UFC middleweight Sean Strickland is no stranger to controversy. His unapologetically nature often sparks disputes with other competitors. While his honesty can be refreshing, it can also be detrimental to his image.
Strickland recently shared a story involving Kevin Lee’s brother, Keith. He talked about it in a recent episode of The Man Dance podcast with his friend and training partner Chris Curtis.
Strickland begins the narrative by emphasizing the fact that it is all true (which Curtis has previously said implies “don’t believe him”).
In this encounter with the younger Lee, Strickland found himself entangled in a conversation about race. Strickland stated: “So he comes up to me and starts accusing me of being f***ing racist and I’m like what are we f***ing doing here dude like if I was racist, I’m the most honest motherf***er there.”
Strickland then shared a strategy to provoke racist individuals, based on his past experiences with such beliefs.
Strickland continued, “If I wanted to f*** dudes, if I hated black people, I’ll be the first one to f***ing tell you guys so anyways what I tell people… anytime you’re talking to somebody racist, and I know this because I used to be a little racist, anytime you’re talking to somebody racist and you want to p*** them off, you’ve just got to talk about f***ing the sex, the race of whatever they are.”
While Strickland admitted he preferred not to engage in the conversation about race, he couldn’t resist the temptation to get under Keith Lee’s skin. Strickland’s penchant for provocation led him to confront Lee by playfully comparing the number of black women he had been with.
Strickland says: “So I’m like yo Lee, I’m not racist, I f*** more black women than you have bro how am I a racist and I said that just to p*** him off. I said that just to make him mad and I’m like ‘bro just relax, I know you got a little white woman at home, chill the f*** out’ and I’m just kind of poking him but I’m doing it funny and he goes ‘nah f*** that, I don’t like white people!'”
“Mind you, Curt (Chris Curtis) is sitting right next to me, Jason Manly, another black guy, is sitting right next to me and they just sit there f***ing silent as this racist motherf***er is telling his dislike for white people.”
Chris Curtis went on to say that he couldn’t entirely recall the incident but believed it was ‘dumb’ from the start.