Sean Strickland Wants a Boxing Title While Questioning His UFC Future
Sean Strickland says he wants a boxing title on his mantle and is prepared to stick and move through his UFC deal if the promotion will not let him chase one.
The two-time middleweight champion laid out the plan in a video posted this week. He is 31-7, still holds the 185-pound belt, and framed boxing as the fight he believes he has earned.
“So you guys, I’ve fought for the title four times. I won it twice, beat all the boogeymen in the division,” Strickland said. “Hell, I fought half the division already, man. I want a box. I want to go put a f***ing boxing title on my mantle. I deserve it.”
That title count lines up with the record. He beat Israel Adesanya for the belt at UFC 293, lost it to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, came up short in the UFC 312 rematch, and took the championship back from Khamzat Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 on May 9.
He also stopped Anthony Hernandez in the third round on February 21. Those two 2026 wins put the belt back around his waist before any defense was booked.
Strickland did not name a boxing opponent in the clip, but he pointed at money and at Zuffa. “Jake Paul wants to give me a big old bag of money to fight him. I’m under contract. Fine, I’ll go to Zufa. I’ll go, I’ll go beat your cruiserweight champ. Easy.”
Jake Paul has already answered in public. After Strickland floated a post-contract scrap on X, Paul told him to call Most Valuable Promotions once he is free, and Paul later put Strickland on a wish list that also included Canelo Alvarez and Francis Ngannou.
Nothing has been signed. Paul is 12-2 and has been cleared after the broken jaw he suffered against Anthony Joshua, with a return targeted for early 2027.
The cruiserweight reference points to Jai Opetaia, the inaugural Zuffa Boxing champion at 200 pounds. Opetaia won that belt on March 8 against Brandon Glanton and has made one defense. Strickland did not say a bout with him is in talks.
The rest of the video is about why he wants out of the usual champion cycle. “The UFC, they don’t pay you enough money to walk away,” he said.
“The UFC builds a legacy. They keep you right here, but they build Legacy, and they don’t pay you enough, so you have to come back and ruin your legacy.”
He said he has dedicated his life to the sport and does not want to be the fighter who returns three or four times after a loss and gets flatlined. “I just don’t want to do that, man.”
A December defense against Nassourdine Imavov had been discussed for UFC 335 on December 12 in Las Vegas. Reporting this week said the rematch was not signed, with pay cited as the holdup, and Imavov has publicly pressed the UFC over the unsigned fight.
Strickland beat Imavov by unanimous decision in a light heavyweight bout in January 2023. Imavov has since built a case with wins over ranked opposition, including a second-round knockout of Adesanya.
In the new clip, Strickland said the boxing idea is already being worked on. “I want to fight, I want to box, I want to go win a boxing title. So we’re trying to work that out, but if the UFC says, hey, we’re not going to do that, you want to make your fight, well, I’m going to stick and move.”
He was explicit about how that fallback would look.
“You guys are going to boo, hell, I’ll f***ing boo with you while I’m doing it. Just stick and move, collect my check, and then move on.”
For the division, the comments land while he is still champion and still without a signed defense. A move to Zuffa Boxing would keep him inside the same corporate orbit. A Paul fight would not, and his own words leave that option behind a contract he says he is still under.
No boxing date has been announced, and the UFC has not said whether it will clear one. Until that answer comes, the middleweight title picture sits on whether Strickland defends, fights out the deal on his terms, or keeps pushing for a belt in the other sport.
