The UFC on Saturday night welcomed back US fans for their first live event in more than a year, and three of its greatest fighters — Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas and Valentina Shevchenko — rose to the occasion with stunning knockouts at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Nigerian-American welterweight champion Usman knocked American challenger Jorge Masvidal out cold with a thunderous straight right to the chin at 1.02 of the second round in the main event and warned those gathered — and other fighters — “I’m still getting better.”
“Jacksonville, Florida, you wanted violence? You’re welcome,” Usman said afterwards as he moved his unbeaten run to 18 fights.
Photo: AFP
“I told everybody ... I am pound for pound the best fighter on the planet right now,” he added.
The pair had met back in July last year with the 33-year-old Usman overpowering his 36-year-old opponent in the clinch and on the ground and pounding away at will across five rounds.
This time he got straight to the point with a punch that saw Masvidal crumpled to a knockout for the first time in a career that has taken in 50 fights.
Before that moment of magic, the night had been all about Namajunas.
The 28-year-old American strawweight challenger seized back the title with a stunning head-kick knockout of Zhang Weili just 1 minute, 18 seconds into the first round, bringing an end to the Chinese fighter’s 21-fight winning streak in a flash of pure, poised skill.
“I’m the best,” Namajunas said in the middle of the cage afterward.
“I did it again. I didn’t see her move and I wasn’t sure if she could come back from that. So just a couple of hammer fists and it was out,” she said.
Namajunas had won the strawweight crown in 2017, but had lost it in 2019 and struggled with her inner demons, and motivation. On Saturday, she was at her brilliant best, even though the fight only lasted just over a minute.
Namajunas was a blur of movement and had the 30-year-old Zhang looking for a low kick when she went high — and it was all over.
The first of the three title fights on the card featured Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan, who used her superior strength and a 9cm height advantage to overpower Brazilian challenger Jessica Andrade.
There were five takedowns by the champion in the first round, and one early in the second that gave her top position, and she pounded away to take the TKO with 3.12 on the clock.
That made it seven straight wins for a 33-year-old fighter in Shevchenko who somehow still seems to be getting better and, like Usman and Namajunas, looks destined for the UFC Hall of Fame.
“I like to surprise people,” she said afterward.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
RSS