Kamaru Usman channels 'Braveheart' for Dricus Du Plessis at UFC Fight Night 281 weigh-ins

Kamaru Usman was blunt as he spoke on stage during Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

>One of the greatest welterweights in UFC history, the 39-year-old had his face painted in green and white — the colors of Nigeria’s flag — with a look similar to Mel Gibson’s character in “Braveheart.”

>And just like in that movie, Usman is ready for a war.

>He’s been in 25 of them throughout his MMA career, and the next one will be at middleweight against Dricus Du Plessis for UFC Fight Night 281 on Saturday night at Paycom Center.

>Some view Usman as being over the hill, while other think he can still be one of the best fighters in the world.

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>Usman falls into the latter camp, and he let everyone know during the weigh-in.

>“I’m excited,” Usman said. “Once again, blessed to be here, to have the opportunity to compete. I am who I say I am, and that’s one of the best who’s ever done this. And tomorrow, he’s going to find out.”

>This will be Usman’s second middleweight fight.

>He lost his first as Khamzat Chimaev defeated him by majority decision on Oct. 21, 2023.

>Usman (21-4), who was born in Nigeria before immigrating to the Dallas area when he was a child, bounced back from the loss against Chimaev as he beat Joaquin Buckley by unanimous decision at welterweight last summer.

>But Du Plessis (23-3) poses a tough challenge.

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>

>The 32-year-old is the first-ever South African UFC champion, and he’s on a mission to get his belt back after losing to Chimaev by unanimous decision in August.

>Du Plessis weighed in at 185.5 pounds Friday and Usman was 186, which is fine since non-title fights permit a one-pound allowance.

>“I’m facing a great opponent in Kamaru Usman,” Du Plessis said. “But nothing he’s ever been able to do in his career can prepare him for what he’s facing tomorrow evening.”

>Du Plessis and Usman had a fairly intense staredown after stepping on the scales, but nothing got out of hand.

>They have great respect for one another as both are former champions.

>For Du Plessis, he’ll have a chance to beat a dominant grappler in Usman, who was a three-time All-American wrestler at Nebraska-Kearney and won a Division II national championship in 2010.

>“There’s a lot of fights I could have pushed for,” Du Plessis said on the UFC’s Youtube stream. “But like I said, I’ve beaten these strikers and people will definitely say, ‘Well, great. He’s beaten another striker, but what about the wrestling?’ And that’s what this fight is for. This fight will prove that the mistakes that I made in my last fight won’t happen again.”

>

Official weigh-in results Chase Hooper will be forced to forfeit 20% of his purse to his opponent, Mitch Ramirez, for weighing 1.5 pounds over the lightweight cap.

>Ezra Elliot was the only other fighter who weighed over his limit as he was 1.5 pounds more than his featherweight cutoff.

>Here’s a full look at the weigh-in results.

Main cardMain event (middleweight): Dricus Du Plessis (185.5) vs. Kamaru Usman (186)

>Co-main event (middleweight): Jared Cannonier (185) vs. Christian Leroy Duncan (185.5)

>Lightweight: Chase Hooper (157.5) vs. Mitch Ramirez (155.5)

>Women’s strawweight: Tabatha Ricci (116) vs. Fatima Kline (115.5)

>Featherweight: Tommy McMillen (146) vs. Alberto Montes (146)

Prelims Featherweight: Austin Bashi (145) vs. Jose Miguel Delgado (146)

>Welterweight: Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (171) vs. SeokHyeon Ko (169)

>Light Heavyweight: Levi Rodrigues (206) vs. Felipe Franco (205)

>Flyweight: Alden Coria (126) vs. Stewart Nicoll (126)

>Heavyweight: RJ Harris (262.5) vs. Alvin Hines (264)

>Women’s Flyweight: Anna Melisano (126) vs. Dione Barbosa (125)

>Featherweight: Ezra Elliott (147.5) vs. Damien Anderson (146)

class="exclude-from-newsgate">Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

>This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Kamaru Usman channels 'Braveheart' for Dricus Du Plessis at UFC Fight Night 281 weigh-ins