Sean Strickland reportedly signed new multi-fight UFC deal, bagged over $1 million before pay dispute

Sean Strickland's pay dispute against the UFC MMA organization has been a hot-button topic in the combat sports realm over the past few days. 

Reports have now emerged that the rumors regarding Strickland being paid a $400k show purse and $400k win purse aren't true. The aforementioned amounts were particularly concerning to certain sections of the MMA community, who deemed it too low a pay for a UFC champion in 2026. 

Additionally, "Tarzan" reportedly inked a new multi-fight UFC deal before his most recent fight. The American is coming off a split decision victory over the then-unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev in May, a win which helped him reclaim the UFC middleweight title and commence his second title reign. 

Sean Strickland reportedly bagged over a $1 million, signed six-fight UFC deal before Khamzat Chimaev fight

Sean Strickland, on his part, has lately lashed out at the UFC over his supposedly low pay as compared to other fighters. Having competed in the UFC since 2014, he's now gone as far as suggesting that his heart isn't in MMA anymore and that he'd like to compete in the sport of boxing. 

The 35-year-old cited reports that former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor was accorded $30 million for his latest fight, whereas the UFC-affiliated Zuffa Boxing star Conor Benn was handed a $15 million payday. 

Strickland -- the reigning UFC middleweight champion -- suggested that he'd move up to light heavyweight, complete the fights on his UFC contract swiftly, and then depart the UFC to box against Jake Paul for a lucrative payday. 

In a recent edition of The Bohnfire podcast, MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn and Farah Hannoun addressed the Strickland vs. UFC pay debacle. Bohn explained: 

"The thing that kind of started all this was that some random person on Twitter made up that he (Sean Strickland) is on a $400k/$400k contract, and that he just wants a flat million. All of that is completely false. He is not on a $400k/$400k contract. He's already being paid more than million dollars and was for the Khamzat (Chimaev) fight." 

Mentioning that his sources revealed the aforementioned details to him, Bohn indicated that they also noted that Strickland had signed a new six-fight UFC deal before the Chimaev matchup. He said:

"Sean Strickland just signed a new six-fight UFC contract before the fight with Khamzat Chimaev. And usually, the way these things go, when a guy signs a new deal before a title fight, is it's already negotiated, the championship language." 

He alluded to how multi-fight contracts generally work, as fighters agree beforehand to how much their future fights would pay, with potential escalators in pay based on multiple variables, such as increasing pay with each title defense and more. 

Nevertheless, Bohn implied that fighters do tend to renegotiate after each fight sometimes. 

Sean Strickland's recent UFC deal, possible next fight with Nassourdine Imavov

Given Mike Bohn's report on the podcast -- as well as the fact that Sean Strickland is under contract with the UFC -- the consensus is that he's unlikely to box against Jake Paul or anyone else anytime soon. Another significant reason behind it is that he's also the UFC middleweight champion and is tasked with defending it. 

Bohn said, "So Sean Strickland did agree to a new contract that kind of had this all covered just a few months ago." 

Strickland was recently pursued by his old rival Nassourdine Imavov at the UFC Performance Institute (PI), with the Russia-born French fighter urging him to agree to face him with the UFC middleweight belt at stake. Imavov even offered to chip in for Strickland's additional pay demands, provided he gets to fight him for the title. 

Regardless, Strickland's expected to defend his title against Imavov in their rematch, likely sometime next year. The American outpointed "The Sniper" in their first encounter back in 2023. 

Watch Mike Bohn address the Sean Strickland vs. UFC pay dispute below: