Hangin' em up?
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss to former Middleweight roost-ruler Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City last weekend (Sat., July 18, 2026) inside Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
While Usman had a strong fifth round, the former Welterweight champion was not very competitive with Du Plessis for most of the fight. He was rocked several times, struggled to close distance and was unable to consistently take the South African down to implement his wrestling game.
As it turns out, there may have been a pretty significant reason for that.
Usman was apparently compromised.

#plessis

Dricus Du Plessis' coach disagrees with Kamaru Usman's complaints throughout the UFC Fight Night 281 headliner.
Du Plessis (24-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC) gave Usman all he could handle on the feet this past Saturday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Usman (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) was badly hurt on multiple occasions, but Morne Visser revealed the strategy was not to hunt for the finish.
Usman asked the referee to intervene during the fight when claiming that he was poked in the eye then later struck with a low blow.
"The game plan was 100 percent to completely stay composed, and that's what (Du Plessis) did," Visser told Submission Radio. "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.
"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."

#plessis #usman

Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
Conor McGregor versus … Machine Gun Kelly?!? MGK reignites feud, buries ‘F—k Liddell’: I’m just glad we’ve found a winnable matchup for The Mac.
UFC Oklahoma’s Dricus Du Plessis mocks ‘horrible’ Brendan Allen, slams ‘ridiculous’ Strickland-Khamzat rematch: I understand rebooking Strickland vs. Khamzat from a financial sense, but Nassourdine Imavov clearly deserves the next shot from a sporting perspective.
UFC parts ways with Michel Pereira following Shara Bullet loss in Baku: Michel Pereira hasn’t been fun to watch in a while now, but he also got hosed by the ref in his final UFC loss — that’s a rough pill to swallow.

UFC Oklahoma City has a late addition to the mix.
This Saturday, the UFC heads to Paycom Center in Oklahoma City with a middleweight main event between former champion Dricus du Plessis and former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. And on Tuesday, MMA Fighting confirmed that a late addition fight between undefeated prospects takes place on the undercard when Damien Anderson takes on Ezra Elliott in a featherweight contest. Marcel Dorff was first to report the news.
Anderson (5-0) is a 29-year-old fighter out of Texas, with all of his MMA wins coming via stoppage. Anderson spent most of his MMA career in Fury FC, but also has an extensive grappling background, even competing at a UFC Fight Pass Invitational in 2024. Most recently, Anderson submitted Hondo Gutierrez with a kneebar at CFFC 150.
Elliott (7-0) is a 26-year-old prospect hailing from Arizona, where he trains at the MMA Lab. All of Elliott’s career wins have also come by stoppage, including his most recent win over Ashtin Canigla at RUF 68 in May.
Aside from the main event, UFC Oklahoma City also features a middleweight co-main event between Jared Cannonier and Christian Leroy Duncan.

With Conor McGregor's octagon return just days away, fighters, ***** ysts and fans are getting their predictions in. Former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis is the latest to weigh in on the Irishman's rematch against Max Holloway in the UFC 329 main event.
"How exciting. Whether you are a fan of Conor, a fan of Max, if you dislike Conor, dislike Max, just having the Mac back is amazing. I think the whole world is talking about it," Du Plessis told Fight Forecast.
"It's been so long coming and I think there was a stage where even I thought I don't think it's ever going to happen again. He always said he would and, you know, he had to go through something in his life and, you know, fix his lifestyle and he seems to have done that."
"Stillknocks" is admittedly a fan of both McGregor and Holloway but he predicted the Irishman will get his hand raised inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
"I'm going with the Mac. I'm never going against him. I'm never going against Conor," Du Plessis said. "Max Holloway, massive fan. Love him. He's a great fighter and he's deserving of everything he's gotten and al the praise. But I can't go against Conor."

Dricus Du Plessis can't wait to see Conor McGregor back at UFC 329.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) returns to rematch Max Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) in Saturday's welterweight main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). Du Plessis, the former UFC middleweight champion, admits he is a big fan of McGregor but became skeptical at one point that he'd never fight again.
"Conor started coming up when I was just starting out my pro career; his UFC run started," Du Plessis said on Fight Forecast. "So, he was a guy that I genuinely looked up to as I progressed in the sport. Max Holloway, he's also definitely a Hall of Famer, never has a boring fight, absolutely incredible. He had a tough run with Charles Oliveira in his last fight, but him and Conor is not going to look like that.
"And interesting to see him at 170. Max, he can do that. He's tall enough, but very interesting to see how Conor comes back. But there's one thing about Conor: It's always like there is no pressure for him. He shows up, and he does what he does. Physically, he looks good, but you're going up against Max Holloway. That is a very tall order. ... Imagine this: Imagine Conor beating Max Holloway and getting that ***** le shot."
More: What happened in first Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway fight years ago?

