UFC CEO Dana White isn’t about to try and filter Sean Strickland or anybody else on the roster.
Strickland went viral on social media during UFC 297 fight week after going on an anti-LGBTQ rant during media day in Toronto. He verbally attacked a reporter who asked him about past comments he’d made.
A heavy advocate for free speech, White defended Strickland and said the reporter baited him by asking about his stance on the LGBTQ community. Using the likes of Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington as examples, White says the UFC provides a platform that allows anyone to express themselves the way they want to.
“We had a guy early on when the COVID thing started, Tyron Woodley. He came out in Black Lives Matter everything. I think he had Black Lives Matter socks on, covered head to toe in Black Lives Matter,” White said on “The TRUTH Podcast” with Vivek Ramaswamy, referencing a September 2020 situation with Woodley before his fight against Colby Covington. “At the press conference leading up to his fight, they would ask him a question and he would say, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ They’d ask him anouther one, (he’d answer) ‘Black Lives Matter.’ I didn’t say sh*t to him, knock yourself out. …
“This is America. Everybody can have their own opinion. I’m not telling anybody what to do, what to say, what to think, how to feel. We’re human beings in America, do your thing, knock yourself out, I’ve got the platform. People get pissed off, people get offended, people get this and that. We just had it happen with Sean Strickland.
“We’re up in Canada. Sean Strickland said a lot of things. I don’t agree with 95 percent of what this guy says, but it’s his right to say it. And if you don’t like it, tune in on Saturday night, he’s gonna get punched in the face. If you don’t like him, you get to see him get punched in the face, so there you go. Don’t get too upset and don’t take it too serious.”
Strickland wound up losing his middleweight title to Dricus Du Plessis by split decision in the UFC 297 main event.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
