Like most in the MMA world, Israel Adesanya hadn't expected Khamzat Chimaev to win a five-round war against Dricus du Plessis. However, after 'Borz's' dominant victory at UFC 319, the Hall of Famer is now convinced that the middleweight gold is in good hands.In the lead-up to the fight, 'The Last Stylebender' had predicted that Chimaev would either fetch a submission win early or that du Plessis would take control in the championship rounds. Chimaev's cardio was a subject of concern for fans and pundits, and much like them, Adesanya had suspected the Chechen-born Emirati would run out of steam the longer the fight went.However, at UFC 319, 'Borz' used his superior wrestling to smother his opponent on the ground for most of the fight, earning a 50-44 win across the judges' scorecards.Reacting to the result on his YouTube channel, Adesanya said:"Not what I expected, but I'm glad that Khamzat fixed his cardio, or improved his cardio to the point where he can go five rounds and just ragdoll people, that a mess. That's a mess to deal with, because I thought DDP [du Plessis] Round 4 would be able to stuff the take downs to where Khamzat will get tired, but he didn't even slow down. He slowed down DDP, he slowed him down, which was very impressive."Adesanya added:"That's where he [du Plessis] finished me in Round 4 [at UFC 305], because I thought, 'I got him now', but he juts finds a way to get his third wind, fourth wind, but yeah, Khamzat made sure he didn't even get the first wind and just smothered him... [The score was] 50-44, that was crazy. Khamzat, [the] new middleweight champion, the division is in good hands."Check out Israel Adesanya's comments on Khamzat Chimaev below:When Israel Adesanya slammed Khamzat Chimaev for calling him outWhile Israel Adesanya now has nothing but praise for Khamzat Chimaev, 'The Last Stylebender' once clapped back at the 31-year-old over a callout.In May 2023, 'Borz' accused the UFC of shielding the then-middleweight champion Adesanya from him. Addressing the callout during an appearance on the IMPAULSIVE podcast, the Nigerian-born Kiwi said:"He said some s**t in the past. He always tweets after my fights anyway. I don't respond to the nonsense... I'm the champ. Even like when [Alex] Pereira took the belt, I was still the champ... because I'm one of the greatest in this game right now, and they want to have me on their mantle piece, or that name, 'Yeah I beat him', or, 'I fought him.'"