{"id":38946,"date":"2026-06-23T21:54:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Dricus-Du-Plessis-Kamaru-Usman-was-reluctant-to-sign-contract-for-UFC-Oklahoma-City-201625"},"modified":"2026-06-23T21:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:54:29","slug":"dricus-du-plessis-kamaru-usman-was-reluctant-to-sign-contract-for-ufc-oklahoma-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/dricus-du-plessis-kamaru-usman-was-reluctant-to-sign-contract-for-ufc-oklahoma-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Dricus Du Plessis: Kamaru Usman was reluctant to sign contract for UFC Oklahoma City"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nKamaru Usman is headed to middleweight at UFC Oklahoma City. |
\nGetty\/UFC<\/b><\/p>\n


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If Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a> is to be believed, Kamaru
\nUsman<\/a> took some convincing to accept a matchup against the
\nformer
\nUFC<\/a> middleweight champion.<\/p>\n

“He didn’t want to sign the contract. I know that for a fact. I
\nspoke to the UFC and they said, ‘We finally convinced him to sign.’
\nIf you need convincing to sign, that’s a problem, but I can’t blame
\nhim,\u201d Du Plessis told Fight
\nForecast<\/a> (transcription via MMAjunkie.com<\/a>). \u201cI also wouldn’t want to fight
\nme right now. It would be the smart move not to sign the fight, but
\nlet’s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Du Plessis and Usman will square off in the UFC
\nOklahoma City<\/a> headliner on July 18 at the Paycom Center in
\nOklahoma City, Oklahoma. It\u2019s Du Plessis\u2019 first Octagon appearance
\nsince relinquishing the middleweight strap to Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a> in a lopsided unanimous decision defeat at UFC 319 last
\nAugust. Usman, a former welterweight rule, will return to 185
\npounds for the first time since dropping a majority decision
\nagainst Chimaev at UFC 294 in October 2021.<\/p>\n

Proving Grounds<\/h2>\n

Du Plessis believes the pairing will get him closer to a title
\nshot, not only because of Usman\u2019s resume, but because \u201cThe Nigerian
\nNightmare\u201d is well known for his wrestling ability \u2014 something the
\nSouth African standout struggled with against Chimaev.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been talking about the fight for a long time,” Du Plessis
\nsaid. “He’s mentioned the fight way before we made the fight, and I
\nsaid, ‘Well, cool. I’ll take that fight.’ People say, ‘Why don’t
\nyou fight [Nassourdine\u2019 Imavov?’ I don’t mind that fight either. I
\nwant to fight somebody who gets me to my title again. Kamaru
\nUsman<\/a>, yes, he’s a bit older, but now you look at what [Justin]\nGaethje just did, so that throws that argument out the window
\nimmediately. Kamaru is arguably the best welterweight ever
\nalongside Georges St.
\nPierre<\/a> if you go off title defenses and all that. He has a win
\nover Sean
\nStrickland<\/a>, had that very close fight with Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a>, and that’s why I wanted this fight.<\/p>\n

“What’s it going to mean for me to go out there and beat another
\nstriker? I’ve done that many times. I’ve defended my belt against
\nstrikers. I’ve beaten the best, which is Strickland at middleweight
\ntwice. So, why go out there and fight another striker? People are
\ngoing to be like, ‘We know you can strike. What about the wrestling
\nand grappling?’ Because of my last fight. I want to go out there
\nand prove what I’ve done, go and figure this out, and go show the
\nproblem that the middleweights have on their hands now because now
\nI am more complete. And I was a complete fighter, but now I am
\ncomplete in all areas.\u201d<\/p>\n