Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has claimed an apparent eye poke may have affected his performance in his unanimous decision defeat to former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC Fight Night 281. According to MMA Junkie, the Nigerian fighter said he believed Du Plessis’ thumb caught him in……
Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has claimed an apparent eye poke may have affected his performance in his unanimous decision defeat to former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC Fight Night 281.
According to MMA Junkie, the Nigerian fighter said he believed Du Plessis’ thumb caught him in the eye during the main event on Saturday at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
Usman, who now holds a professional record of 21-5 in MMA and 16-4 in the UFC, stressed that he was not using the incident as an excuse for the loss. However, he admitted the eye poke was an important moment in the contest that impacted his vision.
Du Plessis improved his professional record to 24-3 and 10-1 in the UFC with the unanimous decision victory, adding another notable win to his résumé against one of the promotion’s most accomplished welterweights.
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“It was a little tough to get going,” Usman told reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I took a thumb-punch in the eye early on and that kind of blurred the vision a bit, but no excuses. It is what it is.”
A timeout was called by referee Kerry Hatley in the moment, but a replay showed it was more of a punch from Du Plessis than a foul. Either way, Usman said it impacted his ability to gauge Du Plessis.
“He’s a big boy,” Usman said. “When you start seeing two of the big boys and he’s got kind of a weird rangy shots. It’s kind of delayed to get out of the way of those shots, seeing them. No excuses. It’s tough to be on this side. I’m not used to being on this side. Yeah, it kind of sucks.”
Usman, 39, has now lost four of his most recent five, while bouncing between welterweight and middleweight. Saturday’s fight was the first time he competed since a June 2025 victory over Joaquin Buckley at welterweight.
Despite the lack of winning results in recent years, Usman has largely been competitive in the outings. That has emboldened his confidence that he’s not done competing quite yet. He’s keep his options open when it comes to divisions.
“It doesn’t matter,” Usman said. “I can make both. 170 is a cut. But at the end of the day, I’m not the biggest welterweight. It is what it is. You deal with it. If there are opportunities there, I’m going to go there. If there are opportunities up here, I’m going to stay here. There are really no… it doesn’t matter. It sucks I wasn’t victorious tonight because we’re having a complete conversation, a different conversation, that I went up and had been able to go out and execute the way that I wanted. I guess this is my time of not being able to execute like I’ve done to most guys.”
