WASHINGTON -- UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland spent the UFC Freedom 250 fight week showing up at various activities even though he wasn't on the fight card. When Strickland attempted to enter the UFC's fan festival Sunday evening on The Ellipse, though, it ended up being a quick stay.
The United States Park Police told ESPN that it evacuated Strickland from the area after a surge of fans came toward him around 7 p.m., two hours before the beginning of the main card.
"The unplanned presence of Sean Strickland drew significant attention from attendees, resulting in disorder," the United States Park Police Public Information Office wrote in a statement. "Due to concerns for Strickland's safety and the safety of event patrons, personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Park Police, and other assisting agencies evacuated him safely from the area."
Jaclyn Cruz, a 26-year-old fan from Nashville attending the fan festival, said she saw Strickland and took a video of him and tried to say hello. She said she saw him be escorted out.
"After I saw that, I was shaking," Cruz said. "It was like, 'Oh my God, I'm living like a fever dream right now.'"
Strickland posted an Instagram story in which he thanked fans for supporting him throughout the week and said he might have been cited for disorderly conduct. But that was not the case.
"Strickland was neither cited nor arrested in connection with the incident," the Park Police wrote. "However, he was advised not to return to the venue for his own and public safety."
The Park Police said Strickland was transported back to his hotel with no issues.