San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MAKHACHEV WINS LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE
Islam Makhachev won the vacant lightweight title at UFC 280 with a secondround submission of Charles Oliveira in a onesided fight on Saturday.
The 31-year-old Russian won his 11th straight fight with an arm triangle choke at 3:17 of Round 2 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
“I told everybody my goal, ‘I have to finish this guy in the ground,’ and I did it,” said Makhachev, who is coached by Khabib Nurmagomedov, a former champion.
Oliveira was aiming to reclaim the title which was taken away in May after the Brazilian failed to make weight for his fight against Justin Gaethje.
Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling earlier retained his title with a second-round stoppage win against former two-time champion T.J. Dillashaw in an all-american encounter. He secured a TKO at 3:44 of Round 2.
Dillashaw dislocated his left shoulder early in the fight. He said afterward that he had likely dislocated his shoulder “a good 20 times throughout training camp.”
Soccer
Liverpool’s mini-revival came to a halt with a shocking 1-0 loss at relegationthreatened Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. But Chelsea and Manchester United continued to progress under respective managers Graham Potter and Erik ten Hag after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Meanwhile, Erling Haaland put last week’s blank against Liverpool behind him to fire Manchester City within a point of league leader Arsenal with a 3-1 win over Brighton.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp might have thought his team’s confidence-boosting victory over City last weekend would prove a turning point after such an unconvincing start to the season — especially after following it up with another three points against West Ham in midweek. But the loss at Forest raises fresh doubts over Liverpool’s ability to mount a credible title challenge. Taiwo Awoniyi, who spent six years at Anfield without ever playing for the first team, struck the second-half winner to relieve the pressure on Forest manager Steve Cooper, who was formerly part of Liverpool’s coaching staff. The win moved Forest off the bottom of the table.
• Manchester United defender Raphael Varane left the field in tears as his chances of playing in the World Cup were threatened by an apparent knee injury. The France international was substituted after 60 minutes of United’s draw at Chelsea in the Premier League. Varane was in visible distress and had to wipe away tears from his eyes as he made his way to the locker room at Stamford Bridge.
• Karim Benzema proudly showed his Ballon d’or award to fans at the Santiago Bernabeu and then sat back to watch Real Madrid beat Sevilla 3-1 and increase its lead of the Spanish league.
• A first-half brace from
Brahim Diaz helped AC Milan to a 4-1 win over Monza in an unhappy return to San Siro for former Rossoneri CEO Adriano Galliani.
• Gio Reyna started and scored to help Borussia Dortmund rout Stuttgart 5-0 in the Bundesliga. It was Reyna’s first league start of the season and he crowned an impressive outing on the left of midfield with his first goal of the campaign when he curled a fine strike inside the far post just before the break.
• Lens punished Marseille for its wasteful finishing by winning 1-0 with a deflected late shot to move up to second place in the French league. Lens midfielder
David Pereira da Costa’s shot clipped the leg of defender Leonardo Balerdi and looped over goalkeeper
Pau Lopez in the 78th minute. In the day’s other game, coach Laurent Blanc got his first win since taking charge of Lyon thanks to striker
Alexandre Lacazette’s 90thminute goal in a 2-1 win at Montpellier.
Tennis
It will be an all-italian final on home soil at the Napoli Cup today. Secondseeded Matteo Berrettini will face fourth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti after both won their respective semifinals at the outdoor, hardcourt tournament. Berrettini recovered from a set down and a foot injury to beat American Mackenzie Mcdonald 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. It was easier for Musetti, who took just 89 minutes to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4.
• American Sebastian Korda will play secondseeded Felix Auger-aliassime in the final of the European Open. Korda rallied from a break down in the third set to edge Dominic Thiem 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (4) and Auger-aliassime had to work hard to beat French player Richard Gasquet 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) in the semifinals.
Locally
It was not a good two days for the AHL San Diego Gulls. After dropping a 2-1 decision to the Ontario Reign in their home opener on Friday, the Gulls (1-3) watched the Reign score five straight goals in a 5-1 decision on Saturday night at Ontario.
• Behind Madison Corf’s match-high 21 kills, the San Diego State women’s volleyball team pulled away for a four-set victory over visiting Air Force in a Mountain West clash.
• Davis Mcdowell of the UC San Diego men’s golf team placed third of 93 players as the three-day Visit Stockton Invitational wrapped up. As a team, the Tritons tied for 11th in the 16school field.
Winter sports
Ilia Malinin’s brilliant quad axel, along with four more quads packed into a dynamic free skate, was enough to lift him past early Kao Miura at Skate America.
The 17-year-old American finished with 2807.73 points in his senior Grand Prix debut.
That was more than seven points clear of Miura and well ahead of third-place Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea. In the pairs competition, American world champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier overcame a few mistakes in their free skate to win the opening Grand Prix event of the figure skating season.