Silva reportedly wants to face Weidman again. The only question is when the fight would take place.