Dricus DuPlessis has accused former Ultimate Fighting Championship ****** leholder KamaruUsman of delaying their bout.

While Usman and du Plessis are now confirmed to be squaring off atUFC Oklahoma City on July 18, the latter claims "The NigerianNightmare" wasn't keen on the matchup. Ahead of the two formerchampions' clash, du Plessis has revealed that the UFC had toconvince Usman to sign the contract.
The UFC Oklahoma City main event announcement was left until the11th hour, despite du Plessis claiming weeks earlier that he'd beenoffered a fight and was waiting for his opponent to sign thecontract. With the Fight Night headlining bout now confirmed,"Stillknocks" has opened up about how it came together.

"He didn't want to sign the contract. I know that for a fact," duPlessis said in an interview with Fight Forecast. "I spoke to theUFC and they said, 'We finally convinced him to sign.' If you needconvincing to sign, that's a problem, but I can't blame him. Iwould also not want to fight me right now. It would be the smartmove not to sign the fight, but let's go."

While Usman is a couple of years removed from his dominantwelterweight ****** le run, du Plessis isn't counting out theNigerian-American, especially considering how Usman's teammateJustinGaethje defeated the far younger IliaTopuria at UFC Freedom 250.

"We've been talking about the fight for a long time. He's mentionedthe fight way before we made the fight and I said, 'Well, cool.I'll take that fight.' Now people will say, 'Why don't you fight[Nassourdine] Imavov?' I don't mind that fight either," he added."I want to fight somebody that gets me to my ****** le again. KamaruUsman, yes, he's a bit older, but now you look at what [Justin]Gaethje just did, so that throws that argument out the windowimmediately."

Anna Melisano will replace Veronica Hardy against Dione Barbosa at UFC Oklahoma on July 18, both fighters confirmed on social media following a report from Marcel Dorff.
Hardy was forced off the card after suffering a cut in training, she revealed on Monday.
UFC Oklahoma will take place at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City and feature a clash of former UFC champions Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman in a five-round middleweight main event.
Melisano is 6-1 as a professional and was recently featured on The Ultimate Fighter 34. The 29-year-old was coach Michael Bisping’s strawweight first pick, but lost her first bout via first-round submission to Melissa Amaya.
Barbosa (9-4) won three of five under the UFC banner and hopes to keep the momentum going after a decision win over Melissa Gatto in April. “The Witch” has bounced between wins and losses since joining the UFC.

Playing his first world-ranked tournament in nearly six years, Brad Dalke opened the DP World Tour’s BMW International Open with a 3-under 69 on Thursday in Munich.
Dalke, the 28-year-old former prodigy turned YouTuber, is five shots off the lead, which is shared by Jayden Schaper and Hennie du Plessis, though Dalke sits comfortably inside the cut line thanks to four birdies in his first 12 holes and some clutch par saves late.
Dalke’s opening round at Golfclub München Eichenried nearly included a hole-in-one on the par-3 second hole, where Dalke’s tee shot from 230 yards just missed the right side of the cup before settling a few feet past. He added a couple birdie tap-ins at the par-4 ninth and par-5 11th holes before draining a 34-footer for birdie at the par-3 12th.
After a bogey at the par-4 14th, Dalke got a 30-foot par save to fall at the par-4 15th. He then got up and down for par from right of the right greenside bunker at the par-3 17th, rolling in a 15-footer in the process. He rinsed his final tee shot at the par-5 18th before hitting his third shot to 70 yards and leaving himself just 3 feet for par, which he converted.
Dalke's 69 bested the likes of Sergio Garcia (71), Casey Jarvis (71), Patrick Reed (72) and Eugenio Chacarra (72), among others.

