Controversial UFC star Sean Strickland attacks ‘Communist’ Australian government, gun laws
In a wild, shambolic 20-minute press conference, controversial UFC star Sean Strickland has mocked Australia’s post-Port Arthur massacre gun laws, attacked the government and taken aim at a ‘Communist’ reporter.
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A year ago, Sean Strickland doubted whether he’d ever be allowed back in Australia.
On Wednesday morning in Sydney, he proved why that might have been the case.
In a chaotic 20-minute press conference ahead of his UFC 312 middleweight title fight with Dricus du Plessis, Strickland took aim at the Australian government, this country’s “lack of freedoms”, and a “Communist reporter” among a host of other wild statements.
It was a bold move from a man who was sure he wasn’t going to be granted a visa to return after his shock UFC 293 win over Israel Adesanya in Sydney in 2023.
“You guys have got a lot of cameras here – red light cameras, cell phone cameras, seatbelt cameras, speed cameras,” the gun-toting, freedom loving Strickland said. “It’s real communist here.
“But it’s a really beautiful country, I would consider Australians as English white trash. Some Irish too.”
It kicked off a stream of criticisms the Californian has about Australia.
“You had one mass shooting and gave up all your guns, that was kind of pathetic,” he said, referencing Australia’s introduction of gun laws after the Port Arthur shooting massacre in 1996.
“It’s the lack of freedom, dude.
“How insane is it that we’re in a modern country and hate speech is a thing?
“It’s so wild you could make fun of Covid and the next thing you know, the government’s kicking down your door and hauling off a pregnant lady.
“We’re in a modern country with running water and you guys know, it’s real bad, dude. Real bad.”
Speaking to this masthead on Tuesday, Strickland even suggested he didn’t want to come back.
“I tried not to get let in,” he said. “It wasn’t my choice. I went out of my way not to come back here.
“I Tweeted crazy stuff and went extra hard, but they let me back in.”
Ever outspoken, Strickland also touched on the evils of “big corporations owning the government” as well as an array of political, religious and social tirades that veered from the unhinged to the shocking.
At one point he stood on stage and showed off his T-shirt, which had the words “Delay, Deny, Depose” written on it.
The shirt is a reference to Luigi Mangione, who is accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December.
The 33-year-old barely seemed interested in talking about the fight, or his preparations for it, reeling off worn out cliches about “giving 110 per cent in training, working hard, getting better and doing all the right things”.
Outside the political comments, the most animated he became was explaining why he dropped a split decision to Dricus du Plessis in their first fight in January last year.
“That only happened because the dirty Dutchman hit me with a headbutt,” he said of the injury that left him bleeding badly. “You know how hard it is when you’ve got that much blood running through your eyes?
“It would have been an easy fight if it wasn’t for that.”
After holding court for a shambolic 20 minutes, Strickland walked offstage, saying: “If we’ve learned anything, don’t let me do these things.”
Just two hours later, Du Plessis arrived for his own press conference wearing a t-shirt with the words, “Trump prefers champions” splashed across the chest.
After announcing his admiration for Trump and “fellow South African Elon Musk”, du Plessis strictly stuck to fighting, and hit back at Strickland’s claims he was injured by a headbutt.
“It only felt like a head butt because my right hand is really, really hard,” he said. “I remember it in the fight.
“It was the right hand, and I could see the blood coming. Watch it back. The blood starts pouring.”
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