Sean Strickland really wanted to fight Jake Paul, but he claims the UFC wouldn’t give him permission.
The former middleweight champion recently got into a war of words with Paul after the 27-year-old boxer slammed Strickland for beating up an inexperienced social influencer during a sparring session. As a result, Paul challenged Strickland to come to Puerto Rico for a fight, and if Strickland won, he would pay $1 million out of his own pocket. If Strickland lost, the ex-UFC champ had to get a tattoo of the logo from Paul’s betting app, BETR.
Strickland said he reached out to the UFC to see if the promotion would allow him to accept the fight, but he said the request was denied.
“So Jake Paul offered me a million dollars, knowing it is impossible for me to do that,” Strickland explained on his YouTube channel. “I actually talked to [UFC Chief Business Officer] Hunter [Campbell], and I was like ‘Hunter, I will fight this man. You let Conor McGregor fight [Floyd] Mayweather, this is an easier fight, easier money, can I do that?’
“Hunter explained to me that [Paul] sells no fights. When they have fights, they give away tickets. He doesn’t make money. His target audience is children. They don’t buy pay-per-views.
“So a little depressing, because I thought to myself, you know what? I’ll take a payday beating up this f****** man. That sounds easy enough. But sadly, Jake Paul is an influencer. He sells to children. Children don’t buy pay-per-views. F***, I don’t know man, get some adults to follow you, and then we will fight.”
Paul has slammed the UFC in the past for restrictive contracts that prevent fighters from pursuing lucrative deals outside the promotion. Under terms of the promotion’s exclusive contract, fighters have to get permission to engage in any combat sport outside the UFC.
As an alternative to a sanctioned fight, Strickland offered Paul the chance to meet him face-to-face to hash out their differences behind closed doors — without cameras running.
“Here’s the thing Jake Paul, you clearly know I can’t fight you,” Strickland said. “We know this. The UFC knows this. We all know this, that me and you cannot fight. But what we can do — you can get in your fancy plane, you can fly your ass to Vegas, and we can have a little pow-wow. Because you know as well as I know what happens with that.
“I’ll do it for free. I don’t need a check. I don’t need to live stream it. I will do it for free, sir. So if that is something you want, you want to show everyone how big and hard that d*** is, let me know when.”
By all accounts, Strickland and Paul aren’t actually going to meet, nor will they likely fight, spar, or anything else outside of continued banter on social media.
That didn’t stop Strickland from taking a parting shot at Paul.
“Jake Paul, I got knocked out by a world champion kickboxer — a two-time UFC champion,” Strickland said, referencing his past fight with Alex Pereira. “You got beat by a part-time boxer [Tommy Fury] you used to try and pad your record.
“You’re an embarrassment to yourself. You’re an embarrassment to me, and you’re an embarrassment to the world. Enjoy.”
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