Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Sean Strickland backed MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2024, but now he's backing away from associating with the POTUS.
Strickland declared he'll pass on a White House South Lawn UFC event planned for Trump’s 80th birthday—which coincides with Flag Day—that is part of a larger celebration for the USA's 250th anniversary.
The reason? Trump’s increasingly irrefutable ties to his longtime friend, registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein was investigated, indicted, and arrested by Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI in July 2019 only to die a month later in DOJ custody before he could stand trial, leaving behind evidence of his sex trafficking operations and the powerful people who used his services.
The records gathered by Trump's DOJ, which came to be known as the Epstein files, would have become part of official court records if Epstein had survived. Instead they were sealed until 2024 due to ongoing litigation against Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed he'd release the full Epstein files, but once elected he quickly began singing a different tune, putting him at odds with members of the MAGAsphere who don't support sexual assault and exploitation of women and girls.
Strickland made clear he doesn't want to be associated with sex traffickers, pedophiles, and rapists.
Speaking to White nationalist streamer Adin Ross, Strickland said:
"I think I’d wanna do the White House [UFC event]… if there was some kind of inclusion for fans. So, if there was some kind of inclusion for fans, it’d be more..."
"But like, just to go hang out with the f*cking Epstein list? I’m good, dog. I’m good, dude."
You can watch the moment here:
The message seemed clear to most people.
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A gathering of just Trump and his rich cronies is going to feature people who would—or do—appear in the Epstein evidence as clients.
Strickland had been a very vocal supporter of Trump during his presidential campaign, but has been distancing himself as Trump tap danced around his ties to Epstein and the White House floated conflicting stories about the evidence Trump's DOJ gathered in 2019.
While people weren't overlooking Strickland's campaigning for Trump, they were on board with another MAGA member dropping him like he's hot.
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Trump had announced the event slated for his 80th birthday as part of the Trump administration's Freedom 250 celebration. It also includes the Patriot Games for high school students that many compared to the dystopian Hunger Games from the book and film franchise of the same name.
On Thursday, Trump said:
"On Flag Day, we will have a one-of-a-kind UFC event here at the White House. It'll be the greatest champion fighters in the world, all fighting that same night. The great Dana White is hosting, and it's going to be something special."
Now that one UFC fighter has declared Trump's ties to Epstein as a reason to skip the White House event, it's putting pressure on anyone who does attend.
Trump's 79th birthday was full of the disappointment of low attendance at his military parade. Will his 80th be the same?
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