Latest news with #domination
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Khamzat Chimaev MAULS Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 over five dominant rounds to become new middleweight champion
Khamzat Chimev grinned with a smile of pure menace in the seconds before his 25 minutes of domination started. The scariest man in the scariest sport in the world knew what everybody else was about to find out, namely that he is too strong, talented and relentless for anyone his bosses put before him. Never has the UFC had a champion as significant an underdog as South Africa 's Dricus Du Plessis was ahead of this headliner in Chicago. And the bookies were proved absolutely correct. Chimaev rag-dolled, pummelled and manhandled the champion with alarming ease. The opening round set a pattern that would be repeated for almost the entirety of the fight. The Chechen-born Swede marched forward, secured a takedown and spent the rest of the time either smothering his opponent or ending up in the crucifix position. Both arms trapped and a face exposed, there was almost nothing Du Plessis could do except tuck his face into the midriff of Chimaev to avoid the kind of heavy artillery that would stop the fight. Still, spirits in the corner were high between the first couple of rounds, despite the one-sided nature of the contest. Du Plessis felt he could still claw his way back into it. That brightness soon dulled when Chimaev, seemingly with as much energy as he'd began with, simply hauled his man down to the mat again and again and again. The 20,000 capacity crowd were not particularly enjoying themselves. Du Plessis defended the submission attempts smartly and as a spectacle, Chimaev's domination wasn't exactly Hollywood stuff. Marc Goddard, the referee, even stood the fighters up when it could have been argued that the challenger was in a dominant position. But Du Plessis soon found himself flat on his back once more. There was a brief glimmer of hope in the final stanza. Du Plessis reversed position, ended up on top and tried a Hail Mary of a guillotine choke that Chimaev slipped out of without fuss. The judges might as well have put their pens down on an easy night's work, scoring it 50-44. Surely no title fight has ever racked up so much time on the ground, or ended with one fighter having fewer significant strikes. Du Plessis managed just nine over the course of the fight. Chimaev is a man of few words, which only adds to the Bond villain allure. Afterwards he told Joe Rogan: 'He is very strong, the only champion who would take 25 minutes of that, he is a real lion. I just do what I do in training.' While the beaten man was magnanimous in defeat, adding: 'The man has incredible control on top, he's like a blanket, he always knew what your next move was going to be. 'At the end I went for it and could almost taste that victory but he beat me fair and square, he deserves it and thanks to all the fans because without you guys we don't have a job. Lerone Murphy defeated Aaron Pico with a stunning spinning elbow earlier in the night 'Everyone in South Africa, I'm sorry to anybody I let down, we'll show the world that we'll come back stronger than ever.' There's not much of a case for an immediate rematch despite Du Plessis being the driving force at middleweight for the past couple of years. Chimaev beat him so convincingly that it is hard to imagine a different scenario next time - though it must be said the pattern is one the new champion has set in stone with almost every fight he has. Elsewhere on the card, there were extraordinary back-to-back spinning-elbow knockouts. The finish had only been pulled off eight times in UFC history before Carlos Prates flattened Geoff Neal with it on the main card and Britain's Lerone Murphy repeated the trick in the very next fight. He is now almost guaranteed to take on Alexander Volkanovski for the title later this year, which the Australian as good as confirmed online afterwards.
