Variety covers UFC fighter’s homophobic & anti-female remarks at press conference
While former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is no stranger to making controversial comments about anything that comes to mind, it’s rare those comments are picked up anywhere outside native MMA media.
That changed Wednesday night as Variety published a piece covering Strickland’s comments from a press conference earlier in the day where he took aim at musician Bad Bunny as well as Ronda Rousey and women’s sports in general.
During Wednesday’s presser to promote his fight with Anthony Hernandez this Saturday on Paramount+, Strickland twice used a gay slur to reference Bad Bunny and his Super Bowl halftime performance, also pantomiming the NFL making a decision to “gay it up” and “bring in a gay foreigner who doesn’t speak English” in an effort to “f**king ruin the sport.”
Variety reached out to both Paramount and UFC but had not heard back. Paramount is also a partner with the NFL.
Strickland also was asked about the announcement of Rousey fighting Gina Carano in May, suggesting they fight “half naked” while putting over Rousey’s abilities while then joking she “lost a few fights to her ex” — a reference to a violent incident with a past boyfriend Rousey discussed in a book.
He also discussed Carano, saying he was a kid when she was fighting and that he pleasured himself to her “once or twice back in the day.”
He also said that “no one gives a f*ck about women’s sports,” adding that there is nothing wrong with women because they can do great things like cooking and cleaning.
UFC head Dana White has been hesitant, if not defiant, in punishing any fighters for outlandish comments in the past, notably from Bryce Mitchell who last year praised Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust happened, and blamed Jewish people for turning people gay. He remains under contract.
It appears unlikely Strickland will suffer any punishment this time around given that precedent.
Former football player turned media personality Robert Griffin III also denounced Strickland’s comments on his X account which has over two million followers.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.