NEWARK: Islam Makhachev defended his lightweight title and extended his winning streak to 14 fights, third-longest in UFC history, by getting a submission victory over Dustin Poirier in the fifth round on Saturday night at UFC 302.
Overcoming one of the sport’s accomplished veterans and a crowd that was against him from the start, Makhachev ran his record to 26-1 and said afterward he may move up in weight for another challenge.
There’s certainly not much left for the Russian at 155 pounds, where he defended his title for the third time and showed again why he is ranked as the pound-for-pound best in UFC.
Poirier (30-9) fell short in his third attempt for the undisputed title, all three ending by submission.
He battled back after Makhachev controlled the first round and bloodied the champion’s face later, but Makhachev took him down midway through the fifth and quickly pounced, with Poirier unable to escape.
Makhachev beats Poirier by submission at UFC 302 to defend lightweight title
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Makhachev beats Poirier by submission at UFC 302 to defend lightweight title
Galeno returns to Al-Ahli squad ahead of season finale
- Key player available for selection in Monday’s crucial clash against Al-Riyad
- Forward had been out of action since injury in Elite AFC Champions League final
Brazilian winger Wanderson Galeno has rejoined Al-Ahli’s first team after a three-week absence due to injury, the club confirmed on Saturday.
Al-Ahli announced via its official X platform account that Galeno has returned to full training, making him available for selection in Monday’s crucial clash against Al-Riyadh — the 34th and final round of the Saudi Pro League (Roshn League).
Galeno had been out since sustaining a thigh muscle injury during the Elite AFC Champions League final against Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale on May 3. He scored in that match, helping Al-Ahli to secure a 2–0 victory and lift the continental title.
Since his arrival from Brazil in January, Galeno has made a strong impact with 18 appearances, netting seven goals and providing five assists for the Jeddah-based side.
First batch of Bangladeshi players arrives in Pakistan to play three-match T20 series
- The series will be held in Lahore, with the first T20 scheduled for May 28
- Both squads will train at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Monday, the PCB says
ISLAMABAD: A group of Bangladeshi players arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to play three Twenty20 internationals (T20Is) against the ‘Men in Green,’ the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.
The three-match T20I series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be held in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, with the first match scheduled for May 28.
The first group of Bangladesh contingent arrived in Pakistan in wee hours of Sunday and two more groups will arrive on Monday, according to the PCB.
Members of Pakistan’s squad will assemble in Lahore on Sunday, while players participating in Sunday’s final of the Pakistan Super League will join on Monday.
“Both teams will train at 7:30pm at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore,” the PCB said in a statement.
Bangladesh were initially scheduled to play five T20Is, but the tour was put in jeopardy following a cross-border conflict between Pakistan and India this month.
Both neighbors clashed for four days before agreeing to a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement on May 10.
Pakistan was also forced to reschedule its Twenty20 league — the Pakistan Super League (PSL) — after a ten-day break.
The Indian Premier League — the world’s richest cricket tournament — was also interrupted.
Saad bin Munawar becomes first Pakistani to summit Mt Everest from northern side
- Munawwar was part of a team of nine climbers who summitted the world's tallest peak as part of an expedition organized by Imagine Nepal
- The route to Everest peak from the northern face starts in Tibet, which is different from the Nepalese route that most mountaineers take
ISLAMABAD: In a remarkable feat, Saad bin Munawar has become the first Pakistani to summit the world’s tallest mountain, 8,848-meter Mount Everest, from its northern face, his expedition organizer said on Saturday.
Munawwar was part of a team of nine climbers who summitted the world’s tallest peak as part of the Everest North Expedition organized by Imagine Nepal.
The route to Everest peak from the northern face starts in Tibet, which is different from the Nepalese side route that most mountaineers take to ascend the peak.
“Saad has become the only Pakistani climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest from the north side,” his expedition organizer said on Facebook.
“The other climbers include Justin Moore Walker, Dawa Gyalje Sherpa, Ang Mingma Sherpa, Sonam Tashi Sherpa, Ngima Dorjee Sherpa, Lakpa Tenzing Sherpa, Dawa Kami Sherpa, and Thupten Topchen Sherpa.”
A renowned adventurer, mountaineer and author, Munawwar has long been a source of inspiration in Pakistan’s adventure community. Before this Everest ascent, he was the first Pakistani to summit 6,961-meter Mt.
