Following his win at UFC Houston, Sean Strickland had a conversation with UFC bosses Dana White and Hunter Campbell after what was a controversial week.
Per week ago on Saturday at UFC Houston, the previous UFC middleweight champion returned to the win column with a formidable win over Anthony Hernandez.
His third round TKO win marked his first finish contained in the UFC Octagon since his win over Abus Magomedov in 2023.
And immediately after his win, Sean Strickland engaged in a conversation backstage with Dana White and Hunter Campbell, which was caught on camera.
Sean Strickland thanked Dana White for not firing him after controversial fight week
In usual Strickland fashion, his UFC Houston fight week kicked off controversially as several of his rants including female MMA went viral.
That led to Paramount being put under pressure to deal with Strickland’s comments, which they didn’t do.
And after what was one other highly controversial week for the 35-year-old, following his win, he thanked White and Campbell for not firing him once they met backstage.
“Ah, Mr White, thanks for not firing me, that’s very nice,” Strickland told White.
“Well, you bought the bonus tonight,” White replied as he told Strickland he had earned an extra $125,000 for his win.
“Let’s go, bro. Each time I do a press conference, I’m like, ‘Here we go’, I see Hunter’s name (on my phone),” Strickland said.
“I told them, prepare, batten down the hatches up there,” White said in reference to the post-fight press conference, which hadn’t taken place at that time.
“Hunter never calls me to say ‘Hey Sean, how’s your day?’ He’s at all times saying, ‘Sean, it is advisable to shut the f— up.’
“The moment I shut the f— up, do you’re thinking that those stands might be just as full? No. People go because they either love me or want me to die, but either way, they’re buying tickets,” Strickland continued.
UFC 327 title announcement may benefit Sean Strickland
This past Friday, White took to Instagram live to announce the UFC 327 most important event might be a vacant light heavyweight title fight between Jiri Prochazka and Carlos Ulberg, announcing Alex Pereira has vacated.
The explanation why this might be a giant profit to Strickland is since the UFC middleweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev, was linked to a move as much as 205lbs.
But with it now almost guaranteed that Chimaev’s next fight might be a 185lb title defense, Strickland’s rivalry with him could see him leapfrog the pack and be the following challenger.