Sean Strickland shocked the UFC world last fall. ‘Tarzan’ dominated Israel Adesanya for five rounds to win the middleweight title at their UFC 293 clash last September. So stunning and disheartening was the loss for ‘Izzy’ that the Kiwi went on a hiatus from fighting.

And now, Strickland is preparing to defend his title for the first time in a grudge match against Dricus Du Plessis at UC 297 this Saturday. While becoming champion means Strickland will now make significantly more money, let us take a look at how much he made in his UFC 293 clash against Adesanya.

Strickland made less than half Adesanya did for UFC 293

Israel Adesanya was slated to face Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 293. However, the South African turned down the bout due to an injury, and Adesanya convinced the UFC to replace him with then #6 ranked Sean Strickland due to the bad blood between them. The UFC, reportedly hesitant at first, finally gave in and ‘Tarzan’, coming off two losses in his last fights, fought Adesanya at the Australia card.

Contrary to all expectations, Strickland, with his awkward, Philly Shell style of fighting, managed to get the better of Adesanya for the full five rounds, knocking him down in the final round. However, in purely financial terms, ‘Izzy’ was the clear winner of UFC 293.

Strickland made a respectable $1,530,000, of which $500,000 was his show money, $100,000 win bonus, $50,000 performance bonus, $32,000 sponsorship money, and a whopping $850,000 from the PPV sales.

‘Izzy’, who is one of the UFC’s biggest stars, on the other hand came into the fight as the champion, made a total of $3,540,000. Of this, $1,000,000 was his show money, along with $32,000 sponsorship bonus, and $2,500,000 in PPV share.

However, Strickland is likely to make more money in his upcoming fight against Du Plessis, where he is going in as the champion. Ahead of their much-awaited UFC 297 press conference, Strickland has already threatened ‘DDP’s life’ if he ‘crosses the line’ again.

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Strickland and Du Plessis seen hugging despite stabbing threat

Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis had a contentious exchange at the UFC 296 press conference. Strickland joked that Du Plessis had a romantic relationship with his coach, while the #1 ranked middelweight brought up ‘Tarzan’s traumatic childhood”, to the latter’s chagrin. So affected was Strickland at this that he has threatened to “stab” ‘DDP’ if he brings up his childhood again.

“If you bring that s**t up again, I will f*****g stab you… He was cool about it… I’m just saying that’s a line that, when crossed, it transcends fighting,” Strickland revealed in a recent interview. However, the bad blood between the two has subsided somewhat as the two were seen hugging and meeting each other amicably on a recent episode of UFC Embedded.

There is seemingly a lot of respect between both men despite their heated interactions recently, including a brawl at UFC 296. But make no mistake, both men have huge personal stakes in the bout, even more than the middleweight championship. And all signs point to someone getting knocked out at their UFC 297 clash.

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