Sean Strickland has landed in Australia, and he’s throwing wild punches at the entire nation before the cage fighting begins.
The abrasive American UFC fighter is in Sydney ahead of his middleweight division title fight rematch this Sunday, February 9th with reigning champion Dricus du Plessis.
Strickland has a reputation for throwing hands and words. At a press conference in the lead-up to UFC 312, the prize fighter threw the latter, putting the Australian government on blast for taking away freedoms and labelling the country a “Communist” state. Strickland also had words to say on the country’s ban on firearms, triggered by the Port Arthur Massacre.
“You guys have got a lot of cameras here – red light cameras, cell phone cameras, seatbelt cameras, speed cameras,” Strickland told reporters. “How do you get a blowjob while you drive? Do you get a ticket for that, is there that kind of camera. It’s real fucking Communist here.”
He had some nice words to say about the views, but not its people. “It’s a really beautiful country, I would consider Australians as English white trash. Some Irish too, you know they sent the lot here. As an American white trash I feel like I have a lot in common with you fuckers.”
Playing the game that all headlines are good headlines, Strickland delivered a body slam to the country’s stance on guns, banned following Martin Bryant’s rampage in 1996. “You had one mass shooting and gave up all your guns, that was kind of pathetic,” he remarked.
Watch his rant from 18:50 in the pre-fight press conference video below.
The former champ is no stranger to controversy. In 2021, he tweeted, “If I had a gay son I would think I failed as a man. If I had a whore for a daughter I’d think she just wanted to be like her dad lol.”
The 33-year-old mixed martial artist is an avowed fan of Donald Trump and the US president’s MAGA movement. At one point following his split decision win at UFC 302, Strictland bolted from the Octagon for a selfie with Trump.
Inside the ring, Strickland faced Israel Adesanya for the UFC Middleweight Championship on September 10th, 2023, at UFC 293, winning via unanimous decision in what was considered a major upset.
South Africa’s Du Plessis will put his middleweight belt on the line at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena this Sunday, with the main card set to get underway from 2pm (AEDT). It’s the latest UFC battle in these parts following UFC 293 (also at Qudos Bank Arena) and UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya last August at Perth’s RAC Arena.
