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.
Du Plessis batters Strickland to retain UFC middleweight crown
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Du Plessis batters Strickland to retain UFC middleweight crown
- 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
Pakistan bowler Tariq and his unusual delivery courts controversy at the T20 World Cup
- Offspinner’s unconventional bowling action has already mesmerized some of the big names
- As is often the case in cricket, the reasons for Usman Tariq’s potential illegal delivery are complicated
ISLAMABAD: With a momentary pause in his delivery and his statue-like pose at the crease, Pakistan spin bowler Usman Tariq has created plenty of attention at cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup.
Just enough, it seems, to throw off opposing batters.
With it has come a fair share of controversy — that his pause-and sling style of bowling is an illegal delivery, or in cricket parlance, chucking. He’s already been reported twice, but cleared, by Pakistani cricket authorities.
The 28-year-old offspinner’s unconventional bowling action has already mesmerized some of the big names in shortest format of the game and has seen him taking three wickets against an inexperienced United States in Sri Lanka this week in what was his first T20 World Cup game.
As is often the case in cricket, the reasons for Tariq’s potential illegal delivery are complicated.
First there is the so-called “15-degree debate” — that bowlers cannot exceed the ICC’s 15-degree elbow flex limit, which is nearly impossible for on-field umpires to judge accurately in real time.
Another talking point has been the pause in Tariq’s delivery stride. Some critics, including former India cricketer Shreevats Goswami, compare it to a football penalty run-up that would be ruled illegal if the shooter stops midway.
Baffling the batters
Batters like Cameron Green of Australia and South African Dewald Brevis are a few notable players that were flummoxed by Tariq’s bowling action.
Power-hitter Brevis fell to Tariq’s only second ball in T20 international cricket in November. Green shook his head in disbelief and mocked Tariq’s bowling action close to the boundary line — but later apologized — when he walked back after slicing a wide delivery straight to the cover fielder during Pakistan’s 3-0 sweep of Australia at Lahore.
Tariq’s rise in T20 cricket has also seen him taking a hat-trick at Rawalpindi when he took 4-18 against Zimbabwe during the tri-series in November. He has taken 11 wickets off his 88 balls in only four T20 internationals.
It was no surprise when selectors included Tariq in the 15-man T20 World Cup squad, knowing that pitches in Sri Lanka would suit slow bowlers more than pacemen.
Tariq’s journey to top-level cricket wasn’t a smooth one. He was twice reported for suspect bowling action during country’s premier domestic T20 tournament — the Pakistan Super League — over the last two seasons, but on both occasions he was cleared after testing at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
“I have two elbows in my arm,” Tariq said. “My arm bends naturally. I have got this tested and cleared. Everyone feels I bend my arm and all that. My bent arm is a biological issue.”
Tariq has also featured in the Caribbean Premier League and with his deceptive bowling action he was the tournament’s second-highest wicket taker for champions Trinbago Knight Riders.
Long pause a problem
“The batters are struggling to read Tariq because of the long pause the moment he steps on the bowling crease,” former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who has played with Tariq in the PSL’s Quetta Gladiators, said.
“The long pause disturbs all the concentration of batters and when he bowls a fastish (delivery, after a long pause), or even a slow ball, it leaves the batters clueless.”
Less than three months ago, Tariq said he had dreamed about playing against archrival India. And after Pakistan withdrew its boycott of Sunday’s game in the T20 World Cup, Tariq’s dream could come true if Pakistan uses five spinners against India.
“I wish there’s a match against India and I can win the game for Pakistan single-handedly,” Tariq said then. “My coaches have injected this thing in me that ‘you have to win matches single-handedly’.”
On Sunday against India, Tariq could do just that.
