Sean Strickland deems UFC pay "predatory", reveals average payouts and bonus for their short-notice MMA fights

Sean Strickland has, apparently, taken aim at what he labeled as "predatory" pay on the part of the UFC. The American fighter has himself competed in the U.S.-headquartered MMA organization since 2014. 

As of this time, the California-born athlete also happens to be the UFC middleweight champion. Ergo, Strickland's disapproving remarks regarding the allegedly low average pay that he claimed the UFC accords to its fighters have come as a surprise to some fans. 

The UFC has long been hailed as the world's premier mixed martial arts promotion, but it has often faced criticism from rival organizations and promoters (like Jake Paul and his MVP MMA organization) for supposedly underpaying its fighters. 

Sean Strickland discloses and lambasts allegedly low UFC fighter pay, cites currency differential as reason behind foreigners' UFC success

During a recent appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show, hosted by U.S. military veteran Shawn Ryan, UFC middleweight titlist Sean Strickland addressed a range of topics. 

"Tarzan" insinuated that the UFC, despite being the premier MMA organization and handing its top fighters decent paydays, doesn't pay well for the average fighter. 

The 35-year-old seemed to jibe at fighter pay in general and lambasted the UFC, in particular, stating: 

"So, like, fighting s*cks, dude. I mean, you're so poor. Like, when you're a fighter, you're so f**king poor. Even the UFC guys -- I think they're signing guys at like, 10 and 10... So, like, 10 (grand) to show, 10 to win." 

Ryan weighed in, seemingly surprised and asking whether the pay was indeed as low for a UFC fighter per match. Strickland replied, "20 grand. So then, you pay off your manager... You pay taxes. Like, dude, if you lose, you're making, like, eight, seven grand." 

The UFC staple added, "Say you go and get injured and get locked out. Like, the UFC is f**king brutal. Like, the UFC is so f**king predatory. This is why you see a lot of foreigners excel... The UFC is so f**king predatory to pay." 

Moreover, he suggested that some of his fellow fighters, who hail from places like Brazil and Dagestan, accept the pay accorded because it's life-changing money to them back home due to the differential between the U.S. dollar and their currencies.

He implied, however, that the average UFC fighter pay isn't even enough to pay a couple of months' rent in the United States of America. 

Nevertheless, Strickland highlighted that he's happy, saying, "Like, I'm happy. I make good money. But, like, the only very top guys are making money." 

Sean Strickland sheds light on the pay boost UFC gives to fighters for short-notice fights

Furthermore, Sean Strickland segued into the pay boosts that fighters receive for short-notice matchups in the UFC.

The veteran combatant is no stranger to stepping up for a fight on short notice, as he'd memorably faced Brendan Allen in a 195-pound catchweight matchup on short notice at UFC Vegas 14 back in November of 2020. He bested Allen by TKO. 

Well, Strickland, speaking to Shawn Ryan, explained that the UFC loves fighters taking short-notice matchups.

For context, such fights generally come to fruition because of late withdrawals from scheduled matchups due to injury and/or miscellaneous reasons. That, in turn, pushes the UFC brass to incentivize fighters who agree to replace their injured counterpart and salvage the matchup, without a full training camp, on the given UFC card. 

Strickland said, "Oh, it's so predatory. Now, mind you, you could get a couple of fights and -- the UFC, they love you taking a short-notice fight. If the UFC calls you, and they say, 'Hey. You wanna take a fight on like a five-day notice?' They will give you, you know, maybe a 30, 40, 50 grand pay bump." 

He continued, "But yeah, the UFC loves that sh**. Short-notice fights give you the biggest pay bumps." 

As of this time, Strickland remains the ruler of the UFC middleweight division, enjoying his second reign at 185 pounds after having narrowly outpointed and dethroned Khamzat Chimaev in May. 

He'd subsequently focused on recovering from his shoulder injury, while Chimaev has been persistent in his pursuit of an immediate title rematch against him.

Meanwhile, former UFC middleweight titlist Dricus du Plessis, who's beaten Strickland twice, recently reinserted himself into the title picture by besting Kamaru Usman via unanimous decision.

Strickland's next octagon appearance -- be it against Chimaev, du Plessis, or another adversary -- hasn't been officially announced yet. 

Watch Sean Strickland sound off on the UFC fighter pay below (*comments at the 16:00 and 20:20-minute marks of the video):