Sean Strickland doesn’t plan to hang around past his expiration date in combat sports.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion has long-preached his support of masculinity and “fighting like a man.” Therefore, street fights or anything close to them would presumably be right up Strickland’s alley.

However, the 33-year-old Strickland is admittedly only going to fight for as long as he’s still getting paid well to do so. Options have developed in spades outside of mixed martial arts (MMA) for veterans over the years, including bare-knuckle boxing (BKB), which is of no interest to Strickland.

“I guess it’s when the money stops, man,” Strickland said at UFC 302 media day (h/t MMA Fighting). “I don’t want to go f—king be one of those assholes who goes and fights bare-knuckle [boxing]. I guess if they paid me enough I’d do it. I mean, how much you gotta pay to go fight a man without gloves on?

“Nothing they would pay me [would be enough],” he continued. “Bare-knuckle, you want to talk about f—king crooks, dude. They’re paying their guys s—t. Bare-knuckle is one of those organizations where like you hear these numbers, it’s all bulls—t. If you look at the lowest rung of the guys, they’re breaking their hands, breaking their orbitals and they’re making a couple thousand bucks. Bare-knuckle is f—king trash.”

Regarding specific BKB promotions, Strickland didn’t name a specific one but presumably has Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) in mind as it has become one of the most successful in the world for the sport. Just ask Conor McGregor.

Before Strickland has to worry about being enticed by any offers as a 40-year-old former MMA fighter, he plans to get through Paulo Costa at UFC 302 this weekend (Sat., June 1, 2024).

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 302 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 302: “Makhachev vs. Poirier” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

Author: Staff

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