Sean Strickland got an unexpected visit from an overzealous fan during Thursday’s UFC 297 media scrum.
On Saturday night, Strickland will put his middleweight world title on the line for the very first time as he meets South African finisher Dricus Du Plessis in the evening’s main event. 48 hours ahead of their highly anticipated title tilt, Strickland and ‘Stillknocks’ were addressing members of the press at a pre-fight conference when a fan decided to rush the stage in hopes of shaking Strickland’s hand.
A fan just stormed the stage to shake Sean Strickland’s hand
pic.twitter.com/7i59wMT48R
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) January 18, 2024
The unidentified individual was detained and removed from the stage within seconds of making his way on camera, but as seen in the above video embeds, it was all relatively harmless. Even UFC CEO Dana White couldn’t help, but smile as Strickland almost appeared to be flattered by the fan’s gesture.
Strickland dubbed the fan a ‘savage’ as he was carted away by security staff.
The 185-pound king received an overwhelmingly positive response from the Canadian crowd, particularly after he echoed many of their concerns regarding the current state of Canada’s government and contentious Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Sean Strickland had a beautiful message for Canadians living in Trudeau's Canada at today's press conference
"I care about you guys"
"I care about you being free"
"I care about freedom of speech"On behalf of Canadians. THANK YOU
— The Pleb
Reporter (@truckdriverpleb)
Watch the full UFC 297 press conference below: