Former champion returns to the octagon nearly a year after title loss

Dricus Du Plessis throws a punch against Brad Tavares at UFC 276 in 2022. [UFC]
Dricus Du Plessis throws a punch against Brad Tavares at UFC 276 in 2022. [UFC]

Former UFC middleweight champion and current No. 2 contender Dricus Du Plessis will face former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a highly anticipated matchup.

The bout headlines UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on July 18 (local time). The event streams live from 6 a.m. July 19 Korean Standard Time.

The fight marks Du Plessis' return to the octagon nearly a year after he lost the middleweight title to Hamzat Chimaev last August. In the interim, Sean Strickland — whom Du Plessis had dethroned and then dominated in a rematch — pulled off an upset by defeating Chimaev to reclaim the belt.

Du Plessis' run of 11 straight wins, including nine inside the UFC, ended with that single loss to Chimaev, yet questions about whether he was ever truly elite quickly followed. The unconventional stance and style once praised as his greatest asset were suddenly recast as liabilities. This comeback fight is his chance to put those doubts to rest.

Du Plessis (23-3) has vowed to remind the middleweight division what made him champion. Usman, for his part, steps up in weight looking to prove he has what it takes to claim a belt in a second division.

The co-main event features a middleweight clash between No. 11-ranked Jared Cannonier and No. 13-ranked Christian Leroy Duncan.

Cannonier, a former middleweight title challenger, earned bonus-winning victories over Gregory Rodrigues, Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson, and now aims to hold off a new wave of rising contenders. Duncan, fresh off breaking into the rankings, enters the fight determined to secure the biggest win of his career and extend his winning streak.


yjc@heraldcorp.com