Sean Strickland not banned from White House UFC event, says Dana White

UFC president Dana White has denied claims that former middleweight champion Sean Strickland has been barred from attending Sunday's UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.

The event is scheduled to take place on the South Lawn of the White House on President Donald Trump's 80th birthday and forms part of celebrations marking 250 years of American independence.

Last week, Strickland alleged that the UFC had prevented him from attending due to comments he had made about Trump, Israel and the Epstein Files.

However, White rejected those claims while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

"Of course Sean Strickland isn't banned [from the event]," said White, who then joked: "Sean Strickland is banned from humanity. We don't want him near any human beings anywhere."

White explained that attendance at the event would be limited because “there are only 4,300 tickets” available.

Strickland remains one of the sport’s most controversial figures, having previously attracted criticism for homophobic and racist remarks, as well as derogatory comments about women.

"He shows up at Power Slap and starts fights," added White. "He made it very clear he didn't want to be part of this event, and now he's banned apparently – nobody is banned.

"Nobody's music is banned, no media members have been banned. The list goes on and on. Nobody's banned. Nothing's banned."

Responding on social media platform X, Strickland maintained that he had been informed otherwise.

“I got a call from the UFC saying, 'I wasn't cleared by the White House',” he wrote.