UFC President Dana White Grills Reporter for Question About Sean Strickland Rant: ‘Free Speech, Brother’

UFC President Dana White on Saturday night took exception to a question from a reporter regarding Sean Strickland’s rant about the LGBTQ community.

Days before his middleweight championship fight against Dricus Du Plessis, Strickland made headlines for railing against gay and transgender people. During the press conference, he called a reporter “weak” and “the enemy” for stating they wouldn’t mind having a gay son. He also called being trans a “mental illness.”

The rant was met with both fury and praise leading up to the fight. Following Strickland’s loss, White was questioned about his leniency toward such comments. More specifically, the reporter said White gives “a long leash” to fighters in terms of what they can say to the media. White didn’t like that characterization of his leadership.

“I don’t give anybody a leash,” White said as he cut the reporter off. “A leash? Free speech. Control what people say? And to tell people what to believe? I don’t fucking tell any other human being what to say, what to think, and there’s no leashes on any of them.”

“That’s ridiculous to say I give somebody a leash,” White added. “Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want and they can believe whatever they want.”

Although White maintains that UFC fighters are free to express themselves however they want, it seems to contradict with his previous philosophy on the subject. In 2021, he told Sean Hannity that his sport avoids politics because people “don’t want to hear what your opinions are, or who you’re voting for, or what you’re doing.”

Now, fighters use post-match interviews to endorse presidential candidates.

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