Free money!
It’s been five days (Sat., Sept. 13, 2025) since former interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum earned a unanimous decision over Dustin Stoltzfus — after badly missing weight yet again — at Noche UFC 3 inside Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Now that the dust has settled, new details have surfaced about Gastelum’s latest scale blunder — specifically the financial fallout.
Gastelum was docked 35 percent of his purse for missing weight,
with that chunk going straight to Stoltzfus. According to a fan who ran into Stoltzfus at the airport after the fight, the amount Stoltzfus collected from Gastelum’s fine was actually larger than Stoltzfus’ contracted show money.
“The most interesting thing he told me that I didn’t realize was that [Stoltzfus] taking the fight and getting 35% of Kelvin’s purse, was more than his entire paycheck,” the fan wrote on social media. “The 35% of Kelvin was more than his purse. Great dude!”
Former UFC fighter and Stoltzfus’ ex-training partner, Sasha Palatnikov, later confirmed the figure — revealing Stoltzfus walked away with $60,000 in fine money.
While Stoltzfus didn’t get the win, the extra cash might be the silver lining. Losing a unanimous decision to a former title challenger like Gastelum certainly stings, but a surprise $60K bump on top of his purse is nothing to scoff at. For a fighter like Stoltzfus, who’s not consistently on main cards or headlining slots, that kind of money can be career-changing.
The downside? Stoltzfus is now on a two-fight losing skid and has dropped three of his last four outings inside the Octagon. He may need to turn things around quickly if he wants to keep his UFC roster spot intact. But at least he’s a little wealthier while figuring out what comes next.
