Dricus du Plessis eyes title redemption in Oklahoma City main event
After a year-long absence to patch up holes in his game, 'Stillknox' returns to face a dominant former welterweight king stepping up in division.
South Africa’s former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis takes on Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman tomorrow morning (July 19) at UFC Fight Night Oklahoma City, reports The Citizen.
It has been just under a year since ‘Stillknox’ relinquished his title to Russia’s Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in August last year.
Fighters make weight for clash
Both fighters this week made the middleweight weight limit of 186 pounds, with Du Plessis tipping the scales at 185.5 pounds and the Nigerian coming in at 186 pounds.
“I’m facing a great opponent in Kamaru Usman, but nothing he has ever been able to do in his career can prepare him for what is about to happen,” said the South African at the ceremonial weigh-in this morning.
Usman is a former UFC welterweight champion who defended that title multiple times, but a string of poor results in that division has forced him to take the step to middleweight.
“Usman has done all he can do at that welterweight division, and although he was a great champion, the only thing he could do to cement his legacy was to go up a weight class in the hopes of becoming a double (division) champion,” Du Plessis told the UFC’s Megan Olivi after the weigh-in.
Du Plessis aims to fix past mistakes
Du Plessis took almost a year off from the Octagon after Chimaev exposed some massive holes in his wrestling game.
“For me, I have the opportunity to beat one of the best wrestlers the UFC has ever seen,” added Du Plessis.
“This fight is important to me. I could have pushed for a fight with a striker, but I have beaten all the strikers. This fight will prove I have fixed the mistakes from my last fight.”
SuperSport broadcasts main event from 04:00
Predicting the start time of this fight is always a bit of a lottery with four three-minute fights preceding the main event. If those fights all go the distance, the Du Plessis bout will likely start around 05:00. To ensure you do not miss any of the action, tune in to SuperSport.
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