The wait is almost over.
UFC is coming to Oklahoma City for the first time in almost 10 years for a packed fight night on July 18. The Paycom Center will host seven fights, including the main card middleweight bout between second-ranked Dricus Du Plessis, from South Africa, and ninth-ranked Kamaru Usman, from Nigeria.
But the event will start earlier in the afternoon, with eight men's and two women's bouts also partaking in the fight card.
Here's everything you need to know about the Oklahoma City UFC Fight Night.

Dricus Du Plessis puts the blame on Kamaru Usman for their fight taking so long to materialize.
Former middleweight champion Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) meets ex-welterweight champ Usman (21-4 MMA, 16-3 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 281 main event on July 18 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City (Paramount+). Rumors about the fight emerged months ago, but the matchup only became official during Saturday's UFC Fight Night 279 broadcast.
"He didn't want to sign the contract. I know that for a fact," Du Plessis said of Usman on Fight Forecast. "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. 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 will look to rebound from his lopsided ***** le-fight loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. However, with Chimaev losing his belt to Sean Strickland, someone Du Plessis has beaten twice, the South African has new life in the ***** le picture.
He explains why Usman is the perfect opponent to get him there.

Dricus Du Plessis believes Kamaru Usman has made a huge mistake signing on the dotted line to fight him.
Their bout, which has been rumored for months but is finally official, will go down as the main event for UFC Fight Night Oklahoma City on July 18th. That’s not too long for us fans to wait, but “Stillknocks” hasn’t fought since his embarrassing loss to Khamzat Chimaev back in August 2025. He’s ready to go and discussed the newly announced fight on the Fight Forecast YouTube channel.
“You think you’ve been waiting. I’ve been waiting!” Du Plessis exclaimed. “We’ve been talking about the fight for a long time.”
“I was supposed to fight in April, got the injury,” he said. “Man, I think that was all for a reason because the fire in me to get back in there is like never before. I’m feeling great. Camp is going great.”
According to Du Plessis, the holdup was all on Usman’s side.

Former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis returns to the octagon on July 18 in the UFC Fight Night 281 main event against former welterweight ****** leholder Kamaru Usman. It will be Du Plessis' first fight since losing the ****** le to Khamzat Chimaev last August.
Usman called for the fight months ago but it wasn't signed until now. Du Plessis, the No. 2 ranked contender in the division, justified facing Usman next instead of third-ranked Nassourdine Imavov.
"We've been talking about the fight a long time. He mentioned the fight way before we made the fight and I said, 'Well, cool. I'll take that fight.' Now people say, 'Why don't you fight Imavov?' I don't mind that fight either. I want to fight somebody that gets me to my ****** le again," Du Plessis. told Fight Forecast.
"Kamaru Usman, yes, he's a bit older, but now you look at what [Justin] Gaethje just did. I mean, so that throws that argument out the window immediately. Kamaru Usman is arguably the best welterweight ever, you know, alongside Georges St-Pierre if you go on ****** le defenses and all that. So, he started his career out at middleweight. He has a win over Sean Strickland. He had that very close fight with Khamzat Chimaev. And that's why I wanted this fight."
Du Plelssis wanted the stylistic matchup Usman brings to the table to show his grappling improvements. He didn't think Imavov would give him that opportunity.

The opening betting odds in a pivotal battle of former UFC champions favors one side in a big way.
During Saturday's UFC Vegas 119 broadcast, it was officially announced that former middleweight ****** le holder Dricus du Plessis is set to return in his first fight since losing the belt to Khamzat Chimaev, and faces past welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City. The card takes place July 18 at the Paycom Center, and streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S.
According to BetOnline, du Plessis opens as a heavy favorite at -350, with the comeback on Usman at +285.
Based on those odds, it would require a $350 wager to get back $100 on du Plessis while a $100 bet on Usman returns $285 if he's successful as the underdog.
Du Plessis had a solid run as champion, successfully defending the ****** le against Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya. "Stillknocks" was dominated in a lopsided decision against Chimaev at August's UFC 319 event where he lost the belt.

