Final Destination star and actor Devon Sawa recently took to social media to blast the UFC and Paramount Plus over racist and homophobic remarks made by ex-UFC Champion Sean Strickland.
What did Devon Sawa say about Sean Strickland?
In a recent post, Sawa tagged Paramount Plus and demanded the company “stop” platforming Strickland after the ex-UFC champion went on a tirade last week. While at a press conference for his upcoming fight against Anthony Hernandez, Strickland ranted against both the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show, Ronda Rousey, and more.
“Ronda Rousey can fight. That bitch can fight . . . I think she lost a few fights to her ex, but bitch can fight,” said Strickland. “I like Gina [Carano]. She’s like super conservative. She was hot, you know. I was like a kid when she fought. I may have jerked off to her once or twice back in the day.”
Strickland went on to mention that while there’s nothing wrong with women’s sports, you can take “the weakest, softest motherf—-r” and beat up a female UFC star. “There’s nothing wrong with women. I mean, they do great things. They cook, they clean, they make good food. Like, women are great,” Strickland added. “We’ve got to remember what women excel at: having kids, being mothers, making food, cleaning house. The problem is we’ve empowered them too much to ruin society.”
Strickland also went on a homophobic tirade against the NFL, calling musician Bad Bunny a slur while lamenting over the NFL ruining its own sport.
“Look at the NFL, dude. I don’t even want to say the f—–s name because it’s just like, what — somebody give me his name,” Strickland said. “Come say his name, I don’t want to say it. You know what I’m talking about, the halftime show guy. The Puerto Rican, right? Puerto Rican?”
“Yeah, that f—ing f—–,” Strickland said when Bad Bunny’s name was mentioned. “It’s so crazy that this is America now. Like, back in the day dude, the NFL was the f—ing standard of being a f—ing man, and now every f—ing year, the NFL, I think they all get together around a table and say, ‘You know what, guys? How do we f—ing ruin this sport? How do we gay it up? How do we f—ing ruin it? Well, I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we bring a gay foreigner who doesn’t speak f—ing English and have him perform it?’”
UFC star Valentina Shevchenko came to Joe Rogan’s defense on Sunday after the broadcaster and commentator faced criticism from MMA legend Ronda Rousey.
Rousey took her swipe at Rogan in a podcast interview with Bert Kreischer, saying that she wouldn’t take fighting advice from him because he’s “not an expert.”
Alexa Grasso (red gloves) fights Valentina Shevchenko (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 16, 2023.(Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)
As the interview went viral across social media, Shevchenko fired back on X.
“I see Joe Rogan as huge expert of Martial Arts, noble man, hunter, sportsman, and good example for youth!” she wrote in a post.
Rousey and Kreischer bantered back and forth about her mixed martial arts skills in an episode of the “Bertcast Podcast.”
Kreischer asked whether there would be a price to get her back into the Octagon.
Joe Rogan attends the UFC 277 ceremonial weigh-in at American Airlines Center on July 29, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
“I mean, I have everything I want. There’s nothing that would really change my life,” she said
When Kreischer started to name prices, he joked about a hypothetical offer to beat him up. She said she would beat him up in front of his house. He laughed as he asked, “How long do I get to train?”
Kreischer then said he would ask Rogan for some tips on mixed martial arts. Rousey took her jab at Rogan there.
“He wouldn’t know,” she said. “He’s not an expert. He’s a fan with an audience. Never fought … taekwondo is not fighting.”
Ronda Rousey talks about her upcoming championship fight during media day for UFC 184 at Glendale Fighting Club on Feb. 18, 2015.(Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)
Rousey and Rogan’s relationship appeared to have soured toward the end of her run in the UFC following losses to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm. She claimed in an interview last year that Rogan and others “turned” on her.
Rousey won an Olympic bronze medal in judo in 2008 before she turned to the world of MMA. She was the women’s bantamweight champion and made six title defenses. She was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.
In WWE, she was a three-time women’s champion and a tag team champion before she departed the company.
In a lengthy statement shared to X early Friday morning, Rousey said she’s regretted the post “every day of my life.”
In January 2013, about a month after a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and killed 20 children and six staffers, Rousey shared a YouTube video to X (then Twitter) that cast doubt on the shooting. Rousey posted a link to the video and wrote, “Extremely interesting, and must-watch.”
“I didn’t even believe it, but was so horrified at the truth that I was grasping for an alternative fiction to cling to instead,” Rousey said in her apology. “I quickly realized my mistake and took it down, but the damage was done.”
Story continues below advertisement
The 37-year-old pro wrestler said she’s drafted the apology several times over the last decade, but has never had the courage to speak out until now. One such attempt to apologize was in her recent memoir, Our Fight, but Rousey said her publisher “begged” to remove it, “saying it would overshadow everything else and do more harm than good.”
Rousey’s hesitancy to apologize was also in part due to fear that calling attention to the video would increase the reach of the conspiracy theories, and would “selfishly, inform even more people I was ignorant, self absorbed and tone deaf enough to share one in the first place.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
“But honestly, I deserve to be hated, labeled, detested, resented and worse for it,” Rousey wrote. “I deserve to lose out on every opportunity, I should have been canceled, I would have deserved it. I still do.”
Story continues below advertisement
In bolded text, Rousey continued: “I apologize that this came 11 years too late, but to those affected by the Sandy Hook massacre, from the bottom of my heart and depth of my soul I am so so sorry for the hurt I caused. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’ve endured and words cannot describe how thoroughly remorseful and ashamed I am of myself for contributing it.”
Rousey then addressed others who may believe conspiracy theories, or as she said, people who have “fallen down the black hole of bulls—.”
“It doesn’t make you edgy, or an independent thinker, you’re not doing your due diligence entertaining every possibility by digesting these conspiracies,” Rousey wrote. “They will only make you feel powerless, afraid, miserable and isolated. You’re doing nothing but hurting others and yourself.”
She concluded, “Regardless of how many bridges you’ve burned over it, stop digging yourself a deeper hole, don’t get wrapped up in the sunk cost fallacy, no matter how long you’ve gone down the wrong road, you should still turn back.”
In the days after she shared the YouTube conspiracy video in 2013, Rousey did issue a brief apology.
“I never meant to insult or hurt anyone, sorry if anyone was offended,” the wrestler wrote on social media. “It was not my intention in the least.”
Story continues below advertisement
She did not make mention of the post again after that.
I never meant to insult or hurt anyone, sorry if anyone was offended. It was not my intention in the least. http://t.co/KjmQxiYK
Rousey’s most recent apology was met with general positivity online, with many commenting the statement was “better late than never.”
“Never been a Ronda fan, but I can respect this. If you cannot hold yourself accountable, how can anybody expect to grow,” one user wrote on X.
“This is so clearly heartfelt that it’s hard to imagine anyone questioning it,” another commented. “People make mistakes. You clearly did. You realized yours quickly and not because of backlash.”
Other social media users speculated Rousey’s apology was triggered by a recent AMA, or “Ask Me Anything” session, on Reddit that saw the athlete inundated with questions about her initial posting of the video.
Story continues below advertisement
The Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook school shooting is the second-deadliest school shooting to ever occur in the U.S., behind the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech.
Unfounded conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre have circulated since it happened, often championed by controversial public figures like Infowars host Alex Jones.
Jones, who for years told his audience the shooting was a hoax, was sued by the family members of Sandy Hook victims and ordered to pay US$1.5 billion in 2022 for his false claims. The trial saw harrowing testimony from family members, who said they still dealt with intense harassment from conspiracy theorists.
Jones has since acknowledged that the Sandy Hook shooting did happen. Despite that, he’s continually said Democrats and the “deep state” are conspiring to shut down his companies and eliminate his right to free speech.
‘Horror beyond anything’: Sandy Hook parents recount traumatic losses in Alex Jones trial
