The conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas has spilled over into the Octagon.
Several of the UFC’s top stars — including newly minted middleweight champion Sean Strickland — are battering each other online over the conflict.
Strickland — who recently scored a shock victory over MMA icon Israel Adesanya — blasted fellow fighter UFC Belal Muhammad for posting “Pray for Palestine” on X over the weekend following Hamas’ terrorists pouring over from Palestinian territory to Israel, killing over 1,000 people and kidnapping over 100.
“This is what you’d call a coward response,” the 27-year-old Californian wrote of Muhammad’s post, which had drawn 10 million views as of Tuesday.
“Instead of taking a stand against terrorism and advocating for a peaceful resolution you say this dumb s–t. Ignoring what just happened. You were born in America. Shut the f–k up.”
Muhammad, a 35-year-old welterweight from Chicago of Palestinian descent, did not appear to respond to his nemesis, but has been posting pro-Palestinian content for several days since.
Strickland — who has previously admitted going through “a neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase” before reforming himself — advised Palestinians to cut their losses in their conflict with Israel.
“The fact of the matter is Palestine always loses,” he posted Monday. “Not only will it lose now, it always loses. So instead of saying ‘we lost how can we move forward and expel Hamas and give our children a better future’…they say ‘na f—k our kids, send rockets.’ Utterly insane.”
Hamas is the military and political group which controls the Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank which are surrounded by Israeli territory.
Chechen welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev — who fights out of Sweden — sparked a firestorm of controversy after posting several Palestinian flags and hearts on X soon after Hamas’ shocking incursion.
“You are just guests of Palestine,” he wrote last month prior to the latest outbreak of hostilities. “Respect them for giving you asylum. One day you will be expelled from Palestine. Give me the strongest man from Israel. I will break him.”
Israeli fighter Natan Levy, 32, reposted to that message and issued a direct challenge to the Chechen, suggesting that UFC boss Dana White arrange a confrontation between the two men.
“Khamzat, if you have a problem with me or my people, I’m very easy to find,” he wrote. “One phone call to Dana White is all it takes. Now let me educate you. We are not guests. We are home.”
Retired MMA superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov — best known for submitting brash Irish brawler Conor McGregor in 2018 — also posted his support for Palestinians on Instagram to his 35 million followers.
The Dagestani fighter received support in his replies — but some MMA enthusiasts expressed their disappointment.
“As a fan of yours I am deeply saddened to see you support atrocious acts of violence and terrorism in Israel,” the poster wrote.
UFC boss White has not yet weighed in on the geopolitical firestorm that has quickly become a flashpoint for his popular fighting league.