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UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland continues to crash out on X (formerly Twitter) over his promotion refusing to pay him well to fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gotta be honest unless things change with the UFC I\u2019m kinda over it,\u201d Strickland tweeted, noting that UFC paid Conor McGregor $30 million while Zuffa Boxing (via the Saudis) paid Conor Benn $15 million. He then suggested he\u2019d drop the belt, fight out his UFC contract at 205 pounds, and chase a Jake Paul fight. Paul jumped right into that conversation and said he was interested.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t decided if I want to nuke my contract but I gotta say man putting hands on [Jake Paul] sounds way better than the UFC right now,\u201d Strickland wrote in a new series of tweets.<\/p>\n
\u201cY\u2019all I think I\u2019m just frustrated because my body is crashing because MMA training is brutal,\u201d he added. \u201cMy heart just isn\u2019t in MMA anymore. Groin tear, AC joint separation. I just don\u2019t think my heart is in MMA anymore. Boxing there is more money and its significantly easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strickland then shared a picture labeled \u2018the last MMA camp\u2019 that showed his injured knee being drained of fluid. There\u2019s no doubt that MMA is a rough sport and the wear and tear from wrestling and grappling is insane. \u201cTarzan\u201d has 18 years of MMA damage over 39 fights and has come into his last several bouts battling reoccurring shoulder and knee problems. Those problems won\u2019t go away in boxing, but the training is less destructive.<\/p>\n
Strickland wants to believe it\u2019d be easy enough to drop the belt, fight out his contract, and then battle Jake Paul. The reality is he\u2019s in an iron vice of a contract with the UFC and they\u2019re not about to let anyone \u2014 especially a champion talking about fighting for the competition \u2014 walk out on them easy.<\/p>\n
The UFC could fix this by giving Sean a pay bump, but they may be less than interested now that it\u2019s a public tug-of-war. Meanwhile, Strickland is crazy enough to fight the UFC to his financial detriment rather than get paid less than he thinks he\u2019s worth. For now, the only war we\u2019ll see him in is versus his own promotion.<\/p>\n