NSAC Withholds Partial Purse Money from Tsarukyan, Lopes for Incidents at UFC 300

The Nevada State Athletic Commission is withholding partial purses from Arman Tsarukyan and Diego Lopes for separate infractions at UFC 300.

The NSAC voted during a meeting on Tuesday to withhold 20 percent ($31,600) of Tsarukyan’s $158,000 purse due to the lightweight throwing a punch at a fan during his walk to the cage. Meanwhile, five percent ($5,000) of Lopez’s $100,000 purse has been withheld after he jumped out of the cage to celebrate his win against Sodiq Yusuff. Both Tsarukyan and Lopes will be subject to a disciplinary hearing at a later date, potentially at the next commission meeting on May 31. Until then, the fine money will remain in the commission’s possession. UFC 300 took place on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Tsarukyan claimed that he threw a punch into the crowd because a fan flipped the bird at him during the walkout.

“He showed me f—k you [flipped the bird] and wanted to punch me, and I wanted to punch him back, that’s it,” Tsarukyan said after UFC 300. “So guys, like no one show me f—k you. Doesn’t matter who you are, I’m going to punch you in the face. You can show me f—k from like 200 meters, I’m not going to punch you. But when you’re close to me, it’s like automatically, I’m like from Russia. Like don’t do that, please, or I’m going to go to the prison in U.S.”

The fan later apologized to Tsarukyan and stated that he didn’t want to press charges, something that NSAC executive director Jeff Mullen confirmed during Tuesday’s meeting. Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira via split decision at UFC 300.

Meanwhile, Lopes appeared to ask permission from UFC CEO Dana White before hopping over the cage following his stoppage of Yusuff. Mullen revealed on Tuesday that White told him at that time the he would pay Lopes’ fine for leaving the Octagon.