UFC fighter Sean Strickland was removed from a UFC Freedom 250 event by the US Secret Service and other law enforcement after making mocking remarks about Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier this month, Strickland said he had been barred from the high-profile MMA event on the White House South Lawn because of comments he made about President Donald Trump’s ties to the convicted sex offender and to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Despite that claimed ban, the former UFC champion showed up Sunday at the event’s Fan Fest, held at the nearby Ellipse in Washington, DC.
His surprise appearance was met with a hostile response from many of the MAGA-aligned MMA fans in attendance, who surged toward the ring and greeted him with loud boos and jeers.
Escorted Out to Chants of ‘USA’
Authorities then escorted Strickland out as a large contingent of Secret Service agents moved him away while the crowd chanted, “USA.”
Afterward, Strickland suggested he had still found a way into the event with help from a crafty fan.
He wrote on X: ‘To the fan that snuck me in.. You’re a [expletive] legend and a true America….. You did what the UFC wouldn’t.’
The fighter later filmed himself from the back of what appeared to be a high-security vehicle.
‘I’m pretty sure I didn’t break a law, like I’m pretty sure. But we might be going to jail, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t break no laws,’ he said to the camera.
The incident came just over a week after Strickland alleged that he had been banned from attending the extravaganza at the White House. UFC and White House officials did not respond to requests for confirmation from the Daily Mail at the time.
‘UFC at the White House with [Netanyahu] in the audience. Straight slop,’ Strickland, the MMA promotion’s undisputed middleweight champion wrote on Instagram last week.
Internet rumors circulated claiming Netanyahu will be on hand when Trump celebrates his 80th birthday on June 14 by holding cage fights on the White House’s South Lawn. However, did not appear to be attendance on Sunday amid the United States’ ongoing war with Iran.
‘Trump is Owned by Netanyahu’
‘To be fair, they did ban me,’ Strickland continued. ‘But when you make fun of the leaders of America, they tend to be a little bit petty. By leaders, I mean Israel.’
Strickland wasn’t finished. Asked directly why he wouldn’t be in attendance at UFC Freedom 250, Strickland put a finer point on it: ‘I made fun of Israel and Epstein.’
He then added: ‘The only male American champ banned at the White House because I said Trump is owned by [Netanyahu]. That’s not public opinion, it’s fact.’
Later, in a video posted on X, Strickland claimed UFC staff called him to say the White House did not clear his attendance at UFC Freedom 250.
He then facetiously apologized to Israel and Trump.
‘Moving forward, I would like to just apologize to Israel. I would like to say ‘I’m sorry,’ you know? I’d like to apologize to Trump,’ he said. ‘And I just want to prove that I’m Israeli enough to you guys.
‘For instance, whenever the [Epstein] list disappeared and Trump goes out there and says to everybody that he can’t really go into it because people by association will be prosecuted and their names will be tarnished, I want to apologize, because I don’t want them to be prosecuted.
From MAGA to ‘Make Israel Great’
‘Or when Trump goes and bombs the [expletive] out of Iran… sorry I’ve been a critic of that,’ he continued. ‘My allegiance was apparently in the wrong place and I just want to apologize.
‘Or when Trump goes out there and [a reporter says] your approval ratings are the lowest its ever been across all demographics and Trump says ‘you know what, I have a 99-percent approval rating in Israel,’ I want to apologize and I want to repent.
‘Apparently I’m not American enough to go to Freedom 250, but I still got my ticket so maybe I’ll just go and bring the [middleweight title] belt and just stand outside the gate and just let them know what we really think about Trump and Israel.
An outspoken conservative and former Trump supporter, Strickland has been at odds with the White House over the release of the Epstein Files , the President’s ties to the late sex trafficker, as well as the belief that Israel pushed the US into attacking Iran.
Strickland is just weeks removed from his split-decision victory over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, so he was never a candidate to participate at UFC Freedom 250, which will be headlined by the Ilia Topuria-Justin Gaethje main event.
But he has been outspoken about UFC Freedom 250 on social media, once predicting that Netanyahu would ‘set the record for the loudest public shaming’ if he attended.
And in a recent online response to conservative provocateur Matt Walsh, Strickland went after Trump directly: ‘Trump went from MAGA to Make Israel great real fast.’
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