Islam Makhachev defended his lightweight title and extended his winning streak to 14 fights, third-longest in UFC history, by getting a submission victory over Dustin Poirier in the fifth round on Sunday at UFC 302.

Overcoming one of the sport's accomplished veterans and a crowd that was against him from the start, Makhachev ran his record to 26-1 and said afterward he may move up in weight for another challenge.

There's certainly not much left for the Russian at 155 pounds, where he defended his title for the third time and showed again why he is ranked as the pound-for-pound best in UFC.

Poirier (30-9) fell short in his third attempt for the undisputed title, all three ending by submission.

He battled back after Makhachev controlled the first round and bloodied the champion's face later, but Makhachev took him down midway through the fifth and quickly pounced, with Poirier unable to escape.

-AP

Former Black Caps allrounder Corey Anderson has helped the United States begin the T20 World Cup with a seven-wicket win over Canada.

Anderson took a wicket with his first delivery in the opening match in Dallas as Canada were asked to bat and racked up a total of 194-5.

The USA made light work of the chase as Aaron Jones cracked 94 from 40 balls, reaching their target with 14 deliveries to spare.

Anderson finished the match with figures of 1-29 from three overs and 3no with the bat.

Since late 2020, Anderson has lived in the US after gaining citizenship through his wife, Mary Margaret, which allows him to represent a second country at international level. In December 2023, Anderson told Newstalk ZB about his intention to play for the USA.

“I’ve done my time now in terms of trying to become eligible,” he said.

“I think just some of the paperwork needs to be filed, but if that comes up it’s something I’ll assess when it does, and it just depends on what’s in front of me at the time and the opportunities.

“I can’t lie, it’d be exciting to play in another World Cup, with US being the hosts and if I can hold on long enough and potentially try and be involved in the Olympics, that’s something I think everybody in world cricket, from a playing capacity, would have to have the opportunity to [do].”

Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan says he was surprised Luke Jacobson was penalised after charging into a ruck and colliding headfirst with two Blues players last night.

Blues halfback Finlay Christie copped the brunt of the brutal collision in the 60th minute of the Super Rugby Pacific clash at Eden Park, with Chiefs captain Jacobson needing several stitches post-match.

Jacobson was trying to counter-ruck with the scores at 26-7 to the Blues, but led with his head and brushed Ricky Riccitelli’s shoulder before crashing into Christie. After the initial contact, Riccitelli pushed the openside flanker upwards, but not before he had already collided with Christie.

The match was paused while referee Ben O’Keeffe sent the incident to be reviewed by the TMO. The play was deemed to be just a penalty against Jacobson and he was able to remain on the field.

Read about it here.

Novak Djokovic has defeated 22-year-old Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the last 16 for the 18th time.

The match wrapped up around 3.08am and is the latest-ever finish at Roland-Garros.

Shane van Gisbergen grabbed the lead coming out of a late caution and held on on the road course just north of downtown Portland on Saturday for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

From New Zealand, the 35-year-old van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Cup Series race last year in Chicago on a downtown road course.

Justin Allgaier, who led the first two stages Saturday, finished 0.941 seconds behind Van Gisbergen’s No 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

“What a day. It was really cool, had some great racing,” van Gisbergen said. “I need to get better on my restarts and learn how to position. But I still had fun. Really, really cool racing. I love these cars. They’re great.”

There was a multi-car crash on coming out of the 12th turn with eight laps to go, bringing out the fourth caution of the race. Brandon Jones smashed into the barrier, but emerged from the car unscathed.

Van Gisbergan overtook Allgaier on the restart.

“Once he got behind me there, I probably over-drove it, trying to get back to him and probably didn’t help my cause,” Allgaier said.

The 75-lap race on the 12-turn, 1.97-mile (3.17km) course was run under cloudy conditions with the temperature hovering around 21C. It was the third year of the event, a rare standalone Xfinity Series race and the only NASCAR event in the Pacific Northwest.

Sam Mayer had the pole in the JR Motorsports Ford with a fast lap of 96.645 mph (155km/h) in qualifying earlier in the day. Van Gisbergen started second.

Mayer spun on the first turn after contact with van Gisbergen, allowing Riley Herbst in the Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to move into the lead.

Allgaier won the first and second stages in the No 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, giving him 63 career stage wins. It was Allgaier’s fourth top-five finish of the season.

A.J. Allmendinger, who won the inaugural Portland race in 2022, crashed during qualifying and had to use a back-up car. He finished fourth.

A three-time winner of the Supercars Championship with 81 career victories, van Gisbergen earned a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with the Portland win.

“It’s been a pretty special nine or 10 months since we started to do this. Pretty stoked to be now in the playoffs, back in victory lane again,” he said.

The series moves to the road course at Sonoma next weekend.

- AP

A huge right hook from Zhang stuns Wilder who goes walkabout in the ring. Another right from Zhang puts down the American. Wilder gets back on his feet but the referee calls off the fight.

James Tedesco is set to play in the State of Origin series opener only days on from being axed, after scans revealed Dylan Edwards had strained his left quadriceps.

AAP has been told Edwards will remain with the Blues but that Tedesco will join the squad in Sydney instead of playing fullback for the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

Edwards went for scans on Sunday morning after pulling up sore following a training session at NSW's Blue Mountains camp on Saturday.

The Blues said at the time they would wait until Sunday to make a call on Edwards' fitness and have since decided playing him would be too risky.

The New South Wales Rugby League is currently seeking an exemption from the Australian Rugby League Commission to bring Tedesco in from outside their initial 20-man squad.

Pending that exemption being granted, Tedesco will make a fairytale return to the Blues only days on from Michael Maguire's initial decision to axe him following 22 consecutive games as the state's fullback.

- AAP

Ryan Fox has dropped back to a tie for second in the third round of the PGA Tour's Canadian Open in Ontario.

The Kiwi started with an eagle and two birdies to build a four-shot lead after five holes, but has since fired four bogeys.

Fox is even par for the round through 16 holes, 10-under overall with leader Robert MacIntyre at 12-under.

New South Wales fullback Dylan Edwards is set to miss game one of State of Origin with a quad injury.

9News is reporting James Tedesco will miss the Roosters' NRL game against the Cowboys tonight to play for the Blues against the Maroons on Wednesday in Edwards' absence.