‘We almost died’: Sean Strickland swarmed by fans at UFC White House press conference

Sean Strickland isn’t fighting at the UFC White House event, but he still caused quite a stir Friday night. The UFC middleweight champion dropped by the UFC White House press conference, and after trying to show up incognito with a hoodie, was surrounded by fans, kicked one of them in a leg, and ended up being chased into a nearby police car. “The boys in blue just saved my life. We almost died,” Strickland said in one of the many videos released about the incident. 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 Sean Strickland got swarmed by fans at the press conference and needed the cops to come rescue him 😭 "You guys, boys in blue just saved my life. We almost d*ed. These cops came up to me and told me to take off my hoodie… so I take my hoodie off and they shined a flashlight… https://t.co/7lyVL5dRCM pic.twitter.com/VB0Smg7iPn — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 13, 2026 “I had my face covered, literally sitting there watching the press conference,” Strickland said. “These cops come up to me and are like, ‘Hey, you gotta take off your hoodie.’ I’m the Middleweight champion, if I take my hoodie off, it’s gonna be f—king bad, I can’t do it. Bro, I cannot take off my hoodie. If I take off my hoodie, we’re all f—ked. “The guy says, ‘No, you have to do it.’ I pull [my hoodie down] and I’m like just f—king Google me. He’s like, ‘you gotta do it.’ So I’m like alright, you better stay, keep me safe, and protect me. They’re like yeah, I’ll do it. I take off my hoodie and he shines a flashlight in my face, and the crowd just loses it — and these cops take the f—k off! I didn’t want that to happen.“ Strickland has claimed he was banned from attending the UFC White House event, but then UFC CEO Dana White said that wasn’t the case.