Dricus du Plessis says he is “convinced” Kamaru Usman will accept their UFC fight, even if blame for delays is complicated

Dricus du Plessis says he believes he was the persuader in getting Kamaru Usman to accept their UFC matchup, even as he framed the long wait as a two-sided problem. Speaking in a report from Yahoo Sports, du Plessis described himself as “convinced” that Usman would finally agree, while also saying he cannot fully place responsibility on Usman for why the fight has taken so long to materialize.

Du Plessis’s remarks center on what has become a familiar frustration in fight-game matchmaking, a bout that fans have circled for a long stretch without it becoming official. Rather than treating the delay as a simple standoff, he positioned it as something that played out through Usman’s decision-making process, implying that the timeline was shaped by more than just his own readiness to fight.

The South African’s comments, as summarized by Yahoo, include a key distinction. Du Plessis suggests that while he understands the reasons behind the delay and does not want to cast Usman as the villain, he also believes he had to work to get the fight to happen. That combination matters because it reframes the narrative from “who refused” to “who eventually moved,” a nuance that can influence how fighters and fans interpret the bargaining that occurs behind the scenes.

UFC title and contender fights often hinge on timing, health, and what a division needs next, not just a willingness to step into the cage. When a matchup stretches out, the public story can turn into blame, with both sides implied to be blocking momentum. Du Plessis’s message, at least as reported, is that the delay was not purely an act of resistance, even if he is confident the eventual agreement is the result of his own persuasion.

For Usman, the larger question is how his position in the welterweight or the broader title picture affected his receptiveness to the fight. Du Plessis’s comments, as reported, stop short of spelling out operational details, but they do underline that Usman’s eventual acceptance was the pivot point that moved the matchup from speculation toward reality.

What to watch next is whether the conversation shifts from persuasion and delay to the concrete build-up that usually follows when both camps can lock in the terms. In the UFC’s ecosystem, once a fight becomes fully accepted, the emphasis typically turns to fight week preparation, stylistic matchups, and the kind of momentum that can determine how aggressively a division’s contenders are evaluated.