Charles Oliveira denied Justin Gaethje from claiming his vacated UFC lightweight championship, winning via submission in the first round at UFC 274 on Saturday.

Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight belt he held after missing weight, meaning only Gaethje could win the title on Saturday.

After a furious opening exchange, the 32-year-old secured an 11th consecutive victory, reaffirming his status as the most dominant fighter in the division.

Extending the UFC record for the most submission wins (16) and most finishes (19), the Brazilian made his status in the division clear despite the vacated title.

"There's something missing here. The champ has a name and his name is Charles Oliveira," he said post-fight.

"This is a message to the entire division. I'm a problem for the entire division, look at my team.

"Dana White, I don't care who you put in front of me. I will take them all on."

Gaethje came out the blocks quickly and landed some big shots but critically allowed his opponent to stand back up after he was knocked down.

Given that breathing room, Oliveira recovered immediately, planting a right-hand to get Gaethje down on the ground and then showed composure, not seeking ground-and-pound but a submission.

Gaethje gave up his back after wriggling out of an initial attempt at a triangle, and Oliveira took advantage from there with a rear-naked choke.

Esparza wins as Chandler makes vicious KO

In the co-main event, Carla Esparza claimed victory over Rose Namajunas in a controversial 47-48 49-46 48-47 split decision, to claim the UFC women's strawweight championship.

In what was a very tepid bout, Namajunas effectively left her fate and belt in the hands of the judges, allowing Esparza to make sporadic forays and takedowns.

It was very different to the other lightweight bout of the night, where Michael Chandler scored a breathtaking knockout win over Tony Ferguson in the second round.

After an exciting first round, Chandler ended the fight early with an explosive front kick, catching Ferguson on the chin.

Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts starred for the Los Angeles Dodgers swept a double-header on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

Kershaw dominated the opener, giving up only five hits and striking out two over 81 pitches in seven innings, as the Dodgers won 7-0.

Betts shone in the night game, smashing a three-run double in the second inning and a two-run homer in the ninth to secure a 6-2 win.

Tyler Anderson struck out seven and gave up four hits over 80 pitches in five innings as the Dodgers claimed a fifth straight win.

They moved to 18-7 for the season and lead a strong National League West division, with every team holding a record at .500 or over.

Flores leads Giants to win over Cards

Wilmer Flores hit a grand slam in the first inning and finished with a career-high six RBIs as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-7.

Logan Webb struck out seven but gave up eight hits and four runs over 84 pitches in five innings, while Mauricio Dubon and Darin Ruf also hit home runs for the Giants.

Yadier Molina reached 1000 career RBIs and Dylan Carlson added a three-run homer, but it was not enough as the Cards had their three-game winning streak ended.

Polanco propels Twins to victory

Jorge Polanco led the Minnesota Twins as they sent the Oakland Athletics to their eighth consecutive defeat, claiming a 1-0 win.

Polanco had three of the Twins' five hits on the night from four at-bats, including a monster home run in the sixth inning, his third for the year.

Minnesota pitchers combined to strike out 15 while allowing three hits, as they maintained their lead atop the American League Central.

The Milwaukee Bucks escaped with a win in Game 3 against the Boston Celtics, claiming a 103-101 victory after a frantic final exchange on Saturday.

Boston trailed 103-100 when Marcus Smart was fouled by Jrue Holiday just before attempting a three-pointer to tie the game with 4.6 seconds remaining.

After making the first free-throw from a non-shooting foul, Smart intentionally missed the second attempt and got the rebound, but he missed his putback attempt.

Robert Williams flew in but the ball bounced off the glass, before Horford picked up the rebound, missed his putback attempt, got his own rebound and banked it in, but his final shot came just after the buzzer sounded, denying overtime.

Giannis Antetokounmpo put up a massive performance on the other end, coming up with 42 points on 16-of-30 shooting, 12 rebounds and eight assists, as well as two steals and blocks.

Dubs defend home court after slow start

The Golden State Warriors blew the Memphis Grizzlies out despite a slow start and poor shooting night from Stephen Curry beyond the arc, taking Game 3 out 142-112.

