Adesanya happy Du Plessis won title, says he'll 'test that ass'

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was glad to see Dricus Du Plessis claim the belt this past weekend, but he won't back down from a fight.

Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland by split decision in the UFC 297 main event Saturday in Toronto to become the new 185-pound champ. In a video on his YouTube channel, Adesanya said the fight was "nice to watch" but believes Du Plessis won three rounds.

"I thought Dricus would take him," Adesanya said. "I thought he would use his wrestling more in the middle of the fight, the middle of the rounds. But he didn't. He used it at the end, which was smart of him to steal the rounds.

"Congrats to you, my African brother, Dricus Du Plessis," Adesanya added. "Legit, I'm happy for him. I actually like his story and whatnot. But he still did what he did, and I'm still gonna test that ass."

Du Plessis, who was born and lives in South Africa, joined Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou as the only African-born champions in UFC history.

The respect Adesanya showed Du Plessis is a complete turn from their bickering in the media last year. Adesanya, then the middleweight champion, said in June that he'd "torture" Du Plessis in a planned title fight that never materialized. Du Plessis also said Adesanya "acted like a clown" during a heated staredown at UFC 290 in July.

Du Plessis called out Adesanya in his postfight interview Saturday, telling him to "get your ass back in the UFC so we can settle the score."