NEW YORK (The Thursday Times) — Kayla Harrison ne Saturday raat UFC 334 mein chauthe round ke aaghaz mein Amanda Nunes ko rear-naked choke mein jakar kar khawateen bantamweight title barqarar rakha, jabke Ciryl Gane ne Madison Square Garden mein teeno judges ke scorecards par Josh Hokit ko hara kar heavyweight belt apne paas rakhi.
Harrison ki dairina hareefi ka ikhtitam
Co-main event ne woh hareefi khatam kar di jo taqreeban aath saal se chali aa rahi thi. Nunes, jo taqreeban saarhe teen saal pehle retire hui thin, is muqable ke liye wapas aayin magar maujooda champion par qaboo na pa sakin, jinhon ne chauthe round mein muqabla khatam kar diya.
Gane ki record saaz jang mein jeet
Gane ne paanch round ka main event teeno scorecards par 48-47 se jeeta. 29 saala Hokit, jo 15 maah pehle UFC mein aaye aur apni tez zabani ki wajah se pehchane jate hain, pehli ghanti se hi champion par chadh daude aur mukkon aur grappling ki tez raftaar larai chhedte rahe. Pehle round ke ikhtitam par ek zabardast slam se unhon ne tamashaiyon ko jhinjhod diya aur doosre aur teesre round mein bhi unka palda bhaari dikhai diya.
Gane ne jab aur body par mukkon se jawab diya aur aakhri rounds mein striking par qaboo pa liya. UFC ke sarkari aadad-o-shumar ke mutabiq unhon ne kul strikes mein Hokit ko 298-243 se peeche chhoda. Dono ki mujmoi 541 strikes UFC ki heavyweight larai ka record hain, aur Gane ki 237 aham strikes ne bhi heavyweight record tod diya.
Hokit ne baad mein kaha: ‘‘Main kabhi umeed nahi chhodunga. Main ek din champion banunga.’’ Gane ne kaha ke unhon ne Hokit ko kabhi halka nahi liya. UFC ke sarbarah Dana White ne kaha ke unhein Hokit ka andaaz napasand tha magar ab woh unki izzat karte hain, aur unhein ‘‘haqeeqi daawedaar’’ qaraar diya.
Gane ko sirf Jon Jones aur Francis Ngannou se shikast hui hai. Unke agle mumkina hareefon mein Alex Pereira, Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkov aur Sergei Pavlovich shamil hain.
Card par pehle Stephen ‘‘Wonderboy’’ Thompson ne Charles Radtke ko teesre round mein sar par spinning kick maar kar rok diya.
