If you've been pining to see just how much Dricus du Plessis' wrestling skills have improved since his one-sided UFC middleweight title loss to Khamzat Chimaev last August, the good news is that the former champion is excited to show it off entering Saturday's return.
Du Plessis (23-3), who was taken down 12 times at UFC 319 by Chimaev and controlled on his back for 22 of 25 minutes, will snap an 11-month layoff when he headlines a UFC Fight Night card at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City against former welterweight champion -- and former NCAA Division II national wrestling champion -- Kamaru Usman (21-4).
"If you think the fans are excited, you have no idea how excited I am to get back in there," du Plessis told CBS Sports on Tuesday. "After my last outing, fighting a credentialed wrestler like Usman, that's something that I need to improve. I fell short in the last fight. It was a style issue. It was a gameplan problem.
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"Now, I'm ready to go showcase that everything that went wrong is fixed. You have to be able to hang wherever the fight goes. You have to be ready for absolutely anything, even if your opponent is just willing to lie on top of you and hold you down for 25 minutes. It's your responsibility to not get him to do that. I'm excited to go and prove that I'm the best fighter in the world."
Du Plessis, a 32-year-old native of South Africa who made two defenses of the middleweight title he won from current champion Sean Strickland by split decision in 2024, absorbed 529 ground strikes against Chimaev but never quit on himself. And the fighter known as "Stillknocks" was quick to point out that of his 20 career stoppage wins, 11 have come by submission.
Recent changes atop the division have made this weekend's return an important one for the division, however.
Strickland, who lost twice to DDP in title bouts over the past two years, upset Chimaev in May at UFC 328 by split decision to begin a second title reign. And the fact that Usman owns a 2017 victory over Strickland at welterweight means that the winner of du Plessis-Usman could find themselves at the front of the line -- alongside top contender Nassourdine Imavov and a rematch hungry Chimaev -- for Strickland's next title defense.
"I don't think it's about the fight, it's about the performance," du Plessis said. "Between myself and Usman, both of us are putting our hands up for that title shot and deservingly so. It's all going to come down to the winner and the fashion that you do this. If you want to put your hand up to be the best in the world, you can't just go out there and win a fight. You have to go out there and put on a performance that puts the world on notice."
Du Plessis believes his track record of having defeated Strickland (twice) and former champion Israel Adesanya proved that he can hang with any striker in the world. But it's because of Usman's well-rounded game and former status as the sport's pound-for-pound king that motivates him to make a statement.
The one thing DDP won't concede, however, is that just because Usman fared better against Chimaev in their 2023 middleweight bout (which Chimaev won via majority decision) doesn't mean Usman will hold any advantages against him.
"When [Usman] fought Chimaev, that was two welterweights that fought on short notice at middleweight," du Plessis said. "I'm a big middleweight. Kamaru Usman is used to being the bully in a fight. He is physically stronger than his opponents. You can always see this. He's just physically more dangerous. He can strike with you because, if things go south for him, he can get you into the fence and into the clinch and hold you there because he's physically so strong.
"But now, he's dealing with someone like me who, from a strength scale, there isn't even going to be a comparison. I know he's a physically strong guy but it's just different. I'm a much bigger guy and in the striking department, there is no doubt in my mind that I'm better than Usman. And he's probably underestimating my wrestling and grappling abilities. That will ultimately be his downfall."
