In 2017, Kamaru Usman recorded a one-sided win over the current UFC middleweight champion.
Dricus du Plessis’s coach believes they’ll get a title shot if they bounce back into the win column on July 18 and prove a point to the UFC.
Usman spent time campaigning for a fight with Islam Makhachev before it became clear that the promotion was going in a different direction.
Considering some of the fights he already has under his belt, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ could suddenly be in the title picture at 185-pounds if he defeats ‘Stillknocks’ in Oklahoma City.
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Sean Strickland backtracked on telling his coach he couldn’t see in one-sided Kamaru Usman loss
In his fifth UFC outing, Kamaru Usman was tasked with ending the three-fight win streak of current middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
The two men met at UFC 210 in Buffalo, New York, with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ entering the bout as the favorite.
Usman proved that the odds makers had made the right call by dominating Strickland in the first round.
He controlled the American with his grappling and did significant damage around his opponent’s left eye, earning him a 10-8 round on judge Dave Tirelli’s scorecard.
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Stats from the first round of Kamaru Usman vs Sean StricklandKamaru UsmanSean StricklandSignificant strikes24 of 375 of 15Takedowns1 of 50 of 0Control time4:180:00
It was highlighted on commentary that Strickland wasn’t hiding that he was having vision issues one bit, which only worsened when Usman caught him with a big looping right hand to drop him in the second.
Following another 10-8 round, this time on Jeff Mullen’s card, Strickland clearly told his coach before the start of the third that he couldn’t see out of his left eye.
He changed his tune when the doctor approached him in order to prevent the fight from being stopped.
Strickland said he could see out of the eye and when he was questioned on why he was squinting so much, he replied, “It’s swollen, sorry.”
Another clear round for Usman resulted in unanimous scorecards of 30-27, 30-26, and 30-26.
2026-07-18 06:00:00
