Westin Wilson initially celebrated his first UFC win and anticipated a $50,000 performance bonus based on an inaccurate report, only to find out he didn’t receive the bonus, but still cherished the victory especially because his wife, who hadn’t watched him fight in over a decade, was there to witness it.
For a few seconds, Westin Wilson thought UFC Vegas 93 couldn’t have gone any better. He snagged his first UFC win and finish as the biggest underdog on the card against Jeka Saragih.
Then, he read online that he got a $50,000 performance bonus. But, it turned out the report was inaccurate.
“[An MMA website] announced it, they announced that I got it,” Wilson told MMA Fighting. “I was like, [‘I got a bonus.’] So I texted my manager and I’m like, ‘Did I get it?’ And he was like, ‘No,’ and I was like, ‘What?’”
In the end, the performance bonuses officially went to Tatsuro Taira and Brady Hiestand. Gabriella Fernandes and Carli Judice earned Fight of the Night honors.
The confusion not only stemmed from the report being wrong but from everything involved with the finish and the event itself. Wilson got the only first-round finish on the card.
He did so with just the 12th triangle-armbar submission in UFC history as a nearly 3-to-1 underdog. As the card progressed, finishes were few and far between.
When the main event ended with Taira earning a second-round TKO against Alex Perez due to an unfortunate injury, Wilson believed he was a shoo-in for the bonus. “Coach [Thompson] and I were like, ‘Yeah, we got it,’” Westin explained.
“There were only four finishes on the card: One was an injury TKO and they never give a performance bonus for that. Two were rear-naked chokes in the third round.”
“Mine was a first-round finish; I was the biggest underdog. It had to be me,” he thought. “And then when it wasn’t, I was so depressed.”
Wilson personally asked matchmaker Sean Shelby for one more shot after suffering stoppage losses to Joanderson Brito and Jean Silva at the start of his UFC run. The UFC granted his wish but against another powerful striker with knockout ability.
In preparation, Wilson worked extensively on his mental game. He collaborated with a sports psychologist to help him separate his fighter persona from his roles as a husband, father, and worker outside of the octagon.
Adding that to his regimen helped Wilson realize fighting with less pressure but giving it his all inside the octagon would be enough. With moral victories leading to his biggest career win, Wilson will remember that day at UFC APEX vividly.
Most notably because of who was in attendance to see it happen. “The win was fantastic because my wife doesn’t watch me fight,” Wilson said.
“She watched my very first amateur fight and then after that she was like, ‘I’m done.’ She hadn’t watched me fight in over a decade.”
“For her to be there and watch was fantastic; it was so cool.” Right after he won, he looked over and saw his wife bawling.
He saw his parents crying too. “Yeah, this is cool; this is awesome,” he thought. It’s an image that’ll be etched in his brain forever.