Kamaru Usman retirement calls started right after his loss at UFC Oklahoma City. The former welterweight champion dropped a unanimous decision to Dricus du Plessis this past weekend. At 39 years old and now with five career losses, fans and pundits pushed him to walk away. Usman gave his answer on social media, and it was not a farewell.
What Happened At UFC Oklahoma City
Usman lost every round on all three scorecards against du Plessis. The judges scored it 50-45, 49-46, and 49-46. He absorbed 132 significant strikes in the fight. Of those, 102 landed to his head. Both fighters still earned Fight of the Night bonuses for their effort.
Du Plessis is a former middleweight champion and one of the biggest names in the division. Usman moved up in weight to take this fight. He gave up size and reach against a bigger, younger opponent. That context matters when judging the result.
Why Retirement Calls Grew Louder
This was Usman’s fourth loss in his last five fights. He is now 39, an age where UFC careers often wind down fast. Analyst Din Thomas said on the Deep Waters show that Usman should retire. Many fans online echoed that same message after watching the fight.
Losing to a bigger man is not the same as losing to someone your own size. Still, five losses on a resume changes how people view a fighter’s future. Usman has now heard this message from multiple directions at once.
Usman’s Response Explained
Usman broke his silence with a short post on Instagram. He wrote about gratitude and thanked his team, family, and fans. He said he was going “back to the drawing board.” Nothing in his words suggested he is close to stepping away from fighting.
This response tells you something specific. Fighters who are truly done tend to hint at it, even quietly. Usman’s tone was forward-looking, not reflective. He talked about his team and about continuing to improve, not about closing a chapter.
Dana White Backs Usman
UFC president Dana White addressed the retirement question directly after the fight. He said Usman “still got it” and praised his performance against a much bigger opponent. White did not treat this as a career-ending loss. He said Usman needs to rest, heal, and figure out his next move.
White’s comments carry weight here. He has cut fighters loose before when he felt a loss signaled real decline. His reaction to this fight was the opposite. That is a strong signal that the promotion still sees value in Usman’s future fights.
The Case For Continuing
Usman’s own ranking supports his decision to keep fighting. He sits just outside the middleweight top ten. He remains a ranked top-ten welterweight, even after this loss. That gap matters more than most coverage of this story has pointed out.
Usman has said he will fight wherever the opportunity is. His most logical path is a return to welterweight. A fight with Belal Muhammad has been discussed for years and remains unsettled. That matchup would give Usman a clear, ranked opponent in the division where he still has more staying power.
Final Thoughts
Usman is not retiring, and both his words and White’s comments confirm that directly. His middleweight experiment brought two tough losses against elite, bigger opposition. His path back likely runs through welterweight, where his ranking and his unfinished business with Muhammad still stand.
The Kamaru Usman retirement calls will keep coming as long as he keeps taking hard fights. For now, he has made his position clear. He is not done, and the UFC does not want him done either.