Looks like Kamaru Usman signed the contract after all.
A middleweight main event between Usman and fellow former UFC champion, Dricus du Plessis, has been booked to headline UFC’s upcoming Fight Night card on July 18 from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 185-pound headliner was announced during Saturday’s broadcast of UFC Vegas 119 (results HERE).
It’s unknown at this time if DDP vs Usman will be a No. 1 contender’s bout in the UFC’s middleweight division, but it would make a ton of sense.
Du Plessis, 32, is coming off a brutal ****** le loss to Khamzat Chimaev all the way back at UFC 319. “Stillknocks” has been waiting to make his awaited Octagon return, but it will almost be a full year since he last fought when he meets Usman next month. Still, DDP can punch his ticket to a trilogy fight with current UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland with a standout performance at UFC Oklahoma City.
Usman, on the other hand, hasn’t fought since June 2025 when he beat down Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta. The 39-year-old former UFC welterweight champion is certainly in the final stretch of his Hall of Fame career, but Usman still has some gas left in the tank. “Nigerian Nightmare” will have to get past DDP first if he wants to push for one final ****** le shot. Usman did beat Strickland in a welterweight matchup all the way back in 2017 so the history is there.

Kamaru Usman is returning to the middleweight division and getting a chance to jump right into ******* le contention against a former champion.
Former welterweight ******* leholder Usman will face Dricus Du Plessis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 281 on July 18 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK. The entire card streams on Paramount+.
The promotion announced the five-round headliner between Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Usman (21-4 MMA, 16-3 UFC) on during Saturday's UFC Fight Night 279 broadcast.
Du Plessis, 32, returns to action for the first time since losing the 185-pound ******* le to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in August. It was the South African's first defeat inside the octagon, but with two victories over Sean Strickland, he remains one of the top contenders in the weight class and can put himself back in the discussion with a big victory.
Usman, 38, hasn't competed since June when he earned a unanimous decision victory over Joaquin Buckley. That result snapped a three-fight losing skid for "The Nigerian Nightmare," two of which came to Leon Edwards in 170-pound ******* le fights as well as a short-notice defeat to Chimaev at middleweight.

After Kendrick Law suffered an ACL tear in OTA, the Detroit Lions quickly replaced him with undrafted free agent signing wide receiver Kyre Duplessis as a potential replacement for the speedy Law. Unfortunately for the 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver, the Lions waived the former Delaware product on Wednesday afternoon in their latest set of roster moves.
Duplessis caught 60 passes for 824 yards and five touchdowns last season with the Blue Hens, in addition to 23 receptions for 348 yards and a touchdown in his three seasons at Coastal Carolina prior to his stop in Delaware.
While it is unknown why Duplessis did not fit with the Lions or whether the move is a corresponding decision to other roster moves, the move now opens one roster spot for Detroit, as they currently have 90 rostered players.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Scout on X: SpringgateNews
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions waive UDFA wide receiver Kyre Duplessis

LAS VEGAS – Brendan Allen wants his shot at the UFC middleweight ***** le, or at the very least a fight that gets him just hat.
Allen (27-7 MMA, 15-4 UFC), a veteran contender at 185 pounds, maintained his top five position in the division with a solid win over Edmen Shahbazyan (16-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 278 (Paramount+) – which took place Saturday at the Meta APEX. The victory put Allen on a three-fight winning streak, and now he wants to cash those wins for an chance at UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
"I don't think I deserve anything. I earned (it). I try to earn everything I get," Allen said at the UFC Fight Night 278 post-fight press conference. "I mean, f*ck, I hope Sean goes out here and he's the champion, so hopefully he picks me. Let's run this sh*t back. It's been six years since we fought. I think I was beating him going into it. If you watch our fight at different angles, you could tell he didn't hit me with the striking. It wasn't there. So I think I get him out of there now.
"I think Edmen is a better version of him. He's younger. He's more technical. He's faster. So I think Edmen is a better version of him, and I think I get Sean out of there, 'And new.' But you never know. If not, let me and Nassourdine (Imavov) fight. If Nassourdine wants to sit down and wait, that's fine. Let me fight the winner of (Kamaru) Usman and Dricus (Du Plessis) in October, maybe early November at the worst."
Allen has history with Strickland. The two fought back in 2020. Strickland put a halt to a seven-fight winning streak for Allen, while also handing him his first UFC loss.

The Detroit Lions have added another receiver to their offseason roster.
On Wednesday, the team announced that it has signed wide receiver Kyre Duplessis, adding another young playmaker to compete for a spot during training camp.
The move comes shortly after the Lions learned that rookie fifth-round pick Kendrick Law will miss the 2026 season after suffering a torn ACL.
Duplessis enters the NFL after a productive career with the Delaware Blue Hens.
During the 2025 season, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver hauled in 60 receptions for 824 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 13.7 yards per catch.