Kamaru Usman says UFC fight with Dricus Du Plessis was “mentioned,” not offered, before becoming official

UFC Fight Night 281 is set for July 18 in Oklahoma City, with Kamaru Usman and Dricus Du Plessis meeting in the main event at the Paycom Center. The matchup became official only recently, and Usman says the path to that announcement did not feel finalized during the earlier stages of talks.

In comments reported by Yahoo Sports and echoed in a separate report from MMA Junkie, Usman said he understood the fight only became real when the UFC announced it. He explained that while he had been pressing for a specific opponent over an extended stretch, he was not told to sign on for Du Plessis in a straightforward way, at least not until the booking was made public.

Usman said he had been ready to fight since February and requested the kind of match he believed would put him on a direct path back to a title shot. According to MMA Junkie’s reporting on the comments, Usman described a period of “back-and-forth” behind the scenes involving other potential matchmaking priorities, including speculation that the promotion may have explored different pairings before Usman’s preferred option solidified.

The crux of Usman’s dispute with the timeline is whether Du Plessis was ever presented as a confirmed offer. Usman, as reported, characterized Du Plessis as having been “mentioned” rather than formally offered. He said that if the title was not going to be immediately placed within reach, he wanted a fight that still led back to the belt, and that the eventual booking came after logistics and negotiations that dragged longer than he expected.

Du Plessis is entering the matchup as a former UFC middleweight champion, a distinction that shapes the stakes of the headliner. For Usman, the significance is the middleweight title-picture question, since the former welterweight champion has been positioning himself for another shot at the promotion’s 185-pound crown while the UFC’s scheduling choices have continued to influence who gets the next title opportunities.

Usman’s framing also adds a layer of uncertainty to how quickly the promotion can turn an “I want this fight” conversation into a formally booked bout. Even when both fighters appear to be circling a date and a venue, Usman’s account suggests the final steps are often separate from the initial discussions, with official announcements functioning as the point of commitment rather than earlier, informal conversations.

What to watch next is whether the UFC leans into this as a clean, competitive matchup with clear title relevance, or whether the fighters’ differing recollections of the negotiation process become an additional storyline during Fight Week. With the bout set for Oklahoma City on July 18, the next public developments will likely center on how both men frame the lead-up and what each says the fight represents in the larger middleweight hierarchy.