UFC champion Strickland eyes MVP as leverage in pay dispute

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has voiced sharp frustration over his pay, raising the possibility of relinquishing his title and leaving the promotion. Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), the combat sports venture led by Jake Paul, wasted no time reaching out.

According to US sports outlet Athlonsports and others, Strickland recently took to social media to publicly criticize the UFC's fighter pay structure and lay out his thinking on his future.

"Honestly, if UFC doesn't change, I'm kind of over it," Strickland said. "McGregor fights for 30 seconds and makes $30 million, and UFC won't give us even a fraction of that."

The Conor McGregor Strickland referenced fought at UFC 329 in July, returning to the octagon for the first time in about five years against Max Holloway. He suffered a TKO loss at the 1 minute 9 second mark of the first round after injuring his knee early in the fight. Strickland's "30 seconds" was a deliberate exaggeration of the actual fight time.

The UFC never officially disclosed McGregor's purse for that bout, but he was widely estimated to have earned a substantial sum. According to journalist Ariel Helwani, McGregor's guaranteed purse alone was at least $15 million, and some outlets estimated his total earnings — including pay-per-view revenue and various incentives — at around $30 million to $32 million.

Strickland went beyond venting frustration, spelling out a specific path out of the UFC.

"I'm thinking about just going up to 205 (light heavyweight), burning through the rest of my contract and fighting Jake Paul — that sounds fun," he said.

He also weighed staying at middleweight against moving up. "I can keep grinding at middleweight and kill myself cutting to 185, or I can just go up, have fun, finish my contract and make big money fighting Paul," Strickland said.

In a separate post, he added: "I don't mind dropping the belt and going to light heavyweight at all. The cut is way easier." The remarks amounted to a repeated, self-articulated plan: vacate the title, move to light heavyweight, burn through his remaining UFC contract, then face Paul.

Paul responded immediately, commenting on social media: "If you want to get paid your worth, hit up MVP when you're a free agent."

Paul's overture carries implications beyond a potential one-on-one matchup with Strickland. MVP, which Paul co-founded with Nakisa Bidarian, has been expanding its footprint in combat sports by offering higher fighter pay and more athlete-friendly terms. In July, it merged with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), further growing its MMA operations.

MVP has been actively courting prominent fighters whose contracts have expired or whose futures are uncertain. Paul publicly expressed interest in signing Jon Jones amid his tensions with the UFC, and also extended an offer to Michael Page after he parted ways with the promotion.

Fighter compensation is one of MVP's central selling points. At its first MMA event in May, the promotion guaranteed fighters a minimum purse of $40,000, underscoring its stated commitment to increasing athletes' share of revenue.

The existence of rival promotions offering better terms outside the UFC gives fighters new options. Even when no actual move materializes, the mere possibility of engaging with a competing organization can strengthen a fighter's hand in contract negotiations with the UFC.

Strickland has not decided to leave the UFC or sign with MVP. But a reigning UFC champion publicly citing pay as grounds to vacate his title and run out his contract — and having a rival promotion's figurehead respond immediately — is likely to inject significant uncertainty into any future negotiations between Strickland and the UFC.