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Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UFC 319 takeaways: Khamzat Chimaev flings Dricus du Plessis around with the greatest of ease
UFC 319 brought us the changing of the guard in the middleweight division, as Khamzat Chimaev dominated Dricus du Plessis to claim the UFC 185-pound title. But that's not the only noteworthy action to come out of Saturday's pay-per-view event in Chicago. Here are the top five takeaways from UFC 319 at the United Center: 1. Khamzat Chimaev just became UFC middleweight champ while fighting like your school's cruelest wrestling coach. He took Dricus du Plessis down at will and smothered him with an ease that was almost apologetic. In the entire history of UFC title fights, I'm not sure we've seen a fight that was that long yet that one-sided. Most people absorb more strikes changing an unruly baby's diaper than Chimaev absorbed in five championship rounds. The only problem is that when you do all that and never really even come close to finishing the fight, well, you don't make many new fans. The same people who cheered Chimaev earlier in the week were booing him by the time he gave his victory speech. Then again, here's where we have to start asking ourselves if that even matters anymore. Chimaev has the belt. We've yet to see anyone at middleweight who's seemed like they might be capable of taking it from him. Selling pay-per-views will no longer be a concern beginning with the new Paramount deal. So what does Chimaev care if people like his brand of dominance or not? Any man who can get in and out of a big time title fight like that while putting himself at so little risk is probably not going to be convinced to do otherwise by a bunch of boos. 2. Chimaev looked for it everywhere but still could not find the quit in DDP. There was a moment midway through this fight when, having clearly established his dominance on that mat, Chimaev slapped on a rear-naked choke. A lot of fighters — even many celebrated champions — might have been demoralized enough by then to let him have it. But du Plessis not only fought through it, he was still there giving it all he had in the final minute of the final round. He even took Chimaev's back and threatened with a choke of his own in the final 60 seconds. I know that's bound to be little comfort to him now. And you don't get much credit in this sport for losing (and losing so, so thoroughly) with grit and dignity. But it does seem like we've all been watching DDP win so many fights while wondering how he keeps doing it despite never looking like he's really all that good. In a way, even though he lost decisively here, I think we got some glimpses of the answer to that question. 3. We knew the Bellator/PFL imports have had it rough in their UFC debuts, but rough doesn't even begin to describe what happened to Aaron Pico. He started out all aggression and forward pressure, as he's known to do. But that also made him entirely too predictable, so that as soon as Lerone Murphy got a little space to work he could count on Pico charging straight into that spinning back elbow. That's a very big win for Murphy, who's somehow struggled to get fans to remember him despite being incredibly good. Flatlining a guy like Pico in a spot like this is a good way to change that. But it also makes you wonder where Pico goes from here. The promise of potential can only carry you so far, and for so long. Lots of fighters have rebounded from bad UFC debuts to have great UFC careers. But I can't think of any who did it after getting slept like that the first time out. 4. Imagine being Carlos Prates after the spinning elbow knockout of Geoff Neal. Imagine basking in the cheers as you walk from the cage after a glorious return to the win column. Imagine walking all the way down that aisle, through the curtain, past all the other fighters and various backstage attendants, all the way out to the loading dock of the United Center where you can finally stand in the halo of a buzzing outdoor light next to a stinking green dumpster and light up that first post-fight cigarette. I don't even smoke and that somehow sounds good. Prates needed that rebound win even worse than he needed that post-fight smoke. A highlight reel finish is a great way to make people forget about what was honestly a pretty forgivable loss. 5. Apparently nobody told Tim Elliott that his job was to lose and help Kai Asakura look good. The gentleman of a certain age went out there and fought like he simply didn't know he was one of the night's biggest underdogs. And when he locked up that guillotine choke you could almost see it on Asakura's face (there beneath the wincing and the struggling) as he seemed to wonder, hey wasn't this supposed to be when I got my first UFC win after being thrown to the champ in my first fight? Elliott is 38 and deep into his second stint with the UFC, so you can't tell me the matchmakers put him into this fight hoping it would be a shot in the arm for his career. He was there to be comeback fodder for Asakura, and he simply wasn't having it. If you don't love to see a savvy old dog pull off a win in those situations, you're just a young whippersnapper who doesn't understand … yet.
New York Times
10 minutes ago
- New York Times
Sunderland and the Stadium of Light get the emotional exorcism they need on Premier League return
The Stadium of Light, for so long, was where Premier League aspirations came to die. There were fleeting moments of joy, enough to help its tenants stage a series of escapes from relegation to the Championship, but it became a venue synonymous with Sunderland's perennial struggle. Just 18 wins came from the last 76 games played on Wearside before the Premier League lights were turned off in the spring of 2017. None at all were found in the final 13. Sunderland's home became listless and drab, where even the energy to complain had been sapped. Advertisement Eight years away from the Premier League dragged Sunderland to darker places still, down to their historic nadirs of League One, but in a city by the sea is a club and its fans now riding a wave. An opening day victory over West Ham United brought the latest release of euphoria 10 weeks after promotion was dramatically won through the Championship play-offs. Three second-half goals conquered the nerves of a reintroduction to the elite, and the Stadium of Light savoured every moment. 'We could feel the energy,' said head coach Regis Le Bris afterwards. This mattered more than Sunderland might have cared to admit on the eve of this new season. Winning 3-0 amounted to an emotional exorcism back in the Premier League, providing hope that the highs of last season do not have to subside in the face of vastly improved opponents. Of the three newly-promoted clubs, there is a vibrancy perhaps unique to Sunderland, an intangible strength stemming from Dan Ballard's late header to sink Coventry City and then calcified by Tommy Watson's sumptuous winner against Sheffield United at Wembley. Both brought glory at the death. Three months on, and they continue to lean unashamedly into notions of belief and spirit. The pre-match tifo at the Roker End depicted the County Durham legend of the giant Lambton worm, slayed by a gallant local hero. 'The man who wins is the man who thinks he can,' it read below. All the bravado can soon be diminished against better opponents than West Ham. But in an opening month that brings trips to Burnley and Crystal Palace, either side of hosting Brentford, the significance of this win — Sunderland's biggest on an opening day since 1974 — was clear to the bulk of a capacity crowd that applauded players from the pitch. Le Bris spoke immediately of resetting and humility. 'Granit (Xhaka, the club's new captain) spoke for 30 seconds about this togetherness, this way of suffering together, because it will be key for the season,' he said. Advertisement That it was Xhaka, once of Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen, who delivered the post-match messaging illustrated that it is a new Sunderland returning to the Premier League. Just three of the opening day's starting XI featured in last season's Championship play-offs, with seven of the other eight making debuts on the back of summer transfers. An eighth debutant, defender Omar Alderete, came on from the bench. Another imminent new signing, Paris Saint-Germain defender Nordi Mukiele, was a notable face in the stands. A ruthlessness has run through a recruitment drive that has already seen £130million spent. This means the likes of Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson, and Patrick Roberts have turned from mainstays to unused subs on Saturday, but there remains a place for the old guard to underpin the ambition. All three goalscorers on the Premier League return were heroes of the play-offs. Ballard scored Sunderland's decisive second against West Ham, a guided header, at the same end where he had denied El Hadji Malick Diouf with a goalline clearance in the first half and also sunk Coventry back in May. Before that, it had been a precise opener from Eliezer Mayenda, converting Alderete's cross with a looping header back across the leaden-footed Mads Hermansen. Plenty at Sunderland regard Mayenda, still only 20, as their greatest asset after signing a new contract that will run until 2030 this summer. Substitute Wilson Isidor does not appear set for such a prominent role in the Premier League, but his breakaway goal, low past Hermansen, in stoppage time assured the Stadium of Light of a carefree finale of oles and embraces. 'They showed that they can step up today, but at the same time they are really important, because they keep the identity of the club,' said Le Bris of his three goalscorers. 'The way we worked last season, we built this strength about togetherness and the way we can work as a team. We showed it, and these players are important for that.' Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, appeared to miss Sunderland's third goal when cameras showed him vacating his seat in the directors' box in the closing stages, but he was in the minority heading for an early exit. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, Sunderland's 27-year-old owner, beamed as he watched the celebrations between brother Maurice and minority shareholder Juan Sartori. This was Sunderland's big day and, unlike the unremittingly bleak goodbye to this level in 2016-17, there is early cause to believe a very different club can enjoy very different fortunes back in the Premier League. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UFC 319 results: Khamzat Chimaev takes Dricus Du Plessis to school, dominates to win title
