On Wednesday in Toronto, Canada, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland spoke with the assembled media during the pre-fight media day.
One reporter, Alexander K. Lee, asked Strickland about his previous homophobic comments and got a lashing out from the outspoken middleweight.
After the exchange was shared, fans and media on Twitter stepped in to defend Lee, for asking an appropriate and valid question.
Two weeks ago he was crying on a podcast about not receiving love from his father and now his response to somebody saying that they’d love their son unconditionally, is to call them a “weak man who is part of the problem”… And I’m supposed to feel bad for this dumbass 😭😭😂😂 https://t.co/9aTg00JUXB
— TevTalksMMA (@TevTalksMMA) January 17, 2024
How dare a reporter ask a fighter about something they said. I'm rocking with @AlexanderKLee
— Shakiel Mahjouri (@Shak_Fu) January 17, 2024
Strickland is idiocy personified. I'm not sure who the gentleman asking the question was, but fair play to him. He tried to hold Strickland accountable for the stupid things that he said and had to deal with that answer https://t.co/loagyslvMJ
— Jake Davis (@jdddMMA) January 17, 2024
My best friend is better than your best friend! @AlexanderKLee.
— Mike Heck (@MikeHeck_JR) January 17, 2024
When an athlete's boss, Dana White, is as hateful, bigoted, and unhinged as the athlete, the athlete reacts to basic questions like this. Sean Strickland is fragile, emotionally. https://t.co/jn5VYm7Dto
— Elias Cepeda (@EliasCepeda) January 17, 2024
The reporter before he asked a weight cutting Sean Strickland a question: pic.twitter.com/idRf7nEmXl
— baby mf’ing goose (@babygoosemma) January 17, 2024
I wish we lived in a world where the likes of @AlexanderKLee were the worst of humanity. What a beautiful world that would be.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 17, 2024
Alex is a great journalist and even better person. Proud to call him a colleague and friend.
Lee couldn't even finish his question before Strickland went off on him.
"You're a weak f**king man. You're the f**king problem. You elected Justin Trudeau," Strickland said of Lee who said he wouldn't be ashamed to have a gay child.
He continued, "The fact that you have no f**king backbone. [Trudeau] shut down your f**king country and seized bank accounts. You asked me some stupid shit like that. Go f**k yourself."
We can add this exchange to the list of things Strickland has said and done to piss off the MMA community.