Dricus du Plessis: Kamaru Usman refused to sign UFC Oklahoma City contract

Dricus du Plessis says Kamaru Usman stalled contract negotiations for their UFC Oklahoma City main event before finally agreeing to the July 18 matchup.

The former middleweight champion told Fight Forecast that the UFC confirmed Usman hesitated to sign. "He didn't want to sign the contract, I know that for a fact," du Plessis said, per MMA Fighting. "I spoke to the UFC and they said, 'We finally convinced him to sign.' If you need convincing to sign, that's a problem, but I can't blame him, I would also not want to fight me right now."

Du Plessis targeting title return with Usman test

Du Plessis has been out since August, when he lost his belt to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in a fight where his grappling was exposed. The South African went 6-0 in the UFC before that setback, beating Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland twice, and Israel Adesanya in a run that included three title fights. Now he wants Usman to prove the wrestling gaps are fixed.

Usman holds one middleweight fight on his record, a narrow decision loss to Chimaev, and is moving up from welterweight where he defended the title five times. At 39, he represents the kind of wrestler du Plessis needs to show growth against. "What's it going to mean for me to go out there and beat another striker?" du Plessis said. "People are going to be like, 'OK, we know you can strike, what about the wrestling and grappling?' because of my last fight."

Du Plessis was scheduled to return in April but pulled out with an injury. UFC Oklahoma City marks his first appearance since losing the strap.

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — Dricus du Plessis accuses Kamaru Usman of avoiding UFC Oklahoma City fight: ‘He didn’t want to sign the contract’ | MMA Fighting