{"id":373627,"date":"2026-07-29T09:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T03:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=373627"},"modified":"2026-07-29T09:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T03:57:10","slug":"sean-strickland-criticizes-brutal-ufc-matchmaker-for-benching-fighters-everybody-hates-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/sean-strickland-criticizes-brutal-ufc-matchmaker-for-benching-fighters-everybody-hates-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean Strickland criticizes ‘brutal’ UFC matchmaker for benching fighters: ‘Everybody hates you’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Follow us on Google Discover<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Sean Strickland isn\u2019t afraid to call out his friend UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a recent podcast interview, Strickland anticipated receiving backlash from the UFC for criticizing the actions of one in all the promotion\u2019s sponsors.<\/p>\n

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Strickland\u2019s regular rants have previously been shut down by his microphone getting cut off before he could proceed causing issues for the promotion.<\/p>\n

In that exact same podcast appearance, the present middleweight champion was critical of the way in which that one of the crucial essential people within the promotion can impact a fighter\u2019s profession.<\/p>\n

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You’re Dana White for the day, what\u2019s the one change you\u2019d make to the UFC?<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"Dana<\/div>
Dana White speaks on the UFC 322 press conference. Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Sean Strickland goes off on UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby for the way he deals with fighters<\/h2>\n

Apart from the time when a contest-winner got to book a UFC fight, this role falls to the promotion\u2019s matchmakers after they meet on the promotion\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n

One technique to get these people in your side as a member of the roster is to do them a favor by stepping as much as take short notice fights<\/p>\n

Sean Strickland has done this on several occasions and even won the middleweight title by taking the UFC 293 essential event on just over a month\u2019s notice and upsetting Israel Adesanya. <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s in favor of how the promotion can use opportunities like this against fighters, with the middleweight champion calling out matchmaker Sean Shelby particularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy [Shelby] is so f\u2014\u2014 brutal,\u201d Strickland said on the Shawn Ryan Show<\/a>. \u201cYou possibly can have a boring fight or something, and this m\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013 will bench you for like eight months. Or you could possibly say, \u2018Hey Sean, I would like a fight.\u2019 He\u2019ll call you two weeks out from a fight, like, \u2018Hey, we\u2019ve got a fight for you.\u2019 Dude, two weeks out. You possibly can\u2019t give me just a little more f\u2014\u2014 notice? And in the event you say no, he\u2019ll bench your ass. Yeah, the UFC is f\u2014\u2014 brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo by Ed Mulholland\/Zuffa LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strickland did say that together with the UFC bosses loving fighters that take these opportunities, short notice fights also provide you with the largest pay boosts.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, in addition they include the danger of stepping contained in the Octagon with lower than ideal preparations and risking your standing on the roster.<\/p>\n

Strickland previously said that he felt pressured to take his UFC 312 rematch with Dricus du Plessis despite not being ready for it because, in his words, \u201cyou don\u2019t say no to the master.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody hates coping with him,\u201d Strickland added when addressing Shelby. \u201cI\u2019m friends with him, but he was my [matchmaker] at welterweight. Dude, he was such a f\u2014\u2014 c\u2014. I say this as a friend, Sean. You\u2019re a pleasant guy, but everybody f\u2014\u2014 hates you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Follow us on Google Discover Sean Strickland isn\u2019t afraid to call out his friend UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby. In a recent podcast interview, Strickland anticipated receiving backlash from the UFC for criticizing the actions of one in all the promotion\u2019s sponsors. Strickland\u2019s regular rants have previously been shut down by his microphone getting cut off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":373628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[17243,3106,5221,11260,24019,16439,3930,3931,3928],"class_list":["post-373627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-benching","tag-brutal","tag-criticizes","tag-fighters","tag-hates","tag-matchmaker","tag-sean","tag-strickland","tag-ufc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t