A current UFC champion has incredibly claimed that he has been banned from attending the upcoming White House card for making a bizarre comment, while initially wanting to fight on the card

09:44 ET, 04 Jun 2026Updated 11:25 ET, 04 Jun 2026

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Sean Strickland has claimed he knows why he's been 'banned' from the White House event(Image: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has claimed that he knows the reason he has been 'banned' from fighting at the White House event this month.

Strickland had initially wanted to fight on the card before shockingly defeating Khamzat Chimeav for the middleweight belt. The White House card was confirmed months ago, with Ilia Topuria set to defend his lightweight championship against Justin Gaethje after Alex Pereira makes the step up to heavyweight for the first time.

And while he is not on the card, Strickland had hoped to be in attendance. However, he has stated that he will not be allowed entry - believing it to be for comments he made on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jeffrey Epstein. It comes as another UFC star slammed political 'exploitation' ahead of the White House fight.

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He wrote on Instagram: "UFC at the White House with [Netanyahu] in the audience. Straight slop."

This comes after it had been rumored that Netanyahu could attend despite recent criticism from Donald Trump.

Strickland later added: "To be fair, they did ban me. But when you make fun of the leaders of America, they tend to be a little bit petty. By leaders, I mean Israel."

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Donald Trump has built a UFC octagon on the South Lawn of the White House(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

He also commented: "I made fun of Israel and Epstein. The only male American champ banned at the White House because I said Trump is owned by [Netanyahu]. That's not public opinion, it's fact."

Strickland then posted a video to his X account stating that he would not be attending the event.

He said: "Moving forward, I would like to just apologize to Israel. I would like to say “I’m sorry,” you know? I’d like to apologize to Trump. And I just want to prove that I’m Israeli enough to you guys.

"For instance, whenever the [Epstein] list disappeared and Trump goes out there and says to everybody that he can’t really go into it because people by association will be prosecuted and their names will be tarnished, I want to apologize, because I don’t want them to be prosecuted.

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Former UFC Champion Sean Strickland's support for Donald Trump has lessened over the past few months

"Or when Trump goes and bombs the ---- out of Iran… sorry I’ve been a critic of that. My allegiance was apparently in the wrong place and I just want to apologize.

"Or when Trump goes out there and [a reporter says] your approval ratings are the lowest its ever been across all demographics and Trump says 'you know what, I have a 99-percent approval rating in Israel,' I want to apologize and I want to repent.

"Apparently I’m not American enough to go to Freedom 250, but I still got my ticket so maybe I’ll just go and bring the [middleweight title] belt and just stand outside the gate and just let them know what we really think about Trump and Israel."

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Strickland had been a Trump fan before recently criticizing him over the past six months.

But the UFC champion has regularly posted to social media on Trump's former ties to Epstein and the release of the Epstein Files.

Meanwhile, Trump compared the White House UFC arena to an iconic landmark while teasing its fate for the future.