The Nevada State Athletic Commission is withholding some funds from Arman Tsarukyan and Diego Lopez due to separate violations at UFC 300.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the NSAC withheld 20 percent ($31,600) of the lightweight Tsarukian’s $158,000 purse for throwing a punch at a fan on his way to the cage. It was decided that Meanwhile, 5 percent ($5,000) of the $100,000 in Lopez’s wallet, which he jumped out of the cage to celebrate his victory over Sodiq Yousaf, has been seized. Both Tsarukian and Lopez will face disciplinary hearings at a later date, likely at the commission’s next meeting on May 31. Until then, the fine will be kept by the commission. UFC 300 took place on April 13th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Tsarukian claimed he threw a punch at a crowd because a fan threw a bird at him during the walkout.
“He showed me fk you [flipped the bird] “And he wanted to punch me, and I wanted to punch him back, that’s all,” Tsarukyan said after UFC 300. I don’t care who you are, I’m going to punch you in the face. I can show it to you from about 200 meters away, but I don’t intend to hit you. But when you’re near me, it’s automatically like I’m from Russia. Stop doing that or you’ll end up in an American prison. ”
The fan later apologized to Tsarukian and said he did not want to press charges, something NSAC Executive Director Jeff Mullen confirmed at Tuesday’s meeting. Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira by split decision at UFC 300.
Meanwhile, Lopez appeared to ask UFC CEO Dana White for permission before jumping over the cage after stopping Yousaf. Mullen revealed Tuesday that White told him at the time that he intended to pay Lopez’s fine after he left the Octagon.
