Dricus Du Plessis wants title shot vs. Sean Strickland after UFC OKC win

Dricus Du Plessis wants the UFC middleweight belt back, and he hopes his next fight offers him the opportunity to reclaim it.

After losing the belt last August, Du Plessis (24-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC) had a strong bounce-back performance Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 281 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Du Plessis dominated and battered former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) over five rounds to get himself a unanimous decision win.

In the lead-up to the event, Du Plessis stated that a win alone wouldn’t get him another crack at the belt, only an impressive showing would, and he believes he checked that box.

“I said a win wouldn’t give me a title shot, but damn, a performance like that would get me a title shot,” Du Plessis said in his in-cage post-fight interview.

At the UFC OKC post-fight press conference, Du Plessis doubled down, saying he “absolutely” deserves the next title shot. He’d also be willing to rematch Khamzat Chimaev, who took the belt from him, should Nassourdine Imavob get the next shot at the champion Sean Strickland.

Du Plessis is happy where the win positions him at 185 pounds, but more importantly, what the win showed about the evolution of his game.

“I felt completely in that flow state tonight,” Du Plessis explained at the UFC OKC post-fight press conference. “I did everything that we trained. I felt great. Every round I felt like it was mine. I’m so happy that I got to showcase my takedown defense. I’m glad that I only got taken down once, and I could show them that even if you get me down, you can’t hold me down. The game plan worked perfectly. We worked on the game plan. It was perfect. I think it was the perfect plan. I don’t think I could’ve done it better. Obviously I could’ve gone out for that finish, but the big thing was to show composure and not just go crazy. Every time I caught him, I could’ve gone crazy and gone for that finish. I basically had four or five finishes tonight.”