Sean Strickland’s Pay Fight With the UFC Escalates as Gamdom Offers Every Fighter $10,000 a Month
By Real Combat Media MMA Editorial Staff
Las Vegas, Nevada, (October 13th, 2026)–Sean Strickland’s pay dispute with the UFC now has a third party involved. The middleweight champion says he will not fight or sign a new contract until his compensation is sorted out, and online crypto casino Gamdom has publicly offered every fighter on the UFC roster a sponsorship worth $10,000 per month. The main public response from the UFC side so far has come from Dana White, and it addressed Strickland’s boxing threats rather than his pay.
Strickland’s Pay Demands
Strickland went public on Wednesday, October 7, writing on X that unless things change he is “kinda over” the UFC. He pointed to the reported $30 million Conor McGregor earned for his 69-second UFC 329 appearance and the reported $15 million Conor Benn received to sign with Zuffa Boxing, and said the promotion is unwilling to pay fighters a fraction of that. He called the UFC’s latest offer for a title defense against Nassourdine Imavov insulting. That fight was expected to close out 2026 at UFC 335, and with the rest of the year’s numbered cards booked, it now cannot happen before 2027.
On Friday, October 9, he went further, posting that he will not fight or sign any contract until the situation is figured out. He has also floated vacating the 185-pound title, moving up to light heavyweight and finishing out his contract, told fans he would take a money fight with Jake Paul and said he would beat Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia. In an Instagram video he argued that top fighters are not paid enough to walk away on their own terms and are forced to come back and damage their legacies, a position he says he does not want to be in after more than two decades of training and injuries.
What the Contract Reportedly Looks Like
Strickland, who beat Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 in May to win his second middleweight title, is not a fighter on a bare-minimum deal. MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn reported that Strickland signed a new six-fight contract before the Chimaev fight and earned more than $1 million for that bout. Bohn also said that the figures circulating on social media, including a reported offer of $400,000 to show and $400,000 to win and a $1 million request for the Imavov fight, were not accurate. The six-fight commitment also complicates any move to boxing in the near term.
Reaction to the dispute has been split. Supporters say the champion is underpaid compared to the sport’s biggest names, while critics point out that he signed the deal he is now protesting. Imavov, the No. 1 contender, tried to force the issue by offering to pay Strickland $500,000 of his own money to take a January fight, and Strickland has since feuded with reporter Ariel Helwani over his opinion on the situation.
Gamdom’s $10,000-a-Month Offer
On October 12, Gamdom published an open letter on X addressed to the entire UFC roster. The company, owned by German entrepreneur Felix Romer, said it will pay every fighter who joins through the initiative $10,000 per month, from athletes making their UFC debut to established champions. The letter described the offer as an independent Gamdom initiative, said the money is meant to support fighters’ training, families and futures, and invited fighters and their representatives to open conversations. It also carries a caveat: sponsorships are subject to agreed terms, applicable requirements and existing contractual obligations.
The letter said Gamdom believes fighters deserve greater financial support for the sacrifice it takes to compete at the highest level, and Romer said the initiative is in no way an attack on the UFC or a negative reflection on its business. The figure carries weight because entry-level UFC contracts are widely reported to start at $10,000 to $12,000 to show and the same amount to win, so a monthly sponsorship could rival a fighter’s full fight purse. It is not yet clear which fighters, if any, will take the offer.
How Zuffa Has Responded
The UFC and Zuffa had not publicly addressed the Gamdom offer in the coverage available at the time of writing, and the letter itself notes that any sponsorship is subject to fighters’ existing contractual obligations, so it is not clear how many could accept it under their current UFC deals. The promotion pays fighters through its Promotional Guidelines Compliance program, which is funded by its Venum sponsorship and scaled by the number of UFC bouts a fighter has had, and fighters also receive royalties of 20 to 30 percent on merchandise featuring their likeness.
White’s most recent public comments on Strickland came during an appearance on Nina Drama’s stream at Power Slap. Asked about Strickland’s threat to box, White said crossovers between MMA and boxing rarely go well, called Strickland a tough guy with hands, and flatly answered “No” when asked whether he has a chance against Opetaia. He did not address Strickland’s pay concerns or give a timetable for the Imavov fight.
What Happens Next
For now the middleweight title is on hold. Strickland has made clear he will not fight under the current terms, no resolution has been announced, and White has dismissed the idea of a boxing match with Opetaia. Any resolution would most likely come through a revised contract for the Imavov fight in early 2027, and whether any fighter publicly accepts the Gamdom offer will be the next test of how the UFC handles outside money entering its roster.
English