Mike Heck Has been covering combat sports since 2015 and is the host for BTL and watch parties.
Israel Adesanya was very impressed with Khamzat Chimaev's championship-winning performance at UFC 319.
Chimaev dominated Dricus du Plessis over five rounds in the main event of Saturday's pay-per-view card in Chicago to win the middleweight title, and improve his record to 15-0.
Adesanya, the former two-time UFC middleweight champ, watched the bout, and documented his reaction on his YouTube channel.
"Khamzat, new middleweight champion, and yeah, the division is in good hands," Adesanya said.
Chimaev immediately set the tone for the fight less than 10 seconds in, securing a takedown and neutralizing du Plessis for the entirety of the first round, keeping "Stillknocks" in the crucifix position for a huge chunk of the round. The dominance continued throughout the fight, with Chimaev scoring a 10-8 in the third round.
Du Plessis had a brief moment in the fifth round where he achieved full mount and looked to lock in a rear-naked choke, but Chimaev was able to survive and secure his championship win. All three judges scored the bout 50-44 in favor of the new champion.
Like most who watched, Adesanya was impressed with Chimaev's cardio throughout the 25 minutes.
"Not what I expected," Adesanya explained. "But I'm glad Khamzat fixed his cardio, or improved his cardio to the point where he can go five rounds and just rag doll people.
"That's a mess. That's a mess to deal with, because I thought DDP, maybe Round 4, he'd be able to stuff the takedowns because Khamzat would get tired, but he didn't slow down. He slowed down DDP. He slowed him down which is very impressive because that's why he finished me in Round 4 because I thought, OK, I got him now. But he just finds a way to get his third wind, his fourth wind. But Khamzat made sure he didn't get the first wind and just smothered him."