Sean
Strickland and Mike Perry
recently engaged in a dispute regarding fighter pay in the Bare
Knuckle Fighting Championship.
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Strickland was asked about a potential career in the BKFC leading
up to his UFC 302
clash against Paulo Costa
on June 1. Strickland completely dismissed the idea.
“Oh f—k, how much will I fight f—ing bareknuckle for? Nothing they
would pay me…They’re paying their guys shit… Breaking their hands,
breaking their orbitals, they’re making a couple thousand bucks,”
Strickland said.
Perry, who lost $50,000 by betting on Costa, later took a shot at
the former UFC middleweight champ. Perry believes Strickland
shouldn’t be talking about fighter pay, as he is probably making
much less in the
UFC than “Platinum” is in BKFC.
“Sean Strickland, he’s fighting for the UFC for pesos and I’m
getting paid over here,” Perry said on the Overdogs podcast. “He’s always posting videos
on Instagram where he walks outside of his garage or his front door
and somebody is in his driveway. And he’s like trying to fight them
bare knuckle for free right there. So, what are you talking about
Sean?”
Perry signed with the BKFC after parting ways with the UFC in 2021
on the back of a two-fight slump. He has since racked up a
five-fight winning streak to rise to the status of the biggest star
in the promotion. However, Strickland notes that while Perry might
be making more than most UFC fighters, such is not the case with
the rest of the BKFC roster. Also not shy to question UFC fighter
pay, Strickland urged Perry to speak out for the welfare of the
entire roster.
“UFC pay is utter garbage lol [They’re] signing guys at 10/10 that
should be criminal… but the vast majority of BKFC fighters are
getting paid way less than that….. As a UFC fighter I advocate
for better pay for me and the entire roster…… You should do the
same for your guys,” Strickland commented on an Instagram post.
“While I’m on my soap box from a poor man who became kinda a rich
man, once you have capital it just snow balls. These elites could
probably never take a paycheck again and easily make 500k a
year…. yet they still line their bank accounts with millions that
they will never need or spend. In all industries.”
Sean Strickland fires back at Mike Perry and
advocates for better fighter pay:“UFC pay is utter garbage lol they’re signing guys at 10K/10K that
should be criminal… but the vast majority of BKFC fighters are
getting paid way less than that…As a UFC fighter I advocate for… pic.twitter.com/TxATq4gUHM
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
June 11, 2024
The California State Athletic Commission recently revealed fighter salaries for BKFC Knucklemania 4 in Los
Angeles on April 28 and
UFC 298 in Anaheim on Feb. 17 Mike Perry
made $600,000 for his first round KO of Thiago
Alves, who made $200,000. Meanwhile, UFC 298 headliner
Alexander Volkanovksi made $750,000 for putting his featherweight
title on the line against Ilia
Topuria, who made $350,000. The stark contrast however becomes
evident on the lowest rung of the card, with Brendson Rebeiro
making $10,000 in the UFC and Sydney
Smith making $500 in the BKFC.