Strickland: UFC Fighters Can't Afford to Retire — SkimNews
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- Sean Strickland, the two-time UFC middleweight champion, said fighters "don't pay you enough money to walk away," arguing the UFC forces them to fight on for money rather than retire, ruining their legacies in the process.
- Strickland said he would prefer a move to boxing, calling it "significantly easier" with "more money" to be made, and publicly called for a fight with Jake Paul.
- Strickland criticized the UFC's exclusive contract clause, saying if the promotion blocks him from boxing he will "stick and move, collect my check, and then move on."
- UFC gives about 20% of revenue to fighter pay, compared with roughly 60% for boxers — a structural gap Strickland implicitly highlighted by pointing to the better pay in boxing.
- Fighter pay scrutiny intensified after boxer Conor Benn signed a reported £11m one-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing, the boxing promotion owned by UFC president Dana White.
- Dana White dismissed criticism by pointing to the UFC's new £5.7bn broadcast deal with Paramount and saying fighter pay has "continuously rising since 2001," adding "I promise you fighter pay is going to be just fine over the next seven years."
- Strickland, 35, said his "heart isn't in MMA anymore" after injuries to his groin and shoulder, having won the middleweight title by beating Khamzat Chimaev in May.
Why it matters: White's response — citing the £5.7bn Paramount deal and rising pay since 2001 — hasn't silenced a structural critique: UFC fighters receive about 20% of revenue versus roughly 60% for boxers. With an active champion publicly naming that gap and openly angling to cross over to boxing, the dispute now has a face attached to a hard number.
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