UFC 296: Gilbert Burns’ wife reveals alleged trigger point for explosive crowd-side brawl between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis

Sean Strickland stole the spotlight at UFC 296 from the crowd by leaping at Dricus du Plessis. However, Gilbert Burns' wife has now come out and said that the middleweight champion was not fully to blame for the brawl.

Bruna Burns tweeted the day after the UFC's final event of 2023 to claim that Du Plessis taunted and beckoned for Strickland to approach him just before the chaotic scene broke out. Strickland then politely asked the Burns family to clear his path before leaping at Du Plessis.

Burns tweeted that she does not typically approve of Sean Strickland's comments but that she put the blame for the UFC 296 fight on Dricus du Plessis.

Bruna Burns is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and avid practitioner like her husband, Gilbert Burns. The couple met during a training session and remain passionate about the sport to this day. While also an active competitor, Bruna Burns is a youth jiu-jitsu coach.

Gilbert and Bruna Burns have three kids together who all also train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

In the UFC 296 post-fight press conference, Dana White announced that Gilbert Burns has had his next fight booked; he will face Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 in Miami, Florida.

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After Gilbert Burns' wife was asked to move, what happened between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis?

Though not competing at the T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 16, Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis were still the top story of UFC 296.

After a heated press conference on Dec. 15, Strickland and Du Plessis engaged in an intense faceoff. Both middleweights would also attend the final event of 2023 and sit cage-side with just two rows between them; Gilbert Burns' wife being between them.

As first announced on the ESPN+ pay-per-view broadcast, Strickland leaped over the rows and boundaries to attack Du Plessis with a flurry of short punches before security intervened. Strickland would leave the event shortly after, though White mentioned in the post-fight press conference that he was not kicked out of the venue.

The middleweight champion is scheduled to headline UFC 297, the next pay-per-view event, with his first title defense against the surging South African contender.