Sean Strickland is booked for a big fight in a week. Set to lock horns against Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Fight Night 267 in Houston, this victory might just put ‘Tarzan’ back in title contention.

Strickland is coming off a loss against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312. He lost his belt to DDP at UFC 297 before defeating Paulo Costa to get another shot at the belt. But as he prepares for a showdown in the octagon, the most significant fight on his mind might be the one against retirement itself.

Sean Strickland opens up on career longevity as Houston fight looms

“I mean Volk just won, what is Volk, 37, 38? I love fighting. It’s kind of hard. Like, what would I do? I’m turning 35, and I would say I have three years in me, and that’s a lot of f*** fights,” he said ESPN during one of his training sessions.

Strickland is turning 35 on the 27th of February, right after his fight in Houston. Strickland then also added that he is secure financially and can call for retirement at his own will. “I could probably retire now if I wanted to. I’m smart with my finances, but what do you do all day? Just wake up?”

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While many top athletes don’t plan future, Strickland seems different. But the reason to wake up every day is something that he yearns for. And, this sure is not the first instance we have heard fighters talking about retirement and seeing them fight for years after that. Retired fighters too often come to the octagon; the perseverance is such. In a sport where identity and purpose are tightly intertwined, stepping away is rarely as simple as it sounds.

Strickland’s timeline aligns with his upcoming bout against Anthony Hernandez, signaling a focused final run amid career reflections.

Sean Strickland questions Khamzat Chimaev’s title reign in fiery rant

Retirement talk may be creeping closer for Sean Strickland as he moves through his mid-30s, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking verbal shots at inactive champion Khamzat Chimaev. When the outspoken middleweight looks at current champion Khamzat Chimaev, he doesn’t see an active champion. He sees someone denying defending it.

“It’s kinda weird what the UFC did with Chimaev,” Strickland told ESPN MMA in a new interview. “You brought a guy in that fights once a year who’s like Madonna, who gets like, how much money does that dictator give him under the table? Like, the guy doesn’t need to fight, dude. He’s best friends with a warlord. He doesn’t need to fight. Dude gets gifted G-Wagons.” Strickland continued: “So you have somebody who is just gonna sit on a belt and wait and wait until they force him to fight.”

“We’re in here to make money, and I’ll make significantly more money not fighting for a belt or waiting for Chimaev’s pinky to feel better,” Strickland declared. “It’s like every time this guy fights, he has a mysterious injury. Why wait?”

While Strickland could play the game and fight infrequently and try to use a single win and his ranking to try to wait for an opportunistic title fight, that doesn’t appeal to him.