Sean Strickland Earns Backlash Over ICE Agent Photoshop Ahead of UFC Houston Bout
Sean Strickland sparked criticism on January 15 after posting a manipulated image depicting himself as an ICE agent opposite his upcoming opponent Anthony Hernandez, who appeared in stereotypical Mexican attire. The UFC middleweight shared the photoshopped poster on Instagram without caption, but wrote on X: “If you cant laugh at this you’re a c**t. Go away.”
Sean Strickland – ICE Agent Controversy
The post arrived one week after Strickland commented on the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 8. Strickland responded that while the shooting was legally justified, it was not morally right. Strickland added that he personally would not have shot a woman and would have moved out of the way instead.
Fan response to the photoshopped fight poster divided sharply across social media platforms. One X user told Strickland to “put your ego aside & be considerate of others,” while another called the post “an embarrassing pile of sh*t”. The timing of the image, coming days after the Minneapolis shooting and during increased ICE enforcement actions, intensified the backlash.
Social media response to Strickland’s post split sharply between condemnation and defense. On X, one user wrote: “A woman got shot in her eye nuts and you think this is funny?!?! ICE is separating a*s from cheeks and you think this is a laughing matter?”
While another countered: “I mean, it’s not funny. I do have a dark sense of humor though”. The post generated over 2,000 comments within hours, with many fans referencing Strickland’s pattern of provocative content.
The controversy intensified when Hernandez revealed UFC officials had questioned his request to represent Mexico during fight week, asking him to verify his grandparents’ birth certificates to prove eligibility for Mexican-themed gear.
Strickland faces Hernandez in a five-round main event at UFC Fight Night on February 21 at Houston’s Toyota Center. The bout serves as a title eliminator for the middleweight division. Hernandez, nicknamed “Fluffy,” carries an eight-fight winning streak into the contest, with recent victories over Edmen Shahbazyan, Brendan Allen, and Roman Dolidze. The 32-year-old contender was scheduled to face Reinier de Ridder in October but withdrew due to injury.
The former champion returns from a Nevada Athletic Commission suspension for entering a cage during a regional event in Las Vegas and attempting to attack a fighter. Strickland lost his middleweight title to Dricus du Plessis in 2025 and dropped their rematch at UFC 312.
Strickland’s latest post adds to a long record of incendiary remarks that have drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ groups, women’s rights advocates and media in several countries. In Toronto ahead of UFC 297, he responded to a question about a past tweet saying that if he had a gay son he would have “failed as a man to create such weakness” by attacking reporter Alexander K. Lee, calling him “a weak f***ing man,” “an infection,” and blaming “people like you” and LGBTQ+ allies for “everything that is wrong with the world”.
After beating Abus Magomedov in 2023, he delivered a misogynistic rant about women entering the workforce and said society should “put women back in the kitchen” so men could earn a single household wage.
This incident fits a pattern of controversial public statements from Strickland. Strickland also criticized Australia’s gun laws and referred to Australians as “English white trash” during the UFC 312 press tour. UFC president Dana White has consistently defended fighters’ right to free speech, stating the organization will not penalize athletes for controversial statements.
