The UFC has announced all of its main events for the rest of the year, which will be concluded by UFC 335 in Las Vegas that will be headlined by a Charles Oliveira – Diego Lopes bout for the symbolic ‘BMF’ title.
One fighter who will not be defending his belt before 2027 is UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland, who has revealed that much of the reason for him not being booked to fight before the end of 2026 comes down to negotiations between him and the promotion.
Now, after a protracted back-and-forth between the parties that has to-date yielded no confirmed fight, the 35-year old took to social media to make a more than implicit threat that he could leave the organization in the not-so-distant future if things do not change between the pair.
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.
Sean Strickland Threatens to Leave UFC & ‘Speed Run’ Deal
“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.” Strickland posted on X on Wednesday afternoon.
The 185 lb champion shared a further post in which he also compared his offer to that of Connor Benn, who was paid $15 million in his loss against Ryan Garcia back in September.
He also suggested he could move up to 205 lbs – where he would need to cut minimal weight and thus could fight far more frequently and “speed run” his contract in order to get a big pay day boxing Jake Paul.
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
“Its just hard McGregor 30 million”, Strickland wrote. “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”.
Will Sean Strickland Leave the UFC and Fight Jake Paul?
With the exception of the heavyweight division it is very rare that the UFC does not manage to make the big fights happen – especially for championships.
The only problem here is: this is not a big fight. Strickland is no doubt one of the biggest stars in the sport, but aged 35 and with multiple fights left on his deal, the promotion know that – to an extent – they have him cornered in negotiations.
There is no question that Strickland could get a far, far bigger payday in boxing. For context, both Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua earned over $90 million each in their fight earlier this year.
Whilst Strickland is not Joshua – certainly not in terms of boxing pedigree, being a mixed martial artist – he would command a fee not a million miles away from that. Certainly a $30 million + figure would not be ruled out.
This could also be a tactic on Strickland’s end to extract more money from the promotion as he looks to face French challenger Nassourdine Imavov for the second time early next year.
Sean Strickland Threatens to Leave UFC, Tips Jake Paul Fight