Tag: Martin

Islam Makhachev capped his ascent to the lightweight throne with a win by arm triangle choke against Brazilian Charles Oliveira; TJ Dillashaw suffered a dislocated shoulder against Aljamain Sterling and continued until referee Mark Goddard called a halt

Islam Makhachev pulled off a submission win over Charles Oliveira to win the lightweight title and Aljamain Sterling beat TJ Dillashaw by TKO to claim the bantamweight belt at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Makhachev capped his ascent to the lightweight throne with a win by arm triangle choke against Brazilian Oliveira, the holder of the UFC record for submission wins with 16.

Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight belt in May when he missed the weight for his title clash with Justin Gaethje and though he beat the American the title remained vacant, setting up the showdown with Russian Makhachev.

After spending much of the first round defending and trying to threaten with submissions off his back, Oliveira tried to keep the fight on the feet in the second round.

That tactic looked like it was paying off until he was decked by a punch from Makhachev, who wasted no time jumping on his opponent, locking in the choke and forcing the tap for Oliveira.

Makhachev dedicated the win to his late coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who died in 2020, saying: “Many years ago he told me just train hard and I will be champion”,

He then handed the belt to Khabib Nurmagomedov, who took over from his father as the Russian’s coach and is himself a former UFC lightweight champion.

Makhachev’s 11th submission win moves the 31-year-old to a record of 23 wins and one loss as a pro.

In the co-main event TJ Dillashaw, who had to give up the belt and serve a two-year suspension after testing positive for EPO in 2019, suffered a dislocated shoulder early in the first round but somehow made it through the first frame.

Reigning champion Aljamain Sterling did not let up and Dillashaw’s shoulder popped out again in the second round, allowing the 33-year-old Jamaican-American to take him down and dominate him until referee Mark Goddard called a halt.

“I probably popped it out about 20 times in training camp… I told the ref in the back that my shoulder is probably going to pop out, we’ll put it back so if it does don’t stop [the fight],” American Dillashaw said in his post-fight interview.

In the main card’s other big fight, American Sean O’Malley won a close split decision over Russian Petr Yan after a three-round brawl to put himself in pole position for a shot at the bantamweight title.

Names of banned coaches will be found online but removed when a punishment has been served; the “Reform ’25” action plan comes as a result of complaints and findings published in June’s Whyte Review into misconduct within gymnastics

British Gymnastics will name coaches who have been banned as part of a response to an investigation exposing the sport’s abusive culture.

A 40-point “Reform ’25” action plan is intended by the governing body to create “safe, positive and fair experiences” for gymnasts.

It follows more than 400 complaints to the Whyte Review that was published in June and found young gymnasts in Britain had been left humiliated, shamed and permanently psychologically or physically damaged.

A challenge for gymnastics officials is determining the proportionality of sanctions based on the scale of misconduct – from sexual and physical abuse to bullying and malnutrition.

While British Gymnastics will publish lists of banned coaches online, their names will be removed once a punishment has been served.

It leaves open the possibility of coaches returning to the sport with athletes and any guardians never knowing about past misconduct.

British Gymnastics CEO Sarah Powell told Sky News: “I think we would have to be really convinced about why somebody had been banned, and then will come back into the sport. I don’t know until I look at the determinations of those outcomes.”

British Gymnastics will publish lists of banned coaches online, although names will be removed once a punishment has been served

Coaches who are suspended pending the outcome of an investigation will also not be named – opening up the possibility of them working in other countries in another sport.

The aspiration to improve welfare, safeguarding and complaints is for “zero tolerance of abuse – whether that be emotional, physical or sexual” and more specialist staff to handle complaints.

On the education priorities, Reform ’25 highlights the need for “a cultural understanding that creating a fear of coaches has no place in gymnastics”.

There are concerns that British sport has developed a medals over morals culture, but the action plan states there should be a “recognition that striving for and achieving success is not the same thing as wellbeing”.

British Gymnastics wants the reforms implemented by 2025 – a year after the next Olympics in Paris – but with regular progress updates on the progress in improving the environment that is focused on high-performance while eradicating risks.

Powell said: “The key for us is to make sure that those who’ve been affected, we acknowledge the failings of the past, and we make sure we set out a new direction for the future.

“The reforms that we’re putting in place today will ensure that this sport can be a safe, positive experience for all involved.”