UFC middleweight Sean Strickland announced he will not fight in Australia for a championship again, citing the government’s disdain for him and the country’s lack of free speech.

Strickland last fought down under for the middleweight championship in 2023, beating New Zealander Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. Leading up to the fight, Strickland made it his plight to criticize Australia’s laws surrounding speech, guns, and more.

Strickland has since lost the middleweight title to South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis but has battled his way back to the No. 1 contender position for a rematch.

However, the Anaheim, California, native recently declared he has no intention of accepting a fight in Australia for the belt.

“I’m not fighting in Australia. Were thinking Vegas in March,” the fighter wrote on his X page.

“I have a love for the aussies BUT I don’t think you’re government likes me… Which I take as a compliment!! Hate speech isn’t real and ill always speak up for my kangaroo homies,” Strickland continued, adding an all-caps call for freedom.

— (@)

Strickland responded to several fan comments, including one that claimed Australians are “too liberal.”

The fighter took the chance to clarify that his issue is with the state, not the people.

“The government is [too liberal]. The people living there are as much as a Trump supporters as us,” Strickland replied.

— (@)

Strickland has been highly critical of Australian policies since the COVID-19 lockdowns, when federal authorities forced citizens into quarantine camps.

“Go to Australia and post something negative about covid. They can enter your home and take you to jail,” Strickland said in 2021.

Leading up to his fight in 2023, Strickland’s outlook was to figuratively liberate Australia by speaking out about its gun control measures.

“A woman can’t own a gun…. or a knife… or pepper spray…. My god! I’m coming to save you Australia,” the former champion wrote.

Later that same day, Strickland said, “Looks like me going to Australia is becoming a humanitarian mission now,” he said in response to a post about gun licensing.

— (@)

It appears the fighter’s outlook has changed from liberation to a worry that the government won’t be as welcoming of him a second time around.

He may be right to assume so, given that political commentator Candace Owens was recently denied entry to the island nation.

Australia’s immigration minister said Owens had the “capacity to incite discord” and therefore should not be allowed into the country.

The minister claimed Owens’ comments about the Holocaust and the Islamic slave trade could “incite discord in almost every direction.”

Strickland has said he would only fight once to prove he deserves a rematch for the middleweight title and after beating Brazil’s Paulo Costa in June has stated he will wait as long as it takes to get his opportunity.

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​Fearless, Ufc, Australia, Free speech, Mma, Hate speech, Sports 

We need a massive policy redirection in the United States of America — and lucky for all of us, Donald Trump has promised to provide just that.

But not everyone is happy about this outcome, and some are even terrified.

“To our leftist countrymen who are despondent at this moment in time over the coming Trumpian reign of terror, I want you to know there is no mercy,” Steve Deace of “The Steve Deace Show” says.

“Mercy is for the weak. I offer you no words of comfort for your fear, no words to comfort you otherwise. In fact, I think your fear is legitimate, if anything, it’s not pronounced enough. It’s not palpable enough. I think you should prepare yourselves for a looming reckoning,” he warns.

“We will have our vengeance in this life or the next,” he adds.

But what will this vengeance look like?

“We will cut, maybe even slash your taxes, the cost of living, interest rates, and inflation. No mercy for your disobedience. Your borders will be secure. Mercy is for the weak. For all of your coercive tyranny, we will no longer allow unregulated bio-pharmaceutical industries to bombard you with inducing propaganda to take experimental toxins,” Deace explains.

Not only will the economy start to boom, but the food you eat will no longer be poisoned.

“We will no longer force you to try to sound out the words on the back of everything you eat because you cannot pronounce them, let alone count the amount of ingredients on that can. We will go as far as to make you healthier against your own will,” he continues before moving on to the most fearsome police.

“We will deploy brigades of police, fully armed, armed to the teeth in fact, into your cities where you live, and they will begin rounding up, indeed, they will begin rounding up all of the criminals unleashed in your blue cities and imprisoning them before they do you harm,” Deace says.

“We will go to your safe spaces, in the places where your women reside, and the places where your women are vulnerable, and we will take advantage of such situations as conquerors of old have done, and we will cleanse those spaces and impose our masculine patriarchal will in those spaces upon your women by making sure there are no bearded ladies, chicks with Adam’s apples, and dudes who belong in a padded cell creeping their spaces. And there will be no exceptions to this,” he adds.

Want more from Steve Deace?