The National
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
Tour de France 2025: Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG dominate second week
After a dramatic second week at the Tour de France, there has remained one constant throughout this year's race so far: the relentless domination of Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG. As the riders took a well-earned breather on Monday after the challenges presented tackling the mighty Pyrenees, Pogacar is sitting pretty at the top of the general classification. The reigning champion currently enjoys a healthy lead of four minutes and 13 seconds over old rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) with Germany's Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) a further 3:40 behind the Dane. It has been a spectacular effort from Pogacar that has seen him follow up his two stage wins in the opening week by repeating the trick in Week 2. Pogacar now stands alone on 21 stage victories – the sixth most of all-time, behind only Andre Darrigade (22), Andre Leducq (25), Bernard Hinault (28), Eddy Merckx (23) and Mark Cavendish (35). The race is heading into its punishing finale where Pogacar faces Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze which have caused problems for him in the past. 'I'm almost confident to say the route was designed to scare me,' he said with a smile on Monday. 'But I always look at it as a race situation. I actually like all of these climbs.' The second week had started in potentially catastrophic fashion for Pogacar – who is seeking a fourth Tour crown – when the 26-year-old came crashing down on the roads of Toulouse towards the end of Stage 11. As Pogacar quickly dusted himself down and grappled with his bike chain, the rest of the peloton sportingly held back for the race leader to rejoin and maintain his second place, 29 seconds behind yellow jersey-wearing Ben Healy (Education-EasyPost). 'I'm quite OK,' said Pogacar. 'A bit beaten up but we've been through worse days. Thanks to the peloton who waited … big respect to everyone in front.' Stage honours went to Uno-X Mobility's Jonas Abrahamsen who secured his – and the team's – first Grand Tour stage despite the Norwegian breaking his collarbone weeks before the Tour. Any thoughts that Pogacar's title-bid might have been damaged by the previous day's fall were quickly dismissed on the famous summit of Hautcam as he blasted to a phenomenal stage win. Last season's triple-crown winner powered away with an 11km solo ascent that was set up to perfection by his teammates and ended with him finishing more than two minutes ahead of a deflated Vingegaard. Pogacar's lead over the two-time champion was now three minutes and 31 seconds. 'For sure, you don't know how the body reacts after the crash but it was not too bad,' said Pogacar after Stage 12. 'We did a super job. The team rode really well.' Another day, another victory for the imperious Pogacar who produced another superlative ride to win Friday's Stage 13 time-trial on the slopes of Peyragudes that also saw teammate Adam Yates seal a top-10 finish. Fastest on every split, Pogacar became the youngest rider to reach 21 stage wins on the Tour, extending his lead to more than four minutes. 'I was feeling good all day, from when I got up,' he said after a brutal 10.9km uphill ride. 'I was planning to go all in from start to finish and that's what I did.' Pogacar was denied a third successive stage win by Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) who claimed a memorable solo victory having spent the final 35km alone at the front. But the Slovenian was able to land a further blow on Vingegaard by brushing off his attacks before going on to out-sprint the Dane, extending to his lead yet again. Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel – who started the day in third place – saw his tour come to an end as the Belgian was forced to call it quits for this year. 'I've been feeling off for three days,' Evenepoel said. 'Today, I woke up knowing I was empty, and on the climb, my legs just said no.' It was UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Tim Wellens's day in the spotlight on Stage 15 with the Belgian finishing 1:28 clear of second place Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a bike) after launching an attack with 44km to go. It was Wellens' first Tour victory meaning he now has a Grand Tour clean-sweep having already won two stages on both the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. 'Not many people win at the Tour de France, so it is a very beautiful victory,' said Wellens. 'I am more happy for him than when I win,' added teammate Pogacar who had crossed the line safely in the peloton, maintaining his huge GC lead. 'Beyond happiness. Tim is one of the best teammates I've ever had. He is sacrificing a lot for me' The race resumes on Tuesday with Stage 16 but there is no let up in the challenges facing the peloton, with riders facing a 171.5km run from Montpellier that finishes with a draining climb up Mont Ventoux. And Vingegaard remains convinced all is not lost. 'I do think I can win it. Of course, it looks very hard now – it's a big gap,' insists the Dane. 'But normally my strength is in the third week. We have to attack.' And as for Pogacar? 'We're ready for a fight with everybody,' he said. 'Especially with Jonas.'
