Sean Strickland’s contract dispute with the UFC has stalled the middleweight division since May. Strickland reclaimed the 185-pound title with a split-decision win over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 on May 9, then recently aired all his complaints about his paycheck on social media.
He compared his earnings to Conor McGregor’s reported $30 million UFC 329 check for a 69-second fight, threatened to leave the promotion for a lucrative boxing career, and stated he would not fight or sign anything until the dispute is resolved.
UFC CEO Dana White dismissed the complaints at Dana White’s recent Contender Series post-fight press conference, claiming Strickland signed a new deal in May that reportedly left him with five fights remaining. White also bluntly rejected his boxing crossover talks.
Amid this, many experts and fighters have already shared their opinions on the war the middleweight champion declared against the promotion. Flyweight champion Joshua Van has now shared his thoughts on how the 37-year-old handled the standoff.
Joshua Van Thinks Sean Strickland Should Have Kept UFC Pay Dispute Private
Van told Outta Pocket that “Tarzan” should have gone to White behind closed doors after beating Chimaev and asked to renegotiate. He thinks the aggressive social media campaign turned a workable conversation into a whole mess.
He said, “Instead of going on Twitter and going on all that [expletive], he should have talked to Dana and said, ‘I wanna renegotiate.’ Behind closed doors. Then the boss would have been like, ‘OK, let’s talk about this, what you want?’ You just beat the boogeyman. Now it’s a whole mess.”
Comparing the situation to a regular job, he added, “If you work at a 9-to-5 job and you go off to your boss and you’re like, pay me this much. Like, what the [expletive]? You know what I mean? So he’s in a bad spot right now. He’s still under the contract. I don’t know how that’s gonna work.”
Joshua Van weighs in on Sean Strickland’s feud with the UFC over fighter pay
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Van, 25, is currently on a strong run. He defended his 125-pound title by unanimous decision against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 on September 19 in Los Angeles. Before that, he stopped Tatsuro Taira by fifth-round TKO at UFC 328 — the same night Strickland won his belt. Van expects to defend his title next against Manel Kape in early 2027.
Joshua Van Says He Is Content With His Own UFC Contract
Van has no complaints about his own contract and credits the promotion with building his career from scratch. He signed with the UFC in 2023, debuted that June, and agreed to a new deal in August 2025 before winning the title from Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323. The contract details are not public.
“I’m getting paid good,” Van said. “I think they pay me good amount; I don’t know, but fighter that think they deserve more or—like, should we get paid more? Yes, but, I don’t know, I’m happy where I’m at.”
Meanwhile, Strickland stated he will announce his final decision soon after evaluating his options. Due to the contract standoff, a reported title defense against top contender Nassourdine Imavov has collapsed entirely, leaving no signs of the fight being booked this year.
