Morne Visser, the coach of former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis, believes he could have finished Kamaru Usman at UFC OKC.
Du Plessis won a dominant five-round decision over Usman in what was the Fight of the Night at UFC Oklahoma City, with scorecards of 50-45, 49-46, and 49-46 in the South African’s favor.
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But despite the dominating victory, du Plessis was not able to finish Usman during the fight despite hurting the former UFC welterweight champion multiple times.
As far as du Plessis’ coach is concerned, however, a finish was there for the taking, but du Plessis showed a ton of respect towards Usman and never really pressed for the finish when he hurt him.
Dricus du Plessis’ Coach Explains Lack of Finish
Speaking to Submission Radio following UFC OKC, Visser explained why du Plessis did not finish Usman despite having him on the ropes several times during the bout.
“The game plan was 100 percent to completely stay composed, and that’s what (du Plessis) did. Obviously he listens very well to me, so I’ve never ever pushed him through the whole fight to push for the finish. I saw that Kamaru does recover very quickly after getting hit that hard and punched that hard in the face. I mean, he was out a couple of times on his feet, but I shouted very loudly to Dricus just to stay composed and pick the shots because a guy who recovers that quickly is dangerous. He’s desperate,” Visser said (via MMAjunkie.com).
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“So, I am super, super happy with our results. I think this is the best I’ve seen Dricus ever or the world has seen him ever. This was a high-pressure fight. I mean, this was our comeback fight after 10, 11 months off. So, I’m very happy. And he listened. We never pushed for anything. We never pushed once for the finish, not even once. I mean, you saw Kamaru complaining about a low blow and the thumb or the finger, all nonsense. Dricus could have finished him there, but he was just not pushing. He was just respectful.”
What’s Next for Dricus du Plessis After UFC OKC?
Following his win over Usman at UFC OKC, du Plessis has reaffirmed his spot as one of the top middleweights in the sport, but he may have to wait a while before he gets a title shot against current UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, just because of how backlogged the division is right now.
Strickland is likely going to fight Nassourdine Imavov in his next bout, though former champ Khamzat Chimaev also wants a rematch with Strickland. Not to mention Joe Pyfer is another top contender who is due for a big fight, plus you have guys like Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho also right behind them.
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Du Plessis seems unlikely to get the next title shot against Strickland, then, and will likely have to fight someone like Allen or Pyfer in his next bout before he potentially fights Strickland in a middleweight title trilogy bout.
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