Kamaru Usman is headed to middleweight at UFC Oklahoma City. | Getty/UFC
If Dricus Du Plessis is to be believed, Kamaru Usman took some convincing to accept a matchup against the former UFC middleweight champion.
“He didn’t want to sign the contract. I know that for a fact. I spoke to the UFC and they said, ‘We finally convinced him to sign.’ If you need convincing to sign, that’s a problem, but I can’t blame him,” Du Plessis told MMAjunkie.com). “I also wouldn’t want to fight me right now. It would be the smart move not to sign the fight, but let’s go.”
Du Plessis and Usman will square off in the UFC Oklahoma City headliner on July 18 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It’s Du Plessis’ first Octagon appearance since relinquishing the middleweight strap to Khamzat Chimaev in a lopsided unanimous decision defeat at UFC 319 last August. Usman, a former welterweight rule, will return to 185 pounds for the first time since dropping a majority decision against Chimaev at UFC 294 in October 2021.
Proving Grounds
Du Plessis believes the pairing will get him closer to a title shot, not only because of Usman’s resume, but because “The Nigerian Nightmare” is well known for his wrestling ability — something the South African standout struggled with against Chimaev.
“We’ve been talking about the fight for a long time,” Du Plessis said. “He’s mentioned the fight way before we made the fight, and I said, ‘Well, cool. I’ll take that fight.’ People say, ‘Why don’t you fight [Nassourdine’ Imavov?’ I don’t mind that fight either. I want to fight somebody who gets me to my title again. Kamaru Usman, yes, he’s a bit older, but now you look at what [Justin] Gaethje just did, so that throws that argument out the window immediately. Kamaru is arguably the best welterweight ever alongside Georges St. Pierre if you go off title defenses and all that. He has a win over Sean Strickland, had that very close fight with Khamzat Chimaev, and that’s why I wanted this fight.
“What’s it going to mean for me to go out there and beat another striker? I’ve done that many times. I’ve defended my belt against strikers. I’ve beaten the best, which is Strickland at middleweight twice. So, why go out there and fight another striker? People are going to be like, ‘We know you can strike. What about the wrestling and grappling?’ Because of my last fight. I want to go out there and prove what I’ve done, go and figure this out, and go show the problem that the middleweights have on their hands now because now I am more complete. And I was a complete fighter, but now I am complete in all areas.”
