Sean Strickland is no stranger to sticking his foot in his mouth.
Now, after ripping into Canada, he’s going to have an entire nation hoping he gets a literal foot to the mouth.
The UFC middleweight champion was not a fan of the announcement that his first title defence will be taking place on Canadian soil at UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20, 2024.
He took to social media to show his displeasure.
“Why Canada?!?! GSP you do this bs?! No guns, no freedom of speech.. UFC you f***ing with me?!?!” Strickland posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Just to make sure that users of other social media platforms got their share of opinion, he also took to Instagram with a jab at the combatants in the co-main event.
“Well Canada time to bring you all some freedom. Didn’t want to fight in Jan or in Canada but was asked to help a couple ladies do their job.. and they call me sexist,” he wrote on Instagram.
His post is referring to the recent women’s bantamweight title fight booked between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva for the event.
Strickland has a history with both white supremacy and has made controversial statements about women in the past.
On The MMA Hour in 2021, Strickland detailed his abusive childhood, saying he turned to violence and racism.
“I was so angry I actually went through this weird neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase when I was younger and I got kicked out of school for hate crimes,” he said.
Although he says he is reformed, Strickland continues to insert himself in controversy.
And, across the octagon will be an opponent nearly equal in that category: Dricus Du Plessis.
The South African was involved in a heated argument with Israel Adesanya earlier this year, in which Du Plessis told the Nigeria-born fighter “I’m African, but I ain’t no brother of yours, son.”
At the very least the news conferences between these two will be interesting.