Dricus du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman: A stylistic analysis

Dricus du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman is a matchup years in the making, and it presents both men with several opportunities. For the South African, it marks his first bout since losing his middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev and serves as a way to bounce back from his first UFC loss. Meanwhile, for Usman, it is a chance to both build his own case for a crack at middleweight championship gold and avenge Israel Adesanya, who famously lost to du Plessis at UFC 305.

With all that being said, how might the fight itself unfold?

Dricus du Plessis: Fighter Profile

Despite being relatively well-rounded, Dricus du Plessis is, above all, a kickboxer, even if the mechanics of his striking are odd-looking. There's a method to his madness. He overcommits with every punch, causing him to almost stumble over his own feet. Although this often leaves him off-balance, and exposes him to counterpunches, it allows him to close the distance in explosive bursts and land power punches on opponents that expect more orthodox striking setups.

Israel Adesanya, a former UFC middleweight champion and one of the greatest-ever MMA strikers, once spoke about how awkward it is to strike with du Plessis. Because of his natural, clubbing power, the South African star often hurts his opponents, even if his strikes aren't thrown with textbook technique. Furthermore, overcommitting with his punches means there's maximum weight and power behind them. Once he's implanted the threat of his striking in his opponent's mind, du Plessis follows up by mixing in takedowns. His takedowns aren't always clean, but they vary from blast double-legs to head-and-arm throws from the clinch. What he lacks in technique, he makes up for with brute strength, which was notable in his second-round TKO win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. He secured a bizarre but effective outside trip after trapping Whittaker with a headlock.

Dricus Du Plessis vs Robert Whittaker TKO! #UFC #MMA

pic.twitter.com/Tv0CPmQRmw

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On the ground, he's not much of a submission threat, nor is he an exceptional positional grappler. What he is, though, is a vicious ground-and-pounder with hard elbows and hammer-fists. He's also an underrated kicker, often throwing low kicks and body kicks first to draw his opponent's focus lower, before uncorking a high kick to their exposed head. Defensively is where du Plessis is poor. From a striking standpoint, he has a high guard and nothing else, and since he crosses his feet often and occasionally stands with his knees angled inward, his balance is very poor, rendering him susceptible to low kicks. This also means he's relatively easy to take down, as Khamzat Chimaev demonstrated in his dominant, unanimous decision win at UFC 319.

While flawed, du Plessis remains a championship fighter, who briefly reigned as the UFC's middleweight titleholder before his latest outing. Only one man has ever beaten him in the UFC, but can Usman replicate Chimaev's performance?

Kamaru Usman: Fighter Profile

Kamaru Usman is among the greatest welterweights in history and is not an easy fight for anyone. He's a wrestler, but has developed his striking enough that he's become a knockout threat on the feet. Above all else, Usman has a powerful jab and right cross, the latter of which is his money shot. He's also deceptive with his openings for that right cross. Against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, he flicked his lead left hand out, as if to throw a jab. Once Masvidal raised his rear hand to protect his chin, Usman used that same left hand, in motion, to pull Masvidal's rear hand down by the wrist, exposing 'Gamebred's' chin. Then, as Masvidal tried to use his other hand to counter what he thought was a jab with a check left hook, Usman threw his right cross on the inside of that hook, landing first.

5 years ago!

Usman Knocked Masvidal out cold 🥶 😱 pic.twitter.com/bK9wrBAiiF

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The principle behind Usman's success is simple: straight punches usually land before looping punches because they travel through a straighter, shorter path. Masvidal never saw the punch coming, and it led to his first knockout loss in the UFC. Against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' showcased his stance-switching and assumed a southpaw stance, from which he fired stiff jabs to ultimately knock Burns down before TKO'ing him in round three. Unfortunately, the rest of his boxing arsenal falls short. His looping punches lack the power of his straighter ones, and are thrown more loosely. He does have a few low kicks and a decent front kick to the body to round out his standup game, but his striking revolves predominantly around jabs and crosses. Where Usman truly shines, though, is his wrestling.

Due to the rumored condition of his knees, his legs aren't as powerful as his upper-body. So, his takedowns aren't explosive. He does not, for example, have a blast double. Even the double-leg takedowns he scored against Joaquin Buckley in his unanimous decision win at UFC on ESPN 69 relied more on Usman simply crashing into Buckley. Like most wrestlers, he also shoots under his opponent's punches when their hips are squared. Besides his double-legs, he also has a few sneaky single-legs that come mostly when he has his opponent pinned against the fence. He either threatens the bodylock then drops down for a single-leg, or raises his foe's guard by striking before dropping down for a single-leg. Sometimes, he'll catch a body kick and convert it into a takedown as well.

On the topic of bodylocks, Usman is a specialist at securing double underhooks and completing inside trips. He'll also slam his opponent by lifting them, slamming his hip against theirs to offset their balance, then turn and dunk them on the mat. On the ground, Usman offers almost no submssion threat, and even his ground-and-pound leaves a lot to be desired. He's focused more on mat-returns and racking up control time. Defensively, from a striking standpoint, Usman has a bad habit of leaning to his side in anticipation of strikes. Wrestling-wise, he usually defends takedowns by rolling onto his stomach and posting on his arms, which exposes his back and leaves him vulnerable to rear-naked chokes.

Dricus du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman: Things to look for

Given how easily Dricus du Plessis was taken down and controlled by Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, there's a distinct possibility that Kamaru Usman does the same. After all, he is a highly skilled wrestler, and du Plessis has even conceded takedowns against Derek Brunson at UFC 285. If he throws a mistimed body kick, he might find himself on his back. However, many of Usman's takedowns rely on physicality, and it's hard to imagine him being able to outmuscle a fighter as strong as du Plessis. Perhaps if he times a takedown under one of the latter's blitzes when his footing is poor, he might get it.

For du Plessis, he'll look for those high kicks he sets up well. Usman's habit of leaning to his side is well-documented, even if Leon Edwards was the first fighter to truly make him pay for it by knocking him out in round five at UFC 278. If du Plessis lowers Usman's focus with low kicks and body kicks, then unleashes one to the head, it could be a difference maker. Both men will be well-prepared for each other, but only time will tell who gets their hand raised.