Sean Strickland has been treated well by the fight business.
The former UFC middleweight champion recently appeared on a stream with popular influencer Adin Ross, with the two discussing a number of topics both fight and non-fight related. At one point, Strickland was asked about his finances and he gave Ross an estimate of his worth and how he expects them to look once he’s finished fighting.
“My net worth is probably about $4 million, liquid,” Strickland said. “When I say liquid, I mean investments. I have about $500,000 in real estate and the rest is in different accounts.
“By the time I’m done fighting, worst-case scenario, I’ll probably have a net worth of $8-10 million. I could live off that. I would do about a five percent withdrawal, so five percent withdrawal of $8 million is like $400,000. So when I’m done, I’ll probably be making about $400K a year at a five percent withdrawal.”
There’s no official record of how much Strickland has earned in salary during his 11-year UFC career, though considering he has 23 fights under his belt for the promotion including a trio of title fights, it’s fair to say he’s one of the better compensated fighters on the roster. However, Strickland has previously been vocal about UFC fighter pay, telling Daniel Cormier in May 2024, “The UFC does not do the f*cking right things” in regards to contract negotiations.
Though Strickland sounds like he’ll be able to live comfortably once those fight checks stop coming in, he’s not entirely sure whether he’ll continue to be part of the MMA community after retirement or if he’ll pursue other interests.
“I don’t know, I won’t stop,” Strickland said. “I like to work. What I tell people, after a fight you get this large chunk of money, you’ve got a broken nose, you can’t fight, and you kind of wake up and you’re like, ‘What will make me happy?’ I have all the money I want, I’m doing what the f*ck I want, and I realized that I’m the most unhappy when I wake up and I ask myself, ‘What is going to make me happy?’”
Strickland’s immediate challenge is to get back in the win column after suffering a disappointing loss in a championship rematch with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312. The 34-year-old does not currently have a fight booked, and he told Ross that he turned down a recent offer to face streaking top 10 contender Caio Borralho due to their personal relationship.
“It was Caio,” Strickland said. “Those fights are just hard because you’ve got a wife, you’ve got a kid, who I personally know, who I like. He’s such a cool guy. He’s a really nice guy, so it’s one of those things where it’s like, do I really want to?”
