Purses frozen after UFC 329: Paddy Pimblett, Holloway and Steveson face the commission
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has frozen the purses of three UFC 329 winners. The reason has nothing to do with the fights: Paddy Pimblett, Max Holloway and Gable Steveson all went over the cage to celebrate. The rule they broke was written after a 2018 night that was no celebration at all. The hearing is Wednesday in Las Vegas.
- Fight Hub
- 22 August 2026
Ce qu'il faut retenir
- The NSAC has frozen the purses of Paddy Pimblett, Max Holloway and Gable Steveson after their wins at UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas.
- The reason is the same for all three: leaving or climbing the cage after the fight, which the commission has banned since Khabib Nurmagomedov went after Dillon Danis at UFC 229.
- Pimblett's manager is attacking the rule in public. The hearing is on Wednesday, August 26; the Diego Lopes precedent ended in a $2,500 fine.
What Paddy Pimblett, Holloway and Steveson did
Three wins, three trips over the fence
On July 11 in Las Vegas, UFC 329 produced three winners who celebrated the same way. Paddy Pimblett submitted Benoit Saint Denis in 52 seconds, then went over the cage. Gable Steveson had already run through Elisha Ellison earlier on the prelims. And in the main event, Max Holloway climbed out of the Octagon after beating Conor McGregor.
None of it has anything to do with what happened during the fights. No foul, no anti-doping issue, no disputed result. What the Nevada commission is holding against them sits entirely in the seconds after the referee waved it off.
A freeze, not yet a fine
The distinction matters. The NSAC has not handed down a penalty: it has withheld the purses pending a ruling. All three will appear before the commission at its monthly Las Vegas meeting on Wednesday, August 26, and it is that hearing that will set the size of any fine — or release the money.
The amounts frozen have not been disclosed. What is known is what an identical case has cost in the past.
A rule written after one night in 2018
UFC 229 and the attack on Dillon Danis
Banning a fighter from leaving the cage can look petty. Where the rule comes from is anything but. In October 2018, at UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov scaled the fence after beating Conor McGregor and went after Dillon Danis, a McGregor teammate, on the outside. The night turned into a brawl in a packed arena, with objects thrown from the stands.
Nevada has applied the principle strictly ever since: once the fight is over, you stay inside. The rule does not weigh intent. It does not ask whether the athlete meant to attack someone or to jump into his coach’s arms — it bans the act itself, because the act is what makes the incident possible.
What it cost Diego Lopes
The useful precedent is from April 2024. At UFC 300, Diego Lopes climbed the cage after his win. The commission froze $5,000 of a disclosed $100,000 show purse, then, after a hearing, fined him $2,500. Half the amount withheld, in other words, with the rest released.
That is the order of magnitude to expect on Wednesday, assuming the commission treats these three files the way it treated that one. For fighters on a numbered card, the sum is symbolic. Which is precisely why the argument is happening somewhere else.
For the record, this rule needs to be changed. […] It's 2026. Apply a little common sense.
Pimblett's camp is going after the rule itself
“A little common sense”
Graham Boylan, Pimblett’s manager, did not plead mitigating circumstances. He went at the text. Speaking to MMA Junkie he said: “For the record, this rule needs to be changed.” And he closed with the line that sums up his position: “It’s 2026. Apply a little common sense.”
The argument holds on one point: between a fighter climbing the fence to attack a rival and a fighter jumping into his corner’s arms, there is a difference the rule deliberately ignores. The counter-argument holds too, and it is harder to wave away: a commission that has to judge intent case by case, live, in a white-hot arena, is not judging anything at all. The rule is blunt because it is mechanical, and it is mechanical so that it can actually be enforced.
What is really at stake on Wednesday
Not much financially, a great deal in terms of precedent. If the NSAC lines all three up on the Lopes tariff, the rule comes out reinforced and the conversation stops. If it grades the cases, or releases the purses with no fine at all, it opens the door to weighing intent — exactly what the text was written to avoid.
One detail worth watching: all three fighters come from the same event, which gives the commission a rare chance to settle three cases at once, on the same grid. A single joint ruling would carry well beyond UFC 329.
Follow it with the real numbers
Full records for Paddy Pimblett, Max Holloway and Gable Steveson, their disclosed purses, their bonuses and the history of athletic commission penalties are all in the FightHub app. Download it to follow Wednesday’s hearing and see what these three files change going forward.
