Sean Strickland Makes 9/11 Conspiracy Comments on Anniversary
Sean Strickland used the September 11 anniversary to air conspiracy claims about the 2001 attacks, not a fight. The UFC middleweight champion framed “Never Forget” as a politician’s slogan and then filled in his own list of what he thinks people should remember.
“Well you guys, it’s 9/11 again and now we have to listen to all the politicians wave the flag and say ‘Never Forget,’” Strickland said. “Motherf*cker, never forget what? Never forget the dancing Israelis… or never forget that our government doesn’t allow the victims of 9/11 to go sue the Saudi royals who funded them.”
He kept going. “Or never forget the Israeli intelligence… you motherfckers are so compromised bro. No one has forgotten, and more people are fcking waking up.”
Those are Strickland’s claims. They are not established history. The September 11, 2001, attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda hijackers who murdered nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania. Strickland is a fighter with a microphone. He is not a 9/11 investigator, and repeating his list does not make it a finding.
He is the current two-time UFC middleweight champion. He took the belt back from Khamzat Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 on May 9. He is 31-7. He is scheduled to defend against Nassourdine Imavov on Dec. 12 at UFC 335 in Las Vegas. None of that has anything to do with intelligence agencies. All of it is why a rant from him still travels.
Strickland has built a second career on saying the unsayable. He won the title the first time by out-jabbing Israel Adesanya. He lost it to Dricus du Plessis. He talked his way through a Chimaev buildup that included ethnic slurs and threats, then apologized after the fight for going too hard. The pattern is the same. He sells heat. Then the heat is the story.
This one lands on the anniversary of a mass murder. He is not talking about Imavov’s jab or Chimaev’s wrestling. He is telling his audience that the official story is a cover and that “waking up” means buying his version. UFC champions have always talked politics. This is that habit with the worst possible date attached.
The company has not issued a public response. Strickland posted the comments himself. There is no fine, no pulled fight, and no statement from Dana White in the immediate aftermath. Silence is not an endorsement. It is also not a punishment. The Dec. 12 title fight is still on the calendar unless the office takes it off.
Josh Hokit, a UFC heavyweight, posted a 9/11 joke the same day about “fastest readers” and 110 stories. Strickland’s clip sat in that same ugly lane of anniversary content from fighters who treat the date like open-mic night. Hokit’s line was a jumpers gag. Strickland’s was a conspiracy lecture. Both are on the record.
The 185-pound division does not change because the champion posted. Imavov still wants the belt. Chimaev still wants the rematch. Costa still wants a do-over. Strickland still has to make weight and last five rounds in December. The octagon will not score his 9/11 theory.
What it will score is whether a sitting champion can keep the microphone this loud without the job intersecting the politics. He has gotten away with worse buildup talk. This is not a staredown. It is a champion telling millions of people, on the anniversary, that the dead are a prop for his list of villains.
Never Forget, for the families, means the people who died. Strickland used the phrase as a setup. The fight in December is still a fight. The comments are already the other thing he will have to live with when he walks out with the belt on.