Former world welterweight title holder in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Kamaru Usman has admitted that his fight this Saturday/Sunday versus Dricus du Plessis of South Africa is an opportunity for him to prove wrong everyone who feels he cannot win in a higher weight category.
Sports247 reports that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ lost his only previous bout as a middleweight, hence skeptism that heralds his clash with Du Plessis in Oklahoma, USA, but Usman insists he has what it takes to be champion in a higher division.
There are, however, two major hurdles against him, one of which is the fact that he is now advance in age, at 39 years old, and he has been out of The Octagon for 13 months, but Usman is psyching himself ahead of his return from the long layoff.
As he gets set to headline the latest UFC Fight Night in a five-round middleweight bout against the former champion, who has a scorecard of 23 wins and three defeats, Usman knows he has a huge task up against a much younger opponent, who at 32 years old is bound to be faster and stronger.
However, the South African fighter is coming off a loss to Khamzat Chimaev on August 16, 2025, during his lost title defense, which gives Usman a ray of hope, as he takes up the daunting tsk of stepping up in divisions for the second time.
Nonetheless, Usman reiterated that his ambition to finish his career as a double UFC champion is even greater and should spur him to face the South African giant fearlessly, especially as he has another eye on later becoming a challenger for the middleweight belt currently held by Khazmat Chimaev, who has previously beaten both Africans.
“I don’t want to say it’s a bad thing to always feel underappreciated, but I think it’s just a little extra chip on your shoulder that you need to go out there to perform. So, yes, I would say that I still have that chip on my shoulder.
“As a welterweight, when you have to cut the weight and really diet to go through that process of getting down, you build a way to sustain that energy. I think when I went in there in that middleweight bout with Khamzat Chimaev, I was still kind of trying to operate on that type of efficiency.
“I think it’s just having that extra reserve of not having to deplete yourself so much. It was great for me and I’m interested to see how that plays a factor here when I’m going against a big, strong, heavy guy that fights hard all of the 25 minutes,” Usman submitted.
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