The Warriors coughed up seven turnovers as the Grizzlies created a double-digit lead in the first quarter, but once the home side took care of the ball, their shooting facilitated a comprehensive turnaround.

Despite two-of-eight from Stephen Curry beyond the perimeter, he and Jordan Poole were able to penetrate off the dribble and get the team great looks. The Dubs went 53-of-84 for the night with an extraordinary true shooting rate of 76.1 per cent.

Curry still finished with an even 50 per cent from the floor and hit all 14 free-throw attempts, getting 30 points and six assists. Poole contributed 27 points off the bench, while the team outside of Curry went 17-of-24 from the perimeter.

Ja Morant limped off late following a knee injury, finishing the night with 34 points and seven assists.

Keegan Bradley shot a three-under 67 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after 54 holes at the Wells Fargo Championship on Saturday.

The 35-year-old scored the low-round on a rain-interrupted day at TPC Potomac to finish on eight-under after 54 holes.

After splitting two birdies and bogeys on the front nine, Bradley regrouped on the back nine with two birdies on the opening three holes, before claiming another on the par-four 16th hole.

Max Homa is two strokes back on six-under after a one-over 71 for the day, with Anirban Lahiri and James Hahn a further two strokes back on four-under.

Heavy rain in Maryland during the week has wreaked havoc at Avenel Farm, but the windy conditions were just as impactful on Saturday's play, requiring particularly gritty shot selection.

Jason Day began the round with a three-stroke lead but shot a disappointing nine-over on moving day, with his tournament unravelling on the front nine.

Day found the water on consecutive holes after a bogey on the par-three third, posting a triple-bogey and bogey respectively, and then scored a double-bogey on the par-five 10th to eventually finish on 79.

While Bradley had the day's low round, only four players cracked par on Saturday, including Rory McIlroy who recovered from Friday's score of 73 and bogeys on the opening two holes to post two-under for the day.

Bradley will come into Sunday seeking his fifth PGA Tour tournament win, with his last coming at the 2018 BMW Championship, which he won in a playoff over Justin Rose.

Alexander Zverev avenged his Monte Carlo semi-final loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas, booking his place at the Madrid Open final with a 6-4 3-6 6-2 win on Saturday.

Zverev was dominant on serve, giving up only two break points for the match with a 73 per cent first-serve rate, while winning 40 of a total 48 points on his first serve.

The German will now aim to defend his title in Sunday's final when he faces Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated world number one Novak Djokovic earlier on Saturday.

The second seed will be seeking his sixth ATP 1000 title, with Sunday's final against the home favourite to be his 10th at that level.

"I'm just extremely happy to be in the final here," Zverev said post-match. "I know it's going to be an extremely tough match tomorrow but I hope I can manage to play my best and give myself a chance.

"It's going to be his [Alcaraz] court for the next 15 years probably. It has been Rafa's [Nadal] court for the past 15 years and it's going to be his court for the next 15 years.

"I just hope I can give him some trouble and I hope I can manage to win tomorrow."

Tsitsipas was similarly strong on his first serve but had a much lower rate at only 56 per cent for the match. Zverev simply had more looks at his opponent's second serve, winning 15 points compared to Tsitsipas' eight, but with each holding a 44 per cent success rate.

The defending champion at Caja Magica capitalised when it mattered, though, claiming the opening three games in the deciding set to set up the eventual win.

 Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was not impressed with Antonio Conte's tactics after Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by Tottenham on Saturday.

The Reds struggled in possession against a side openly looking to exploit them as they dropped two points in the Premier League title race.

Following Son Heung-min's opening goal, Liverpool needed some fortune to equalise in the 74th minute, with Luis Diaz's tame attempt from distance deflecting off Rodrigo Bentancur and wrong-footing Hugo Lloris.

Liverpool moved top on goal difference, but Manchester City can go three points clear by beating Newcastle United on Sunday and Klopp was critical of Spurs' approach at Anfield.

"I'm sorry I'm the wrong person for that, I don't like this kind of football," he said. "But that's my personal problem. I think they're world class, and I think they should do more for the game.

