At UFC 305, Dricus Du Plessis not only defended his crown against Israel Adesanya, but also laid their rivalry to rest. The build-up to the event had seen a lot of heat between the pair. Du Plessis’s remarks about what it means to be an ‘African champion’ had caused the friction between the two and things got even more tense before the cage doors closed behind them on fight night.

The two rivals threw all they had at one another but ultimately, Du Plessis locked in a submission in the fourth round and walked away the winner in the first defense of the middleweight title. Now, to go along with his massive win and handing Adesanya his first-ever career submission loss, Dricus Du Plessis has also received a significant bump in the pound for pound rankings!

Dricus Du Plessis leaves other champions in the dust with his latest surge up the P4P list

In a P4P ranking update shared on X by John Morgan, it was announced that, “DDP” moves up five positions to No. 6 spot on P4P list. Israel Adesanya falls to No. 15.” The ‘P4P’ rankings are designed to highlight the best fighters in the world regardless of their weight-class. Currently holding the no.1 spot is lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev.

Close behind him at no. 2 is Alex Pereira, the former middleweight champion who currently reigns over the light-heavyweight division. Du Plessis has overtaken current bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and BMF title holder, Max Holloway with his massive win at UFC 305.

‘Poatan’ had sent the MMA sphere into a frenzy when he announced on his Instagram account following UFC 305 that, “Coming down to 185 one more time.” With Du Plessis’s star on the rise and ‘Poatan’ possibly eyeing another showdown, the middleweight division’s future looks more exciting than ever. Meanwhile Israel Adesanya finds himself dropping down to the bottom of the P4P rankings casting a shadow over what the coming days hold for ‘The Last Stylebender’.

Before UFC 305 took place, Dana White had indicated that if ‘Stillknocks’ would be successful in his title defense, the promotion would look to head to South Africa for his next bout. However, Sean Strickland, who has been vocal about his controversial loss to Du Plessis at UFC 297 and his next shot at the title, recently fired off against the champion and his home country on social media!

Sean Strickland demands a rematch against ‘Stillknocks’ in “the land of the free” 

During an appearance on ‘The Jim Rome Show’, UFC CEO Dana White had confirmed that whoever walks away victorious from UFC 305 would take on Sean Strickland next. The UFC boss stated that, “He’s (Strickland) ranked No. 1 in the world. He deserves the fight if that happens.”

‘Tarzan’ is coming off a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 in June. Now, with Du Plessis having come out on top against Adesanya, Strickland is raring for a shot at redemption but he has an interesting proposition for his opponent. Taking to X to make his thoughts known, Strickland stated, “We will be fighting in the land of the free… You’re not ducking me Dutch man……… I know you’re going to try…. it’s not happening…..”

In his trademark unfiltered manner, Strickland went on to fire more shots as he stated, “Vegas man.. I always travel. Let me fight in my country.. unless you want me to go fix south Africa.” It remains to be seen where these two middleweight elite will clash next, but the stage is set for an explosive showdown. Will Sean Strickland get his demands for another shot at the title he once held? And will Dana White follow through on his promise of taking the UFC to South Africa? Let us know what you think in the comments below!