TJ Dillashaw pulled off a stunning upset, dominating bantamweight champion Renan Barao until the fight was stopped at 2:26 of the fifth round at UFC 173 on Saturday night.
“I’ve dreamed it for so long, it’s unbelievable,” Dillashaw said. “If you can dream it, it can happen.”
Dillashaw ended the heavily-favoured Barao’s 35-fight unbeaten streak.
“Barao is the best in the world in my eyes,” Dillashaw said. “I had to bring my ‘A’ game to become the champion.”
The challenger utilised excellent footwork to attack from different angles, finding his range early and limiting the damage Barao was able to inflict.
Dillashaw (11-2) landed a hard overhand right in the second that hurt Barao, and nearly had him finished just before the end of the round. He maintained control throughout the next two rounds, switching between southpaw and orthodox stances while peppering Barao with a barrage of punches.
Dillashaw was well on his way to victory when he landed a left kick to Barao’s head midway through the final round. Barao (34-2-1) fell to the mat and Dillashaw quickly followed with punches, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.
“That’s who I am, I’m aggressive,” Dillashaw said.
In the co-main event, fourth-ranked Daniel Cormier dominated MMA great Dan Henderson (30-12), winning with a rear naked choke in the third round.
Cormier (15-0) is expected to challenge for the light heavyweight title and called out champion Jon Jones.
“Jones, you can’t run from me forever,” Cormier said. “If I decide to take Jon Jones down 100 times, I’ll take him down 100 times. I’m coming.”
Jones is set to fight Alexander Gustaffson in a title rematch, with Cormier expected to face the winner.
On the undercard, top welterweight contender Robbie Lawler was dominant in a third-round TKO over fifth-ranked Jake Ellenberger.
Lawler improved to 23-10 and will likely earn another shot at the title.
“I wanted to go out there and showcase what I can do,” said Lawler, who is fresh off a loss to champion Johny Hendricks. “I want everyone to know that I’m coming for the title.”
Sixth-ranked Takeya Mizugaki will continue his climb up the bantamweight ladder after a unanimous decision over 10th-ranked Francisco Rivera, and James Krause stopped Jamie Varner via TKO when Varner was unable to answer the bell for the second round due to a leg injury.
In the preliminary bouts, Michael Chiesa, Tony Ferguson, Chris Holdsworth, Mitch Clark, Vinc Pichel, Sam Sicilia and Li Jingliang each earned victories.
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THREE
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
(Because Music)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
T20 SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70')
Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)