Sean Strickland Threatens to Vacate UFC Title Over Pay Dispute
The two-time middleweight champion says he is ready to give up his belt and speed-run his contract at 205 over a pay dispute.
Sean Strickland, the reigning and two-time UFC middleweight champion, has threatened to vacate his 185-pound title and move up to light heavyweight if his pay does not improve. The champion aired his frustrations on social media on October 7, making it clear he feels drastically underpaid compared to other combat sports stars.
"I gotta be honest, unless things change with the UFC I am kinda over it," Strickland wrote. He pointed to the gap between his earnings and what other fighters receive, adding, "McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 seconds, and they do not want to pay us a fraction of it."
Strickland reportedly turned down a title defense against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC 335 over the proposed pay, per LowKick MMA. The UFC subsequently booked Charles Oliveira vs. Diego Lopes in a BMF title fight to headline the event instead.
The champion laid out his plan: move to 205, burn through the remaining fights on his contract, and then box Jake Paul as a free agent. "Contemplating just going to 205, knocking out my contract and scrapping with Jake Paul. That sounds fun," he wrote.
Imavov fired back, offering to put $500,000 of his own money on the line if Strickland accepts a January 2027 title defense and loses. "If you still do not take it, then you are just scared," Imavov wrote, calling on the UFC to strip the title.
Strickland reportedly earned around $1.08 million for his most recent title defense against Khamzat Chimaev, though that figure has not been officially confirmed by the UFC.
This is the loudest a sitting UFC champion has been about pay in a long time, and Strickland is in a unique position to make noise because he genuinely does not care about losing the belt. That is his leverage. The UFC can call the bluff, strip him, and book Imavov vs. someone else for the vacant title, but then they lose their most quotable champion and hand Jake Paul a legitimate name opponent on a silver platter.
I think Strickland fights out his deal one way or another. He is not the type to sit on the shelf. But if the UFC lets a two-time middleweight champion walk into a Paul fight making three or four times what he earned defending the belt, that is a worse look for the promotion than any contract negotiation. Dana needs to find a number here, because Strickland is stubborn enough to actually do it.
