UFC president stands by fighter who made homophobic remarks, cites ‘Free Speech’

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After an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter made a series of profane and homophobic remarks at a pre-fight press conference, the organization’s president said that no discipline would be forthcoming because all his employees were entitled to Free Speech.

Key Players

Dana White has been president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, since 2001. White was also named the company’s CEO in 2023. He has spoken at the Republican National Convention and has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. 

Sean Strickland has fought in the UFC since 2014. The 32-year-old has over 15 years of professional fighting experience and a history of discriminatory conduct and speech. 

Further Details

Strickland has recalled being exposed to white supremacist ideologies as a child and told MMA Fighting that he was expelled from school in the ninth grade after committing what he described as a hate crime. Strickland went on to say that his MMA career has led him to reject any racist ideology. 

White has long held that UFC fighters are free to express whatever views they wish. In an April 2021 interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, White said that “there are certain fighters, male and female, who have their own religious and political beliefs or whatever, and we don’t muzzle any of them, either.” 

In December 2021, Strickland responded to a question on X (then called Twitter) by saying “If I had a gay son I would think I failed as a man to create such weakness.” The following day, Strickland said his comment was a joke. 

Strickland has also made controversial comments about women. Yahoo Sports quoted him in June 2023 as saying “We need to go back to taking women out of the workforce.” 

The same report also quoted Strickland saying in October 2023 that, “If I said my views on transgenders I would get kicked off Instagram,” during a series of comments on American brewery Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

On Jan. 17, 2024, Strickland spoke at a press conference to promote UFC 297, where he was part of the main event fight in Toronto. During the event, reporter Alexander Lee asked Strickland about his previous homophobic remarks, given Toronto’s sizeable LGBTQ+ population, the Daily Beast reported. Strickland responded by asking Lee if he was gay. Lee replied that he was not, but in a clear reference to Strickland’s 2021 tweet, said he would not have a problem if he had a son who was gay. 

Strickland responded by calling Lee “a weak fucking man” and “part of the fucking problem.” 

Lee also asked about Strickland’s comments on the transgender community, to which Strickland replied, “Here’s the thing about Bud Light, 10 years ago, to be trans was a mental fucking illness.” He went on to say, “The world’s not buying your fucking bullshit you’re fucking peddling. The world is not saying, ‘You know what? You’re right. Fucking chicks have dicks,’” the Daily Beast reported.

The reporting community was quick to defend Lee after the incident went viral, with combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani calling Lee “a great journalist and even better person” in a post on X. 

Fellow MMA reporter Jake Davis also praised Lee’s questioning in a post on X, in which he called Strickland “idiocy personified.” 

Outcomes

White declines to criticize Strickland because of Free Speech

On Jan. 21, 2024, White was questioned about Strickland’s comments during a post-event press conference. White defended Strickland’s response, saying “he was baited in that question.”  

White later remarked, “I don’t fucking tell any other human being what to say, what to think. There are no leashes on anyone. It’s ridiculous to say that I give somebody a leash. Free Speech, brother,” Yahoo Sports reported. 

ESPN criticized for silence in the wake of Strickland’s remarks

On Jan. 19, USA Today reporter Mike Freeman wrote in an op-ed that ESPN’s response to the situation was “disgracefully weak.” Freeman wrote that when asked for comment, a representative for the Disney-owned sports media outlet suggested Freeman “speak with UFC since Strickland is a UFC employee and they handle athlete relations.”

ESPN has a seven-year broadcasting rights deal with UFC worth roughly $300 million annually. 

The op-ed was published a day after Mike Ryan Ruiz, producer of “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” said on the air, “I would challenge ESPN to make a public statement on this. Because that kind of hate is going over their airways,” Awful Announcing reported. Ruiz and Le Batard were both longtime ESPN employees before Le Batard left the company and began his own podcast network in 2021.As of Feb. 1, 2024, ESPN had not released a public statement on Strickland’s comments