UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland is at it again.
The Las Vegas resident, who formerly held the middleweight belt, is known for his controversial opinions, and is often accused of racism by his naysayers. One of his latest comments is sure to generate another wave of controversy.
He later shared his belief that the UFC roster will soon be full of fighters from outside the United States, because international fighters are more willing to fight for lower pay.
“The problem with the UFC, dude, is they don’t pay guys sht,” Strickland said. “The reason why you’re seeing everyone on the roster is a fcking ‘Ahmed’ or ‘Jose’ and whatever Brazilian name is because the UFC isn’t paying these guys money.
“I think what you’re going to have is entire roster filled with just foreigners,” he added. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s fun to go watch two Dagestani cavemen fight, but at some point, they aren’t American. They don’t have American beliefs. They don’t have American ideals.”
Sean Strickland worries Americans don’t want to fight for the UFC
Strickland continued, elaborating on his belief that Americans are less willing to fight for low amounts in the UFC.
“They pay the top-5 [fighters] pretty good, but you’d make more money working at f*cking Walmart,” he said.
“You’re telling an American to go f*cking fight and make [$10,000 to show, $10,000 to win],” he added. “If you lose, you’re going to make 10. Then you have pay your management, you gotta pay taxes. You’re telling an American, you’re going to make $5,000 and you can pay your mortgage for like a month, two months.”
Knowing what we know about Sean Strickland, it’s not surprising to hear him speak this way. However, he clearly hasn’t done much research. There are still far more Americans on the UFC roster than any other nationality. The US has also produced more UFC champions than any other country, by a large margin. Strickland has also seemingly forgotten that MMA has always been an international sport. Just imagine the sport without Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko, Kazushi Sakuraba, Royce Gracie, Jose Aldo, Khabib Nurmagomedov, or Conor McGregor? None of them are American. The UFC was even co-founded by a Brazilian in Rorion Gracie.
Majority of US fighters are caca
says the guy who is actively turning down fights because he likes his current net worth.
Maybe Sean would like the UFC to create a USA title, that way he doesnt lose his belt to a foreigner and can say he is the best American in the division.
Jon Jones is the only current American UFC champion.
How embarrassing.
The age of stars is almost over.
But Americans were way more prevalent when the pay was even lower…
They do sign too many foreigners though. It’s hard to care about a lot of the roster when they don’t speak English, have no personality, and are often boring fighters on top of it all.
no he’s not. The real champ is English
I watched that last night…
My eyes didnt leave the fat dude with an energy drink haha
The pay argument is pure cope. The UFC was like 80% American in the 90s/00s when it paid way less. Power Slap is full of Americans. The average dude on a BKFC card looks like some generic UFC/KOTC guy from 20 years ago.
Its not that there are less American fighters or that current American fighters are worse than they used to be, its that they arent competing largely against themselves anymore.
On an entertainment level I did prefer the UFC when it was an American thing though. The modern day corporate international sport aesthetic with Kenyans vs Georgians in main events and shit and British commentators just feels weird as fuck imo. Chuck, Randy, Tito, Face The Pain, goofy 00s nu metal aesthetics etc etc will always define it to me.
Personally I dont care where fighters come from, as long as they are exciting. If they are boring deport them back to Whateverstan
you guys see the rosters of TUF Now with Chael and DC , all Dags
This. There are way too many foreigners that can’t speak English and have no distinct style .. they are happy to be fighting for peanuts though so that’s why they are there
I’m here to watch the best fighters in the world compete. Idc what country they’re from or what religion they are or what color their skin is
Most of my favorite fighters all time and today are not from ‘Murica
Ya the ufc had a lot of appeal as a new sport. That’s likely mostly gone as the pay just isn’t worth it.
The best would be alright. But even the cans are named shit like Tuco, Muin, Jeka, Jieleyisi.
What a troll.