To enjoy more of Steve’s take on national politics, Christian worldview, and principled conservatism with a snarky twist, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Free, Video, Sharing, Video phone, Upload, Camera phone, Youtube.com, The steve deace show, Steve deace, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Leftists, Donald trump, Abortion, Immigration, Crime, Health, Donald trump victory, President donald trump, Kamala harris loss, Leftist freakout 

The Republican Party reveals itself as a national middle-class party. A party that is friendly to earned success and those in need looking for a hand up. A party where the middle, bottom, and top are not divided and play a zero-sum game but are instead united in the pursuit and possession of the ever-optimistic American dream.

A patriotic party. A party that loves America — warts and all. A party with America First self-confidence and swagger on a global stage. Not chauvinism, but swagger. Which just happens to be good for everyone.

Pax Americana is not a global occupier or welfare state, but a beacon of freedom and hope to the nations.

A party for men and women alike — from Elon and Tulsi to the forgotten women and men across our great nation. A party of equals who know what a woman is, know what a man is, and celebrate the complementary difference. A love, marriage, baby carriages, “worried about the cost of living and growing prosperity” party.

A party that takes care of its own and defends its sovereignty. That takes full advantage of the natural resources to underwrite American prosperity at home and global peace and stability abroad.

A party that does not withdraw from the world but leads it through good example and willingness to defend and enforce its clearly stated prerogatives. A party willing to make long-term win-win deals. A party willing to use carrots and sticks to defend and pursue its interests.

A party that is dedicated to prudently guiding, funding, and restraining a military that is without equal.

A nation that fights wars to win and not occupy. When we win, we do so decisively and our former foes become prosperous friends. Pax Americana is not a global occupier or welfare state, but a beacon of freedom and hope to the nations.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.

​2024 presidential election, Donald trump, Republican party, Middle class, Foreign policy, America first, Opinion & analysis 

What happened to cords?

I swear, they used to be everywhere. Remember? I know I’m not crazy. I have these distinct memories of my parents buying me wide-wale cords at Kohl’s, or maybe it was JCPenney, or maybe it was Target.

A worn-in pair of corduroys are comfortable like a pair of sweatpants, yet dignified and strong.

Wherever it was, it wasn’t anywhere particularly fancy. Corduroys were standard and easy to find. They were what we wore when the weather got cold. I remember getting them before school every year. Boys wore them, older kids wore them, dads wore them, grandpas wore them. Everyone wore them.

But gradually, something strange happened. Our culture started shifting away from classically influenced clothing and moving toward sport-influenced clothing.

Sweatpants nation

Think back into the foggy recesses of your mind. Tug on those dusty memories. If you think hard, you can probably remember a time when guys wore chinos instead of sweatpants. Or leather shoes instead of sneakers. When more guys wore ties to work and fewer wore T-shirts. When every man had a sport coat in his closet. When cords were common and unremarkable.

If you have never thought about any of this, you might be wondering for the first time, “Oh yeah, what ever happened to cords?” It’s one of those things that happened very slowly, so it’s hard to pin down an exact year they faded. They just vanished from the mainstream.

A true tragedy, because cords are the perfect winter trousers.

Seasonal classic

Even though cords have shrunk in terms of their popularity, you can still find them if you know where to look. It may not be easy to hunt down 100% cotton cords with no stretch added, but you can do it. I recommend J. Press, Cordings, or J. Crew. These aren’t cheap pants, but they are great pants. Unfortunately, because cords are not as common as they once were, we end up paying a premium for what was standard just a few decades ago.

Cords are warm and cozy. The fabric is luxurious. A worn-in pair of corduroys are comfortable like a pair of sweatpants, yet dignified and strong. Classic clothing — like cords — understands the seasons. The summer pieces feel inexplicably like summer, and the winter pieces feel undeniably like winter. Classic clothing helps us feel both season and time in our clothes. This adds a natural variance to life.

When you bring your summer shirts out of storage, it’s exciting. When you wear your overcoat for the first time after the temperature drops, you have an extra skip in your step. Classic seasonal clothing allows us to reflect the changing world around us. It’s deeply organic. It feels whole. You would never wear a pair of cords in the spring or the summer, but you would in the autumn or the winter. Cords solidify an outfit as being autumnal or wintery.

A shot of color

While a simple pair of neutral cords is a must-have, cords don’t only come in navy or brown. Cords are fascinating in that there is a tradition of them being bold and bright. Red cords, yellow cords, purple cords, green cords. These are all classic iterations. This is something very unique. We don’t see this kind of adventure in other classic pairs of pants. Cords are very special for this reason. Bright and colorful, yet traditional and classic.

