MMA

What's next for Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman after UFC Oklahoma City?

Published

3 months ago

July 20, 2026

What's next for Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman after UFC Oklahoma City?

The UFC was in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Saturday for a solid UFC Oklahoma City card. The main event saw former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis taking on former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a pivotal fight at middleweight.

Du Plessis was coming off a lopsided loss to Khamzat Chimaev, to lose his middleweight title. Usman, meanwhile, was moving back up to middleweight after he returned to the win column with a decision win over Joaquin Buckley at welterweight last time out.

Ultimately, it was Du Plessis who won a clear-cut decision in a rather lopsided result to return to the win column. Following UFC Oklahoma City, here is what I think should be next for the middleweight contenders.

Dricus Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis returned to the win column with a lopsided decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC Oklahoma City. Du Plessis was able to land the more damaging shots and was able to avoid stuffing Usman's takedown attempts. The South African was dominant from start to finish to prove he's still a legit title contender.

Although Du Plessis has two wins over Sean Strickland, it's likely the champ will face either Nassourdine Imavov or rematch Chimaev next. So, Du Plessis should have to take another fight, and he should headline a Fight Night card later this year against Brendan Allen, with the winner getting a title shot.

Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman struggled to deal with Dricus Du Plessis' size and power at middleweight, as a return to welterweight is likely. Usman couldn't get going as he started slowly and was never able to find his groove.

If Usman stays at middleweight, he could get a veteran like Jared Cannonier. Yet, a move back to welterweight makes sense, where the former champ should face Belal Muhammad, and the winner can get back on track, while the loser would become a permanent gatekeeper at 185lbs.

What do you think should be next for Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman after UFC Oklahoma City?

MMA

Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jacksons $7 million claim

Published

1 hour ago

October 30, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jackson's $7 million claim

Paulo
Costa has renewed his criticism of fighter pay in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A resurfaced clip shows UFC middleweight champion Sean
Strickland asking former light heavyweight champion Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson about his biggest UFC payday. Jackson said he
earned $7 million, including pay-per-view compensation, for
fighting Chuck
Liddell. Costa contrasted that figure with his estimate of what
a current UFC fighter earns.

Paulo Costa compares Rampage Jackson’s claimed $7 million
payday with estimated Raoni Barcelos earnings

Jackson attributed the payday to a contract he signed with World
Fighting Alliance, where he said his manager also had a promotional
role. According to Jackson, the deal included lucrative
pay-per-view terms that the UFC inherited when its parent company
acquired WFA assets in December 2006.

â€œ$7 million, Chuck Liddell, that was pay-per-view, though,â€ Jackson
told Strickland. â€œI left
Pride. My manager, he became like the manager of the show. So,
he knew exactly that it was his biggest deal. They didn't want to
have pay-per-view, so he gave me a crazy pay-per-view deal. Then
Dana White bought WFA and had to honor my pay-per-view deal.â€

Costa compared Jackson's account with Raoni
Barcelos' stoppage loss to Raul Rosas
Jr. last month. Barcelos, 39, lost consciousness during a
fifth-round grappling exchange. Costa speculated that Barcelos
earned between $80,000 and $100,000, contrasting that estimate with
Jackson's claimed earnings from his 2007 victory over Liddell.

â€œUFC paid Rampage 7 million to fight Chuck what is comprehensive,â€
Costa wrote on X. â€œNot comparing fighters relevance but comparing
it with Barcelos x Rosas Jr 5 rds and had serious injuries on brain
damage, made 80k~100k ?? Raoni Barcelos is around 40s and probably
retired due to that injury.â€

UFC paid RAMPAGE 7 million to fight CHUCK
what is comprehensive. Not comparing fighters relevance but
comparing it with Barcelos x Raul RosaJr5 rds and had serious
injuries on brain damage ðŸ§ made 80k~100k ?? Raoni
Barcelos is around 40s and PROBABLY retired due that injury

â€” Paulo
Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA)
October 15, 2026

MMA

Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton

Published

13 hours ago

October 29, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship's recent visit to Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, featured action inside and outside the
Octagon.

Police intervene in Rogers Place crowd altercation during UFC
Edmonton

Every bout at
UFC Edmonton except the co-main event ended in a finish. But a
crowd altercation at Rogers Place on Oct. 17 also drew
attention.

Video circulating on social media appears to show a police officer
lifting a man and slamming him to the floor as officers intervene
in the altercation. The man appears to lose consciousness after the
impact.

Police officer slam KO'd a fan fighting in
the crowd at UFC Edmonton tonight https://t.co/hN8Mzqf7CM

â€” Happy Punch (@HappyPunch)
October 18, 2026

MMA

GFL announces new signings for December relaunch in Argentina

Published

15 hours ago

October 29, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

GFL announces new signings for December relaunch in Argentina

The Global Fight League is expected to relaunch in December and the organization has announced its opening roster of fighters for the Buenos Aires Gauchos team.

This past weekend, the GFL announced it will hold its inaugural event on Dec. 18 at Club Atletico Lanus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the Gauchos taking on fighters from the Miami Monsters. Now, the league has begun to name the fighters who will compete for the Gauchos, which you can see in the list below.

Middleweight: Dante Romero (9-8)

Welterweight: Matias Ponce (12-5, 1 NC)

Lightweight: Franco Rios (4-0)

Lightweight: Thomas Juarez (6-2)

Featherweight: Lionel Abojer (12-4)

Featherweight: Eduardo Cajal (9-5)

Bantamweight: Ryan Martinez (9-1)

Flyweight: Nicolas Rodriguez (9-3)

More fighters are expected to be announced, including the roster for the Monsters.

Former UFC title contender and longtime MMA veteran Marlon Moraes was recently added to the Miami roster, but MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz has learned from sources with knowledge of the event that Moraes will not be competing on the Dec. 18 card.

It is not yet known exactly how the team vs. team format will work, but the league has shared its scoring system for future events:

The GFL made headlines in 2025 with lofty promises in regards to athlete compensation and the signing of numerous MMA stars and veterans including , including former UFC champions Tyron Woodley, Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, Anthony Pettis, and Holly Holm, but has failed to produce an event thus far. Initially, the league was supposed to hold a pair of shows on May 24 and May 25 in 2025, only for those events to be later cancelled.