Werdum defeats rusty Velasquez Bolt disappointed
Fabricio Werdum of Brazil defeated a rusty Cain Velasquez by tap-out in the third round to become the undisputed heavyweight champion at UFC188 on Saturday night at Mexico City.
With 2 minutes13 seconds left in the third round, Werdum (20-5-1) took down Velasquez, who was coming of a 20-month layoff after injuries to his shoulder and knee. Werdum, a Brazilian jiujitsu specialist, was able to cut local favorite Velasquez (13-2) in the left eye during the first round, and the former heavyweight champion struggled through the rest of the fight to over come it.
Deontay Wilder successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Eric Molina at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., a short drive from his hometown. The 6-foot-7 Wilder (34-0) also knocked down Molina (23-3) in the fourth and twice again in the fifth. In an earlier bout, Jose Pedraza (20-0) claimed the vacant IBF junior-lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Andrey Klimov (19-2). . . . Nicholas Walters (26-0) out pointed Miguel Marriaga (20-1) in a WBA featherweight fight at New York. Walters still was stripped of his title because he did not make the 126-pound weight limit Friday.
ETC.
Usain Bolt called his performance in the 200 meters the worst of his career after he posted an uncharacteristically slow time of 20.29 seconds in winning the race Saturday in the Adidas Grand Prix at New York.
Hoping to break 20 seconds for the first time this year, Bolt ran what he deemed a “horrible” curve and said he was so discouraged he eased up before the finish. His time was more than a second off his world record of 19.19. Tyson Gay won the 100, rallying after a slow start to finish in10.12 while running into a headwind. Francena McCorory
won the 400 in 49.86, the world’s fastest this year.
Oregon’s Jenna Prandini won the 100 meters and took second to Kentucky’s Dezerea Bryant in the 200 at Eugene, Ore., leading the Ducks to their first NCAA women’s track and field title in 30 years. USC was seventh with 34 points. Among the Trojans’ top finishers were Dior Hall (third, 100 hurdles), Ky Westbrook (fourth, 100) and the 400 relay (third), 800 relay (second) and1,600 relay (second).
Defending IndyCar champion Will Power drove the fastest lap in the sixth round of qualifying at Toronto to take the 41st pole position of his career. Power completed the 1.755-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit in 59.4280 seconds, finishing with just five seconds left in the 10-minute final segment of knockout qualifications.
Returning to NASCAR’s Xfinity Series for the first time since his accident at Daytona left him with a broken leg and foot, Kyle Busch won at Michigan International Speedway for his 71st career victory on the circuit. Busch won the 250mile, 125-lap race in his No. 54 Toyota by 0.477 seconds over Chase Elliott at Brooklyn, Mich.
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat fourth-seeded Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the final of the Mercedes Cup, agrass-court tournament at Stuttgart, Germany. Nadal will next play eighth-seeded Viktor Troicki, who beat second-seeded Marin Cilic, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (2). . . . Belinda Bencic defeated Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals of the grass-court Topshelf Open at ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Bencic next faces fifth-seeded Camila Giorgi. In men’s play, second seeded David Goffin will face qualifier Nicolas Mahut in the final.
The Kings’ top minor league affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, won their first Calder Cup, beating the Utica Comets, 2-1, in Game 5 of the American Hockey League’s title series at the Utica, N.Y.
In soccer, Argentina opened its Copa America play with a 2-2 draw with Paraguay at Rancagua, Chile. Uruguay beat Jamaica, 1-0, in Antofagasta, Chile. . . . Brazil won its second-straight penalty shootout, beating Portugal, 3-1, to reach the semifinals of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup at Hamilton, New Zealand. The Brazilians will play Mali, which stunned Germany, 4-3, on penalties, at Christchurch.
UCLA closer David Berg was voted the stopper of the year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn., becoming the first twotime recipient of the award. Berg also won in 2013.
Charges have been dismissed against the WNBA’s Glory Johnson in a domestic violence case involving her then-fiancee Brittney
Griner, Johnson’s attorney said.