Israel Adesanya: Middleweight division 'in good hands' with Khamzat Chimaev as UFC champ

USA Today

a day ago

Israel Adesanya liked what he saw from the new UFC middleweight champion.
On Saturday, the MMA world saw unbeaten boogeyman Khamzat Chimaev achieve what many thought was an inevitability – become UFC champion at 185 pounds. Chimaev dominated, and defeated Dricus Du Plessis by unanimous decision 50-44 across the board in the main event of UFC 319 in Chicago.
Adesanya, once the titleholder of the weight class with five title defenses, watched Chimaev's masterful performance and had a lot of positive feedback.
"Not what I expected, but I'm glad Khamzat fixed his cardio and improved his cardio to the point where he can go five rounds and just rag doll people," Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. "That's a mess. That's a mess to deal with.
"I thought maybe DDP Round 4 will be able to stop the takedowns, and Khamzat will get tired, but he didn't even slow down. He slowed down DDP. He slowed him down, which is very impressive because that's why he finished me Round 4, because I thought, 'OK, I got him now.' But he just finds a way to get his third, fourth wind, but Khamzat made sure he didn't even get his first wind and just smothered him. Khamzat, new middleweight champion. The division is in good hands."
Adesanya and Chimaev were at one point discussed by MMA fans as potential opponents, given Adesanya's then-status as champion and Chimaev being an interesting rising contender. However, the two never crossed paths.
"The Last Stylebender" currently awaits a booking. He last fought against top contender Nassourdine Imavov in February, when he lost by second-round TKO. Adesanya is 0-3 in his last three fights, a run that saw him lose his belt to Sean Strickland, fail to re-gain the title from Du Plessis, and most recently the loss to Imavov.