Dana White refutes Sean Strickland being banned from White House event, Strickland responds
Middleweight champion Sean Strickland claimed he was banned from attending the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House due to criticism of the Trump administration. UFC CEO Dana White refuted Strickland's claim on Tuesday.
"Everybody is banned apparently. Apparently f**king everybody is banned. Of course Sean Strickland isn't (banned). Sean Strickland is banned from humanity. Okay? We don't want him near any human beings anywhere. F**king shows up at Power Slap, he starts fights. And he made it very clear that he didn't want to be part of this event and now apparently he's banned. Nobody is banned," White said during a scrum.
"This is obviously a very unique event where, first of all, there's only so much room," continued White. "Literally, nobody has been banned from this event. ... There's a lot of bullish*t floating around out there. Nobody's banned. Nothing is banned. I want as many people to be inside this thing and experience it as possible, you know. If we could have done more seats, if we could have done I'd have done more. That's why opened up the Ellipse."
After hearing White's comments, Strickland responded via social media. "To Dana saying I wasn't invited... I'll clarify for this to you. After my fight Hunter [Campbell] said he will get it done. UFC filmed it and embedded has the footage. I later got a call from the UFC saying "I wasn't cleared by the white house," Strickland wrote on X.
To Dana saying I wasn't invited... Ill clarify for this to you.
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) June 10, 2026
After my fight Hunter said he will get it done. UFC filmed it and embedded has the footage.
I later got a call from the UFC saying "I wasn't cleared by the white house"
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 3:42 AM.