UFC Freedom 250 is ten days away, and political tensions surrounding the event have spilled into a public dispute between two of its fighters. Soon after the announcement of a UFC event at the White House last year, a debate about the nature of the event, whether or not it was political, broke out. While Donald Trump and Dana White attempted to defend it, the perception was already there. It got further validated after Sean Strickland recently revealed he has been banned from attending the June 14th event, claiming the administration and the UFC took issue with his public criticism of both Israel and Donald Trump.

The situation escalated when Justin Gaethje, who is headlining the event in a lightweight title fight against Ilia Topuria, tore into a fan yesterday for labelling him a “MAGA ret–d.” In his response, the Arizona native called both the fan and Sean Strickland “dumb” for their views. The UFC middleweight champion has since fired back at him. Following their spat online, Dana White moved to address the backlash in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

“What this fight is really all about, and why we’re doing it at the White House, is it’s the 250th birthday of America,” Dana White clarified. “So from the first fight of the night until the main event, we will tell the story of America. You’ve got the far right, you’ve got the far left, and people thinking that this is going to be like some type of political thing.

“This is the 250th birthday of America. That’s the story that we’re going to tell. If you are American, this is relevant to you as an American. Everybody, no matter what your politics are, or any of that other bulls–t.”

Dana White has made this case repeatedly in the lead-up to the event. The difficulty he faces is that June 14 is also Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, the event is being held on the White House lawn at Trump’s invitation, and the UFC CEO has been one of Trump’s most well-known public supporters for years. This raises a point of contention. The same has been pointed out by many, including MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, who continues to question the core value of the spectacle, calling it a “love letter to Trump.”

Regardless, with only a little over a week remaining, the actual event is all set to take place with marquee fighters ready to collide at the South Lawn. Still, the wave of backlash from UFC fighters is continuing for the event, much to the dismay of the administration.

UFC fighter criticizes U.S. government over White House card, defends Sean Strickland

Amid the ongoing political backlash, UFC featherweight fighter Bryce Mitchell, who’s set to face Santiago Luna this weekend at the Meta Apex, has also come out in support of Sean Strickland while praising him for exercising his freedom of speech.

“The government should never be hosting sporting events, because there’s more room for corruption, and we already have a corrupted government,” Mitchell said during the presser for the Fight Night. “I’m not surprised at all. Freedom of speech is what really makes this country great. In fact, [Israel is] the only nation you’re not allowed to criticize, you know. There’s always a rebellion. Have you ever seen Star Wars? That’s what’s going to happen, bro.”

In the past, Bryce Mitchell has found himself in trouble for his comments about Adolf Hitler, which made Dana White mad. While at the time he dismissed it, this time it’s different. With so many differences in political opinion surrounding the White House event, it would be interesting to see whether it actually affects the show and forces White to put his foot down and censure his athletes.