Sean Strickland moves past Sean O’Malley in pound-for-pound rankings following UFC 296 brawl with Dricus du Plessis

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has somehow gone up in the UFC’s male pound-for-pound rankings after his brawl with Dricus du Plessis.

Last weekend at UFC 296, all hell broke loose. Following their lively press conference exchange, Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis squared off, and then attended UFC 296 on Saturday night. Then, after the promotion decided to seat them near each other, they wound up brawling in the crowd.

Despite the scene they caused, the UFC decided to air the footage at the end of the night. As you can imagine, it caused quite the stir, and it led to a lot of activity on social media.

RELATED: Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis issue statements following physical altercation at UFC 296

Now, it seems as if Strickland has actually been rewarded for his actions, vaulting above Sean O’Malley in the pound-for-pound rankings.

The full incident between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at #UFC296 tonight.

Bring on #UFC297 in January! pic.twitter.com/HQt0Uj1jiv

— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023

https://twitter.com/JohnMorgan_MMA/status/1736974388115673394

Strickland moves up in P4P rankings

1. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Leon Edwards
5. Alex Pereira
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Sean Strickland (+1)
8. Sean O’Malley (-1)
9. Israel Adesanya
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Aljamain Sterling
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Max Holloway
14. Kamaru Usman
15. Jiri Prochazka

The legend of Sean Strickland has been growing pretty rapidly in 2023. He shocked the world to win the UFC middleweight championship and since then, he’s been his usual outspoken self on social media. At UFC 297, he’ll defend his belt against Dricus du Plessis in a highly anticipated showdown to kickstart the UFC’s PPV schedule in 2024.

Many think Sean has a solid path to victory in this contest. Either way, if this altercation is anything to go by, we’re going to see some fireworks in Toronto.

What do you think of this move up the rankings for Sean Strickland? Did you enjoy the scrap in the crowd at UFC 296? Who is your favorite to win this fight next month? Let us know, BJPENN Nation!