Kamaru Usman welcomes Dricus du Plessis into the “Four African horsemen” after UFC 305 victory

Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, a prominent member of the self-described ‘Three African Kings’, is willing to make room for Dricus du Plessis.

Du Plessis tapped out Israel Adesanya in the UFC 305 main event last Saturday in Perth, Australia. In his first middleweight title defense, du Plessis withstood a striking barrage from Adesanya to retain the belt in a gutsy fashion.

Du Plessis is the fourth UFC champion to come from Africa, despite his previous statements that he considered himself the UFC’s first African-born champion. He’s previously dismissed Usman, Francis Ngannou, and Adesanya’s claim to African fame due to their departure from the continent for other destinations.

Usman has been critical of some of du Plessis’s past comments and remains somewhat irked after UFC 305. Despite this, the former welterweight titleholder lauded praise onto du Plessis and welcomed him into their exclusive circle.

Kamaru Usman praises Dricus du Plessis after UFC 305

In a recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Henry Cejudo,

“I understand it was a whole marketing thing for Dricus Du Plessis, which he might not have necessarily meant in the way that Israel might have taken it,” Usman said. “But you have to be careful because it’s dangerous—it’s very, very dangerous. You have to be careful with what you say because now we’re in a position to influence the masses in the world. So, with power—I say it all the time—with great power comes great responsibility. When you have that platform and you have that mic in your hand, you have to be careful with what you say…

“So to say, ‘Oh, I’m the real African,’ that’s completely crazy. And for you [Cejudo] to say that perpetually, ‘Oh, he’s the real African king,’ I know you’re just joking, but it’s not—this is how division continues to be perpetuated,” Usman continued. “Dricus Du Plessis is the fourth African champion right now, so there are four horsemen. We’ve moved on from the three kings to where now it’s four horsemen. So to continue to perpetuate this whole ‘Oh, African king’ or this or that, that’s ridiculous.” (h/t MMANews)

Next for du Plessis is a likely rematch against Sean Strickland, who he defeated for the belt earlier this year at UFC 297. As for Usman, he’s targeting a return to the welterweight division at a later date after a middleweight loss to Khamzat Chimaev.