Kamaru Usman now has his next assignment, with the former welterweight champion set to face Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC Fight Night 281 main event on July 18 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Usman and Du Plessis had been in negotiations for months before the bout became official last week. Usman holds a 21-4 MMA record and 16-3 mark in the UFC, while Du Plessis enters the matchup at 23-3 overall with a 9-1 record in the promotion.
Usman said he has been pushing to compete for months. "I've just been ready to fight since like February – well, I asked for a fight since then," Usman said.
He also described the lengthy process that led to Du Plessis being booked. "And it was like, 'Ah, we don't know.' We all know which fight that I wanted. I wanted that fight, and so I think there was just a lot of back-and-forth stuff being done, and now we kind of hear all the stories of potentially they were trying to make Ilia vs. Islam and all of these things, and I wanted the Islam fight. So, all of these things behind the scenes kind of dragged on. And then DDP was mentioned, not really offered, but mentioned, and I said, yeah, if that's – I just need something that gets me to the title. I just want that."
Usman said he ultimately discovered the fight was finalized when the UFC made its announcement. "And then finally, I guess it was announced. I'm like, 'Well, sh*t, I guess it's happening, let me go ahead and prepare.'"
