UFC fighter Sean Strickland has blasted Bad Bunny and female MMA fighters in a homophobic and sexist rant, insisting women have been empowered ‘too much’ and have ‘ruined society.’
Strickland, a former middleweight champion who has lost two of his last three fights, spoke at a UFC media day this week ahead of his fight against Anthony Hernandez. It will mark his first fight since he was suspended by the MMA promotion for brawling with another fighter while working as a cornerman last year.
Strickland has a history of making grossly homophobic comments, tweeting in 2022 ‘if I had a gay son I would think I failed as a man’.
This week, it was announced UFC legend Ronda Rousey, one of the sport’s most influential figures, will be returning to the Octagon for the first time in 10 years to fight Gina Carano in May live on Netflix.
Strickland was asked about the event in Texas on Wednesday, describing it as an ‘insane’ idea.
‘Who thought of that? I guess they are going to be half-naked which might make it a little bit better,’ Strickland said.
‘Do you guys care about Gina and Ronda? No one gives a f**k. Maybe throw some oil on them and some dollar bills, people might give a f**k. Not many people give a f**k about women’s MMA in general.
‘It’s like the WNBA [Women’s National Basketball Association]. No one gives a f**k. You take the weakest, softest motherf****r here [pointing out to reporters in attendance] and you guys would beat up Amanda Nunes.’
He continued: ‘We got to remember what women excel at – having kids, being mothers, making food, cleaning the house. But the problem is we have empowered them too much to ruin society.’
Metro has contacted UFC for comment.
Strickland’s comments referred to Amanda Nunes, a two-weight world champion having won gold at featherweight and bantamweight in becoming one of the greatest female fighters of all time.
It was Nunes who effectively ended Rousey’s MMA career 10 years go with a devastating first round knockout.
In her pomp, Rousey was one of the biggest names in MMA, with her rise helping lift the sport into the mainstream conversation.
Strickland also made a series of homophobic comments aimed at Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny in the aftermath of his performance at the Super Bowl half-time show earlier this month.
Refusing to even say his name Strickland said to reporters: ‘Come say his name, I don’t want to say it. You know what I’m talking about, the halftime show guy. The Puerto Rican, right? Puerto Rican.’
When one reporter eventually called out Bad Bunny’s name, Strickland continued.
‘Yeah, that f*****g f****t. It’s so crazy that this is America now. Like, back in the day dude, the NFL was the f*****g standard of being a f*****g man.
‘And now every f*****g year, the NFL, I think they all get together around a table and say, ‘You know what, guys? How do we f*****g ruin this sport? How do we gay it up? How do we f*****g ruin it?
‘Well, I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we bring a gay foreigner who doesn’t speak f*****g English and have him perform it?’