Sean Strickland posts fake AI video attacking Dylan Mulvaney (Getty Images)
UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is facing criticism after sharing an AI-generated video of him violently attacking transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a martial arts ring as part of a fake ad referencing a partnership with Bud Light in 2023.
The post, which Strickland shared on Instagram at the beginning of Pride Month (June 2), appeared to mock both Mulvaney and the beer brand, referencing the conservative backlash that followed Mulvaney’s 2023 Bud Light promotional campaign.
The AI-generated clip was accompanied by a caption from Strickland celebrating how companies are no longer focusing on LGBTQ+ visibility. “I haven’t seen a single rainbow flag yet. Here we go again!!!” he wrote before tagging Bud Light.
While many of the comments sadly praised the fake clip, there were also comments criticizing Strickland. One person wrote: “We don’t care about you…Happy Pride!” Another said: “This post is gayer than anything happening during Pride Month.”
The fighter has been one of Mulvaney’s most vocal critics since the Bud Light controversy, and has repeatedly made anti-trans comments in interviews and on social media. Ahead of the UFC 297 event in January 2024, he described transgender people as an “infectious disease” and said, “You are the definition of weakness. Everything that’s wrong in the world is fucking you.”
Strickland continued the discussion on X, posting, “Say what you want about Trump, but June is far less gay,” responding to criticism by describing homosexuality as “anti-American.”
Despite calling Strickland a “nightmare” in the past, UFC CEO and president Dana White continues to book the fighter.
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