Former middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) will make his Octagon return on July 18 to take on ex-welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman in the UFC Oklahoma City headliner.
Du Plessis lost a unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) vs. Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event last August. The 32-year-old South African was completely dominated by Chimaev, who repeatedly took Du Plessis down in the early moments of each round and kept him there.
As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings had Du Plessis installed as a -340 favorite, leaving Usman as a +270 underdog.
The 39-year-old Usman (21-4 MMA, 16-3 UFC) will be fighting at 185 pounds for only the second time in his career. He took a fight against Chimaev on just 10 days of notice in the UFC 294 co-main event.
Usman also had to travel across the world to Abu Dhabi for the short-notice scrap. Chimaev took Usman’s back early in the first round, keeping control while working several submission attempts throughout the stanza.
However, Usman was able to stuff Chimaev’s takedowns in Round 2 and started landing some nice shots while the fight was standing. Although Rounds 2 and 3 were both very close, the judges gave Chimaev the majority decision victory (29-27, 29-27, 28-28).
According to MMADecisions, 21 out of 29 media members scored the contest for Chimaev with five different scores ranging from 30-26 (one), 30-27 (three), 29-26 (one), 29-27 (11) and 29-28 (five). Four media members had it as a draw, while four others scored it 29-28 for Usman.
After the loss to Chimaev in October of 2023, Usman didn’t fight again until going back down to welterweight to face Joaquin Buckley on June 14 of 2025 in the UFC Atlanta headliner. Usman’s superior grappling was the catalyst in a UD win (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) that took Fight of the Night honors and ended his three-fight losing streak.
Usman owns a 6-3 career record in nine fights against former or current UFC champions, including wins over Leon Edwards, Colby Covington (twice), Rafael dos Anjos, Sean Strickland and Tyron Woodley. His losses came against Chimaev and Edwards (twice).
Usman has other notable career victories over Demian Maia, Jorge Masvidal (twice) and Gilbert Burns. He has 11 wins by decision, nine via knockout and one by submission. Usman has lost a pair of decisions and been submitted and KO’d once apiece.
Du Plessis has 11 career wins via submission, nine by KO and three by decision. He owns notable career wins over Strickland (twice), Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson and Darren Till.
Du Plessis won the middleweight strap by defeating Strickland via split decision at UFC 297 in January of 2024. He defended his belt twice (vs. Adesanya and in a rematch vs. Strickland) before losing to Chimaev.