UFC star Sean Strickland sparks furious confrontation after inviting Kyle Rittenhouse to his gym: ‘Get him out of here’
Controversial UFC star Sean Strickland sparked a furious argument with a fellow MMA fighter after bringing Kyle Rittenhouse to their gym this week.
Rittenhouse became a political lightning rod during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, when he was seen carrying an AR-15-style rifle at a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he shot three people and killed two.
Since being acquitted of all of the charges against him four years ago, Rittenhouse has become a poster boy for Second Amendment rights advocates and right-wing political commentators and made his return to social media last month.
A month after making his online return with a gun-toting wedding picture, Rittenhouse was seen at the Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas alongside Strickland.
In a clip posted on Jake Shields’ YouTube channel, Strickland was seen introducing Rittenhouse – as ‘this dorky motherf***er’ – to multiple people in the gym.
However, as Strickland continued to introduce Rittenhouse, fellow American UFC star Chris Curtis quickly took issue with the 23-year-old’s presence in the gym.
UFC star Sean Strickland invited Kyle Rittenhouse (left) to his MMA gym in Las Vegas this week
Fellow UFC star Chris Curtis confronted Strickland for doing so in a heated video online
Rittenhouse had become a political lightning rod during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, when he was seen carrying an AR-15-style rifle at a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin
‘Sean, you know how I feel about this s***,’ Curtis asked Strickland, confronting him.
He continued: ‘Why would you invite this guy? Why would you do this? F*** this guy. He’s innocent the same way Bill Cosby is innocent.
‘Why would you do this, you know, how I feel? You’re one of my best friends. Why would you [invite him to] my f***ing home? I would never disrespect you like this’.
Strickland had little response to Curtis’ anger in the moment but later took to social media to clarify why he brought Rittenhouse to their gym.
Taking to X, the controversial star wrote: ‘Kyle Rittenhouse is a dorky white kid who was hanging out with a bunch of OLDER WEIRDOS, who wanted to be military larpers… They put him in a bad situation where he shot 3 utter POS in self defense and the world is better for it.
‘Curt is a good man. I didnt think Curt would care but that being said I truly cant fault him for his reaction when I think about it.
‘For the lest [sic] 12 years we’ve been hearing Trump is a nazi and his supporters are nazis, Charlie Kirk, the Trump shooter, its all a byproduct of the media’s efforts to radicalize people.
‘This is just a reminder to live life and dont let politics consume you. It’s all one giant manipulation from the right and left… Your twitter thumbs arent going to change the world, try to be happy’.
Strickland and Curtis are close friends and have regularly trained together over the years
Rittenhouse returned to social media last month with a post showing off his new wife, Bella
Strickland later attempted to justify his invite to Rittenhouse in a lengthy post on social media
Rittenhouse responded to Strickland and thanked him for sticking up for him online
Replying to Strickland’s post on X, Rittenhouse said: ‘Thanks for saying it like it is. I was a dumb kid thrown into hell, defended my life, got acquitted.
‘Appreciate the real talk, brother. Keep kicking a**. You’re a hell of a fighter’.
Rittenhouse’s public sighting came just two weeks after he offered to travel to Minnesota amid unrest after ICE fatally shot a woman.
‘After thinking about it, should I travel across the state line to Minnesota?’, Rittenhouse asked in a tweet to his 76,000 followers on X.
Rittenhouse’s tweet came hours after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed a Minneapolis woman who was driving her car.
Federal officials say the shooting was an act of self-defense but the city’s mayor of described it as reckless and unnecessary.
