Keith Lee slams Sean Strickland after racism accusation: “Standing up for what’s true”

By Josh Evanoff - July 25, 2023

The saga between UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland and Keith Lee continues.

Keith Lee and Sean Strickland

‘Tarzan’ is fresh off his return at UFC Vegas 76 earlier this month against Abus Magomedov. In the main event, Sean Strickland scored a second-round knockout win, one that might net him a title shot against Israel Adesanya. Earlier on the undercard, Kevin Lee suffered a first-round loss, with his brother, Keith Lee, in his corner.

For his part, Sean Strickland discussed the event on a recent edition of his podcast. There, the UFC star accused Keith Lee of being racist towards white people. The accusation stemmed from a training session with the two, as well as Chris Curtis and others. ‘Killa’ was famously a prospect in Bellator, prior to becoming a famous TikTok social media star this year.

On his TikTok account, Keith Lee responded to the allegation from Sean Strickland in a video message. There, he slammed the middleweight for lying about the version of events. Furthermore, he discussed the situation with Chris Curtis, who also admitted that the featherweight didn’t say anything of the sort.

RELATED: KEVIN LEE ADMITS HE SHOULD’VE RETIRED AFTER CHARLES OLIVEIRA LOSS: “I DON’T MOVE THE SAME”

Sean Strickland

“I received a week straight of false allegations, negative comments and negative backlash from something I didn’t even do,” Keith Lee stated in the video responding to Sean Strickland’s comments. “Let’s talk about it… Yes, me and Sean had a conversation. No, this conversation didn’t go anything like he depicted it… We had disagreements prior to this situation, but nothing that couldn’t have been settled with a conversation. So, at the point of this conversation, we were gym partners, I walked up to him and two people, I considered friends, having a conversation after practice.”

He continued, “I happened to join the conversation, and it was already on race. The beginning of this conversation wasn’t only educational, it was productive. But one thing led to another… I didn’t find the humor in any of his comments, and then he spun my words, into saying what he said I said. Never at any point did I say I don’t like anybody, I simply disagreed with what he said.”

“…I also immediately disagreed with all of the ignorant and distasteful comments he made, and I was no longer interested in the conversation. Which, the conversation itself ended very soon after that. I don’t have any bad feelings, or wish anything ill toward Sean Strickland, I just want this cleared up… It’s just, the situation didn’t go how he depicted, and I appreciate both of them being honest, and standing up for what’s true.”

What do you make of these comments from Keith Lee? What do you make of Sean Strickland’s allegations?


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Sean Strickland UFC