Sean Strickland justifies accepting fight against unranked Abus Magomedov: “The money was right”
UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland justified accepting his upcoming fight against the unranked Abus Magomedov, saying that “the money was right.”
Strickland is the No. 7 ranked middleweight in the UFC and he has a 13-5 overall record in the Octagon. Magomedov, meanwhile, is just 1-0 in the UFC. Typically, these types of matchups between highly-ranked fighters and unranked opponents do not happen, so it was surprising to see this fight when it was announced. While some fans and media are still scratching their heads at why the UFC would book this matchup, Strickland explained why it was an easy call.
Speaking to the media ahead of UFC Vegas 76, Strickland said that the UFC was originally trying to match him up with other ranked middleweights. But when those opponents turned Strickland down, he was given the choice of either waiting potentially several months for a ranked foe or taking a shot and accepting a fight with unranked Magomedov.
“I had no idea who the f*ck (Magomedov) was. So I’ve been hounding the UFC to fight, I even offered to do 205, but Mick (Maynard) didn’t want me to f*ck up the rankings because there are a lot of 205ers I’d f*ck up. So I had a conversation with Mick, and he pretty much offered me a couple of ranked guys. I said yes to them, they said no,” Strickland said (via MMAjunkie.com).
“So I had a choice: I either wait eight f*cking months or I f*cking fight. The money was right and here we are. I mean, we all fight for money. If the dollar is right, I will f*cking do it. We came to good terms and good pay, and here we are fighting Abus.”
Who do you think wins the main event of this weekend’s UFC Vegas 76, Sean Strickland or Abus Magomedov?
