Kamaru Usman questions Dricus du Plessis' African champion claims

Following another impressive win over Derek Brunson earlier this month, du Plessis explained how he and undefeated teammate Cameron Saaiman are representing the continent.

"I'm going to take a belt to Africa... I'm the African fighter in the UFC," the middleweight contender told the press after UFC 285.

"Myself and Cameron, we breathe the African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa. We are African born, we African raised, we still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa."

The South African also fired shots at Usman, Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou for their lack of presence in Africa. 

Taking umbrage, Usman had a harsh retort for du Plessis...

"I think the one thing he's failing to realize is – just because I go to China, and my parents are in China and I'm raised in China, that doesn't make me more Chinese than people from China," quipped Usman, who left Nigeria when he was eight to settle in the US, along with his family.

"That doesn't make me more Chinese, and so just because you went over to South Africa and you were raised there, that doesn't make you African. 

"I think it was just heat of the moment, he got up there, he's excited. He just got a big win and he was just running off, but at the end of the day, the more wiser side of me is like, 'OK, I understand what he was trying to say.' But bro, that doesn't make you more African."

Usman was speaking to the media ahead of his highly anticipated rematch with UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 286 in London on Saturday.