Sean Strickland remains unconvinced about the prospect of competing on the UFC White House card.
The MMA promotion, in partnership with the U.S. government, has officially announced a historic, one-of-a-kind event fight card on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, scheduled for June 14, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Nearly all of the sport’s top stars, including Jon Jones, Alex Pereira and Conor McGregor, have already put their names forward and expressed strong interest in fighting at the White House event. However, the milestone card fails to generate the same enthusiasm from Strickland, who has made it clear that some reason is holding him back from wanting to fight there.
Sean Strickland questions the UFC White House event concept
Sean Strickland has been sidelined due to a Nevada Athletic Commission suspension following a post-fight altercation at a Tuff-N-Uff event in Las Vegas last June, but he is now set to return after a year-long absence as he headlines UFC Houston against Anthony Hernandez in February 2026.
During a recent appearance on Adin Ross’ livestream, Strickland was asked about the possibility of fighting on the UFC White House card. The former UFC middleweight champion immediately shut down the idea, delivering his response in his signature blunt, tongue-in-cheek style.
He made it clear that an elite-only setting does not interest him at all, emphasizing that he would only be open to the concept if fans were a central part of the event and not an afterthought.
“Someone fought and he said he doesn’t really want to fight in front of billionaires, and I understand that.” Strickland said. “That makes sense. I think I would have wanted to do the White House.” [event] with some kind of involvement with the fans. So if there was some kind of involvement with the fans it would be more but just to hang out with the f*cking [Jeffrey] Epstein list, I’m good, dude.
Sean Strickland was last seen in action last February at UFC 312, where he suffered a one-sided unanimous decision loss in his failed bid to regain the middleweight title against then-champion Dricus Du Plessis. He was 4-4 in his last eight appearances in the league Octagon.
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