4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman

Dricus Du Plessis is back.

For a while, the South African looked like he was on track to become a long-term champion in the UFC middleweight division. Then, after title defenses against Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, he ran into Khamzat Chimaev. It was an utterly lopsided decision defeat for Du Plessis, and one that completely killed his momentum.

On Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC's return to Oklahoma City, he finally rebounded from that ugly title loss. He did so with a wide decision win over former welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, who was tough but outmatched throughout their five-round scrap.

Now that Du Plessis is back in the win column, his future is looking much brighter—especially since Strickland has taken the belt from Chimaev. He is right back in title contention, and could easily be back on the throne by this time next year if things go his way.

Du Plessis was far and away the biggest winner of the UFC's Saturday visit to Oklahoma City, but a few other fighters had some big moments too. That includes streaking Brit Christian Leroy Duncan, who continued his climb up the middleweight mountain with a decision win over former title challenger Jared Cannonier. Strawweight contender Fatima Kline also took a big step toward the title in her division, defeating top-10 contender Tabatha Ricci by decision. The other fighter getting a lot of chatter after the event is unbeaten Sean O'Malley training partner Tommy McMillen, who improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a thrilling TKO win over Alberto Montes.

Here are the fights we'd like to see next for the victorious Du Plessis, Duncan, Kline and McMillen.

Dricus Du Plessis vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

There is a chance that, after his impressive win over Kamaru Usman in Oklahoma City, Dricus Du Plessis will waltz right back into a title fight.

If Chimaev, who utterly dominated him last year, was still on the throne, the South African would have more work to do, but that's not the case. Chimaev recently lost the belt to Sean Strickland, who Du Plessis has beaten twice in the last few years.

Given his accolades as a former champ, and his victories over the current champ, Du Plessis has a strong argument for a crack at the belt. Unfortunately for him, it's probably not going to happen.

Strickland's win over Chimaev was razor close, and was also one of the biggest fights of the year by far. Assuming Chimaev is in fighting shape—which is never a certainty these days—the UFC will probably have him and Strickland run it back. They know the sequel is going to be big business.

If that's the way things go down, the only sensible opponent for Du Plessis is Nassourdine Imavov. The Frenchman is on perhaps the best streak in the division, but was passed up for a title shot in favor of Strickland, and is now probably behind Chimaev and Du Plessis in the queue due purely to circumstance.

In a just world, he would probably be next, but let's get real. It will be Strickland vs. Chimaev II and Du Plessis vs. Imavov.

Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Caio Borralho

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Christian Leroy Duncan's decision win over Jared Cannonier in Oklahoma City wasn't exactly mind-blowing, but he's now won five straight fights over quality middleweights. He's clearly a top-15 talent, and is ready for a test against a top-10 opponent.

Our pick for his next dance partner is Brazil's Caio Borralho. The Fighting Nerds representative was very close to a title shot until a loss to Nassourdine Imavov derailed his momentum. Since then, though, he's rebounded with a nice decision win over former ONE champ Reinier de Ridder.

Borralho still needs another couple of wins against elite opponents to really turn himself into a serious title contender—just like Duncan does. It makes a ton of sense to match them up next, and it should be a very competitive fight.

Fatima Kline vs. Yan Xiaonan

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Fatima Kline asserted herself as a serious strawweight contender on Saturday, throwing the seventh-ranked Tabatha Ricci around the Octagon en route to a clear-cut unanimous decision victory.

The win over Ricci will send Kline hurtling into the top half of the strawweight rankings. Given she's only been ranked for a short time, there are nothing but fresh matchups available for her from here.

This seems like a good time to see how Kline fares against a real veteran. As luck would have it, there are several of those just ahead of her in the rankings, including Amanda Lemos, Yan Xiaonan, Tatiana Suarez and Virna Jandiroba. Any of those matchups would be justifiable for her at this point, but a scrap with China's Yan seems like it could be a lot of fun.

The former title challenger was defeated by Virna Jandiroba in her last fight, but is still a very dangerous test for most strawweights, and would probably give Kline some interesting looks.

Tommy McMillen vs. Andre Fili

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Tommy McMillen is definitely a star on the rise.

On Saturday's main card, the Sean O'Malley stablemate improved to 11-0 overall, and 2-0 in the UFC, thrashing Alberto Montes to a third-round TKO victory. It was an electrifying performance, complete with a ton of mid-fight trash talk. It ensured fans will be talking about him for weeks to come, and that his next fight will have a ton of buzz.

The UFC's matchmakers have seemingly limitless options for McMillen at this point. It's tempting to suggest a matchup with another undefeated prospect in Luke Riley, but it feels like a better idea to save that one for now, and hope they cross paths when the stakes are even higher a bit down the road.

Instead, let's match McMillen up with Andre Fili.

Fili, a staple of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, is one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC featherweight division, having battled contenders, veterans, and prospects alike over the course of a very long run in the promotion.

He's riding a few losses at present, but he's almost always competitive, win, lose, or draw. He's the kind of crafty opponent who could pose a lot of challenges for a raw prospect like McMillen. Importantly, he also wouldn't back down from the kind of wild scrap the newcomer seems to favor.