Nassourdine Imavov finally got Sean Strickland in person, and he skipped the small talk. The two crossed paths in Las Vegas on Wednesday, and Imavov went straight at the champion about the bout agreement sitting unsigned, according to video posted by Championship Rounds on X.
“What is your problem? You not sign the contract?” Imavov asked.
Strickland answered by asking him to repeat himself, and Imavov kept pressing. He offered to cover the money himself, then called out to Strickland asking where he was going as the champion appeared to move off. Strickland came off dismissive as things heated up, and he looked like a man who was done with the conversation.
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How the money fight started
The cash talk has been building for days. On Oct. 4, Imavov posted on X that he’d back up his words with his own bank account: “If it’s really about money, I’ll put $500K of my own money on the line if you beat me in January.” In the same post he tagged the UFC, questioned whether Strickland was really their champion, called for the promotion to strip him and signed off with #NoHappyEnding.
That post quoted a claim from the X account @Erntastedfresh that Strickland is asking for $1 million to fight Imavov on Jan. 16 at UFC 336, with the UFC offering 400k to show and 400k to win. Those figures come from that single account and haven’t been confirmed by the UFC or either fighter’s camp, so treat them as unverified.
Earlier that same weekend, the matchup failed to appear on the UFC 335 card in December. Imavov laughed it off on X, posting that Strickland was playing tough, punctuated with a crying-laughing emoji. Dovy, who covers the sport on X, posted that Strickland wasn’t on UFC 335 because he wants more money.
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Strickland floats an exit
Strickland, for his part, sounds like a man shopping other options. In comments posted by Championship Rounds on Wednesday, he said he might walk away from the title picture entirely.
“Unless things change with the UFC thing I’m kinda over it. Contemplating just going to 205, knocking out my contract and scrapping with Jake Paul.”
So the board looks like this: a champion openly talking about vacating and moving up, a challenger trying to buy his way into the cage, and a reported Jan. 16 date at UFC 336 that nobody has signed for.
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I love Imavov here. Offering $500K of your own money is the funniest pressure tactic I’ve seen in a contract standoff in years, and walking up to the guy in Vegas and asking where he’s going is even better. Strickland is allowed to want a bigger check, and the UFC is allowed to say no. But if he’s genuinely over it, the belt shouldn’t sit in a drawer while he weighs Jake Paul. Either somebody moves on the money before Jan. 16, or Imavov’s #NoHappyEnding hashtag turns into a prediction about the title.
