Sean Strickland fights fans and calls out Donald Trump after crashing UFC White House press conference

Sean Strickland was forced to flee the White House after he was swarmed for fighting a fan and verbally attacking Donald Trump.

In the early hours of Monday morning the UFC will host a historic fight card taking place on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC.

The special event has been organised as part of the celebrations for both the 250th anniversary of the USA's independence and President Trump’s 80^th birthday.

Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria will defend his belt against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event of the card, with the pair coming to blows in the weeks building up to the fight.

In the co-main event, former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will look to make history and become the first-ever three weight champion as he faces Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.

Given the magnitude of the event, several of the biggest names in American culture are expected to be in attendance when the card gets underway, with UFC boss Dana White extending invitations to NFL legend Tom Brady and actor-wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson alongside several other celebrities.

Of course, several of the UFC's biggest stars will also be present at the White House, with the likes of former two-weight champion Georges Saint-Pierre, a man many see as the greatest of all time, spotted in Washington ahead of the fight.

But one big name in the UFC that won't be watching the White House card live is current middleweight champion Strickland, who has repeatedly claimed he has been banned from attending the event by the US government.

However, that didn't stop the controversial fighter from making a surprise appearance in Washington to crash the official press conference for the White House card taking place in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

And as you would expect with Strickland, it didn't take longs for things to get out of hand as shown in a series of clips that have gone viral on social media.

In some clips, the UFC champion can be seen fighting with fans with one video showing him hitting a man with a brutal leg kick.

READ MORE: Daniel Cormier leaks UFC star's staggering White House card purse money

While another clip showed him lashing out at Trump, claiming: "Trump banned me that f***ing p*******e."

Eventually, the masses surrounding Strickland became too intense and he was forced to run away, chased by dozens of fans, before eventually being picked up by local police monitoring the event.

"You guys, the boys in blue saved my life," Strickland said in a clip.

"We're out here doing the right things, we almost died."

Sean Strickland was off the rails after crashing the UFC White House presser

Kicked a fan’s leg and took off running 🤣 pic.twitter.com/lpVqMDi4Vn

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) June 13, 2026

Is Sean Strickland banned from attending the UFC White House card?

In the build-up to the UFC event at the White House, Strickland has been outspoken on social media claiming that the UFC had banned him from the event because of comments he has made about Trump, Israel and the Epstein Files.

However, UFC President and CEO White denied these claims, stating that he Strickland had not been banned, while admitting that the UFC don't typically like him being around anyone.

Speaking on Tuesday, White claimed that the only reason attendance would be restricted would be because "there are only 4,300 tickets".

He added: "Of course Sean Strickland isn't banned [from the event]. Sean Strickland is banned from humanity. We don't want him near any human beings anywhere."

Strickland is arguably the most controversial figure in the UFC having made several derogatory comments about women as well as homophobic and racist remarks in recent years.

"He shows up at Power Slap and starts fights," White added.

"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."

Strickland later took to social media to reply to White, adding that it wasn't the UFC that had banned him, but the White House itself.

Posting on X, he wrote: "To Dana saying I wasn't invited... I'll clarify for this to you.

"After my fight Hunter said he will get it done. UFC filmed it and embedded has the footage.

"I later got a call from the UFC saying I wasn't cleared by the white house."