8/26/26
For a long time in the MMA world, jumping out of the cage after a victory to celebrate has been somewhat common. The fighters do it for many different reasons: some to celebrate with their family, some to talk to Dana White in the crowd, and sometimes to even get in the face of another fighter. Nevada has seemingly had enough, though, and requires the fighters to not leave the cage after the fight concludes. Max Holloway, Paddy Pimblet, and Gable Steenson were all fined for exiting the octagon after their wins at UFC 329. It is unclear whether they knew that they would get fined and did it anyway, or if they were fined afterwards without knowledge of the rule.
The fines were not big and only amounted to $2500, which isn’t a lot compared to what these specific fighters made that night. It might not even be enough money to prevent them from doing it in the future. The Nevada Athletic Commission has been very stern that this rule will not change despite pushback from the fighters themselves. The rule was created after the massive brawl at UFC 229 involving Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dillon Danis after Khabib’s defeat of Conor McGregor. It does make sense due to the danger of that specific circumstance and the fact that crowds, security, and fighters themselves were at a large risk. That situation was not a celebration though which is why fighters are upset. There is a difference between jumping into the crowd and fighting those watching and leaving the cage to celebrate with family.
This is why there is a dispute between the athletes and the athletic commission but in the end the commission rules all and the fighters have to follow their rules or get fined. For someone like Paddy Pimblet or Max Holloway the fine is almost nothing to them since they make so much money. However, a $2500 fine for a prelim fighter early in his career who is only making $12,000 it is significant. Especially because he doesn’t get to keep his full purse after paying coaches, trainers, etc. It all traces back to UFC 229 and Nevada said that it changed the rules for everyone. The rule right now only applies when competing in Nevada and there is no telling whether the punishments will increase as time goes on. When in Vegas, stay in the cage.
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