Video shows UFC execs couldn’t care less about Sean Strickland’s homophobic screeds
If anybody was wondering whether UFC execs care about Sean Strickland's hateful rantings... they don't!
If anybody was wondering whether UFC execs care about Sean Strickland’s hateful rantings, the question has been answered with one behind the scenes video.
Absolutely not!
In a new documentary airing on Roku TV, Fight Inc: Inside the UFC, cameras captured a meeting between PR officials about Strickland’s comments prior to his fight last year against Abusupiyan Magomedov. The former middleweight champ said allowing women to vote “f*cked up” the U.S., and called Germans “stupid” and Brazilians “dirty.”
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At the start of the meeting, UFC’s SVP of Communications Renee Breckenridge asked for a recap of Strickland’s bigoted remarks, quipping she had her “pen ready.”
Christoph Goessing, the senior PR manager, proceeded to summarize Strickland’s ridiculous words. As he spoke, nobody in the room reacted.
“He had a long speech about allowing women to vote, and that’s the reason this country is kind of going downhill,” he said. “A couple of choice comments about Germany and America and Brazil, as it relates to his opponent. It was about 26 minutes of unadulterated Sean. He just says it all.”
Breckenridge proceeded to thank Goessing for the recap, telling him it was “colorful.”
Meeting adjourned!
The UFC PR team held a meeting about Sean Strickland media days last year
Fight Inc: Inside the UFC (Ep. 2)
pic.twitter.com/cBK9z7rKSI— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) June 9, 2024
It’s jarring to see the PR team of a major sports league react so nonchalantly to a star figure’s misogynistic and racist screed, but that’s apparently business as usual in UFC. As far as Strickland is concerned, his words ahead of his bout against Magomedov are just the tip of the iceberg.
Earlier this year, Strickland went on one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ rants we’ve ever heard from a pro athlete. When an MMA reporter inquired about his past homophobic comments, he exploded.
“You’re part of the problem. Go f*ck yourself!” Strickland shouted. “Everything that is wrong with the world is because of f*cking you.”
He proceeded to attack transgender people.
“Here’s the thing about Bud Light, 10 years ago, to be trans was a mental f*cking illness,” he said. “And now, all of a sudden, people like you have f*cking weaseled your way in the world. You are an infection. You are the definition of weakness. Everything that is wrong with the world is because of f*cking you.”
The fighter continued, “The world’s saying, ‘No, there are two genders. I don’t want my kids being taught about who they could f*ck in school. I don’t want my kids being taught about their sexual preference.’”
"You ask me some stupid sh*t like that? Go f*ck yourself."
Sean Strickland went off on a reporter who pressed him on past comments about the LGBTQ community at #UFC297 media day. pic.twitter.com/wyTEcUZLbv— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 17, 2024
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Why does ESPN refuse to condemn UFC star Sean Strickland’s virulent homophobia?
The network is refusing to comment on Strickland’s vile homophobic rant.
In response to Strickland’s homophobic tirade, UFC head Dana White said he doesn’t care at all.
“I don’t give anybody a leash,” he offered. “A leash? Free speech. Control what people say, going to tell people what to believe, tell people…I don’t f*cking tell any other human being what to say, what to think. There’s no leashes on any of them.”
Taking their cues from the top, male UFC stars regularly engage in virulent antigay rhetoric. Just a couple of weeks ago, UFC star Bryce Mitchell said he was going to homeschool his 3-month-old child, because he doesn’t want him to worship Satan and “turn gay.”
Very, very enlightened stuff…
“Tucker’s also going to be homeschooled,” he said. “We’re gonna have to homeschool all our kids or they’re going to end up turning gay and that’s the reason I’m gonna homeschool Tucker. I don’t want him to be a communist, I don’t want him to worship Satan, and I don’t want him to be gay.”
Strickland, for what it’s worth, commented on Mitchell’s video with a “
” emoji.
The homophobic barbs don’t end there. Last fall, UFC fighter Marvin Vettori asked whether men can be bi, and former UFC standout Michael Bisping said an antigay slur on an ESPN telecast.
Over the last several years, UFC has aligned itself with Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, with the disgraced ex-president often appearing at the company’s PPVs. He receives a thunderous ovation every single time, including earlier this month, when he attended a fight in Newark, New Jersey just two days after he was convicted on 34 felony counts.
Fans’ responses on social media to the UFC PR team’s nonchalance over Strickland’s rant was equally positive. People said they like how the execs don’t seem to care.
What a wonderful fanbase!
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