On Monday, Nov. 6, UFC president Dana White announced that new UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland would headline UFC 297 in Toronto, Canada in January.
The fight will serve as the main event, making the bantamweight title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva the co-main event.
Shortly after the announcement was made Strickland, who is often criticized for his views about women, took to Instagram to dig at the Pennington and Bueno Silva.
"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.
And Sean Strickland's reaction to the fight announcement ... 😑 pic.twitter.com/6tvOmMtqVf
— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) November 6, 2023
Strickland is obviously playing on the fans reaction to the women's fight seemingly being the headliner before Strickland's fight was announced.
So let me get this straight, Mayra Bueno Silva is getting a title fight after her last win was overturned due to a postive drug test & her win before that was over Lina Lansberg who is 10-8? 😬 No hate towards Pennington but I couldn't care to watch her fight either. pic.twitter.com/TReEScPE1D
— Jonathan Graham (@jgraham902) November 6, 2023
Toronto is gonna get Pennington vs Buena Silva all because Ariel reported that Oliveira vs Makachev was set to headline. Dana is pathetic sometimes😂
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@eIonmusk_69) November 5, 2023
Peña vs Pennington wouldn't even be a good co-main event on tonights #UFCSaoPaulo card. Relax on acting like it's some travesty that Bueno Silva vs Pennington was announced for the vacant bantamweight title. I'm ok with not seeing Peña clinch against the cage for 24 minutes. 🤷♂️
— Some Nonsense Keith Peterson (parody) (@BradRozycki) November 4, 2023
Surely the @ufc is not giving Toronto Pennington Vs Bueno Silva as the main event. That would be really disappointing. The whole card looks pretty weak without a massive title fight. Idk how they’re gonna promote a PPV that looks like it does at the moment.
— NT (@nt_three) November 5, 2023
The fans weren't the only ones upset by the Pennington vs. Bueno Silva announcement.
Former UFC champion Julianna Peña wasn't thrilled either.
“I’m injured. I will fight the winner," she told Ariel Helwani when the news was first reported. "My next fight will be for a title. Guaranteed. I feel bad. Not for myself. But for the fans that are being force-fed this horrible fight. What a disaster.”