"I think the game against Liverpool they had 36, 38 per cent possession, but it's my problem. I cannot coach it. So that's why I cannot do it.

"So yes, world-class players block all the balls, really difficult. Fine, whatever, fine, absolutely fine. I just can't. I respect everything they do, but it's not me."

With 67 per cent possession in the second half, the Reds generated a cumulative total of 0.17 xG from 11 shots, in comparison to Spurs' 0.69 from five shots.

Klopp took the positives out of what could be a costly result for the Reds four days after they reached the Champions League final with a win over Villarreal.

"It is an important point because it's one point more than before the game," he said. "We're top of the table. In this moment we're disappointed.

"The boys are more disappointed than I am, it might be because I'm older and I've seen more.

"Some good things tonight though, the counter-press. Just little moments, better decision-making. It's easy for me to say because I didn't run, like, I didn't run four days ago. We could have won, but also they could have won because of their insane counter-attacking."

Dante says Nice's 1-0 Coupe de France final defeat to Nantes on Saturday will "hurt for a long time".

Ludovic Blas scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the first minute of the second half at the Stade de France.

Blas emphatically drilled home his spot-kick after Hicham Boudaoui handled and that was enough for Nantes to win their first major trophy for 21 years.

Nice were left to rue their lack of a cutting edge as they failed to end a trophy drought that stretches back to 1997, when they lifted the Coupe de France for a third time.

Captain Dante was left to reflect on a painful missed opportunity and warned Christophe Galtier's side must respond when they face St Etienne in Ligue 1 on Wednesday, with European qualification not secured.

The Brazilian defender said: "A lot of sadness. We are very disappointed because we really wanted to give this to our supporters and the people that have been waiting for this for so long, but we didn't manage to do so.

"It will hurt for a long time but we need to quickly lift our heads. We have a very important match on Wednesday."

Nice boss Galtier felt his side did not do themselves justice in Paris.

He said: "My feeling is disappointment. When you reach the final and you play for this magnificent trophy, you do everything possible to try to win it. 

"The big regret I have is about our technical quality on an offensive level. We had very little success in what we undertook. We showed too much haste in the game."

He added: "It is a great regret, a very great disappointment."

Xavi is not ready to welcome the end of Barcelona's season despite the relief of clinching Champions League qualification on Saturday.

The Blaugrana beat Real Betis 2-1 in Seville to ensure the fifth-placed side can no longer catch them in second.

Ansu Fati's scuffed shot broke the deadlock, before ex-Barca defender Marc Bartra responded with a similarly untidy header.

It fell to Jordi Alba to win the match and secure Barca's top-four place with a sublime 94th-minute volley.

Coach Xavi saluted his side for the effort they put in to recover from a poor start to the season, having won every match they have played against top-10 opposition in 2022.

But he still has his sights set on tying up second place.

"We've taken a weight off our shoulders," Xavi said. "It could have been a more complicated and difficult season.

"The team has competed a lot. We have not played excellently in many games; in others, yes, but we have a winning soul and competitive character.

"We beat the top 10 in this second round of the season. It's evidence that we have to play better. It has to be analysed, but we have made a titanic effort from November to here.

"We will be in the Champions League, the competition we deserve. Now we want to be second."

However, Xavi added this achievement was the "minimum required" at Camp Nou, saying: "I want to compete for titles. We can't miss another year not being competitive."

The former Barca midfielder will hope Fati can have a big role to play in an improved 2022-23 campaign, having been limited to 12 appearances – in which he has still scored six goals – due to injuries this term.

Xavi hailed Fati as his "difference-maker", scoring 75 seconds after his introduction from the bench, and said: "It's a very good feeling to have him back."

Liverpool's title hopes were hit as Tottenham raided Anfield for a point on Saturday, snatching a 1-1 draw that made Manchester City the big winners of the day without kicking a ball.

City will go three points clear, with three games remaining, if they beat Newcastle United on Sunday. 

Brighton inflicted fresh humiliation on a Manchester United side who must be used to it by now, crushing Ralf Rangnick's travel-sick Red Devils 4-0 at the Amex Stadium.