The bright and colorful cords of the winter are like the brightly painted houses you see near a gloomy fjord in Norway. They are a shot of color in the darkness of winter. A bright reminder when the sun hasn’t shined in weeks. They are indefatigable optimism when everything feels grim. They are a supremely unique instance when you can wear red pants as part of a traditional outfit.

When working with a pair of brown or navy cords, you have many options with your shirt. Take your pick of an OCBD, and it will most likely work great. When working with a pair of bright and colorful cords, you want to keep your shirt simple. Stick with white or light blue to make sure you don’t look clownish. Too many colorful pieces is never a good idea.

Flexible formality

Cords are incredibly flexible in terms of formality. You can dress cords up and you can dress cords down. Cords work great when paired with an OCBD, loafers, navy blazer, and knit tie. They also work great with bean boots, an OCBD, and a Shetland wool sweater thrown on top.

The rich texture of corduroy is unparalleled. Whether you are wearing fine wale or wide wale, there is no other pant in our wardrobe that offers this level of textural interest. The only other classical fabric that comes close is seersucker. The grooves of corduroy feel nice to the touch, and the unique texture adds a subtle point of interest to every outfit. Often, we think of color when we are considering interesting points in an outfit. But texture plays its own role. Cords are a wonderful reminder of that.

Winter can be depressing. The weather is often oppressive. Our mood can turn dour. The mundanity of it all can get to you. But cords give us something in our closet to look forward to. They are fun. They are comfortable. They are interesting. They are cozy. They can be bright and colorful. They are classic and traditional. They are the perfect winter pant.

​O.w. root, Corduroys, Ocbd, Style, Lifestyle, Provisions, Men’s style 

Zachary Jordan Alam, the troubled Virginia man who created chaos just before the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, demanded a full pardon just as a federal judge sentenced him to eight years in prison on Nov. 7.

Alam, 33, of Centreville, Virginia, portrayed himself in patriotic language during a sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, an appointee of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

“I want a full pardon with all the benefits that come with it, including compensation,” Alam demanded, according to the Associated Press account of the sentencing hearing.

Alam expressed his hope for a pardon based on the Nov. 5 re-election of Trump, who will become the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025.

Alam’s defense team filed part of its sentencing memorandum under seal and suggested his troubled emotional history warranted a more lenient approach.

Alam is one of the most notorious participants in Jan. 6, as evidenced on Capitol Police security footage and third-party video. His most visible role was in the hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby, where Babbitt was gunned down by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.

Alam used his right fist to punch at the doorway, mere inches from the left side of Capitol Police Officer Christopher Lanciano’s face. He also punched at the glass panel behind Officer Kyle Yetter and Sgt. Timothy Lively, video showed.

Using a helmet handed to him by fellow agitator Christopher Grider, Alam smashed several glass panes in the doorway. After the final glass pane fell into the Speaker’s Lobby, Air Force veteran Babbitt punched him in the nose.

Rioter Zachary Alam shouts into the crowd shortly before using a helmet to smash several windows in the entrance to the House Speaker’s Lobby at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Photo by Sam Montoya

Babbitt then climbed into the broken-out right window and was shot by Byrd. She died 31 minutes later at a Washington hospital.

The U.S. Department of Justice recommended 136 months in prison, while Alam’s attorney sought a term in the range of the time he served in pretrial detention since late January 2021.

Coverage of the sentencing hearing revealed an ongoing media bias against Babbitt, 35, of San Diego. The AP suggested those on the right portray Babbitt as a “martyr,” echoing controversial language used in an FBI memo on domestic violent extremism.

Babbitt, who served 14 years as a military policewoman in the U.S. Air Force, shouted at three Capitol Police officers to call for backup as soon as violence broke out in the hallway, video showed.

She confronted Alam once and was brushed aside as he continued his attack on the doors, video showed. Then, after Alam smashed out a large panel of glass directly in front of him, Babbitt grabbed Alam and threw a left hook that stunned him and knocked off his glasses, video showed.

While the AP noted that Michael Byrd was “cleared of any wrongdoing” in the shooting by the DOJ, Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department, it failed to note the ongoing $30 million wrongful death lawsuit brought against the federal government by Judicial Watch Inc. on behalf of Ashli’s widower, Aaron Babbitt.

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​Zachary alam, January 6, Ashli babbitt, Michael byrd, Politics