Don’t expect Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to receive a warm welcome from a UFC crowd anytime soon.
On Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, UFC 297 was one of the biggest mixed martial arts shows the country has ever seen, with a sold-out crowd in attendance for the promotion’s first pay-per-view event of the year.
But while the 12 fights on the day had plenty of action, it was some out-of-the-octagon barbs at Trudeau that also made headlines.
Starting early and continuing throughout the night, fans at Scotiabank Arena were heard chanting “F*ck Trudeau” at seemingly random intervals.
"Fuck Trudeau" chants #UFC297 pic.twitter.com/4Rm7CJ9RVq
— Kalebra (@kalebra07) January 21, 2024
New middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland in the main event, winning by a split decision. It was, however, a bit of a controversial choice, with UFC president Dana White saying he personally had scored the bout in favour of Strickland in his post-fight press conference.
Strickland himself had gone on a since-viral attack on Trudeau earlier in the week.
At the event’s media day in Toronto last Wednesday, Strickland got in a back-and-forth with a reporter when asked about past comments from the fighter about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“You’re a weak f*cking man. You elected Justin Trudeau,” Strickland said as part of the back-and-forth. “The fact that you have no f*cking backbone, and as he shut down your country and seized bank accounts, you ask me some stupid sh*t like that. Go f*ck yourself.”
Following the event, UFC president Dana White didn’t appear too concerned when asked about the “leash” he gives his fighters to speak their minds in his post-fight press conference.
“First of all, I don’t give anybody a leash. A leash? Free speech,” White said. “To control what people say and to tell people what to believe – I don’t tell any other f*cking human being what to say, what to think and there’s no leashes on any of them… It’s ridiculous to say I give somebody a leash. Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want and they can believe whatever they want.”
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