Aconcagua, the highest peak outside Asia, according to Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), which arranges various expeditions in Munawwar’s home country.
“This remarkable achievement is not only a personal triumph for Saad but a proud milestone for Pakistan’s mountaineering community,” it said in a statement.
“His leadership in expeditions and mountaineering literature continues to motivate a new generation of climbers.”
Earlier this week, Pakistani woman mountaineer Naila Kiani scaled 8,586-meter Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak, to become the first Pakistani woman to scale 12 of the world’s 14 peaks above the height of 8,000 meters.
Kiani now stands on the threshold of joining a global elite of only 17 women who have conquered all 14 eight-thousanders, Imagine Nepal, which also organized Kiani’s expedition, said after Friday’s summit.
Rafael Nadal gets a farewell ceremony at a tournament he won a record 14 times
- There were plenty of active players on the program for Day 1 of the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament
PARIS: Rafael Nadal’s first French Open match in the tournament’s main stadium came on May 25, 2005 — a straight-set victory in the second round against Xavier Malisse. That made Nadal’s career record in the tournament 2-0, and he was just getting started on the way to what would end up as a 112-4 mark and 14 championships at Paris.
On Sunday, 20 years to the day after that win, Nadal was scheduled to be back at Court Philippe-Chatrier, only instead of competing, he was going to be feted by the French tennis federation for all that he accomplished on the red clay.
“Celebrating the King,” was the way the event was described on social media by the official Roland-Garros feed. There was no exact time for the start of the ceremony, only word that it would begin after the three day-session matches in Chatrier would finish — so perhaps somewhere around 5 or 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m or noon ET).
There were plenty of active players on the program for Day 1 of the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament, of course, from No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka to two-time major runnerup Jasmine Paolini, from US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton to Paris Olympics medalists Zheng Qinwen and Lorenzo Musetti.
None, though, was likely to draw as much attention and adulation as the 38-year-old former player with 22 total Grand Slam titles and known to all as “Rafa,” who played his final competitive match in the Davis Cup in November. Some folks did not think the tribute to him after a loss in his last appearance there lived up to what it should have been, and event director Feliciano Lopez had to defend it.
Other tournaments put off holding celebrations for Nadal this season, including Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome.
It just seemed fitting to all that the next big show should come at the site of so many of those lefty uppercut forehands, so many sprints to reach seemingly unreachable shots by opponents, so many triumphs.
This is the way Nadal described the fans in Paris: “They give me the love and the support every single second I have been on court.”
They were expected to pack the house on Sunday and it sounded as if some players planned to take in the scene, too, although at least one, four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, was going to need to make sure it wouldn’t interrupt her preparation for competition.
“I need to be aware that, for sure, I’m going to cry,” Swiatek said. “I would love to be there, because we should all kind of get together and celebrate Rafa and what he did for our sport and what kind of inspiration he was and still is.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas — twice a Slam finalist, including at the 2021 French Open — joked that Nadal won the trophy 29 times in Paris.
“It will be tough,” Tsitsipas said, “to see him go away.”
Raducanu overcomes fear of needles to manage back injury ahead of French Open
- The 22-year-old suffered a back spasm at the Strasbourg Grand Prix earlier this week
- She had faced a similar problem before this year’s Australian Open
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has overcome her phobia of needles in a bid to relieve a back injury ahead of her first round match against China’s Wang Xinyu at the French Open on Monday.
The 22-year-old suffered a back spasm at the Strasbourg Grand Prix earlier this week, and had faced a similar problem before this year’s Australian Open. Raducanu said dry needling and heat therapy have helped relieve it.
The Briton reached the second round in her last Roland Garros appearance three years ago, before undergoing wrist and ankle surgeries in 2023. She has steadily climbed back into the world’s top 50 after slipping out of the top 300 last year.
“It feels OK, it feels good, not 100 percent yet, but we’re working toward that. I still have a couple of days,” Raducanu told BBC Sport. “I would say the one before Australia was worse. I feel like this one I kind of caught before it fully locked up.
“At the start of the year I was so scared of needles. It was my biggest phobia... Since then, I’ve been kind of dipping my toes into it because I know it helps even though I’m really scared of them. That’s how I’ve kind of been trying to manage it.”
During the claycourt season, Raducanu reached the last 16 of the Italian Open, where she lost to eventual runner-up Coco Gauff. She fell in the second round of the Madrid Open to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
