{"id":39332,"date":"2026-07-17T06:31:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Kamaru-Usman-calls-himself-a-moneyweight-fighter-before-UFC-return-201949"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:31:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:31:16","slug":"kamaru-usman-calls-himself-a-moneyweight-fighter-before-ufc-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/kamaru-usman-calls-himself-a-moneyweight-fighter-before-ufc-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamaru Usman calls himself a \u2018moneyweight\u2019 fighter before UFC return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Kamaru
\nUsman<\/a> isn’t limiting himself to a single division in the
\n
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former UFC welterweight champion returns to middleweight
\nagainst former champion Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a> in the
\nUFC Oklahoma City<\/a> main event on July 18. Rather than committing
\nto one division, Usman says he\u2019s interested in certain matchups
\nacross the 170 and 185-pound brackets.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kamaru Usman explains plans for welterweight and middleweight
\nfights ahead of UFC Oklahoma City<\/h2>\n

“The Nigerian Nightmare” snapped a three-fight skid with a
\nunanimous decision over170-pound contender Joaquin
\nBuckley<\/a> in his most recent outing. Instead of staying at
\nwelterweight, he opted for a high-stakes matchup against du Plessis
\nnext. Usman wants to keep his options open, rather than restricting
\nhimself to just one division.<\/p>\n

“For me, I’ve always said this. I’m a moneyweight fighter,” Usman
\nsaid in a recent interview. “So, it’s not about ’85 or ’70. I can
\nhit both. I’m not the biggest at both, and I’m not necessarily the
\nsmallest at both. I might be the smallest at ’85, but who knows?
\nBut for me, it doesn’t matter. I feel that I have the skills to be
\nable to compete at either one. So, if it makes sense, I might be
\nthere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usman also admitted that competing at middleweight has made
\npreparation easier because he no longer has to plan for and endure
\na severe weight cut. Notably, he accepted a short-notice 185-pound
\nbout with Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a> back in 2023, which he lost by majority decision. This
\nremains his lone middleweight appearance inside the octagon.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

\u201cI have the skills to be able to compete at
\neither (weightclass).\u201d<\/p>\n

Kamaru
\nUsman<\/a> (@USMAN84kg<\/a>) sees
\nnothing but opportunity at middleweight as he takes on Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How To Watch #UFCOKC<\/a>
\n\u27a1\ufe0f: https:\/\/t.co\/8hweKmO9uw<\/a><\/p>\n

Fight by Fight Preview \u27a1\ufe0f: https:\/\/t.co\/0MjpxJxvtk<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NFNuoobdKs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 UFC News (@UFCNews)
\nJuly 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/center> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kamaru Usman isn’t limiting himself to a single division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The former UFC welterweight champion returns to middleweight against former champion Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC Oklahoma City main event on July 18. Rather than committing to one division, Usman says he\u2019s interested in certain matchups across the 170 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}