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ione Skye reveals dark details about dating Red Hot Chili Peppers star Anthony Kiedis when she was just 16
Ione Skye has opened up about her two-year relationship with Anthony Kiedis when she was just 16, while he was 24 and a drug addict. The pair struck up a romance in the '80s, with the actress, 54, recently revealing the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman, 62, impregnated her and then paid for the abortion. She broke down the details of their relationship in her memoir, and has now spoke on It's A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, calling him a 'dominating, controlling person'. 'I think he's trying to feel powerful,' she said when host Abbie asked why she believes Anthony has pursued relationships with much younger women for most of his life. 'He obviously has a huge ego. And so, I think part of it is to feel in control, and powerful, and a dominating type of person.' 'You know, if you're challenged by being with someone [your own age]… he just needs to be the dominating, controlling person,' she added. Anthony has been linked to several women throughout his life, including a two-year relationship with model Helena Vestergaard when she was 19 and he was 52. He also shares son Everly Bear Kiedis with ex Heather Christie, who he started dating in 2004 when she was about 18 and he was 41 - they split in 2008. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Anthony for comment. It comes after Ione spoked candidly about aborting Anthony's baby when she was just 17-years-old and admitted he paid for the procedure, but sent her to the clinic alone. In her memoir Say Everything, released in March, Ione recalled being in a Beverly Hills doctor's office alone after falling pregnant with the Red Hot Chili Peppers singer - who was a drug addict and 25-years-old at the time. Explaining her decision to not keep the baby, Ione wrote in the book: 'I was the type of girl who'd wanted a baby since I was a baby, who used to fantasize about finding a swaddled infant on my doorstep or catching a flying ghost baby with a butterfly net. 'But fantasising was different from seeing. I couldn't see having a baby at this point.' She went on to say of Anthony: 'He seemed to think that by paying for me to have the termination at a nice Beverly Hills doctor's office instead of Planned Parenthood he was being a mensch. 'He hadn't offered to be with me today, just guiltily dropped me off at the curb. 'To say nothing of the fact that after our AIDS scare, and the supposed new lease on life he'd gotten with the negative test result, he'd gone on using needles and having unprotected sex with me. And I'd consented to that. 'Other people in our group had unsafe sex and they were fine, I kept telling myself, using my teenage reasoning. Of course, I could see how irresponsible we were being. 'Whether Anthony could see it too, he obviously wasn't ready to grow up, to take care of himself and others, to make real adult choices. Anthony wasn't yet strong enough for all this. But I was the girl - I had to be.' The London-born actress also confirmed she has no regrets when it comes to the abortion and wrote: 'I was taking care of myself now, making a choice that felt good and important for my future. 'I wanted to be young and also to keep working. I would not have a baby at 17, with someone who didn't want to be a dad, wouldn't commit to me and had anger issues. Not to mention the heroin. 'And besides that, I was depleted enough from worrying about Anthony and worrying what people thought of us and worrying about my career.' 'I was sure that adding a newborn to my list of things to worry about would be the end of me,' she admitted. Despite opening up about the relationship in her memoir, Ione confirmed she didn't talk to Anthony about it beforehand. 'I stay in touch with his mother, but not with him,' she revealed to People. 'I'm very curious about what he'll think - he and my father. 'They're the ones I'm most nerve-wracked about. But everyone who has read it says it's a good read.' Ione's father is Mellow Yellow singer Donovan, and she also opened up about their rocky relationship in the book. But despite the tell-all nature of her book, Ione insisted she approached it with care. 'I definitely don't want to hurt anyone. But some people I named in the book have read it, and luckily everyone has loved it,' she told the outlet. She also shared actor John Cusack previewed the memoir, where she reveals they slept together years after the film. 'I had to get it out of my system,' she wrote, per the outlet, referring to their rendezvous following her divorce from Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz. And it seems John's reaction was priceless as he texted her the following message after reading the book: 'You made the experience sound so meh! It wasn't "meh" for me.' However, Ione stood by her portrayal of the incident and said: 'I'm telling a story, and it was more about how all of our chemistry was in our working together and stimulating each other's minds, not sleeping together!'
Times
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Times
Can England's under-21s champions make seniors just as fearless?
England's players were still dancing in the dressing room when Lee Carsley was already setting his stall out for 2027 — aiming to complete an unprecedented hat-trick of European Under-21 Championship titles. The head coach floated the idea before the tournament, unofficially setting himself a target of surpassing Dave Sexton's achievements from 1982 and 1984, but Carsley is eyeing something more meaningful than a record: an era of domination. 'That's us getting off to a great start,' he said referring to chasing three in a row, after a 3-2 extra-time victory over Germany in the final on Saturday added to their 2023 triumph. 'Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands have done it [dominated]. We have to make sure that we're there or thereabouts. Winning one tournament is great but it's the dominating bit that we want to get better at.'
