Dricus du Plessis battered Kamaru Usman en route to a unanimous decision win at UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma City — 50-45, 49-46, 49-46. The former welterweight champion had no answer for the South African’s pressure, and du Plessis made it clear after the fight that he’s eyeing a return to the middleweight title picture.
#UFCOKC Official Result: Dricus Du Plessis (49-46, 50-54, 49-46 | @DricusDuPlessis) defeats Kamaru Usman via Unanimous Decision.
Complete Main Card Results ➡️ https://t.co/dl1etdm5sA
Complete Scorecards ➡️ https://t.co/gs7nJi8Hke pic.twitter.com/sPx7jL21d7
— UFC News (@UFCNews) July 19, 2026
How the fight went: a lopsided beatdown
Du Plessis dominated 4 of 5 rounds, visibly rocking Usman with combinations in the opening two rounds alone. Usman couldn’t land a single takedown and was forced into a striking battle — not his strongest discipline against this kind of opponent. The scorecards (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) reflect a near-total one-sided contest: du Plessis left Usman with, at most, one contestable round.
| Judge | Score |
|---|---|
| Judge 1 | 50-45 (du Plessis) |
| Judge 2 | 49-46 (du Plessis) |
| Judge 3 | 49-46 (du Plessis) |
The odds: sharp money leaned harder on du Plessis than the public
On DraftKings, du Plessis opened as a -205 favorite (2.49 decimal), with Usman the +170 underdog (2.70 decimal); Bet365 and BET99 had the line even more lopsided in the South African’s favor (-245/-260). The bet structure is telling: Usman, as the underdog, drew 51% of the handle by money, but du Plessis got 67% of the total number of bets. That’s a classic gap between sharp positioning and the retail bettor — professionals were more confident in a blowout than the market average priced in, and the fight itself fully validated that read.
What’s next: du Plessis eyes the title
In his post-fight interview, du Plessis said: “I said a win wouldn’t get me a title shot. But, damn, a performance like that will.” Context matters here: du Plessis lost the middleweight belt in his previous fight, but he already holds two wins over current champion Sean Strickland from before that title loss — which formally puts him among the real contenders for the next shot.
Dana White stopped short of confirming an immediate title fight, saying only “he just fought a great fight, looked good, and we’ll go back to the lab on Tuesday and start kicking it around.” For the betting market, that means the odds on the next middleweight title challenger will get repriced this week — and du Plessis is now near the top of that list.
Rest of the card
Christian Leroy Duncan passed a tough test, beating Jared Cannonier. Chase Hooper, Fatima Kline and Tommy McMillen also picked up wins on the card, held at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
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