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 Middle in Newark, N.J.
Strickland nonetheless has a couple of years left within the octagon, however when requested if he has an exit plan, the previous UFC middleweight champion mentioned he received’t take into account 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 wish to go f*cking be a type 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 wish to discuss f*cking crooks, dude. They’re paying their guys sh*t. Naked-knuckle is a type of organizations the place, such as you hear these numbers, it’s all bullsh*t. In the event you take a look at the lowest-rung of the fellows, they’re breaking their arms, breaking their orbitals, they usually’re making a pair thousand bucks. Naked-knuckle is f*cking trash.”
Strickland might not be keen 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.
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