Thank you, Carl Nassib, for speaking up.
For a long time now, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star Sean Strickland has been unleashing incredibly unhinged rants that are homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic in different interviews and social media posts.
On Tuesday, Mar. 12, former National Football League (NFL) star and Rayze founder Nassib spoke out against Strickland after seeing yet another rampage of homophobic posts shared on the UFC fighter’s X account. The posts read:
“My man you're gay as f*ck, you’re a cock bandit, butthole pirate, poop shoot loving.”
“I just look at gays like a form of ret*rdation.. but I fully accept them. Could you imagine if we seen any species on this planet wake up one day and all chose to be gay. We would all think ‘wow there is clearly something wrong with that species.’ Why are humans exempt? Come on.”
Nassib shared those X posts via Instagram stories and wrote:
“This guy is the absolute scum of humanity. Insane the UFC continues to give this guy a paycheck.”
Instagram (@carlnassib)
In a second Instagram story, Nassib showed that he has DM’d Strickland in the past to directly address his homophobic statements. However, the UFC athlete didn’t seem to respond. Nassib’s DM read:
“What’s up Sean. I really don’t appreciate all the hate and negativity you have towards the gay community. You’re constantly talking about killing influencers and how much hate you have for people like me. I’ve never watched UFC or seen you compete but I’ve been hearing about you lately and it’s f*cked up. I’m asking you as a man and fellow competitor to please lay off my community moving forward. You’ll inspire people who are influenced by you to hurt people like me and nobody wants that.”
Nassib noted that he didn’t tag Strickland in his first Instagram story because he’s been blocked by the fighter after sending that DM. “I would tag him but he blocked me on Insta after I sent him this message weeks ago,” Nassib wrote. “Reallllly tough guy.”
Instagram (@carlnassib)
Nassib’s third and last Instagram story in this series read:
“To any aspiring athlete or competitor, humility and hard work will get you to the top, not being a bully or attacking those who are vulnerable. If you’re strong, be a protector not a monster.”
Instagram (@carlnassib)
At the time of this writing, Out has reached out to the UFC multiple times and has received no response from the company.
Strickland’s homophobic and transphobic rants need to be addressed. In fact, it’s gotten to a point where he is not only continuing to spew hatred against the LGBTQ+ community, but is doubling down and getting even more violent in his language.
Nassib (who made history in 2021 after he publicly came out as gay while playing on playing for the Raiders) bringing attention to what is happening with Strickland — and how silent the UFC has been thus far — is important given that this is a high-profile athlete with the power to influence and/or encourage people with these problematic viewpoints that can be extremely harmful to our community.
We hope the UFC can address this issue as quickly as possible.
