UFC CEO Dana White chose not to hold his tongue any longer. The 56-year-old has finally broken his silence about UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland being banned from attending the UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House South Lawn on Sunday, June 14. White’s comment came as the UFC’s Instagram page shared a promotional video for the historic event. 

“This country was built for those willing to take a chance,” White said in the promo. “We don’t wait for opportunity. We create it. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. And as history proves, fortune favors the brave. True power belongs where it started. With us. We the people.”

White’s line, “America is the land of the free,” appears to have stood out to one fan, who promptly decided to highlight the promotion’s hypocrisy. 

“‘Land of the free’ bans Strickland for free speech,” the fan commented on the post. 

Unsurprisingly, White, who often responds to comments, did so once again, breaking his silence on Sean Strickland’s ban. 

“Strickland isn’t ‘Banned’ from anything, Dummy,” he responded. “Stay off the internet.”

White’s response comes after Strickland praised the UFC for upholding his rights. Strickland claimed he spoke to UFC CBO Hunter Campbell and added, “Regardless of the administration[‘s] fascist views on speech, the UFC is holding the line for the 1st amendment.” This suggests that Strickland was unbanned from the event. 

But the always outspoken champion previously claimed that top UFC officials had banned him from attending the historic event after he criticized President Donald Trump and his close relationship with Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Notably, tickets for the event were never made available to regular fans. 

So, only the people Dana White, the UFC, TKO Group, and President Donald Trump invite will get to attend the event. It could just mean not everyone can attend the event. Strickland, however, planned a visit to Washington, D.C. anyway, claiming he would bring his middleweight strap and stage a protest outside of the White House with a bullhorn. 

It’s unclear what the reality of Strickland’s alleged ban was. Or perhaps Dana White decided to provide clarification on Strickland’s supposed band because he didn’t want a PR nightmare, where one of his fighters would be protesting outside the White House during the biggest event in the promotion’s history. After all, he had been facing allegations of putting together the card for his long-time friend. 

And the fact that the event coincides with Trump’s 80th birthday didn’t help the matter, even though UFC and Trump himself officially maintain that the event’s purpose is to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. In any case, the ban was a reality check for Sean Strickland, who had supported Donald Trump before the 2024 elections. 

After the elections, he has been especially vocal about how the Trump administration has handled the war in Iran. But Sean Strickland isn’t the only one who was not invited to the Freedom 250 card. Others, like UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, have revealed that he was not invited to the event. And he may end up fighting the winner of one of the fights.

But like Strickland, there’s another UFC fighter who claimed he can’t attend the UFC Freedom 250 card this weekend.

Bryce Mitchell goes scorched earth over UFC White House

Speaking ahead of his fight on June 6 at UFC Fight Night: Muhammad vs. Bonfim, Bryce Mitchell argued that America should be focused on more pressing issues than hosting fights on the White House lawn.

“It’s bulls–t,” Mitchell said. “As far as the government concerns, this nation’s not about the cage fighters. This nation is about freedom. It’s taking our finest resources in the middle of World War 3 and dedicating [them] to a sporting event… We’re bombing innocent children in another country… Instead of taking all of our resources and spending it towards the war… ‘Oh, we’re gonna have a birthday party for Donald Trump.’”

Mitchel also took issue with Strickland allegedly being banned from the UFC White House card. Believing ‘Tarzan’ is as American as anyone can be, he claimed that he too is banned from the event. 

“Strickland should be able to go. I’m definitely not gonna be able to go because, you know, I said I’d go fishing with Hitler. So they’re never gonna let me in there.”

Similar to Strickland’s case, Mitchell isn’t actually banned from the event. Instead, he hasn’t been invited—there’s really a lack of clarity on the matter. In any case, Mitchell defeated Santiago Luna last weekend via third-round submission on the UFC Fight Night card. 

Having said that, it appears Dana White has finally made it clear that Sean Strickland is not banned from the event. At least, not in the traditional sense. But what did you make of White’s comment?