Two reigning UFC champions exchange places as promotion releases updated pound-for-pound rankings list
The UFC's latest pound-for-pound rankings are in and they have one significant exchange of positions. It is the only change that features in the P4P rankings in the first update to the rankings since the turn of the year.
Middleweight champion Sean Strickland who was at No.7 in the rankings was pushed down a rank to No.8 by bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley.
Check out the exchange of positions below:
O'Malley and Strickland are among the most recently crowned champions at the promotion with both securing their titles last year in major upsets against established champions.
O'Malley won against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 via a second-round technical knockout. The performance earned him the Performance of the Night bonus and was also deemed as one of his most impressive wins. He is scheduled to take on Marlon Vera, the only opponent he has lost to inside the octagon, for his first title defense at UFC 299.
Strickland also put in a stellar performance to end Israel Adesanya's second championship reign at UFC 293. 'Tarzan' is set to make his first title defense against Dricus Du Plessis on Jan. 20, 2024 at UFC 297.
Dricus Du Plessis will not antagonize Sean Strickland further ahead of UFC 297
Sean Strickland has already had multiple run-ins with his next opponent Dricus Du Plessis including verbal spats.
Strickland has expressed his disappointment in the dark history of his child abuse being targeted by his rivals. In a recent interview, Du Plessis refused to delve into such promotional tactics.
"He cried on the world stage. I'm glad he got it out. I hope it's over now. There's not going to be one-ups. There's no one-ups. What's going to happen is going to happen. We'll see how it plays out, but right now my focus is on the fight. I'm not here to be funny. I'm not here to try and create something that there's not. I'm here to be a professional. I'm here to be the next champion of the world. That's why I'm here."
The South African continued that the fight was already well-anticipated and did not require any such antics.
"I'm not here to try to one-up or get even further. I'm going to do what I'm going to do and he's going to do what he's going to do, but right now, it's almost senseless to try to create more hype. The hype's been created. That took care of itself. Right now, for me, this is business. The whole fight week is business. Everything I handle, I'll handle it like business and Saturday night will be signing on the dotted line, closing the deal."
Check out his full comments below: