Dana White has addressed some of the controversy set off by Sean Strickland in Toronto earlier this month at UFC 297.
Strickland, now the UFC’s former middleweight champion following a split decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis at the January 20 card, was a polarizing figure while in Canada, launching into a hate-filled tirade against homosexuals while questioning MMA Fighting’s Alex K. Lee as to whether he’d accept having a gay son.
Alongside that, Strickland attempted to win over fans by clumsily dabbling in Canadian socio-political issues including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of a COVID-19 lockdown protest. Strickland also suggested he would bring “free speech” to Canada (freedom of expression is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but apparently, no one bothered to tell Strickland that).
Following what amounted to a PR disaster for the promotion which included a public press conference with fans chanting “say the N-word” that was ultimately cut short after one unruly spectator rushed the stage, UFC CEO Dana White defended Strickland’s right to say what he wants, while noting that he doesn’t agree with the majority of what Sean Strickland says.
“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,” Dana White stated, speaking on The TRUTH Podcast. “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.”
White also compared the situation to that of Tyron Woodley during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, ahead of his fight with Colby Covington.
“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. “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 another one, [he answered] ‘Black Lives Matter.’ I didn’t say sh*t to him, knock yourself out.”
While Canada does recognize Freedom of Expression as a right granted to all citizens, the country has stricter hate crimes/hate speech laws that its southern neighbor — though Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Neil Lumsden told Cageside Press during Fight Week that he was prepared to let the UFC deal with Strickland’s comments internally.
