UFC cut Sean Strickland’s mic during X-rated post-fight press conference
Sean Strickland was silenced in his post-fight press conference as he delivered yet another vulgar rant after his first knockout in more than two years.
The former middleweight champion returned to the win column in impressive fashion on Saturday night, when he stopped Anthony Hernandez in the UFC Houston main event.
A flurry of strikes ended the fight in the third round, in what was Strickland’s first appearance since he came up short in a middleweight title fight against Dricus Du Plessis 12 months ago.
The American, 34, started his week in controversial fashion, when he unleashed a sexist rant at UFC Houston media day.
Strickland took aim at Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, after it was announced Tuesday that the pair would fight in May.
Speaking ahead of his own bout with Hernandez, he claimed ‘nobody gives a f***’ about women’s MMA, and made a number of other crass comments.
The often outspoken fighter, who has returned from a six-month suspension, also took aim at the UFC’s new deal with Paramount and what he described as a ‘predatory’ pay scale.
On Saturday evening, as Strickland came off the high of a KO win, he sat down to address the media and, unsurprisingly, unleashed more questionable remarks.
Sean Strickland silenced in UFC press conference
He spoke for roughly seven minutes and made numerous homophobic and vulgar comments, before taking aim at the other ‘boring’ fighters in the sport.
“These motherf****** are so boring in this sport. These guys have no personality,” Strickland claimed.
“You have Colby (Covington), the pretend Republican. But like, who’s really entertaining? You’ve got Khamzat Chimaev, the f***ing goat f***er.”
At that moment, Strickland’s microphone was cut by the UFC in an attempt to silence whatever else was about to come out of his mouth.
He appeared upset at that decision, and insisted there was still one more question for him to answer — about whether he thinks he has done enough to be Chimaev’s next challenger for the middleweight title.
Even without the mic, he replied in typical fashion.
He urged UFC public relations staff to ‘relax’ before adding: “Yes, I f***ing did (enough). You don’t want to see any of these motherf****** fight.
“You want to see the last f***ing American in the sport go and f*** that guy up and that’s what’s gonna happen.”
Dana White defended Sean Strickland prior to latest outburst
While Strickland’s mic was swiftly cut in Saturday’s press conference, he hasn’t been silenced for these sorts of comments in the past.
In fact, ahead of his appearance in front of the media in Houston, UFC president and CEO Dana White defended his fighter.
The UFC operates under a ‘free speech protocol,’ and White recently unloaded on Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.
He admitted dealing with Strickland’s outbursts was a ‘nightmare,’ but attacked the media for ‘pushing his buttons.’
“You guys don’t help,” White said.
“Asking him dumb s***, you know? Ask dumb s***, you’re gonna get dumb s***. ‘What did you think of Bad Bunny? What did you think of the Super Bowl?’ Get the f*** out of here.
“You f***ing kidding me? When you talk about what Strickland says, you like to push the buttons.”
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