SPORTS BRIEFS

UFC

VOLKANOVSKI, ADESANYA EASILY DEFEND THEIR TITLES AT UFC 276

LAS VEGAS >> Alexander Volkanovski left no doubt about his supremacy in the UFC featherweight division while wrapping up his trilogy against Max Holloway with style.

Volkanovski defeated Holloway for the third time Saturday night, defending his 145-pound title by unanimous decision with a dominant striking performance at UFC 276.

Israel Adesanya also retained his middleweight belt with considerably less flair, winning a tepid unanimousdecision victory over Jared Cannonier in the main event at T-Mobile Arena on the Vegas Strip.

Volkanovski (25-1) extended his winning streak to 22 fights with a commanding display against Holloway (23-7), the former featherweight champion. Volkanovski executed a sharp boxing game plan against one of the UFC’s best punchers, bloodying Holloway’s face early on and steadily increasing the punishment into the final minutes.

“It’s a bit of a journey, this rivalry,” Volkanovski said. “Taking the belt, having the rematch and then the talk and all that. There was a lot of ups and downs in there, but it was good to finally put an end to it and silence a lot of people. A lot of people that needed shutting up.”

Holloway’s entire face was crimson at the final bell. Volkanovski won every round on all three judges’ scorecards, 50-45.

“Max Holloway is an absolute beast,” Volkanovski said. “That intensity that we both had, I needed it. I really needed it. I had to get in my own head.”

Adesanya (23-1) won his belt three years ago as one of the UFC’s most entertaining fighters and personalities, but his elaborate ring walk might have been the most thrilling part of his dry, technical victory over the cautious Cannonier (15-6).

After copying famed professional wrestler The Undertaker on a walk that included the wrestler’s signature hat and a large urn, Adesanya patiently picked at Cannonier with kicks and occasional punches for five rounds. Cannonier, getting his first UFC title shot at 38 years old, struggled to find a consistent striking range, and he didn’t show enough desperation to figure it out.

Adesanya won on all three judges’ scorecards, 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46.

He has never lost a UFC middleweight fight, but he has just one stoppage victory in his five 185-pound fights since 2019.

“It was really hard to get going, because they had an excellent game plan,” Adesanya said.

The penultimate bout of UFC

276 concluded a memorable trilogy between Volkanovski and Holloway, likely the two greatest featherweights in UFC history outside of long-reigning champ Jose Aldo. Volkanovski won two highly competitive fights by decision over Holloway in 2019 and 2020, but Holloway won his next two fights to reassert his claim to another shot at the belt he held for three years.

Before the title fights, Alex Pereira demolished Sean Strickland with strikes midway through the first round of a victory that burnished the Brazilian kickboxing champion’s status as an immediate title contender at middleweight. Pereira showered and rushed back to the arena after his bout to watch the main event.

On the undercard, Jim Miller set a UFC record with his 24th career victory, finishing Donald Cerrone with a guillotine choke in the second round. The 38-year-old Miller’s landmark victory broke his tie with Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski for the UFC’s career wins mark.

The 39-year-old Cerrone retired in the cage after the bout. Cerrone beat Miller in their first meeting in 2014, but Cerrone is now 4-10 since 2016 with a seven-fight winless streak.

FORMULA ONE

SAINZ WINS 1ST CAREER F1 RACE WITH BRITISH GP VICTORY

SILVERSTONE, England >> Carlos Sainz Jr. won his first career Formula One race on Sunday with a victory at the British Grand Prix — the most dramatic race so far this season. It began with a frightening first-lap crash and ended with intense wheel-to-wheel battles for the podium positions.

Sainz was in the lead with Charles Leclerc close behind and, while Ferrari at first said they were “free to fight,” the Italian team then asked Sainz to let Leclerc past to avoid losing time to Lewis Hamilton.

