Sean Strickland explains why he’s fighting “no name” Abus Magomedov: “UFC, that’s f****d up”

Sean Strickland has opened up on why he is fighting unranked Abus Magomedov in the main event of a Fight Night card on July 1.

Strickland is coming off a decision win over Nassourdine Imavov and is currently ranked seventh at 185lbs. However, his next bout will come against the unranked fighter who has just one fight and win inside of the Octagon. When he was offered Magomedov, Strickland says he had no idea who he was and thought he was a no-name.

“(The UFC was like) I’m gonna f**k you with this guy with this no name,” Strickland said to Helen Yee.

According to Sean Strickland, he says the UFC basically gave him no choice but to accept this fight or he wasn’t going to fight for a long time. He also says the pay was a nice bonus for taking the fight.

RELATED: Sean Strickland believes he should be fighting Israel Adesanya next.

“So, here’s the thing, you guys, I’m gonna f*****g speak straight with you. I always do, I’m honest. I try to be unless I’m trying to sleep with you. But I’m gonna speak straight with you guys cause I’m not trying to f**k you guys,” Strickland continued. “The UFC came to me, and they said, Sean, we asked a couple top 10 guys, they said no. The UFC asked them, they said no. So, they said, we’re gonna be benching you for like six to eight months until somebody opens up or you fight this guy. And I said, UFC, that’s f****d up, but I’d like to fight, I like to make money. So, I said yes and that’s here we are.”

Although Strickland wasn’t too familiar with Magomedov, at the end of the day, it is a fistfight that he likes to partake in. But the UFC did threaten to bench him should he not take this fight, which likely played a role in him taking it.