Watford's relegation was confirmed by a 1-0 defeat for Roy Hodgson's team at Crystal Palace, while Chelsea frailties were exposed in a 2-2 draw with Wolves.

After a compelling Saturday of action, Stats Perform looks at key Opta facts from four key games.

Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham: Anfield twist in title race as Reds hope for Newcastle favour

It was a case of looking for consolations for Liverpool and Tottenham after this Anfield draw. One positive for Liverpool is they moved top of the table. Yet they only stood there on goal difference and knew they would relinquish first place on Sunday, unless City were to slip up in their game in hand and lose to Newcastle.

This was a game both sides dearly wanted to win, with Liverpool's title prospects damaged and Tottenham, who led through Son Heung-min, unable to hang on for the win that would have taken them at least briefly into fourth place. They remain fifth.

Liverpool have lost just one of their past 28 Premier League home games against Spurs (W18 D9), and Luis Díaz, who netted a deflected equaliser, has scored in back-to-back appearances for the Reds in all competitions for the first time.

Tottenham became the first team to prevent Liverpool winning at Anfield in the Premier League since Brighton managed a 2-2 draw in October. Liverpool's 12-match winning streak in that respect is now over.

There was no goal from Mohamed Salah on his 250th Liverpool appearance. He has 155 goals for the Reds and had three attempts in this game, but all were blocked.

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte may have faced some snippy post-match comments from Klopp about his team's style of play, but the Italian has lost just one of his six Premier League encounters with Liverpool (W1 D4) and remains unbeaten against the Reds at Anfield in the competition (D3).

Son has 20 goals for the season in the Premier League, and he is just the second Tottenham player (after Gareth Bale's 21 in 2012-13) to score 20 in a league season without any being penalties.

Brighton and Hove Albion 4-0 Manchester United: Seaside surrender guarantees worst Red Devils haul

Rangnick continues to make history at United, only not in the way he would have hoped.

United slumped to a fifth consecutive away league defeat after an abomination of a performance. It is the first time since March 1981, when Dave Sexton's side were beaten in six straight road games, that they have endured such a dire run away from Old Trafford.

Rangnick does not take all the blame for United's pitiful campaign, but he has been at the helm since November so cannot avoid carrying the can to some extent.

United have 58 points and only one game remaining, so they are certain to finish with their lowest Premier League season points tally (previously 64 in 2013-14), and they have conceded 56 league goals, which is the most they have shipped since 1978-79 (63 goals).

Brighton can hold their heads high, after the biggest top-flight win in their history, in what was their 356th match at this level. They have won four of their past six games in the Premier League (D1 L1), more than they had in their previous 25 beforehand (W3 D13 L9).

Chelsea 2-2 Wolves: Coady highlights weakness as new era dawns for Blues

When Conor Coady headed the late leveller at Stamford Bridge, it showed again how susceptible high-flying Chelsea have been in the second half of recent Premier League games.

Thirteen of the last 15 goals Chelsea have conceded in the competition have come after half-time in matches, and their once vice-like grip on third place no longer looks quite that way after the draw with Wolves.

Chelsea were watched by Todd Boehly, who leads the consortium that will complete a £4.25billion takeover later this month, and he saw Romelu Lukaku score his first Premier League goals since a draw with Brighton in December.

Lukaku's double – a penalty followed by a 20-yard finish – came early in the second half. Wolves have not conceded a first-half goal in any of their last 17 away Premier League games, which is the longest such run in the competition's history.

Trincao got the comeback started and Coady's equaliser came six minutes and 29 seconds into stoppage time, making it Wolves' latest goal in a Premier League game since Raul Jimenez netted an equaliser against Burnley 6:55 into time added on in an August 2019 fixture. Coady also made a team-high 10 clearances, twice as many as any other player.

Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford: Hodgson's Hornets sunk by Zaha

Assuming he does not leave before then, this will be the first time in his managerial career that Roy Hodgson will end a Premier League campaign in the relegation zone with a team.

This short-term stint with Watford is set to mark the end of his career, and it was the former England manager's old club Palace that delivered the blow that means there is no way back now for the Hornets.

