Kamaru Usman eyes glory against Dricus du Plessis if he reclaims the UFC welterweight title: "South Africa vs. Nigeria"

Kamaru Usman not only has eyes on regaining his place on the UFC's welterweight throne but visions of capturing the promotion's middleweight strap as well. While Dricus du Plessis has a looming title defense coming up against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 on Aug. 16, DDP is firmly in the crosshairs of the UFC Atlanta victor as talks ramp up around a Kamaru Usman middleweight run.

This was expressed by Usman following his thorough win over surging contender Joaquin Buckley on June 14 in Atlanta during an interview with TMZ Sports with an excerpt from the overall chat posted to X account @RedCorner_MMA. When expounding upon his grand plan for the next year and a half, Kamaru Usman said,

"After getting that [welterweight] belt, hey, they [UFC] have asked and they've waited for years and years for me to go up and get that middleweight strap and why not? I will relinquish that if Dricus du Plessis is still the champion - all African card. Africa vs. Africa, first card in Africa. UFC is close to getting that done."

"Hey, South Africa vs. Nigeria - I mean, it's a rivalry that's been built forever, you know, sports rivalry. So I think that's another blockbuster and I think those are two mega events that you're going to remember for generations. So if; manifestation is very, very powerful. If things start to fall in line, I think we're gonna see a pretty interesting next 18 months."

Check out Usman's vision for a du Plessis championship clash below

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Kamaru Usman could also fight another pound for pound ranked fighter on this post-UFC Atlanta journey

Kamaru Usman indicating his desire for a clash with the number five ranked pound for pound UFC fighter in Dricus du Plessis certainly shows gamesmanship. But the former kingpin of 170 pounds could potentially find himself on a colission course with the UFC's number one pound for pound ranked fighter prior to that desired DDP clash depending on how things play out.

Islam Makhachev's coach Javier Mendez believes in the possibility that the 38-year-old could end up fighting Makhachev in the future and indicated as such during an interview on Submission Radio.

With reigning welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena preparing for a title defense against former lightweight kingpin/ UFC's number one P4P combatant, as of this writing, Islam Makhachev and with Kamaru Usman indicating he wants another crack at the welterweight crown, Mendez stated [via BJPenn.com],

"[Usman's] right in line with JDM, 100 percent. I think all those guys are really trouble for everybody. Shavkat [Rakhmonov], Ian Garry, there's so many guys in that division that Islam hasn't fought either."