Sean Strickland says UFC is the 'easiest' pro league to get into, explains how calculating average pay renders its fighters 'idiots' 

Despite being the pinnacle of mixed martial arts, the UFC is "pretty easy" to get into according to Sean Strickland, though the middleweight believes those who strive to be in the company are "absolute f***ing idiots".

Unlike football, basketball, or soccer, just competing for a reasonable promotion in the sport of MMA isn't too difficult, but maintaining your spot at the highest level is arguably one of the toughest. The constant rotation of athletes at the top of each division in martial arts isn't replicated anywhere else.

In a rant on social media, Sean Strickland lashed out and dismissed a claim made by fellow fighter Ian Heinisch, who used statistics to reveal that 1 in 130,494,809 people get to compete in the UFC, saying:

"Why [people] should never believe statistics? Everything about this [is] factually inaccurate and either a sign of a liar or CTE. You would only take people seeking UFC and you could even narrow it down [with] other factors. Result, it is pretty easy to get into the UFC compared to all other sports... If you take [the] average earnings of all fighters [and the] average years spent in the UFC, you will find that if you want to be a UFC fighter, you're an absolute f***ing idiot."

Being at the top of the sport for a prolonged period of time without faltering as Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov did is nothing short of sensational and arguably places you amongst the greatest athletes of all time.

But as fighters just three fights into their professional careers are being given a shot in the UFC as mentioned above, it is tough to argue against Sean Strickland's outlook on the matter.

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What's next for Sean Strickland?

Sean Strickland managed to bring his two-fight skid to an end last time out when he overwhelmed the dangerous Nassourdine Imavov for five rounds as he stepped in on short notice.

Prior to beating the Frenchman, the 31-year-old lost a closely contested decision to Jared Cannonier and was knocked out by Alex Pereira in his number-one contender matchup.

His latest win sees him remain in the #7 spot in the middleweight division, with only a handful of viable options ahead of him. Excluding his training partner Marvin Vettori, both Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker are fresh matchups for Strickland that are ranked above him at 185.