Dricus Du Plessis
"Stillknocks"
23-3-0
VS
2026-07-18
UFC Fight Night: Tavares vs. Barriault
Middleweight
Kamaru Usman
"The Nigerian Nightmare"
21-4-0
CATBOOST PREDICTION
Dricus Du Plessis 'Stillknocks'
63.1% CONFIDENCE
How It Ends
53%
Decision
32%
KO / TKO
15%
Submission
Decision53.4%
KO / TKO32.0%
Submission14.6%
If it's a finish, which round
Round 138.7%
Round 234.3%
Round 3+26.9%
A separate model trained only on how fights end (not who wins) — 47% estimated chance this fight is finished rather than going to a decision.
Why CatBoost leans this way
Dricus Du Plessis
Kamaru Usman
Age edge (significant gap)
Matchup
18%
Strike rate delta r1 to r3
Kamaru Usman
10%
Age
Kamaru Usman
9%
Strike rate delta r1 to r3
Dricus Du Plessis
7%
Defensive skill edge
Matchup
7%
Avg takedowns attempted
Kamaru Usman
6%
Head-strike accuracy edge
Matchup
3%
Net striking dominance
Matchup
3%
Avg takedowns attempted
Dricus Du Plessis
3%
Avg control time
Kamaru Usman
3%
Past prime
Kamaru Usman
3%
Fights per year
Kamaru Usman
2%
Head absorption rate
Kamaru Usman
2%
Elo rating edge
Matchup
2%
← pushes toward Dricus Du Plessis pushes toward Kamaru Usman →
Bars show each factor's SHAP contribution to this specific prediction — how much it pushed the win probability toward one fighter, given everything else the model knows. Percentages are each factor's share of the total push across the top 30 factors.

Dricus Du Plessis

Win Streak
N/A
Finish Rate
N/A%
Avg Duration
N/Am
Last 5 fights (most recent first)
W DEC
L DEC
W DEC
W SUB
W DEC
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 185 lbs
Reach: 193 cm
Stance: Switch

Kamaru Usman

Win Streak
N/A
Finish Rate
N/A%
Avg Duration
N/Am
Last 5 fights (most recent first)
L DEC
W DEC
L DEC
L DEC
L KO
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 170 lbs
Reach: 193 cm
Stance: Switch