UFC champ Sean Strickland calls Edmonton a ‘trash can’

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland drew criticism this week after calling downtown Edmonton a “trash can” over open drug use in social media posts made while he was in the city for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, Daily Hive and the Western Standard reported.

“Left downtown, and yep, this place is a trash can. Zombies everywhere,” Strickland wrote on X on Oct. 14, according to Daily Hive, adding that the area was “definitely a open drug market with zero police.”

His name drew more than 100 searches in Canada on Saturday, according to Google Trends.

Strickland, 35, was not fighting on the Edmonton card at Rogers Place and was in town to corner another fighter, Daily Hive reported. The event was headlined by Canadian Mike Malott against Joaquin Buckley. During the broadcast, the UFC announced it would return to Toronto for UFC 336 at Scotiabank Arena on Jan. 30.

The posts marked a turnaround from a day earlier, when Strickland wrote that people calling Edmonton “ghetto” had “clearly never been to a major US city,” Daily Hive reported. He later shared images of people in the downtown area, which drew further criticism online. Bloody Elbow reported that a separate video showed a woman swatting at Strickland and chasing him after he filmed her without permission.

The Western Standard reported that the Edmonton Police Service announced the same day that it was expanding targeted enforcement downtown and reported a 13.6 per cent reduction in crime severity in the area.

Strickland also waded into Alberta politics. Daily Hive reported that he expressed interest in attending an Alberta separatist rally at the legislature on Saturday, and the Western Standard said he had reposted a rally video. The visit came days before Alberta’s independence referendum, which we explain in our guide to Monday’s vote. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the exit vote a “bluff” at a Calgary rally this week.

The California native has a history of controversy in Canada. During a visit to Toronto in 2024, he launched into a homophobic and anti-Canada tirade while speaking with reporters, Daily Hive noted. Strickland lost the middleweight title to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in Toronto that year and has since regained it, according to Cageside Press, which reported he is now in a contract dispute with the UFC.

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Sources: Daily Hive; Western Standard; Bloody Elbow; Cageside Press; Google Trends Canada.