Israel Adesanya of Nigeria kicks Robert Whittaker of Australia in their middleweight championship fight during UFC 271 at Toyota Center on February 12, 2022 in Houston, Texas.

Israel Adesanya, early yesterday morning, successfully defended his middleweight title against Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271, winning the bout by unanimous decision.

In what was a rematch of their first fight two-and-a-half years ago, Adesanya’s ability to control distance, counter strike and defensive wrestle were too much for his Australian-born challenger to overcome as The Last Stylebender took his UFC record to 22-1.

Adesanya took the belt from Whittaker to kick off his title reign at 185 pounds, and the Nigerian has now added the man affectionately known as Bobby Knuckles to the list of challengers, who have failed to take his crown.

With the win over Whittaker, Adesanya now has one or more wins against everyone in the top five of the middleweight division outside of Jared Cannonier.

The win is also Adesanya’s 11th consecutive victory as a middleweight in the UFC, only two behind the record set by UFC legend, Anderson Silva, as the Last Stylebender continues to cement his legacy as one of the greatest to ever step foot in the Octagon.

In truth, Whittaker, whose UFC record now drops to 23–6, performed better this time around than in their first meeting, and indeed got better through the fight, but four out of those five rounds belonged to Adesanya as he landed some outrageously effective outside leg kicks, and never found himself in any real danger.

Adesanya took the early lead in the fight, peppering Whittaker with leg kicks in the opening round but also scored an early knockdown with a precise left straight.

Whittaker was able to land a takedown in Round 2, but it didn’t take long for Adesanya to work his way back to his feet.

Adesanya’s ability to control where the fight took place was the biggest story as the fight developed. Whittaker had some success when he doubled up his jab, but Adesanya met most of his attacks with a sharp counter-punching.

That advantage temporarily switched to Whittaker for a moment in Round 4 as the Aussie was able to capitalize on an Adesanya mistake to take his back and attempted a standing rear-naked choke but he couldn’t get it locked in.

In the end, it was the New Zealand-based Adesanya who had the upper hand for the majority of the fight and his latest win marks the end of a good week for The Last Stylebender. On Wednesday, his management team announced a new contract with the UFC.

Adesanya knows what he brings to the UFC and was eager to make sure that his value was appreciated by Dana White and the rest of the organisation.

“The thing I want to know is what’s my value to the company,” Adesanya said. “You can’t undersell my value, if you are, you’re kidding yourself. I bring so many different looks to this company.”

More than anything, Adesanya gives the UFC a dominant champion with a fan-friendly style. He may have come up short in his attempt to be a two-division champion against Jan Blachowicz, but there’s no disputing his place as the preeminent 185-pounder in the sport right now.

Leighton Saopolo were the biggest winners in the opening week of the 2022 Lagos International Polo Tournament, which came to a befitting climax with teams from the host state sweeping all the three prizes at stake.

Lagos Dangote set the pace with an emphatic victory against Centaur to clinch the debuting Adedapo Ojora Cup, before title holders, Leighton Saopolo, successfully defended the Lagos Open Cup and the Oba of Lagos Cups respectively.
 
In a tense final witnessed by a capacity crowd that included former Senate President, Bukola Saraki and billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu, Leighton Saopolo scored in the first minute of the game that went neck-to-neck, hitting 9 to 8 to deny Almat Petrogas their first major title in Lagos.

Before the Open Cup cracker, the duo of Seyi Oyinlola and Bowale Jolaosho had earlier defeated Centaurs to keep the Oba of Lagos title for the fourth consecutive year. They are bracing for a treble at the Majekodunmi Cup, which begins today.

Martin Juaregui broke from the bowling in to score the quickest goal of the festival so far, but Manuel Crespo equalised in kind and pivoted Almat, parading Ibrahim Haliru, Habib Buhari and Felipe Marquez, to a 4-1 lead in the second chukka.

The lead was soon wiped out with two quick fires from Juaregui and Ratamar to draw level in the third chukka and reclaimed the lead 9 to 7 in the fourth chukka
 
Juaregui and Ratamar were the chief predators for the Lagos side, as they held on till the end despite Crespo, a former MVP of the Lagos International Polo Tournament, netting the final goal to finish 8 to 9.

Today, five teams from Abuja, Kano and Lagos will start the journey for the event’s biggest prize, the Majekodunmi Cup.

In the fixtures, Kano Lintex and Abuja Almat team will play in the opening game of the Majekodunmi Cup series, just as action will begin in two subsidiary prizes, the Lagos Heritage Cup and the Italian Ambassador’s Cup.

For another year running, the prestigious festival host a renowned and faithful collection of sponsors with GTCO leading others like ChapelHill Denem, MTN, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO), Metro Capital, Arbico, Vueve Clicquot and Coronation.

Chairman, Lagos State Judo Association (LSJA), Sheriff Hammed, has assured Nigerians that the state is prepared to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games national judo trials, which was earlier moved from January to this month.

The tournament, which serves as athletes’ selection for the 2022 Commonwealth Games holding in Birmingham, England, was earlier scheduled to hold from January 26 to 29 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

But it was rescheduled to hold from February 22 to 25 at the same venue as the earlier date clashed with zonal eliminations for the 2022 NUGA Games to be hosted by the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

Over 300 judokas from across the country are expected to participate in the three-day tournament.

The LSJA chairman said the event would give the state opportunity to showcase its facilities and the support the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) has been receiving from the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led government.

“We are excited to welcome the best judokas from across the country in Lagos. We are poised to stage a hitch-free event and we believe we will continue to raise the profile of the sport in a state regarded as Nigeria’s hub of sports.

“There is no doubt that the postponement would afford the athletes opportunity to train well and be prepared for the challenge, as only the best will make it to the Commonwealth Games,” he said.

Hammed lauded the Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), led by Dr. Musa Oshodi, for considering the state as the host of the tournament, which is the first major competition since the new board came to being last year.

Australian state Victoria said Wednesday it was in exclusive talks to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

It is planned to hold events across Victoria, whose capital city is Melbourne if it secures the multisports games, said the state’s premier Daniel Andrews.

“Victoria is Australia’s sporting state, and, if awarded, the 2026 Commonwealth Games would demonstrate to the world a new way to deliver the competition,” Andrews said.

“We would hope to have the majority of events in our regional cities to display the best of Victoria, create jobs and housing and infrastructure that will deliver for the long term.”

Victoria last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006 when events were focused on the state capital Melbourne.

The state said it had signed a “heads of agreement” for exclusive negotiations on hosting the competition again in 2026.

The agreement was signed with the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia.

“Victoria is one of the world’s greatest sporting states and there is no doubt it has the venues, infrastructure and people to stage a world class edition of the Games,” said Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin.

Australia’s Gold Coast in Queensland was home in 2018 to the last edition of the “Friendly Games”, as the Commonwealth Games are called, attracting more than 4,000 athletes from its 54-nation members, almost all of whom are former territories of the British Empire.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games are due to be held in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8.