Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin had to work for their victories Saturday at Odyssey Arena in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 72.
Franklin was the aggressor against Yushin Okami in the first two rounds of their middleweight fight, though few of his blows penetrated Okami's defense.
In the third and final round, Okami gained the advantage with an armlock. The Japanese fighter looked poised for the win, but the American escaped and took home a unanimous 29-28 decision.
PHOTO: AP
Griffin was tentative in his light-heavyweight fight with Hector Ramirez of Mexico, later explaining he was concerned about a repeat of his knockout loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 66. Though Griffin took a unanimous 30-27 victory, he will have to improve to earn a title shot against Quinton Jackson.
Lightweights Clay Guida and Tyson Griffin staged the fight of the night on the card of non-title bouts.
The two went back-and-forth on their feet and down on the mat.
Griffin won a split decision that was jeered by the audience.
Northern Irishmen Stevie Lynch and Colin Robinson were unsuccessful in their UFC debuts.
Lynch couldn't capitalize on support from the Irish fans in the opening fight of the event, going down 2:50 into the first round to an armbar by Brazilian Ju-jitsu specialist Dustin Hazelett.
Robinson lost to Eddie Sanchez by TKO in 0:32 into the second round of a heavyweight bout.
Marcus Davis scored a TKO victory over Jason Tan of England 1:15 into the first round of their lightweight bout. Ed Herman also came through quickly, stopping fellow American Scott Smith with a chokehold 2:25 into the first round of their middleweight fight.
There was no doubt about the middleweight match between Rory Singer and Canadian Jason MacDonald, who won by TKO 3:18 into the second round.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB