Sean Strickland’s microphone was abruptly cut off during his post-fight press conference mid-rant after delivering one of his best performances in years inside the Octagon.
The former middleweight champion thrust himself back into title contention on Sunday, when he finished Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez in the UFC Houston main event.
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Entering the bout as a big underdog, Strickland secured the victory with a flurry of punches in the third round, forcing the referee to step in and wave off the contest.
The outspoken 34-year-old American created headlines during the week after taking aim at Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano’s planned bout by claiming that “nobody gives a s**t about women’s MMA”.
He also made inflammatory comments regarding Bad Bunny after the musician’s Super Bowl performance earlier this month.
On Sunday, following his win, Strickland addressed the media and once again ventured into contentious territory.
Sean Strickland silenced during press conference mid-rant
Strickland offered his opinion on various topics, before moving on to ‘boring’ fighters in the promotion.
“These motherf****** are so boring in this sport. These guys have no personality,” he said.
“You have Colby (Covington), the pretend Republican. But like, who’s really entertaining? You’ve got Khamzat Chimaev, the f***ing goat f***er.”
At that point, the UFC cut Strickland’s mic mid-sentence.
Dana White says the media don’t help
Dana White was asked about the fighter’s remarks following Strickland’s victory – and the UFC boss was clearly not impressed, but suggested the media share some responsibility for “pushing his buttons”.
“It’s a nightmare, but you guys don’t help – asking him dumb s**t,” White said.
“Ask dumb s**t, you’re gonna get dumb s**t. ‘What’d you think of Bad Bunny? What’d you think of the Super Bowl?’ Get the f**k outta here. You f**king kidding me?”
“So, when you talk about what Strickland says, you guys like to push the buttons.”
Strickland claims he made champion quit
Although he’s indicated that he’s not anticipating being given a title shot next, Strickland did say he’d welcome a clash with middleweight kingpin Khamzat Chimaev.
“If Chimaev gets off the bench, I’d like a piece,” Strickland said.
“You never know with that guy, but that’s what I want.”
Chimaev has said that Strickland doesn’t like him because he got the better of the American when they trained – but Strickland says that’s simply not true.
“I made him quit training,” Strickland said.
“Witnesses in the audience, where’s [Strickland’s coach] Eric [Nicksick] at? I made him quit. No, we were doing positional grappling… ‘Alright, start on my back’ and I was like, first round, I let him f*cking choke me because no one gives a f*ck.”
Strickland went on to claim Chimaev is a gym bully who preferred to work with guys he could man-handle.
“Let me tell you about this little b**ch,” Strickland said.
“I’ll tell you. When I walk into a gym, do you think that I go find the little, weakest man, I say, ‘Let’s spar?’ I go find the biggest, baddest motherf***er and I’m like, ‘Hey, I want to spar you.’
“Everytime Chimaev would walk in the gym, he would pick the smallest, lowest level pro and say, ‘But oh, he looks like my opponent.’ … He would pick the smallest guy. Chimaev’s a f***ing bully.
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“And if you notice what he does in a division, he just runs and f***ing hides.
“Now I want to go to 205 and fight f***ing Jiri [Prochazka], who’s not even the f*cking champ. You just run and f***ing hide. You did it when you trained with us, and you’re doing it in the f***ing division.”