Strickland accuses UFC of trapping champions in poverty cycles that ruin their legacies

Two-time UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland launched a pointed public attack on the UFC this week, accusing the promotion of deliberately underpaying its champions to keep them fighting past their prime and, in doing so, destroying the legacies it helped build.

Posting on social media and following up with a video clip, Strickland argued that the UFC’s pay structure leaves fighters with no realistic exit. “The UFC builds a legacy, 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,” he said. “I just don’t want to do that. It’s like this repackaged McDonald’s straight to the head. I’m not into it anymore.”

Strickland, who has held the middleweight title twice and owns wins over Israel Adesanya, Khamzat Chimaev, Nassourdine Imavov, and Anthony Hernandez, framed his frustration around watching former champions deteriorate inside the octagon. “You’ll go and you’ll watch these champions, these savages of the sport, they run the division, and they take an L, and they come back and they just fight like three or four times, they get f*cking flatlined,” he said. “You realize the UFC happened. They just don’t care anymore.”

He also criticised the promotion for its financial priorities, pointing to the continued investment in Conor McGregor — who has fought just once since 2021 — and the signing of Conor Benn to Zuffa Boxing as examples of money being directed away from active, title-level competitors.

Strickland made clear that his ambitions extend beyond MMA. “I fought for the title four times, I won it twice, beat all the boogeymen of the division,” he said. “I want to box. I want to go put a f*cking boxing title on my mantle. I deserve it. I don’t even do MMA, I just box.”

He went as far as to name Jake Paul as a potential opponent once his UFC contract ends, and indicated he would be open to competing under the Zuffa Boxing banner in the interim if the terms were right. “If Jake Paul wants to give me a big old bag of money to fight him, I’m under contract, fine, I’ll go to Zuffa, I’ll go beat your cruiserweight champ, easy.”

Strickland has spent portions of recent months managing injuries, and rematches with both Chimaev and Imavov have been reported as possibilities. Whether the UFC moves to book either fight — or accommodates his boxing ambitions — remains to be seen, but the champion has made his position unambiguous.