The UFC has spent years building the biggest names in combat sports, but a growing number of its fighters are starting to ask a troubling question: If the promotion is making so much money, why aren’t they getting a bigger cut?
Sean Strickland may be the most obvious example. The middleweight champion has publicly questioned his compensation, threatened to walk away from the UFC, and even floated the idea of fighting Jake Paul after opting out of his contract. For a promotion built around having the best fighters in the world, losing the champion over money would be a pretty bad look.
Strickland’s frustration stems from a familiar issue in MMA: the disparity between what fighters believe they’re worth and what the UFC is willing to pay them. But there’s a new wrinkle to the conversation, and it has nothing to do with another promotion offering a bigger MMA contract. This is boxing.
In October, Strickland took aim at the $30 million Conor McGregor earned for his brief bout with Max Holloway, claiming the UFC was unwilling to pay its champions a fraction of that money. He also pointed to reports that boxer Conor Benn received a $15 million contract from Zuffa Boxing, a boxing venture backed by UFC parent company TKO.
Strickland’s answer was clear. He said he was considering moving down to light heavyweight to finish his contract with the UFC before his fight with Paul. A day later, he said he would not fight and sign another contract until the salary situation was resolved. M
This is more than the average fighter complaining after a frustrating negotiation. Strickland is the reigning champion at 185 pounds, and he’s clearly questioning whether it’s worth it to stay in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
And he’s far from the only one who cares about the money.
Zuffa Boxing challenge
When news broke that Benn had signed a $15 million-a-fight deal, UFC fighters took notice. Sean O’Malley, Max Holloway and Israel Adesanya were among the names reacting to the reported payday, with O’Malley openly admitting that he didn’t earn that kind of money himself.
This is an awkward situation for a TKO. The same corporate umbrella is now home to the UFC and Zuffa Boxing, but the financial opportunities available to athletes in the two businesses can look very different. A boxer, long-serving, title-winning, and name-recognizing MMA champion may be locked into a contract negotiated under a different model, while a large individual fight contract.
Of course, boxing and MMA are not the same business. A reported contract is not the same as a guaranteed take-home pay, and one high-profile boxing contract does not mean that every boxer earns more than every UFC fighter. But fighters don’t need an accounting degree to figure out the title number. If a boxer can make $15 million per fight, they’ll wonder why their championship fights aren’t worth more.
The irony is that Zuffa Boxing could complicate the UFC’s compensation discussion. TKO’s investment in boxing gives fighters a highly visible point of comparison without requiring them to look beyond the company’s own business. The message isn’t necessarily that every UFC fighter gets paid a boxer. That money is everywhere in the world of combat sports, and athletes want to know why they can’t get more money.
The UFC has also historically taken a different stance on crossover fights. Dana White claimed that he wanted the best fighters to compete against the best fighters, rather than booking matches just because they were getting paid. But Strickland is clearly considering such an opportunity, and Jake Paul welcomes the opportunity to work with him once he’s free.
If a fighter believes the UFC won’t meet his financial expectations, a lucrative crossover fight may begin to look less like a sideshow and more like a legitimate alternative.
Will the UFC really lose its stars?
September 5, 2026; Paris, FRANCE; Michael Venom Page (red gloves) fights Nursulton Ruziboev (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. Mandatory credit: By Haljestam-Imagn Images The UFC isn’t about to collapse because several champions are unhappy with their contracts. It still has the deepest roster in MMA, the sport’s biggest platform and the ability to offer championship opportunities that other promotions can’t easily duplicate. Most fighters can’t just walk away from an active contract because a better offer comes along.
But the more important question is whether the UFC risks losing leverage over its biggest names.
Strickland’s situation is particularly interesting because he’s not an aging former champion looking for one last payday. He regained his middleweight title by defeating Khamzat Chimaev in May, and he is now openly challenging the promotion for what he believes it is worth. When the reigning champion is willing to discuss leaving, it becomes difficult to dismiss this as a complaint from the bottom of the roster.
Michael “Venom” Page’s recent move to Misfits Boxing provides another example of fighters exploring options outside of the UFC. Page went 5-1 in the promotion and was ranked in two divisions, but the UFC chose not to re-sign him. Since then, he has talked about the creative freedom he expects in boxing, showing that the lure of breaking away isn’t always limited by the size of the paycheck.
Page is not in the same position as Strickland, and his departure was not a direct contract revolt. Still, it underscores a broader reality: fighters now have more ways to build their brands and gain opportunities outside of the UFC than they did a decade ago. Boxing, influencer promotion and other combat sports businesses can offer different forms of exposure, creative control and earning potential.
The biggest names have another advantage. They can bring an audience with them. A well-known champion leaving the UFC doesn’t automatically take over the sport’s entire fan base, but they can attract enough attention to make an alternative promotional event worthwhile. That’s why the prospect of a fighter like Strickland facing Paul is more important than a random prospect switching employers.
There’s also a limit to how worried the UFC should be. The promotion has survived public pay disputes in the past, and often returns to negotiations after fighters express their frustrations. Strickland’s threats don’t prove he’s gone, and there’s no evidence that a mass exodus of UFC stars is imminent. The UFC still controls a valuable platform, and competitive opportunities don’t always come with the same level of exposure or sporting credibility.
But promotion cannot ignore optics. The controversy becomes bigger than a fighter’s contract when champions see a $15 million boxing contract and begin to question their compensation. When the UFC’s own parent company pays boxers big money, it becomes difficult to neatly separate the conversation.
The UFC may not lose its biggest stars tomorrow. Strickland can settle, O’Malley and Holloway can stay where they are, and the next generation of contenders will continue to chase the same belts. But the fact that fighters are openly discussing alternatives is a warning worth heeding.