The South African fighter held the middleweight belt from January 2024 until August 2025, when he lost to Chimaev.
Posted on July 19, 2026
Dricus Du Plessis has leaned on his South African roots in his first fight in almost a year to secure a unanimous decision victory over Nigeria's Kamaru Usman in the middleweight main event of UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma City.
Saturday's judges scored the fight 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of Du Plessis (24-3 MMA), who won his first nine UFC fights and held the middleweight belt from January 2024 until mid-August of last year.
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Du Plessis had not fought since Khamzat Chimaev, who is still champion, broke that winning streak.
“I had to get up,” the 32-year-old said. “There are so many South African children who look up to me.
“It's bigger than me. I can't lie down.”
In a fight fought without takedowns or successful submission attempts, Du Plessis didn't look rusty at all, finishing with a convincing 139-99 lead in total strikes and landing 136 significant strikes to Usman's 92.
Usman (21-5) was the UFC welterweight champion from March 2019 to November 2021. However, the 39-year-old Nigerian has lost four of his last five fights and was unable to add a second consecutive victory with his first fight in 13 months this weekend.
In the middleweight co-main event, Englishman Christian Leroy Duncan (15-2) defeated Jared Cannonier (18-10 MMA) by unanimous decision. The scorecards read 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Duncan.