Khamzat Chimaev turned in one of the most dominant performances as a title challenger in recent memory. The main event of UFC 319 at United Center in Chicago saw Dricus Du Plessis put his middleweight title on the line against Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC). The wrestling game of Chimaev was simply too much for Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) to handle. After 25 minutes, the judges turned in unanimous scores of 50-44 to crown Chimaev as the new 185-pound champion. Just two seconds into the fight, Chimaev shot in and completed a takedown. Du Plessis looked for a guillotine counter, but Chimaev slipped out to take top position. A few seconds later, Chimaev pinned Du Plessis with a crucifix and began raining in short punches. Du Plessis bucked repeatedly and eventually got his arm free to get out of the crucifix, but Chimaev remained heavy on top in side control. In the closing seconds, Du Plessis exploded, but ended up in the same position after a quick scramble. Du Plessis was all smiles in his corner, and came out firing a head kick to start Round 2. Chimaev responded with a kick of his own, and then took the fight right back to the ground. This time, it was Chimaev on the back with Du Plessis on one knee along the fence. Chimaev threatened a rear-naked choke, but Du Plessis was quick to address it. It was another five-minute frame of one-way traffic. Chimaev immediately took the fight to the ground again to start Round 3. This takedown brought the fight to the center of the cage, where Chimaev once again found the crucifix position. This time, he added a few hard elbows in with the short punches. Du Plessis escaped the crucifix with a minute to go, but Chimaev took full mount. Du Plessis quickly gave up his back until the horn. The start of Round 4 saw a striking exchange, and Du Plessis defended a takedown. However, Chimaev went right back in and got the fight to the ground by the cage. Du Plessis continued to struggle to find an answer. With a minute to go, despite working through a few different positions, the referee decided to stand the fighters up. It didn't matter, because Chimaev immediately got another to close out the round. Despite being smothered for four rounds, Du Plessis entered the final round with a sense of optimism, and to his credit, he landed a few punches in the opening exchange. Once again, though, it was just a matter of time before Chimaev decided to bring the fight to the ground. Du Plessis found a reversal to take top position, but it was short-lived. The referee gave Du Plessis one more chance with a gift of a stand up. Du Plessis landed a clean right hand and reversed a takedown. He slapped on a rear-naked choke, but there was simply not enough time to pull it off. With the result, Chimaev gets his crowning moment in his ninth UFC bout. After back-to-back wins over former champions Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker, Chimaev got his title shot and was successful in ending the reign of Du Plessis, who entered with two title defenses under his belt. On the other side, Du Plessis falls out of the winner's column for the first time since October 2018. Since then, he won 11 straight fights, including entering the UFC and capturing the middleweight title. Up-to-the-minute UFC 319 results include: Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus Du Plessis via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) – for middleweight title Lerone Murphy def. Aaron Pico via knockout (spinning elbow) – Round 1, 3:21 Carlos Prates def. Geoff Neal via knockout (spinning elbow) – Round 1, 4:59 Michael Page def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Tim Elliott def. Kai Asakura via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:39 Baisangur Susurkaev def. Tom Nolan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:01 Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gerald Meerschaert via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:03 Loopy Godinez def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Alexander Hernandez def. Chase Hooper via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:58 Drakkar Klose def. Edson Barboza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Karine Silva def. Dione Barbosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Joseph Morales def. Alibi Idiris via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:04 – "TUF 33" flyweight final This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 319: Khamzat Chimaev schools Dricus Du Plessis to win title
