Sean Strickland has already shared a heated reaction toward the UFC over his compensation regarding the negotiations of his title defense against Nassourdine Imavov.

On X, Strickland shared that the UFC is not ready to pay him even a “fraction” of Conor McGregor’s reported $30 million purse for fighting Holloway at UFC 329. His frustration with the company reached a point where he threatened to vacate his middleweight belt, run out his contract by fighting at 205 lbs, and then ultimately fight Jake Paul in a boxing match to earn far more money.

Since then, many questions have been swirling around Strickland’s future in the UFC. Finally, he has clarified his stance on his ongoing differences with the company in a video on his Instagram.  

“But let me tell you something about the UFC, and I’m gonna say the quiet part out loud that nobody says,” Strickland said. “You’ll go, you watch these champions, right? These, like, savages of the sport, man. They run the division, and they take an L, and then they come back, and they just, like, man, they just fight like three or four times. They get f—ing flatlined. You’re like, dude, what happened to you? And you realize the UFC happened to them. They just don’t care anymore.

“The UFC, they don’t pay you enough money to walk away like, man, life is f—ing good. I’ve dedicated my life to this. I put the time in this. The UFC builds a legacy. They keep you right here, but they build the 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.” 

For Strickland, his negotiations to defend his belt against Nassourdine Imavov aren’t only about earning more money for his fight. His argument revolves around how the UFC keeps fighters coming back by underpaying them, which raises serious concern about their financial safety.

Though Strickland didn’t refer to anyone in particular, a notable example could be Demetrious Johnson, who explicitly said the UFC not paying him enough derailed his retirement plans.

Johnson, who never made a million dollars in a single UFC fight, told Submission Radio in 2016 that after fighting for four years as UFC champion, he still couldn’t make enough money to retire in his 30s.

Keeping those instances in mind, Strickland’s position gains a little more clarity. The middleweight champion is reportedly asking for a million dollars to put his belt on the line against Nassourdine Imavov. But the UFC is reportedly offering $400k to show and $400k to win, which makes a total payout of $800k if he wins the fight.

The reported amount definitely looks underwhelming for a champion like Strickland, who has a popular base in America. Besides, the money won’t all go into his pocket. The Nevada-based fighter has a hefty expense to sustain a championship camp, from retaining coaches to recovery. 

Islam Makhachev’s camp against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 for the lightweight championship reportedly cost a million dollars. So assuming Strickland spends a quarter of that amount on his camp, most of his earnings for the Nassourdine Imavov fight would go toward those expenses.

That would force him to fight more frequently to earn more money, and he clearly doesn’t want to be trapped in that loop. Because of this, he called out Jake Paul and Jai Opetaia for a boxing fight.

Sean Strickland reveals Jake Paul offered him a bag of money  

Amid the strained relationship with the UFC, Sean Strickland’s desire to venture into the boxing ring grows stronger. He already plans to box Jake Paul, who has apparently offered him a lucrative deal. Plus, the UFC middleweight champ remains open to fighting at Zuffa Boxing against cruiserweight champ Jai Opetaia.

“So, you guys, I fought for the title four times, I won it twice, beat all the boogeymen in the division,” Strickland said in the Instagram video. “Hell, I fought half the division already, man. I want to box. I want to go put a f–ing boxing title on my mantle. I deserve it. Hell, I don’t even do what I may, I just box.”

“I will put hands on any boxer. 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.”

After Sean Strickland flooded X with his posts against the UFC, Jake Paul wasted no time responding to him. ‘The Problem Child’ urged ‘Tarzan’ to talk with his promoter to finalize a future fight.

However, Strickland is currently under UFC contract, so he needs to get out of that to fight Paul in a boxing match. His chance in Zuffa? That would remain in the hands of Dana White.

That said, after Sean Strickland clarified his stance on a UFC exit, it will be interesting to see what the promotion, especially Dana White, says about the situation.