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.