Having fought their way back into the elite at the first time of asking, Watford are now going straight back down to the Championship. It means Watford have been relegated in consecutive top-flight campaigns for the first time since a run of three seasons that ended in the drop (1987-88, 1999-00 and 2006-07).

Wilfried Zaha, who struck the decisive penalty, became the first Palace player to score both home and away versus Watford in a league season since Zaha himself in 2011-12 in the Championship.

Since the start of the 2013-14 campaign, only Manchester City (52) and Liverpool (51) have scored more Premier League penalties than Palace (48), and this result marked the first time in 30 years (since a run of five between March and April 1992) that Palace have kept four successive home clean sheets in the top flight.

Defending African champions Al Ahly are on the brink of the 2021-22 CAF Champions League final after dominating 10-man ES Setif in a 4-0 first-leg win in the last four.

Setif already had a tough task going away to the 10-time winners of the competition and trailed to Percy Tau's close-ranger header in the 30th minute before the tie took another turn in Al Ahly's favour.

Amir Karaoui was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Hussein El Shahat with 10 minutes of the first half still to play, giving the Algerian side a mountain to climb.

Al Ahly did not immediately punish their opponents, but Taher Mohamed doubled their advantage after 54 minutes when Tau's shot looped up in front of goal.

Tau continued to be involved in all of Al Ahly's best play and fed Mohamed Sherif for a cute finish for number three before completing the scoring himself with a tap in.

Jurgen Klopp insisted Liverpool would keep fighting for the Premier League trophy after a 1-1 draw with Tottenham dealt their title hopes a huge blow.

It could have been worse for Klopp's team, who fell behind to a close-range strike from Son Heung-min but kept going and snatched a draw thanks to Luis Diaz's deflected shot.

Liverpool had 22 shots to Tottenham's eight, but only three of those efforts from the Reds hit the target, with 13 blocked as Tottenham produced a doughty defensive effort.

The point took Liverpool top of the table, ahead of Manchester City on goal difference, but their title rivals have a game in hand and that comes on Sunday when Pep Guardiola's men face Newcastle United.

Klopp told BT Sport: "I'm really happy with the performance and proud of the mentality we showed against an incredibly good opponent with a game plan.

"I said before the game we have to win. I thought we had a few things today that were on a different level. The counter-press was absolutely outstanding.

"They scored a goal, and we had to keep our calm and increase the pressure. That's a massive challenge, but we did, and we scored an equaliser. It was not the result we wanted, but it was the performance I wanted, so from that point of view I'm fine."

Klopp even suggested Liverpool had it in their thoughts that they might score a goal such as the one Diaz came up with.

"We said before the game that the box would be full, so we need to give the deflection a chance," Klopp said.

His team were in midweek Champions League action, battling past Villarreal to reach the Champions League final on Tuesday night in Spain, keeping hopes of a quadruple alive.

That four-trophy bid has taken a knock, and a 12-game winning streak in the league at Anfield has been halted, but Klopp is not giving up on the dream outcome.

He said: "It's incredibly difficult to play against an opponent with world-class players and a world-class manager, and they have a full week to prepare, and we play every three days. But I'm really fine with the performance, and we will keep going.

"The dressing room is not flying at this moment, but come on, it was always clear something like this could happen. It's not that we need now tomorrow a defeat of City against Newcastle. There are other games to play, and we just have to keep going."

Neither side could be particularly happy with the final outcome, given three points for Tottenham would have lifted them to fourth, above north London rivals Arsenal who they will face on Thursday. Liverpool are back in action against Aston Villa on Tuesday.

Son said Tottenham delivered a "really good" display and described the reward as "a big point", albeit saying he was "gutted" Tottenham did not take advantage of a late chance when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was unable to find Harry Kane.

South Korean forward Son is Tottenham's leading scorer this term and took his Premier League tally for the campaign to 20, making him just the second Tottenham player to hit 20 or more goals in a season without having a penalty among the haul, after Gareth Bale in 2012-13 (21 goals).

Son has scored (12) and been involved in (17) more Premier League goals than any other player in 2022.

