UFC champion says he has been banned from White House fight over criticisms of Trump

The only current US UFC champion says he has been barred from Sunday’s fight card on the south lawn of the White House because he dared to criticize Donald Trump, Israel and Jeffrey Epstein.On Tuesday night, middleweight champion Sean Strickland wrote on X that he had been informed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that he had not been cleared to attend the event by the White House.A UFC official “said he will get it done”, Stickland claimed, and UFC “filmed it and embedded [a UFC video channel] has the footage”. “I later got a call from the UFC saying ‘I wasn’t cleared by the White House’,” he added.When a fan had earlier asked for specifics on why he had been excluded, Strickland replied: “I made fun of Israel and Epstein.”In a subsequent post on X, he went further: “The only male American champ banned at the White House because I said Trump is owned by [Benjamin Netanyahu]. That’s not public opinion, it’s fact.”Strickland, born in California, recently reclaimed the middleweight title with a split-decision victory over Khamzat Chimaev in May in Newark, New Jersey, making him the only undisputed men’s title holder in the UFC, aside from Burmese champion Joshua Van who moved to Houston, Texas, as a teenager.Strickland was once among Trump’s most vocal supporters in combat sports, but publicly soured on the US president after last year’s US strikes on Iran.“I stopped supporting Trump after Israel made him bomb Iran the first time,” he wrote on X. “Trump ‘stop bombing Iran’ Israel ‘Trump we need your bombers’ Trump ‘yes papa BB [Netanyahu] I got you.’”Strickland’s grievances appear to resonate with a significant portion of the US public. A June poll from the Economist/YouGov found that 68% of Americans want a deal to end the war with Iran as soon as possible, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll released today found only 10% of respondents believe the Trump administration has properly helped deliver justice in cases connected to Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.Earlier this week, the UFC chief executive, Dana White, dismissed Strickland’s allegation that he was barred from the event. “Of course, Sean Strickland isn’t [banned],” White told reporters on Tuesday. “Sean Strickland is banned from humanity. We don’t want him near any human beings anywhere.”Casting the wider narrative of banned fighters as absurd, White added: “Everybody’s banned apparently. Apparently fucking everybody is banned.”The White House and the UFC did not respond to a request for comment.UFC Freedom 250 is set for 14 June on the south lawn of the White House – a date that also happens to be both Flag Day and Trump’s 80th birthday. Over the last weekend, the watchdog group Public Integrity Project filed a lawsuit arguing the administration broke multiple federal laws to accommodate what it described as a “deeply corrupt” private, commercial sporting event dressed up as a patriotic celebration.Trump’s financial disclosures also show he bought up to $50,000 worth of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the UFC’s parent company, earlier this year.While 4,300 military personnel are expected to be in attendance, the event remains a coveted ticket among Washington power brokers, with donors, lobbyists and members of Congress jostling for seats.But the weather may yet have the final word: the National Weather Service forecast for Washington DC on Sunday currently shows a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, around the time the main event is scheduled to begin.