Nevada officially voted on Wednesday to withhold the earnings of UFC 300 fighters Arman arukyan & Diego Lopes, pending hearings.
At a monthly meeting Tuesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to withhold 20 percent ($31,600) of Tsarukyan’s purse ($158,000) for swiping at a fan during his walkout, and five percent ($5,000) of Lopes’ $100,000 purse for hopping over the cage in celebration of his victoy. The commission temporarily withheld funds after the T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas event on April 13, 2013.
Executive director Jeff Mullen also revealed that UFC CEO Dana White said he’d pay Lopes’ fine, which came about after he hopped the cage following his finish of Sodiq Yusuff. White appeared to have given Lopes permission to jump the cage before he did.
“After (Lopes) won, he jumped up and gestured toward Dana White, like, ‘”Can I come over?” Can I come over?’” Mullen said. “And White gestured like, ‘Come over.’ Then, I immediately stood up and took a step over that way and Dana White said, ‘I will pay his fine. I will pay his fine.’ Then our inspectors came around and proceeded to (assist) as I was trying to get him back in the cage also. Our inspectors came and escorted the man back…