But a safety car came out and Ferrari brought Sainz into the pits for fresher, grippier soft tires. Leclerc was left on older, hard tires and Sainz soon passed his teammate to regain the lead and pull away for his first victory in his 150th F1 start.

“Today the win does feel a bit of a relief,” said Sainz. “Honestly, I never stopped believing that this dream was going to come, even though this year has been tough for me.” He had finished second or third 11 times before winning and was a frustratingly close second to Verstappen at the last race in Canada.

Sergio Pérez passed Hamilton and Leclerc after the restart and finished second behind Sainz. Hamilton was briefly second after passing both Pérez and Leclerc in a three-wide move, but he couldn’t hold position and dropped back to fourth.

Hamilton then surged past Leclerc in a fierce fight for third place. He also led laps Sunday for the first time this season.

“I gave it everything,” said Hamilton, who was third in Canada two weeks ago and hoped Mercedes is on a comeback. The team has been unable to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari for wins this season, but an added upgrade to the Mercedes ahead of this weekend was promising.

“We’ve got some improvements to make but this is a huge bonus for us to be on the podium,” Hamilton added.

CYCLING

GROENEWEGEN PIPS VAN AERT TO WIN STAGE 3 IN PHOTO FINISH

SONDERBORG, Denmark >> Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen overtook Wout van Aert and Peter Sagan at the line to win the third stage of the Tour de France in a photo finish while Van Aert extended his overall lead on Sunday.

Groenewegen got behind record seven-time Tour sprint champion Sagan’s wheel when he was battling with Van Aert, and found a gap to squeeze through and nudge his wheel over the line to win for the BikeExchange— Jayco team.

“I took a lot of wind and my legs were tired but I still had enough to sprint to the line,” Groenewegen said. “Wout van Aert always jokes, saying that if you are not sure of having won, you still claim the victory and you celebrate. That’s what I did (and) I understood I won from the sport directors screaming in the car.”

Groenewegen’s fifth Tour stage win came a day after Fabio Jakobsen’s first. Two years ago, Groenewegen was blamed for a heavy crash at the Tour of Poland that sent Jakobsen flying through roadside crash barriers. Jakobsen was put in an induced coma and needed five hours of surgery on his skull and face.

Although Groenewegen was remorseful over the incident, he was banned from cycling for nine months by cycling’s governing body UCI.

“My family supported me greatly after what happened,” he said. “My new team has put a lot of faith in me and a great train to lead me out. Every victory at the Tour de France is special.”

INDYCAR RACING MCLAUGHLIN PICKS UP VICTORY IN FRONT OF HIS VISITING PARENTS

LEXINGTON, Ohio >> Scott McLaughlin on Sunday picked up his second career IndyCar victory, which may go down as one of the most special wins of his career.

The New Zealander won at MidOhio Sports Car Course with his nervous parents watching from pit lane. McLaughlin had not seen his family in 31 months because of the pandemic, but his parents finally were able to leave New Zealand in May to attend the Indianapolis 500.

Wayne and Diane McLaughlin booked their trip to maximize their visas and planned nine IndyCar races on their tour of the United States. It took four to see their only their son drive his Team Penske entry to victory lane.

When he won his first race in February on the street course in St. Petersburg, Florida, he had to celebrate with his parents via FaceTime.

“I really wanted to get a win here with Mom and Dad,” said McLaughlin, who had won three consecutive V8 Supercars championships in Australia.

The race took a turn when five different Chevrolet drivers were knocked out with various problems, and Andretti Autosport began battling internally.

Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean kept bumping wheel-to-wheel and their final contact knocked the steering wheel out of Rossi’s hands, leaving him unable to turn as both cars went off course.

Rossi finished 19th, Grosjean was 21st and Colton Herta spun mid-race and finished 15th, best of the four-car Andretti fleet.

IndyCar champion Alex Palou finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda, and Will Power had a brilliant run to put a second Penske driver on the podium. Power had been penalized in qualifying, started 21st, spun in the opening laps and charged through the field to finish third.