The MMA world has been buzzing after Sean Strickland took aim at the UFC over his pay and contract situation. The middleweight champion was expected to defend his title against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC 335, but the matchup never came together.
Over the past 24 hours, Strickland has made his frustration with the UFC public, taking to X to criticize the promotion over his current deal. The reigning 185-pound champion has also floated the idea of moving up to light heavyweight to finish out his UFC contract before switching to boxing and potentially facing Jake Paul for a bigger payday.
Strickland has also accused the UFC of ruining fighters’ legacies by underpaying them and forcing them to keep competing against a new generation of fighters they may struggle to keep up with.
Amid the growing debate, rumors suggested that Strickland was earning $400,000 to show and another $400,000 to win. However, MMA Junkie reporter Mike Bohn has now pushed back against those figures, offering some insight into the champion’s current UFC contract.
Sean Strickland’s Reported 400K/400K UFC Contract Claims Debunked by Mike Bohn
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Bohn revealed that after reaching out to his sources, he learned that Strickland had signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC before challenging for the middleweight title at UFC 328.
The veteran reporter also explained that when fighters sign new contracts before title fights, their pay for the championship bout and their first title defenses is often negotiated in advance.
According to Bohn, the reported $400,000-to-show and $400,000-to-win deal was also inaccurate. Strickland reportedly earned more than $1 million for his fight against Khamzat Chimaev, with the same amount set for each of the remaining five fights on his new contract.
During his recent video, he said, “The thing that kind of started all this was some random person on Twitter made up that he is on a 400K/400K contract and he just wants like a flat million; all of that is completely false.”
The veteran reporter added, “He is not on a 400K/400K contract. He’s already being paid more than a million dollars and was for the Khamzat fight. According to my sources and then also what I found out, Sean Strickland just signed a new 6-fight UFC contract before the fight with Khamzat Chimaev.”
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Bohn further explained how title-fight bonuses and other financial terms are typically negotiated before a fighter steps into the Octagon.
He said, “And usually the way these things go, when a guy signs a new deal before a title fight, it’s already negotiated: the championship language. If you win this title fight, this is what the money is gonna look like for your first title defenses, and then maybe there’s escalators or other language beyond that, but like this situation was already kind of part of those discussions from what my sources told me.
He further added, “And this fight just obviously just happened in May, so like Sean Strickland did agree to a new contract that kind of had this all covered, just a few months ago. And now he obviously wants something different, which isn’t new.”
Bohn also pointed out that UFC fighters sometimes negotiate new deals on a fight-by-fight basis, depending on their circumstances and demands.
He explained, “You know these guys will negotiate new contracts every single fight in some instances but in other instances not, especially if this just happened as recently. It’s not like this is a pre-Paramount deal or anything like that. It’s kinda happened in this new world too, and now he’s seemingly not happy with the terms about it. I don’t know if that’s specific to the opponent or exactly what that means to him.”
He added, “If he would fight this contract for one guy and maybe wants more for a different guy. Those things are all kinda potentially in play here.”
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With the proposed fight against Imavov still unresolved, Strickland’s UFC future remains up in the air. While he has already agreed to a new six-fight deal, his recent comments suggest he wants better terms for what comes next. Whether the UFC can find common ground with its middleweight champion or Strickland eventually takes his talents elsewhere remains to be seen.
Kshitiz Kumar Singh is a UFC Writer at NY Fights with over three years of experience in sports journalism and content creation. Known for his sharp storytelling and passion for combat sports, he has written in-depth features on stars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Ilia Topuria. Before joining NY Fights, Kshitiz worked as a UFC Editor at EssentiallySports while currently serving as a WWE Editor at FirstSportz. His admiration for legends like Georges St-Pierre continues to inspire his detailed and engaging MMA coverage. Whether he’s covering the Octagon or the squared circle, Kshitiz is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality content. Outside the world of sports, he’s a dedicated cinephile, often found practicing monologues from his favorite Al Pacino films, combining his love for cinema with storytelling.
