JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Don’t count on Sean Strickland to pursue bare-knuckle boxing after MMA.
Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) takes on Paulo Costa (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 302 (pay-per-view/ESPN2/ESPN+) co-headliner at Prudential Heart in Newark, N.J.
Strickland nonetheless has just a few years left within the octagon, however when requested if he has an exit plan, the previous UFC middleweight champion mentioned he gained’t contemplate bare-knuckle boxing like many different fighters have.
“I assume it’s when the cash stops, man,” Strickland informed reporters, together with MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC 302 media day. “I don’t need to go f*cking be a kind of a**holes who go and struggle bare-knuckle. I assume in the event that they paid me sufficient I’d do it. I imply, how a lot you bought to pay to go struggle a person with out gloves on? Nothing they might pay me (can be sufficient).
“Naked-knuckle, you need to discuss f*cking crooks, dude. They’re paying their guys sh*t. Naked-knuckle is a kind of organizations the place, such as you hear these numbers, it’s all bullsh*t. For those who take a look at the lowest-rung of the blokes, they’re breaking their arms, breaking their orbitals, they usually’re making a pair thousand bucks. Naked-knuckle is f*cking trash.”
Strickland will not be prepared to go down the bare-knuckle boxing route after his MMA profession, however many former UFC fighters have – together with the likes of Mike Perry, Jimmie Rivera, John Dodson, Chad Mendes, and Eddie Alvarez.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 302.
You should definitely go to the MMA Junkie Instagram web page and YouTube channel to debate this and extra content material with followers of blended martial arts.