"It was a good team play and very proud, but it should be more," Son said. "The point is always good at Anfield, it's a really, really difficult place, but hard work has paid off."

Tottenham are itching to be involved in the Champions League next season, and whether they reach that objective may yet affect the future of key personnel.

"I want to play Champions League next season, this is clear in our minds," Son said, "so I think it was a big, big point."

Next comes the Arsenal derby, and Son said: "It's a big game like today, but we are playing at home, so we should take advantage. We need to prepare for four days and go for it, give everything we have and see what happens."

Charles Leclerc knows there is work still to do, but his Miami Grand Prix qualifying debut went entirely to plan as Ferrari's main man claimed pole position and was joined on the front row by Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc was able to secure pole for the third time in five races this season despite complaining he had not run his best lap on Saturday.

The Scuderia superstar profited from a late error from Max Verstappen, who had to settle for third, also letting through Sainz – back on form following his practice crash on Friday.

It puts Ferrari in a great position for a third win of the season, as many as they had managed in their previous three years combined, with Leclerc converting his previous two 2022 poles. All of his four career victories have come after qualifying fastest.

Each of the past four races in the United States have been won by a different driver – none of them being Leclerc – with three of them starting from pole.

"The last weekend hadn't been great for me [at the Emilia Romagna GP]," Leclerc said. "I made a mistake in the race.

"But today went well. We are starting on pole and we need to finish the job tomorrow.

"Red Bull are extremely quick in the straight lines, we are quick in the corners, and it will be a tight challenge tomorrow. But hopefully we will come back on top."

Leclerc is right to be wary of the threat of the Red Bulls in third and fourth, as Verstappen still believes he is in a good position to contend.

"Of course, you want to be on pole," the world champion said, "but where we came from, we've done a really good job.

"We have to start making the weekends a little bit less difficult because, like this, it's always going to be tricky.

"We have a good chance tomorrow. The car is handling quite well, so I'm looking forward to it."

Mercedes had taken pole – and subsequently won – at each of the previous six new Formula One circuits, but George Russell failed to get out of Q2 while Lewis Hamilton made do with sixth.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:28.796
2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.190secs
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.195s
4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.240s
5. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) +0.679s
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.829s
7. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +0.894s
8. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.954s
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +1.136s
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.880s

Ons Jabeur became the first player representing an African country to land a WTA 1000 title as she fended off Jessica Pegula in the Madrid Open final.

The Tunisian beat her American opponent 7-5 0-6 6-2, regrouping well after a major dip in the second set to scoop the biggest title of her career.

The history-making victory means Jabeur will jump from 10th to seventh in the WTA rankings on Monday, matching a career high, and she earns €1,041,570 in prize money.

After losing to Belinda Bencic in the Charleston Open final last month, Jabeur's run on the Spanish clay shows she is becoming increasingly resilient, and comes as a timely boost ahead of the French Open getting under way in two weeks' time.

"We've lost a lot of finals, but today I'm happy I pulled out the win," Jabeur said at the end of the match, addressing her support team.

"It was very tough, especially last time in Charleston, so thank you guys for always believing in me and pushing me forward."

Jabeur came from 4-1 behind to take the opener, and she now holds a 17-0 match record when winning first sets this year.

Pegula broke in the fourth game, having fended off three break points in the opening game of the contest. Jabeur hit back and soon had the match back on serve, before saving a set point with a thumping backhand.

The 28-year-old Pegula, daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, has carved out a successful career at the top level in tennis, reaching back-to-back Australian Open quarter-finals this season and last.

She was in trouble when she lost her serve in the 11th game though, and Jabeur capitalised to snatch the opener.

Pegula made a flying start to the second set, establishing a swift double break, and a flat Jabeur found no way back. A drop shot into the net on set point summed up her drastic drop in level.

Jabeur stopped the rot by breaking serve at the start of the decider. Pegula immediately got back on level terms, but another break for Jabeur saw her pull away, on her way to victory in an hour and 54 minutes, a tour-leading 12th win of the season on clay.

The impressive Jabeur is also the first Arab winner of a tournament at this lofty level.