Miocic wins UFC title on KO
Stipe Miocic of the United States scored a firstround knockout of Brazil’s Fabricio Werdum in front of his shocked home crowd and is the new UFC heavyweight champion.
Miocic, an Ohio firefighter, has won six of his last seven fights. Werdum had won five straight fights, highlighted by a win against Mark Hunt for the interim title and then a submission victory against Cain Velasquez in a unification bout.
Tests revealed no structural damage to the left leg of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop, who left the ice on a stretcher Friday during the first period of a 3-1 Game 1 victory over Pittsburgh in the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals. Tampa Bay Coach Jon Cooper was upbeat about Bishop’s prognosis even though he cautioned Bishop’s status for Monday night’s Game 2 — and anything after that really — remains uncertain.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will line up in a major final Sunday for the second straight week as the pair took contrasting routes into the title match of the Italian Open in Rome. Second-seeded Murray, who lost the Madrid final a week ago to Djokovic, needed less than an hour to dispatch Lucas Poulille, 6-2, 6-1. Djokovic spent just over three hours in holding off sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
On the women’s side, it’s going to be a rare allAmerican affair in the final. Top-ranked Serena Williams will meet 21-year-old Madison Keys to mark the first time two American women have met in a final on clay since Serena beat older sister Venus in the 2002 French Open. Serena beat 35th-ranked Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-4, 6-1, and the 24th-ranked Keys defeated Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza, 7-6 (5), 6-4. The 34-year-old Williams will be aiming for her 70th career title, while Keys will be looking for her second.
USC remained undefeated in women’s water polo at 25-0 and reached the NCAA championship match with a 9-6 victory over Michigan at UCLA. The Trojans will face Stanford, which defeated the host Bruins, 7-4 . ... UCLA and USC advanced to the NCAA men’s tennis round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla. Secondranked UCLA defeated San Diego, 4-0, and No. 10 USC defeated Georgia Tech, 4-2 . ... In NCAA women’s tennis, Pepperdine defeated USC, 4-2, and Ohio State knocked out UCLA, 4-1 . ... USC’s Adoree’ Jackson won the long jump at the Pac-12 track and field championships at 25 feet 31⁄2 inches. UCLA got wins from Kylie Price in the women’s long jump and Nick Scarvelis in the shotput.
Barcelona won its second straight Spanish league soccer title after defeating Granada, 3-0, with a hat trick by Luis Suarez . ... Zlatan Ibrahimovic, possibly headed to the Galaxy, set a record with 38 French league goals in a season by a Paris SaintGermain player, scoring twice in a 4-0 win over Nantes . ... In a challenge to the integrity of new FIFA President Gianni Infantino, compliance chairman Domenico Scala resigned in protest over what he sees as a power grab by Infantino.
Canada secured a place in the quarterfinals of the world ice hockey championship by beating Slovakia, 5-0, while Finland and host nation Russia also qualified with two games remaining.
Justin Gatlin’s preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics got off to a solid start with a commanding 100-meter win in 9.94 seconds at the Shanghai Diamond League meet.
I Will Score won the $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes for 2-year-olds by a neck at Santa Anita. Ridden by Martin Garcia, I Will Score ran seven furlongs in 1:21.30 and paid $8.80, $4.40 and $3.20 as the 3-1 second choice to earn his first stakes win for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Ziconic, a son of Zenyatta, finished third in the eighth race . ... Unified held off Governor Malibu by three-quarters of a length in the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park. Unified remained unbeaten at three for three with the victory in the traditional prep for the Belmont Stakes.