Nevada punishes Max Holloway, Paddy Pimblett, Gable Steveson for jumping the cage wall at UFC 329
Fines have been dealt out to Max Holloway, Paddy Pimblett and Gable Steveson after their big wins at UFC 329 in July. The trio all jumped over the cage in celebration of their respective victories, resulting in their purses being withheld until Wednesday's Nevada Athletic Commission meeting in Las Vegas.
The commission fined all three fighters $2,500 at the morning's monthly meeting. Each fine will be deducted from the fighters' purses.
Before the decisions were made, NAC chairman Dallas Haun addressed the commission to reflect on UFC 229 as an explanation for why this matter is taken seriously.
Said Haun:
"Here in Nevada, we're very clear with the fighters that you do not leave the cage for any reason. I was on the commission, as was commissioner Marnell, back in 2018, UFC 229, the [Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor fight]. We had close to 10 minutes of complete chaos, and when it was over, the police holding cells in the back of T-Mobile were full of people handcuffed, lying on their stomachs.
"In the city of Las Vegas, we want our guests to have a good time, but we also want them to be safe. That one incident caused the commission to take a very firm stance on that. We're very clear with the fighters again before they enter the cage: do not leave the cage for any reason. So these three items, they're jumping the cage to shake [Dana White's] hand, and we appreciate the difference. Someone from the crowd behind Dana screaming something could change that in an instant.
"So while we're not comfortable, we don't like doing these instances, but for the safety of the crowd and having learned from UFC 229 in 2018, we feel very strongly about it."
Commissioner Anthony Marnell also chimed in after Haun, doubling down on enforcing such punishments.
"I think [UFC 229] was a pretty rough night for all of us. I agree with you. I appreciate what's happening. But at the same time, it's just for me, it's a non-starter. And there's another issue here too, which is the jurisdiction of the inspectors with the fighter.
"The whole idea is to be on and with the fighter from beginning to end for all kinds of reasons that we didn't experience that night. When they jump the cage, we don't have inspectors there. We can't see. We lose control of our jurisdiction and our job as an athletic commission over these fighters. So I think there's the safety of the environment and the crowd. But there's also a jurisdictional and a regulatory issue, and I think that it would be appropriate.
"As we all consider this for today, I think some ideas to think about is you can stay pretty consistent with past practice, but I think there needs to be an ask — not a message or a warning — of the UFC, which we have always been able to communicate with to step in and partner with us on this with their fighters. They usually have just as much success in regulating themselves as we do them. So I think if we can make that request of them, maybe through executive director [Jeff Mullen], we don't need to air this out in a meeting like this. If we can't get anywhere, then I think that we have to reconvene and start talking about much more serious penalties in our regulations for this infraction. Hopefully, we won't have to go there and do that. We've done it before way back in the day, and we can come up with a very firm penalty for leaving the cage.
"I agree with you 100%. I get the celebration, I get the emotion that goes on between all these guys, including Dana, and his energy and positive energy for everything that's going on. But it just can't happen anymore."
UFC 229 infamously resulted in a post-fight brawl between Nurmagomedov and McGregor's camps, when Nurmagomedov jumped the cage to attack Dillon Danis, who was in McGregor's corner. From there, a full-scale breakdown of chaos unfolded, with pockets of people fighting not only outside the cage but inside it, where McGregor remained. Nurmagomedov won the fight via a fourth-round neck crank.
Coincidentally, McGregor was also at UFC 329, when he ended a five-year layoff to rematch Holloway in the main event. An early knee injury, however, spelled McGregor's quick demise; he lost the bout in just 69 seconds due to his mid-fight injury.
Pimblett also scored a quick 52-second guillotine choke submission win over Benoit Saint-Denis in UFC 329's co-main event, while Olympic champion Steveson won his promotional debut on the undercard with a first-round TKO of Elisha Ellison.