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SYDNEY: South African Dricus du Plessis defended his UFC middleweight belt on Sunday with a unanimous win over bitter rival Sean Strickland, destroying his opponent’s nose in a bloody title fight in Sydney.
The 31-year-old won 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 to boost his win-loss record to 23-2 and cement his status as mixed martial arts’ top 185-pound fighter.
Du Plessis first claimed the belt when he beat Strickland via a close split decision in Toronto in January last year, a bout the polarizing American repeatedly insisted he won.
The South African launched a successful defense against Nigeria-born Israel Adesanya in August, while Strickland rebounded with a tepid defeat of Brazil’s Paulo Costa to set up the re-match.
“To come in here and try to knock this man out it is next to impossible,” said Du Plessis, the first South African to win a UFC championship. “I’d love another round, but that’s not the game.
“I wanted a submission, a knockout or an absolute domination of a five rounder,” he added. “That’s what I gave. I gave it my all.”
The Toronto clash was decided by the smallest of margins, but this time it was all Du Plessis.
In a measured start he utilized his favored head kicks, landing four in round one as Strickland responded with tentative jabs.
The volume of strikes increased in round two with Du Plessis delivering combinations to the face that drew blood as he picked up the pace.
Strickland lacked urgency and Du Plessis rammed home the advantage in a dominant round four.
A huge right hook saw blood come pouring from the American’s nose, and another rocked him onto the cage.
Strickland’s nose was clearly bothering him as Du Plessis went in for the kill in the fifth and last round, targeting it whenever possible without being able to deliver a decisive knockout blow.
In a profanity-laden courtside interview afterwards, the American said his nose was broken.
“I popped it back in place and kept fighting for you,” he said. “He kicked my ass fair and square, props to him.”
Also on the maincard, Chinese strawweight queen Zhang Weili successfully defended her title for a third straight time, dominating previously unbeaten American challenger Tatiana Suarez.
The ferocious Zhang, seen as the best pound-for-pound women’s fighter in the sport, scored a unanimous win in the five-round fight that left Suarez with some nasty cuts.
“I was well prepared for this fight. Tatiana is very strong, but I just focused on myself,” said Zhang, who stretched her record to 26-3.
In the heavyweight non-title bout, Brazil’s Tallison Teixeira scored a knockout win over Justin Tafa after just 35 seconds, with a huge elbow to the nose sending the Australian down.
It stretched Teixeira’s record to 8-0.

LAHORE: Glenn Phillips warmed up for the Champions Trophy with his first one-day international century as New Zealand beat Pakistan by 78 runs in the opening game of the tri-nation cricket series on Saturday.
Phillips smashed an unbeaten 106 off 74 balls, including six boundaries and seven sixes, at a newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium. The No. 6 batter propelled New Zealand to 330-6 in its 50 overs on a flat wicket with Daryl Mitchell (81) and Kane Williamson (58) also getting the feel of the wickets for the upcoming Champions Trophy with half centuries.
In reply, Fakhar Zaman, playing his first international in more than seven months because of illness, made a belligerent 84 off 69 but the rest of the top-order batters struggled against spin.
Pakistan was bowled out for 252 in 47.5 overs.
Phillips capped a perfect day by trapping Zaman leg before wicket with his off-spin and also took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Babar Azam early in Pakistan’s run chase.

Babar struggled in his new role as opener in ODIs for the first time since 2015 and scored a painstaking 10 runs off 23 balls.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner (3-41) clipped the top-order with his left-arm spin while Bracewell took 2-41.
New Zealand, which is already sweating on the fitness of fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, had another injury scare when the ball hit Rachin Ravindra in the face as he misjudged a catch of Khushdil Shah in the outfield and had to leave the field.
Fast bowler Matt Henry chipped in with 3-55.

No. 10 batter Abrar Ahmed hit an unbeaten 25 that included three successive boundaries off Henry.
Phillips unleashed his power-hitting against Pakistan’s two premier fast bowlers – Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah — in the last five overs that cost the home team 84 runs.
Pakistan, which lost the toss, had kept New Zealand in check at 246-5 before Phillips cut loose against the two pacers.
Williamson, playing his first ODI since November 2023, took his time to settle down. He reached the slowest ODI half century of his career in 82 balls before he edged Afridi after sharing a 95-run stand with Mitchell.
Mitchell survived a close run-out at the non-striker’s end before he had scored when Babar couldn’t hit the stumps from close range, but settled in well to score nearly a run-a-ball before chipping a catch to mid-wicket against a low full toss from Ahmed (2-41).

Pakistan suffered a major blow in the latter half of the innings when Haris Rauf (1-23) had to leave the field due to side strain after he fell in his follow-through during his seventh over. He took no further part in the match.
Phillips switched gears when he smashed three sixes against Agha, who filled in for Rauf, and then hit an audacious reverse scoop against Afridi which went for a flat six over third man.
Phillips reached his hundred in an expensive 25-run last over of Afridi, who ended up with 3-88 in 10 overs. Michael Bracewell hit 31 in 23 balls.

Gaddafi Stadium is one of the three venues to be upgraded for the Champions Trophy.
Karachi and Rawalpindi will also host Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan.
Lahore hosts the second game of the tri-nation series between South Africa and New Zealand on Monday. Karachi then hosts the remaining two games, including the final on Feb. 14.