Mixed martial arts has always been an international sports and UFC reflects that, but former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland believes the promotion is awash in foreign fighters because Americans just can’t afford to fight for the organization.
“It just kind of annoys me too, the direction the UFC goes, they just outsource,” Strickland told MMA Junkie. “They just outsource UFC to these poor countries and these guys go fight for 10 and 10 on the Contenders and they go back and live in Rio and they just made 20 or 30 grand living like f—king kings.”
“You’re really limiting the U.S. market because you’re not paying these guys any money,” he added. “So you’ve got little Joaquin Jackson who has a choice: go play football, or go be a UFC champion. That man’s going to go play football.”
Strickland’s problem begins with fighter pay at the bottom of the UFC ladder, which starts at $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win on the Contender Series.
“Like 10 and 10, dog. What are you going to do, go pay rent for like three months?” he asked. “Then you’ve got to pay your coaches, your management. So it annoys me that we have outsourced UFC so much to these f—king poor ass foreigners. The entire roster is from Durka-Durkastan.”
“At what point do you not give a f**k? Once there’s no more Chuck Liddells, once there’s no more Jon Joneses? You really want to watch Ankalaev Maga-maga-maga-maga-maga? I don’t give a f—k, dude. I don’t give a f—k if you’re the best fight in the world. I’d rather go watch a hockey game and watch an American.”
That may not be the solution, as the NHL is 42.5% Canadian with just 29% of players being American.
“It’s hard because I love UFC and I can’t complain because I’m in a position in my life that is so f–king good,” Strickland concluded. “But, it’s like, they f–k athletes, 100%. One-hundred percent they f–k athletes.”
Strickland is currently awaiting the end of a NSAC suspension in November after entering the cage after a fight and punching his teammate’s opponent. He’s hoping to get booked right back into action against the ‘American Khamzat,’ but after ignoring Israel Adesanya’s callouts, refusing to fight outside America again, and now these comments, we wonder how fast the UFC will move to slot him in.