Always one for a controversial situation, Sean Strickland has found himself in the headlines yet again after detailing an encounter he once held with viral TikTok star Keith Lee. Keith who is the brother to former UFC title challenger Kevin Lee, is the owner of a viral TikTok account where he reviews food and as of the time of writing currently possesses almost 13.5 million followers.
UFC Star Sean Strickland Details Run-In with TikTok Star
Strickland details an encounter where Keith Lee approached him while in the gym and initiated a conversation about race. Strickland maintains that Lee then labelled him a racist, which in all fairness may not have been a false accusation at one point. Strickland himself has confessed to holding racial views throughout his youth though has since reformed his outlook. Despite Strickland’s humorous attempts to defuse the situation, Lee continued in his accusations towards Strickland and apparently stated “I don’t like white people”. Strickland obviously took offence to the claims of Lee as can be seen when he begins telling the story, stating “ I hate Kevin Lee’s [expletive] brother”.
Strickland told his story on “The Man Dance” podcast which he hosts with his friend and fellow UFC fighter Chris Curtis. This is not the first time that Strickland has come up with content that has pushed the line and has long been considered one of the most polarizing and controversial figures inside of MMA media. From recent exposure due to a full length episode on the Joe Rogan Experience as well as a flourishing UFC career where he may be in line for a title shot as well now entering into an apparent beef with one of social media’s biggest stars at the moment it appears that Strickland is going to be in the headlines more now than he ever was before.
Despite Keith Lee’s past as an MMA fighter, it seems unlikely that we will see this pairing square up in the octagon. Lee held a decent record of 8-5 yet has only had 3 fights since 2020 going 1-2 in this time. What is perhaps the major obstacle that would prevent a fight between these two is the weight difference. Strickland is a 185 lbs. fighter who at a push could perhaps get back down to the 170 lbs. division that he last competed in 5 years ago. This may be a tall order as Strickland has competed as heavy as 205 lbs. since his run at Welterweight. In comparison, the younger Lee brother has fought as low has Flyweight (125 lbs.) and has so far competed at Featherweight (145 lbs.) which is his heaviest competition weight. For the majority of his career he has fought at Bantamweight (135 lbs.) which is a long way off even a potential push to 170 lbs. that a much younger Strickland fought in. Still, in a world where influencer combat sports has grown more popular than ever before and the traditional rules and customs regarding, many combat sports appear to have been thrown out of the window then perhaps there is a scenario someday where these two may settle their beef inside of an Octagon. It would certainly generate a considerable amount of interest, and as we all know, money talks.
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