Merab Dvalishvili retains his 135-pound championship at UFC 316 with President Trump looking on
NEWARK N J AP Merab Dvalishvili retained his -pound championship when he tapped out Sean O Malley in the third round in the main event of UFC on Saturday night at the Prudential Center Dvalishvili a -year-old from the country of Georgia won the belt in a convincing though not aesthetically pleasing unanimous decision last year over O Malley Dvalishvili had his number in the rematch in front of a packed crowd that included President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson Dvalishvili - sat on top of the cage and bellowed toward the fans in the start of an exuberant celebration of his th straight MMA success I m on top of the world he declared inside the cage He was the only -pound champion on the card who won his bout Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison is now a UFC champion Harrison tapped out -pound champion Julianna Pe a with five seconds left in the second round to add another major championship in her fight career No U S judoka man or woman had ever won an Olympic gold medal before Harrison beat Britain s Gemma Gibbons to win the women s -kilogram division at the London Olympics She won gold again four years later at the Rio de Janeiro Games and made her MMA debut in The -year-old Harrison was a two-time million prize champion in the Professional Fighters League lightweight championship division before she moved on to UFC last year She won her first two UFC bouts and her record now a sparkling - in MMA overall coupled with her fame made her an instant contender for a title shot She needed just three fights to become a champion Harrison dropped to her knees in a teary celebration She then called out Amanda Nunes who retired in but explained ahead of the fight she would return to the cage to fight the winner It appears a title fight with Harrison looms in UFC Harrison called out Nunes to enter the ring and after specific encouragement from announcer Joe Rogan for assurance to open the cage door she walked and the two went face-to-face Nunes declared she would indeed fight Harrison at particular point for the -pound belt The crowd went wild as the two engaged in a brief staredown They had roared in delight hours earlier when Trump walked out to a thunderous standing ovation just ahead of the start of the UFC pay-per-view card Trump was accompanied by UFC President Dana White and the pair headed to their cageside seats for UFC to Kid Rock s American Bad Ass Harrison left the cage after the win and hugged Trump and posed for photos with the President and his entourage It wasn t the only nod to Trump s latest appearance at a UFC fight UFC fighter Kevin Holland choked out Vicente Luque to win the first fight with Trump in the building He scaled the cage and shook hands with Trump He briefly chatted with Trump and White before he returned for his post-fight interview Joe Pyfer draped himself in the American flag after he defeated Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight bout by unanimous decision We ve got the President of the United States We ve got Mike Tyson Pyfer bellowed inside the cage AP sports https apnews com sports Source
