Joshua Van criticizes Strickland’s UFC pay dispute

The flyweight champion believes Strickland should have negotiated privately with Dana White

UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van has stated that he neither accepts nor supports Sean Strickland’s actions against the UFC.

Sean Strickland has not fought since the UFC 328 event, where he defeated Khamzat Chimaev and secured the middleweight title. However, he is currently in a dispute with the UFC because he is demanding higher pay for his future fights. In an interview, Joshua Van criticized, in particular, how Sean Strickland is handling the situation, saying that, in his opinion, Sean Strickland should have taken a more personal approach first and sought a conversation with White.

“He signed a contract in May, then fought Khamzat and won… Instead of going on Twitter (X) and going on and all that sh*t, he should have talked to Dana and said I want to renegotiate behind closed doors”

Joshua Van compares the situation to a normal employment relationship where you publicly ask your own boss for more money and, if that doesn’t work, threaten to go on strike or even quit your job. It’s an apt comparison, but it’s important to note that we don’t know what happened behind the scenes. It’s possible that the middleweight champion even tried to take that route, we just don’t know. It’s a difficult situation, but we have to be careful how we judge it, because otherwise it could backfire.