Dricus du Plessis breaks into UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings following title win over Sean Strickland

Dricus du Plessis captured the UFC middleweight championship after edging out Sean Strickland in a back-and-forth fight at UFC 297.

Over five rounds, Strickland and du Plessis traded blows and pushed each other to their limits. Ultimately, the South African took home the split-decision victory on the scorecards.

In doing so, du Plessis became the first ever South African UFC champion and catapulted himself up the pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings. The newly crowned middleweight champion is now ranked No.8 on the list, while his opponent Sean Strickland fell three spots to No.11. Former champion Israel Adesanya also went down one spot to the No.10 position.

The fact that Strickland is higher than Adesanya in the middleweight rankings but lower on the P4P list has been pointed out as odd by many.

With Dricus du Plessing calling out Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland calling for a rematch with the new champion, these rankings may change sooner, rather than later.

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Sean Strickland believes he beat Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, makes headbutt allegation

Following his win at UFC 297, Dricus du Plessis took to the mic to call out former champion Israel Adesanya. Sean Strickland, however, believes that he and 'Stillknocks' still have business to settle.

Strickland took to X/Twitter and insisted that he won the fight, and that a headbutt from du Plessis is what turned the bout in the South African's favor.

He shared a clip of the incident in question and wrote:

"We all know I won... The only reason why it wasn't one sided for 5 rounds is the headbutt took my eye..... Wasn't touched till the blood took my vision.."

Given Strickland's allegations and the razor-thin decision that separated the two men at UFC 297, the case for a rematch has received plenty of support.

If Adesanya remains on hiatus from the UFC, perhaps a rematch between the two will come to fruition.

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