Bisping Rips Nevada Over Holloway, Pimblett Purse Threat for Cage-Climbing

Max Holloway, Paddy Pimblett and Gable Steveson could all lose a slice of their UFC 329 paychecks — and the reason is jumping on a fence. All three are scheduled for hearings with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Wednesday over cage-climbing celebrations after their wins at T-Mobile Arena on July 11, with their purses potentially held or fines running into the thousands.

Michael Bisping isn't having it. The UFC Hall of Famer and current color commentator went off on his YouTube channel, calling the commission's move nonsense and, more bluntly, a crime. His argument is simple: fighters have always climbed the cage after big wins, and nobody's ever been hurt doing it.

Been There, Done That

Bisping speaks from experience. He climbed the cage himself at UFC 199 in California — one of the strictest commissions going — moments after knocking out Luke Rockhold to become middleweight champion in one of the sport's great upsets. He pointed out that celebrating a win in front of 20,000 people and millions more watching should be a given, especially for a world title.

He also flagged the double standard with boxing. Boxers routinely climb the ropes to salute the crowd and nobody blinks, Bisping noted, yet MMA fighters doing the equivalent get dragged in front of a commission. He framed the whole thing as athletic commissions looking to squeeze a few extra dollars out of the fighters.

For Pimblett, the timing stings. His UFC 329 win over Benoit Saint Denis was exactly the kind of statement performance the promotion loves to build on — and now the celebration that followed is the story instead. Holloway and Steveson climbed the fence that same night, which is how three separate hearings ended up on the calendar.

Bisping's hope is that Wednesday's hearing gets laughed out and, better still, that the commission drops the practice of holding these hearings entirely. He was careful to say he respects the commissions and the sport — he just thinks penalizing a fighter for enjoying a win is silly and stupid. Whether Nevada agrees, or whether Holloway, Pimblett and Steveson forfeit part of their purses, gets settled this week.