Sean Strickland has been trying to stage a protest through social media, with the reigning UFC middleweight champion demanding for better pay. He threatened to “nuke” his contract and move onto boxing, but UFC executives don’t seem to be bothered much.
Dana White quickly shutdown any chance of him crossing over to face Zuffa Boxing’s first champion, and has now brushed off complaints about the two-time UFC middleweight champion’s contract.
“When is Sean Strickland not upset about something or doesn’t
have something to say?” White said at the Contender Series post-fight press conference. “Sean Strickland just signed a new contract in May. Just signed a new deal like four months ago, 5 months ago!
“It is what it is. If we were in a situation where like he’d been under the same contract for, you know, a year, two years — he just signed a contract in May,” White said. “From what I hear, from the number he’s putting out there, it’s not true. The number that he claimed he made isn’t true.”
Strickland reportedly signed a new six-fight contract ahead of UFC 328, which typically would have included details on a pay bump in the event that he wins the title. The massive underdog in Strickland did just that and scored a big upset against Khamzat Chimaev to reclaim the middleweight title last May.
Five months later and Strickland is already protesting how bad he’ll be paid as a champion.
He’s not going to get a lot of sympathizers as it’s a fresh deal, with even the famously undervalued UFC legend in Demetrious Johnson now taking the promotion’s side on this matter. It’s worth noting that UFC champions have undoubtedly been grossly underpaid for decades. It’s just more obvious to the athletes now that they see that $7.7 billion Paramount deal, and the same TKO company paying lower ranked boxers multiples more than their UFC counterparts.
As thejudge from the antitrust case demonstrated, “but he signed the deal” isn’t a justifiable argument when the UFC has all the leverage in “brutal” and “coercive” contract negotiationsand fighters don’t really have much of a choice.
Most fighters are afraid to speak up due to the UFC’s monopsony and control, which Brendan Allen’s response to Strickland’s case also perfectly demonstrated.
“Hats off to Sean for speaking up for trying to get more money because if you look at the scope of things, based on the statistics that are out there, we are underpaid,” the UFC contender noted, before immediately regretting his statement. “But f— that, I’m not trying to get cancelled. At least from the bosses, I like my paycheck. They know I like my paycheck. I need that shit… I didn’t mean nothing by it, Hunter [Campbell]. I apologize.”
White brushing off complaints about fighter pay also comes shortly after boasting about how UFC supposedly has a $50 billion valuation and now rivals the NFL, NBA, and MLB.
