Sean Strickland may not be attending the UFC White House card on Sunday but it’s not because he was banned from the event.
That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who could only scoff at Strickland’s recent declaration that he was banned from attending for speaking out against President Donald Trump over the current war in Iran and his relationship with Israel among other issues raised by the always outspoken UFC middleweight champion.
“The only male American champ banned at the White House because I said Trump is owned by [Benjaimin Netanyahu],” Strickland said on social media. “That’s not public opinion, it’s fact.”
While Strickland ranted about not being allowed to attend the event, White says that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Everybody’s banned apparently. Apparently f*cking everybody is banned,” White joked when asked about Strickland’s comments on Tuesday during a media scrum. “Of course, Sean Strickland isn’t [banned]. Sean Strickland is banned from humanity. We don’t want him near any human beings anywhere. F*cking shows up at Power Slap, he starts fights.
“He made it very clear he didn’t want to be a part of this event and now apparently he’s banned. Nobody is banned. Nobody’s music is banned. No media members have been banned. The list goes on and on.”
Strickland might be missing the fights on Sunday but it has nothing to do with him not being allowed to set foot on the White House lawn to watch the event.
Instead, White says with only so many tickets available and the lion’s share going to Trump to dole out to his invited guests, the UFC White House card really is one of the most exclusive events in history.
“This is obviously a very unique event where first of all, there’s only so much room,” White said. “[My head of public relations] was telling me at the White House there’s 1,000 media members that are credentialed at the White House. So 1,000 people [want access]. No, we can’t have 1,000 of the White House media members just show up at this thing.
“There’s only 4,300 tickets to actually seat. Literally, nobody has been banned from this event.”
It was revealed on Tuesday that the White House was actually handing over responsibility for media credentials to the UFC for the entire event on Sunday. Typically there’s a designated press corps that has regular access for press briefings, press conferences and other events happening at the White House but that’s not the case for the special UFC card happening this weekend.
That means some outlets may not receive credentials to attend the event but White was adamant that nobody was actually being banned from the show.
The same goes for fighters choosing their own walkout music after there was a rumor floating around that Diego Lopes had to change his selection in songs prior to fight night.
White promises that was never the case and the same goes for Strickland claiming he was banned from the UFC White House card for his opinions on Trump and the way he’s handling the presidency.
“There’s a lot of bullshit floating around out there right now,” White said. “Nobody is banned. Nothing is banned.
“I want as many people to be inside of this thing and experience it as possible. If we could have done more seats, I would have done more. That’s why we opened up the Ellipse.”
