Brazil's Charles Oliveira rallied with brutal efficiency to knock out American Michael Chandler early in the second round at UFC 262 in Houston and be crowned new lightweight champion.
"I am proving to everybody I am the lion of lions," Oliveira said inside the cage afterwards. "I told you I was going to knock him out and I came and knocked him out."
The 31-year-old Oliveira's next challenge will be to carve his legacy in the blue riband UFC weight class previously dominated by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
"I wanted to come here tonight and show that I am the best," said Oliveira.
The 35-year-old Chandler had been fast-tracked to a title shot after the former Bellator organisation lightweight champion's stunning UFC debut in January with a first-round knockout of New Zealand veteran Dan Hooker.
An all-American wrestler in his college days, Chandler has evolved into an explosive stand-up force and appeared to have been ahead after the first round.
He somehow managed to escape Oliveira's clutches after the fight had gone to the ground early and he landed some huge headshots, particularly from his left hand, when they got back to their feet.
But it was Oliveira who came out swinging hard and fast in the second. A left hook put Chandler down and was followed by a barrage of unanswered blows with the referee stepping in after only 19 seconds of the round.
The jubilant Oliveira vaulted the fence and embarked on an impromptu victory lap from the cage-side commentary desk into the crowd.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu master had arrived in Texas boasting more submission wins than anyone else in UFC history with 14 and his TKO win gave him another record -- 17 finishes inside the distance.
"Michael said I couldn't take pressure and he hit, hit, hit and I'm still here. Here's the belt."
While Nurmagomedov, arguably the greatest MMA champion of all time, retired last October with a record of 29-0, McGregor remains in the lightweight mix.
The Irish 32-year-old is ranked sixth, despite losing two of his past three fights, and he is set to face the top-ranked American Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in Las Vegas on July 10.
McGregor topped Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's richest sportsmen for the past 12 months, with earnings inside and outside the cage of an estimated $180 million.
Local media reported Saturday that about 17,500 tickets had been sold for the event, with the UFC was claiming the $4 million gate receipts were a record at a venue that is usually home to the Houston Rockets NBA team.
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
