Sean Strickland Says the Quiet Part Out Loud About UFC Champions and Fighter Pay

The all-American fighter won the UFC middleweight title twice, beat some of the division’s biggest names, and built a career around saying things other fighters might prefer to keep to themselves. Now, the 35-year-old is questioning, rather bellowing, whether the rewards of fighting in the UFC justify the price fighters pay to stay there.

Sean Strickland Takes Aim at UFC Fighter Pay and the Cost of Building a Legacy

The trajectory is rather straightforward for Strickland. Box, maybe win a championship, and move on before the sport takes too much from him. The UFC Middleweight Champion has made his frustration with the promotion clear, questioning whether fighters are paid enough to walk away after building a legacy.

Strickland believes he has accomplished enough in MMA to chase another goal, and he no longer wants to keep fighting simply because he still can.

“I want to box. I want to put a boxing title on my mantle. I deserve it. I will put hands on any boxer,” Strickland spoke his mind in a recent social media post.

Jake Paul is among the potential opponents on his radar. The YouTuber-turned-boxer has expressed interest in the matchup, but Strickland remains under contract with the UFC.

If he cannot secure a boxing opportunity outside the promotion, he has another option in mind: Zuffa Boxing, where he has called out cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.

Sean Strickland Airs Concerns over UFC's Treatment of Former Champs

Those ambitions, however, are only part of the story. Strickland's bigger grievance concerns what happens to fighters after they have already established themselves at the top.

Reflecting on the same, he began, “But let me tell you something about the UFC, and I'm going to say the quiet part out loud that nobody says. You watch these champions, these savages of the sport, they take an L, and they come back. Man, they fight three or four times and get f***ing flatlined, like dude, what happened to you? Then you realize the UFC happened. They just don't care anymore.”

Coming from a reigning champion, Strickland's words cut deeper than a blade. In his view, inadequate compensation can make walking away more difficult than it should be.

Sean Strickland on Fighter Pay

He added, “The UFC, they don't pay you enough money to walk away... They keep you right here, but they build a legacy and they don't pay you enough so you have to come back and ruin your legacy. I just don't want to do that, man.”

Case in point: fighting careers are short, and the physical consequences can follow athletes long after their final appearance. For a champion, stepping away can mean giving up the opportunity to earn more money while his stocks are up. 

Continuing to compete, meanwhile, means accepting the possibility that repeated defeats could change how fans remember him. Strickland, for his part, has his own reputation to consider. 

He reclaimed the middleweight title by defeating Khamzat Chimaev  in May, adding another major achievement to a career that has already included two championship reigns. At that level, he seems more interested in deciding what comes next than in chasing every remaining MMA opportunity.

Strickland Threatens to ‘Stick and Move’ if UFC Snubs His Boxing Ambitions

Strickland is not asking to be handed another title opportunity in MMA. Instead, the Anaheim native wants the freedom to pursue boxing, and he has made it clear that he will not be thrilled if the UFC refuses to accommodate that ambition.

“Like this g***slop, re-packaged McDonald's straight to the head. I want to fight; I want to box. I want to go win a boxing title. We're trying to work that out,” he said.

Although the language is as coarse and unfiltered as it gets, the fighter appears to be serious this time. Strickland has also left little doubt about how he might approach his remaining UFC appearances if the promotion insists that he continue fighting under his current contract.

“If the UFC says, 'Hey, we're not gonna do that, we're gonna make you fight.' Well, I'm gonna stick and move. You guys are gonna boo. Hell, I'll f***ing boo with you while I'm doing it. Collect my check and then move on.”

Strickland (31-7-0) is effectively warning that if he cannot pursue boxing, fans should not expect him to approach his UFC fights with the same ambitions that once drove his championship run.

The bigger question is surrounding the timeline of his potential jump to the ring. Will it come after the Nassourdine Imavov fight? Will he rematch against Chimaev? Or will he opt for something radical in pursuit of a boxing bout against Paul?  Only time will tell.