UFC 335: Sean Strickland Refused Main Event Fight Over Huge Pay Cut

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For months, expectations pointed toward UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland defending his belt against No. 3-ranked contender Nassourdine Imavov at the company's final numbered event of the year, UFC 335.

Strickland is coming off a championship-winning upset of Khamzat Chimaev, while Imavov (17-4, 9-2-1 UFC) has assembled a five-fight winning streak that includes victories over some of the division's biggest names (Jared Cannonier, Brendan Allen, Israel Adesanya, and Caio Borralho).

Yet when UFC 335 was unveiled, during the live broadcast of UFC 332 this past Saturday, the pairing was nowhere to be found. Instead, the promotion built its year-end card in Las Vegas around Charles Oliveira-Diego Lopes for the BMF title, and Alex Pereira-Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main, leaving fans searching for answers.

Initially, some believed Strickland's recent off-road vehicle accident was responsible for the delay. The real issue appears to be compensation. Strickland recently acknowledged that negotiations with the UFC were ongoing, explaining that discussions over pay must be finalized before the fight can become official.

"We're discussing pay now," Strickland responded to a tweet on Sept. 27. Once that detail is squared, it's locked in. The issue is no one cares about the fake Frenchman. We're almost there."

Unfortunately, negotiations fell apart and details have now emerged of the substantial pay cut that the UFC were expecting Strickland to take, compared to his championship victory over Chimaev.

Champions rarely possess more leverage than they do immediately after winning a title. Coming off a career-defining split decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) win over Chimaev at UFC 328 in New Jersey, in which he earned $1,082,000, Strickland was reportedly offered less than half that sum to sign for a title defense against Imavov.

Reports suggest that the 35-year-old was offered $400,000 to show and $400,000 to win a main event fight against Imavov.

However, Strickland is believed to have been seeking a guaranteed payday of $1 million, a figure that reflects both his status and his impressive resume at middleweight, having won UFC titles in the division on two occasions.

Seventeen mixed martial artists have reclaimed championship gold in their respective weight classes while signed to the UFC. Petr Yan and Strickland are the most recent to accomplish the difficult feat.

It is likely that the UFC will try to book the fight again, with an early 2027 date a possibility.

Imavov, however, isn't interested in waiting forever. The challenger publicly escalated the situation by offering to wager $500,000 of his own money, while simultaneously questioning whether the champion truly wants the matchup.

"If it's really about money, I'll put $500k of my own money on the line if you beat me in January [Sean Strickland], putting this on record," Imamov wrote on X. "If you still don't take it, then you're just scared. I'll handle you outside. UFC, THIS is your champ? Come on, STRIP HIM."

There is no indication that the UFC is considering anything close to that action, but will do hopeful of coming to terms with Strickland on his first title defense shortly.