Amid talks of his first title defense, Sean Strickland has revealed that he wants a bigger payday from the UFC. And if the promotion isn’t willing to give him one, the middleweight champion appears ready to walk away for good.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
In a series of posts on X, ‘Tarzan’ compared his current pay to that of Conor McGregor‘s reported $30 million purse for his fight against Max Holloway at UFC 329 and threatened the UFC that unless things change, he isn’t staying.
“I gotta be honest, unless things change with the UFC, I’m kinda over it,” Strickland wrote. “McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 seconds, and they don’t want to pay us a fraction of it. Contemplating just going to 205, knocking out my contract and scrapping with Jake Paul. That sounds fun.”
“Its just hard, McGregor 30 million. Some lame boxer 15 million. The thought of just giving up my belt going to 205 and speed running my contract to fight Jake and make what these guys are making sounds pretty damn appealing,” he lamented in another post.
The comments come amid stalled negotiations for the 35-year-old’s planned title defense against Nassourdine Imavov. It appears the middleweight champion and the UFC failed to agree upon an acceptable purse for the UFC 335 headliner.
As a result, the promotion eventually moved on from the fight and instead booked Charles Oliveira to defend his BMF title against Diego Lopes.
Sean Strickland’s reported demands have already become a talking point in the negotiations. According to reports, the former champion wanted a $1 million purse for the fight, while the UFC was willing to offer him only $400,000 to show and another $400,000 if he won.
I gotta be honest unless things change with the UFC Im kinda over it. McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 second and they dont want to pay us a fraction of it. Contemplating just going to 205 knocking out my contract and scrapping with @jakepaul That sounds fun.
That would still put Strickland well below the kind of money McGregor has commanded from the UFC.
Even if we were to ignore the $30 million he reportedly received against Holloway at UFC 329 in July, Conor McGregor has historically been paid much higher than Strickland has ever gotten.
For a champion like Sean Strickland, who is arguably the most popular titleholder on the current UFC roster, it is understandable that he feels he deserves a better payday.
In fact, Strickland’s reported demand is only one-thirtieth of what the UFC reportedly paid McGregor for UFC 329—a fight that ended in 69 seconds due to the Irishman’s knee injury.
This is the exact reason Strickland is frustrated with the UFC, which is not ready to provide even a fraction of McGregor’s purse to one of its active champions.
Five years ago, the UFC paid Conor McGregor around $5 million in flat base pay for the Dustin Poirier trilogy at UFC 264. Plus, ‘The Notorious’ fought in the pay-per-view model, and that pushed his total estimated payout to a reported $20 million.
On the other hand, the promotion reportedly paid Strickland $1 million to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 in May. Before that, ‘Tarzan’ pocketed around $1 million in total payout for fighting Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 under the pay-per-view model.
Although Strickland’s base pay for the fight is not public, it is assumed it would be at least half of his total payout for the event.
Understandably, there’s a massive difference between Conor McGregor’s and Sean Strickland’s star power. But the middleweight champion is currently active and has a dedicated fan base that loves to see him fight. So, a million-dollar compensation for Strickland doesn’t sound unreasonable.
However, this isn’t the first time Strickland has complained about his UFC pay and threatened to leave the promotion.
Back in May, ‘Tarzan’ pointed out that Jake Paul made around $70 million for his boxing fights and earned a place on Forbes’ list of the richest athletes. At the time, he mused the idea of leaving the UFC and fighting Jake Paul.
“I gotta leave the UFC and go beat up Jake Paul… Cut my contract, UFC. It’s time for me to leave,” Strickland said.
Strickland isn’t the only one to be tempted to leave the promotion over a pay dispute. Paulo Costa also recently threatened to exit the promotion for not providing him the last fight under his contract.
For now, it remains unclear how many fights Strickland has left on his contract. But it seems he’s pretty serious about quitting the UFC and making money elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, Jake Paul actually responded to him.
Jake Paul responds to Sean Strickland after he reveals he wants to leave the UFC
Paul has since made it clear that he would be interested in the matchup. After Strickland’s latest comments, the founder of Most Valuable Promotions responded directly on X.
“Sean Strickland, I see your texts, but are you out of contract? Tell your ‘promoter’ to call MVP,” Paul wrote on X.
Strickland appeared surprised that Paul was willing to consider the fight, responding that he did not expect the YouTuber-turned-boxer to actually want to face him.
“I haven’t decided if I want to nuke my contract but I gotta say man putting hands on you sounds way better than the UFC right now,” Strickland replied.
“No insult to you, but I’m shocked you would actually box me,” Strickland added. “Woodley I get, but me is impressive….. 🤝.”
For now, however, Strickland’s immediate problem is the stalled title defense against Imavov. The UFC has already moved forward with Oliveira vs. Lopes for UFC 335, leaving the middleweight champion without a confirmed opponent for his first title defense.
Imavov has even offered to put up money from his own pocket to make the fight happen. The French contender claimed he was willing to pay Strickland $500,000 himself, but that proposal has not been enough to revive the matchup.
Strickland’s frustration therefore comes at a crucial point in his UFC career. He reclaimed the middleweight title by defeating Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, but his first defense remains unresolved.
Whether he ultimately stays with the UFC could now come down to the same issue that started the dispute in the first place: how much the promotion is willing to pay its champion.