Sean Strickland admits he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s safe to say that famous American rapper Machine Gun Kelly is definitely not one of his admirers.
The Background
In February, former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland met rapper Machine Gun Kelly (Colson Baker) at a Power Slap event. An introduction by mutual friend Luke Trembath quickly escalated into a heated exchange, with Strickland making derogatory comments about Baker.
The MMA star called MGK a “goth South Park character”, a label the ‘Mainstream Sellout‘ artist certainly did not enjoy.
The duo wanted to catch on to the growing popularity of Power Slap, which is even gaining traction in countries as far away as New Zealand. While the country is renowned for its breathtaking landscapes, diverse wildlife, and fierce sporting culture, Power Slap could soon add to the entertainment offering of the island nation.
The rise of Power Slap tournaments in New Zealand could mirror the growth of New Zealand online pokies in recent years. Both industries have seen a surge in popularity due to the high level of excitement the activities offer. While Power Slap is a pure adrenaline rush, online pokies have mesmerised Kiwis with their engaging yet rewarding gameplay, building on the existing pokie culture in the nation.
What Happened Afterward?
The altercation between Strickland and Machine Gun Kelly sparked a response from UFC CEO Dana White, who blamed Strickland for the incident.
“You can’t bring Sean Strickland around any other human beings,” he said.
We heard what Strickland had to say, but the story wasn’t complete until Machine Gun Kelly, the other side of the coin, shared his perspective. Appearing on Logan Paul’s ‘Impaulsive’ podcast, Kelly finally lifted the veil on the infamous encounter with the former UFC champion.
“I don’t know this guy from a crumb of bread, right?” the 34-year-old said. “I didn’t know who he was when I met him. I got hip afterwards that he’s like insanely racist and homophobic and just not my type of guy. So I would have never even wanted to shake hands with him in the first place.
“But he is also just a representative of every person who’s too scared to just be themselves. Because if you’re comfortable as yourself, you don’t care who anybody else is and how they are.”
Kelly says the confrontation doesn’t bother him anymore but offered Strickland advice on how to conduct himself in the future.
“Learn this — shut the f*** up and don’t speak on me anymore and live your life. But you won’t and I’m going to continue laughing at you because you’re a f***ing idiot.”
Strickland had shared his version of the incident on Eric Nicksick’s podcast, ‘Verse Us’, before Kelly broke his silence.
“He’s wearing like a f***ing vampire trench coat, has a f***ing purse, painted nails and ‘Dingo,’ you know me, dude. Why would you do this?” Strickland said. “Why would you set me up? I just look at him, like my brain I’m trying to process. I’m looking into the void and I think I just said, ‘what the f***?’ Are you a f***ing gay vampire?’
“Then the way he looked at me, it wasn’t funny. Like if you would have said something funny like ‘oh yeah, you look like a white trash hillbilly,’ I would have been like [yeah], I drive a Tesla, that’s gay. He looked at me with such f***ing disgust, there’s this little voice in my head said, ‘we’re fighting.’ Then my girl got involved and broke us up.”
Conclusion
While the Strickland-MGK encounter didn’t escalate into a full-blown brawl, could this someday give us a celebrity fight that can match the fun and intensity of KSI vs Logan Paul? You never know!