Amid talks of his first title defense, Sean Strickland is eyeing at least a minuscule portion of what Conor McGregor has earned from the UFC. But it seems the middleweight champion’s demands have plunged him into a standoff with the UFC brass that has prompted him to threaten to leave the promotion.

In a series of posts on X, ‘Tarzan’ voiced his disdain toward the UFC for not giving him a “fraction” of McGregor’s reported $30 million purse against Max Holloway at UFC 329.

“I gotta be honest, unless things change with the UFC, I’m kinda over it,” Strickland wrote. “McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 seconds, and they don’t 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’s talk of leaving the UFC stems directly from the tumultuous negotiations for his fight against Nassourdine Imavov.

The Las Vegas-based fighter aimed to put his middleweight gold on the line in the UFC 335 headliner in December, but the two sides failed to agree on a settled pay figure, which derailed those plans.

The promotion subsequently announced that Charles Oliveira would defend his BMF title against Diego Lopes in the UFC 335 headliner. It was a clear sign that a deal wasn’t made with Strickland.

Though the middleweight champ didn’t reveal any numerical details of the failed negotiations, social media buzzed with rumors of him asking for more money from the UFC.  

According to a post on X, Strickland demanded a million dollars to fight Imavov, but the UFC offered him only $400k to show and $400k to win. For a champion like Strickland, who is arguably the most popular titleholder on the current UFC roster, it is understandable that he feels he deserves a better payday.   

In fact, Strickland’s reported demand is only one-thirtieth of what the UFC reportedly paid McGregor for UFC 329—a fight that ended in 69 seconds due to the Irishman’s knee injury. This is the exact reason Strickland is frustrated with the UFC, which is not ready to provide even a fraction of McGregor’s purse for one of its active champions.    

Five years ago, the UFC paid Conor McGregor around $5 million in flat base pay for the Dustin Poirier trilogy at UFC 264. Plus, ‘The Notorious’ fought under the PPV era, and that pushed his total estimated payout to a reported $20 million.

On the other hand, the promotion reportedly paid Strickland $1 million to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328. Before that, ‘Tarzan’ pocketed around $1 million in total payout for fighting Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 under PPV. Although Strickland’s base pay for the fight is not public, it is assumed it would be at least half of his total payment for the event.   

Understandably, there’s a massive difference between Conor McGregor’s and Sean Strickland’s star power. But the middleweight champion is currently active and has a dedicated fan base that loves to see him fight. So, a million-dollar compensation for Strickland doesn’t sound unreasonable.

However, this isn’t the first time Strickland has complained about his UFC pay and threatened to leave the promotion.

Back in May, ‘Tarzan’ pointed out that Jake Paul made around $70 million for his boxing fights and earned a place on Forbes’ list of the richest athletes on Nina Drama’s stream. There, he vowed to exit the UFC and fight Jake Paul.

“I gotta leave the UFC and go beat up Jake Paul… Cut my contract, UFC. It’s time for me to leave,” Strickland said.   

Strickland isn’t the only one to be tempted to leave the promotion over a pay dispute. Paulo Costa also recently threatened to exit the promotion for not providing him the last fight under his contract.

For now, it remains unclear how many fights Strickland has left on his contract. But it seems he’s pretty serious about quitting the UFC and making money elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, Jake Paul actually responded to him. 

Jake Paul responds to Sean Strickland after he considers quitting the UFC

Looking at Strickland’s repeated posts on social media about quitting the UFC, Jake Paul didn’t want to miss this golden opportunity. ‘The Problem Child’ promptly replied to ‘Tarzan’ and invited him to his Most Valuable Promotions.

“Sean Strickland, I see your texts, but are you out of contract? Tell your ‘promoter’ to call MVP,” Paul wrote on X.

Soon, Strickland responded to Paul’s post and thanked him for showing interest in boxing him.

“No insult to you, but I’m shocked you would actually box me,” Strickland wrote. “Woodley I get, but me is impressive….. 🤝.”

Though Strickland found it surprising that Jake Paul is willing to step into the ring with him, Paul recently faced Anthony Joshua in December 2025. Despite getting his jaw broken, Paul made it to the sixth round and also landed a couple of decent shots against a world champion boxer.

So, he would likely be open to fighting yet another UFC fighter in a boxing match.

That said, while Strickland and the UFC aren’t on the same page, hopefully they will find some middle ground. Imavov is already waiting for the fight and has offered $500k from his own pocket to fight Strickland. So, the promotion wouldn’t want to miss the fight to kick off the new year.