UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is set to defend his title for the first time at UFC 297 on Saturday night against surging middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis. The co-main event for the card is a title fight for the vacant women’s bantamweight championship, which Strickland is seemingly not pleased about.
Women’s bantamweight contenders Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva are set to fight in a five-round co-main event on Saturday night for the vacant championship.
Strickland, the headliner for the fight card, was asked on Wednesday what he thought about the co-main event being a women’s fight. The middleweight champion then went on to go on a rant about women’s MMA as a whole.
“Here is the thing guys. The WNBA and the NBA. Who watches what? Who makes more money? Sure, have women’s MMA a thing. I don’t like to watch it. I don’t think most people like to watch it. If female’s MMA were separate from male MMA, nobody would watch this ****. No one wants to watch this ****. It is what it is man, I don’t know what to tell you. Again, do you want to watch a sports car race a Honda Civic? No, you want to watch a sports car. There is a vast difference between men and women. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy it. I just don’t want to see two little cats fight. I want to see lions fight.”
UFC champ Sean Strickland says he has no time for women's MMA.
"I don't want to see two little cats fight. I want to see lions fight." pic.twitter.com/elvMPBh6oY
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 18, 2024
As you would expect, there were a number of fans who disagreed with this take from Strickland on social media.
Most of his fights have been more or as boring as the WMMA fights he hates https://t.co/oOOdVOldu8
— Normand Pierce 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 (@Kurt22Troy) January 18, 2024
I fully disagree. In my opinion, MMA is the one sport where it’s equally entertaining watching the men, or women, compete. Both have KOs, both have Subs, both have blood and guts, etc… unfortunately he’s right about the WNBA however. 😬 https://t.co/jjeKHV6pmJ
— Cardio Geo 🌍 (@CardioGeo) January 18, 2024
Naw. I like watching some of the women fight. https://t.co/HLbNSuatrQ
— Marcos Villegas (@heyitsmarcosv) January 18, 2024
https://twitter.com/sosalip97/status/1747862924448682313
Sir women’s mma fights are 3/4 more exciting than any of your fights https://t.co/19SGaKUplO
— Reilly (@reillynjam) January 18, 2024
It’s a pretty wild take from Strickland here considering all you have to do is look back at the history of the UFC to see that women can certainly be a huge draw with a ton of fanfare around them.
Look no further than former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who was one of the few UFC fighters to transcend the sport and become a true icon in not only MMA but mainstream sports as a whole.
Regardless, it sure seems like at least Sean Strickland would have preferred for another fight on the card to be the co-main event instead of Pennington versus Bueno Silva.
