Sean Strickland feels that UFC could have assisted Stephan Bonnar in a better manner before his tragic demise.
UFC contender Stephan Bonnar died on December 22 at the age of 45 after suffering from heart complications at work.
Sean Strickland had a totally different perspective as the MMA community joined together to pay respect to one of the original contestants on TUF. Strickland criticized both UFC athletes and fans who paid respect to Bonnar but did nothing to assist him in overcoming difficulties in his latter years of life. Additionally, he criticized the UFC.
Strickland spoke on the topic while making an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. He made it clear that while he loves his job, he believes that Bonnar’s life could have been possibly saved if the UFC had been a little more willing to assist the man.
Strickland said,
“I’m a company guy. I love the UFC and I think my commitment to the UFC is not in question, but you know. You gotta think, how much money did the UFC make off of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.”
“I’m not saying they have any obligation to give that pie to Stephan Bonnar, but… And Stephan Bonnar’s f**king broke. He had CTE. I don’t know. I blocked the guy on Instagram. I thought he was f**king nuts, but not saying the UFC has any obligation to help him out or any of them.”
“When he was broke. When he was going under, all this s*t when he was f**king battling… You know, whatever the f**k he was doing, if he had a piece of that pie, even a small piece, it could have changed his f*cking life.”
Additionally, Strickland spoke about Ngannou’s departure from the UFC. Although Strickland respects Ngannou’s choice to leave the UFC and try his luck as a free agent, Strickland has no plans to follow in his footsteps.
Strickland added:
“I guess it comes back down to Francis (Ngannou) wanting more of himself. He wants to own more of himself. I don’t know, man. I love the UFC. I’m happy. I’m doing things right. I’m making great money, but you look at guys like Stephan Bonnar who kind of paved the way, made the UFC f**king millions and the pie definitely was not shared. “
“I admire Francis for that, you know. I’m basing this on what Eric (Nicksick) stated, if it’s true, and he just said, “Hey, I want to control my brand.” I want to be myself. Money isn’t the issue. I honour that.”
“I’m not that f**king way, personally. I’ll give you my name if you offer me money. I could care less. I thus admire the fact that he followed his convictions and made his own decisions. Personally, I’m not like that. I am a complete sellout. If you give me money, I’ll f*ckin’ start bragging about being friends with Ariel.”