Former UFC champs Dricus du Plessis and Kamaru Usman locked horns earlier tonight in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City, and the 32-year-old put on the best performance of his career to return to winning ways.
The South African had a great opening round. He stunned Usman early, stuffed every takedown, and appeared in tremendous form. “The Nigerian Nightmare,” on the other hand, had no intention of backing down. He was game to stand and bang, but du Plessis’ speed and accuracy were too much to handle for the 39-year-old tonight.
In Round 2, Du Plessis’ flow state got even better. The former middleweight champ got extremely confident and caught Usman with every kind of strike, dropping the latter while pushing the pace, and also stuffing a takedown and briefly taking Usman’s back. However, the former 170-pound champ managed to withstand the onslaught and make it to the end of the round despite being badly hurt and wobbling.
In Round 3, Usman finally managed to take down Dricus du Plessis, but the latter wasted no time getting back to his feet. The action slowed down quite a bit after 15 minutes, but “Stillknocks” still appeared to be the fresher fighter.
In Round 4, DDP once more stunned Usman with a question-mark kick and vicious elbows. Usman somehow managed to survive once more but got desperate for a takedown and failed as the South African, with a perfect level change, stuffed it.
Meanwhile, Du Plessis, with his unconventional movement and non-stop strikes, kept punishing Usman for the rest of the round. Both fighters engaged in wild exchanges in the last minute of the fourth frame, and Usman finally managed to land something significant to briefly stun Du Plessis.
In the final round, all “Stillknocks” had to do was survive to get his hand raised. Usman, on the other hand, needed a fight-ending blow.
Round 5 was another constant back-and-forth round with both fighters landing vicious blows and stunning each other. Usman finished on a high note, walking Du Plessis down with crisp jabs and combinations. It may have earned “The Nigerian Nightmare” the final round, but it was not enough to win the UFC Oklahoma City main event.
Official decision: Dricus du Plessis defeated Kamaru Usman via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Dricus du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman: Highlights
