With less than two months to go until UFC Oklahoma City, the card now officially has its main event — and it will feature the returns of two former champions.
Dricus Du Plessis, the former UFC middleweight champion, finally steps back into the Octagon, taking on former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. The bout will be contested at middleweight.
While the bout had been reported, rumored, and negotiated, it was only made official on the day of the UFC Vegas 119 card. The UFC confirmed the news with a promo video during the event.
This will be DDP’s first fight since losing the UFC middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 last year. That loss snapped an 11-fight win streak DDP was on, stretching back to his days with KSW and EFC Africa.
Du Plessis defeated current middleweight champion Sean Strickland at UFC 297 to win the title, going on to successfully defend the title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 and in a rematch with Strickland at UFC 312.
This will be Usman’s second fight at 185. He made his middleweight debut at UFC 294, losing to Chimaev via majority decision on short notice.
This is Usman’s first fight since defeating Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta last year, snapping a three-fight losing skid for “The Nigerian Nightmare.”
Usman won the UFC welterweight title at UFC 235, defending the title five times with wins over Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns, and Jorge Masvidal, before losing the title to Leon Edwards and losing their trilogy bout.