Sean Strickland Tears Into Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano News With Trademark Rant

HOUSTON — Sean Strickland arrived at UFC Fight Week with his middleweight bout against Anthony Hernandez on the horizon, but it was his scorched-earth commentary on the newly announced Rousey-Carano featherweight showdown that stole the spotlight. Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday’s card, the former 185-pound champion unloaded on the Paramount+ headliner, women’s mixed martial arts as a whole, and the cultural forces he claims are “ruining society.”

The matchup, pitting two of the sport’s most recognizable pioneers in Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, has been billed as a nostalgic blockbuster since its reveal by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. Yet Strickland left no ambiguity about his disdain.

“It’s fu****g retarded,” he said. “Ronda Rousey’s gonna steamroll her. Ronda was an Olympian that was a multi-time world champion. Gina Carano was pretty in a time when women’s MMA sucked. It’s still not very good, but when Gina Carano was fighting, it was significantly worse.”

Strickland doubled down during the UFC Houston media day, framing the contest as an unwanted glimpse into middle age rather than elite competition.

“We’re just gonna watch two middle-aged women, fu****g going through menopause, fight each other. I have no interest in that. Who gives a f**k?”

The 34-year-old then broadened his critique to women’s sports in general, asserting, “No one gives a f**k about women’s sports.” He followed with a series of incendiary remarks, declaring that “the weakest man in this room could beat up Amanda Nunes” and suggesting that women “shouldn’t be fighting,” instead praising domestic roles such as “having kids, being mothers, making food, cleaning the house.”

Strickland’s rhetoric extended beyond MMA. He lambasted global superstar Bad Bunny and lamented that institutions like the NFL, once pillars of “traditional masculinity,” had shifted cultural priorities. Clips of the session circulated rapidly, drawing backlash from figures including former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III and actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., while reigniting discussion over how the UFC polices its athletes’ public statements.

With fight night approaching, Strickland’s diatribe ensures the spotlight remains fixed on him—if not for his performance inside the cage, then certainly for the chaos he continues to stir outside it.