Sean Strickland is getting ready to fight again … the UFC just has to reach his financial demands to make it happen.
Strickland is coming off a massive win over Khamzat Chimaev that made him a two-time middleweight champion back in May. The fight was also a big financial success for the UFC — Sean and Khamzat sold the hell out of that fight with a rivalry so heated fans were worried the two might murder each other in a hail of bullets before the bout could happen.
Both men bragged about how much money
they were going to make given the interest in the fight. And now Sean Strickland wants to make sure he’s going to get paid well again despite the lower popularity of his proposed next opponent, Nassourdine Imavov.
When a fan asked him if Imavov was next, Strickland confirmed it.
“We’re discussing pay now,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Once that detail is squared its locked in. The issue is no one cares about the fake Frenchman. We’re almost there.”
In prizefighting, the bigger the opponent’s name, the more you’re gonna get paid. While everyone agrees Nassourdine Imavov is the rightful No. 1 contender, he’s nowhere near as popular as Khamzat Chimaev was, so you’d figure Strickland would take a pay cut for the fight.
But UFC fighters are so underpaid, there’s no real reason for “Tarzan” to accept that any more. Strickland has become one of the UFC’s biggest names due to his willingness to say whatever is on his mind, no matter how insane. In this day and age, that resonates. Why should he ever take a pay cut when he’s one of the most popular names in an organization which is making money hand over fist these days?
Sean’s also in a good position here because the UFC needs its champions defending their belts, or they could end up with more UFC 332: Silva vs. Wang cards in its future. If they don’t pony up, Sean’s shoulder issues or very likely concussion could become a problem until 2027. Here’s hoping the promotion ponies up the money Strickland is asking for, and we get this second fight with Imavov sooner rather than later.
