JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Don’t expect [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] 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 Center in Newark, N.J.
Strickland still has a few years left in the octagon, but when asked if he has an exit plan, the former UFC middleweight champion said he won’t consider bare-knuckle boxing like many other fighters have.
“I guess it’s when the money stops, man,” Strickland told reporters, including MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC 302 media day. “I don’t want to go f*cking be one of those a**holes who go and fight bare-knuckle. I guess if they paid me enough I’d do it. I mean, how much you got to pay to go fight a man without gloves on? Nothing they would pay me (would be enough).
“Bare-knuckle, you want to talk about f*cking crooks, dude. They’re paying their guys sh*t. Bare-knuckle is one of those organizations where, like you hear these numbers, it’s all bullsh*t. If you look at the lowest-rung of the guys, they’re breaking their hands, breaking their orbitals, and they’re making a couple thousand bucks. Bare-knuckle is f*cking trash.”
Strickland may not be willing to go down the bare-knuckle boxing route after his MMA career, but many former UFC fighters have – including the likes of Mike Perry, Jimmie Rivera, John Dodson, Chad Mendes, and Eddie Alvarez.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.