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The fight ended with Jon Jones on his back.

That’s how dominant he was.

Say what?

What I’m saying is, Jones took so much of the fight out of Rashad Evans through the first 24 minutes, 50 seconds of Saturday night’s light heavyweight title bout at UFC 145 in Atlanta that, as the final seconds ticked off the clock and the fans roared for one last flurry of fisticuffs, what they got to see instead was a champion demonstrating that he can do anything he wants at any time.

So "Bones" leaped at Evans, wrapped his arms around his neck and legs around his back, then pulled the challenger down on top of him — the defensive maneuver known in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as pulling guard.

Why?

"You know what? Rashad, I knew he was going to be swinging for those haymakers," Jones said afterward in an interview in the cage. "And I am a mixed martial artist, and I’m not afraid to be on my back. So yeah, definitely, pull guard."

Later, at the postfight news conference, the 24-year-old amplified his reasoning.

"A lot of times people want to, you know, they look at that as kind of a sissy move or something," Jones said. "But I think a lot of Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners around the world loved it and respected it. It’s part of the game, and I think it was a smart decision."

That’s one way of looking at it. Another way would be to acknowledge that Jones is ceaselessly unpredictable and imaginative. I mean, if he wanted to avoid any last-ditch Evans haymakers, the champ could have simply climbed on his bicycle and done some of that not-quite-Ali shuffling he’d showed off earlier in the round. But he wanted us to see something we hadn’t seen from him before. He always has something new to show us.

Saturday night’s victory, though by clear unanimous decision, was far from Jones’ most thrilling performance. But for the fourth time in 13 months, he beat a former champion. And even though two judges scored the first round for Evans, and Rashad landed a solid blow now and then, there never was a doubt who was The Man.

Will there ever be?

Dan Henderson gets the next shot. He has the thunderous right hand to change the championship picture in a flash, but is he fast enough — or will he ever be close enough — to sail that fist onto solid ground? Or to use his Olympic-level wrestling to get Jones off his feet?

Henderson at least understands the task at hand. "I thought Rashad fought Jon Jones’ fight, and you can’t do that against someone like Jones, who is going to pick you apart," the 40-year-old former Pride and Strikeforce champion said during the Fuel TV post-fight show. "I don’t think Rashad came in and had a solid takedown attempt. I don’t really think he utilized wrestling, and that’s what he is best at, is mixing it up and taking guys down. Jones did a great job picking him apart."

Good luck trying to do better, Dan. I just don’t think you, or anyone else in the light heavyweight division, can touch Jon Jones.

"One of the things about these fights, these ‘grudge matches,’ it usually means the guys respect each other," Dana White said. "You saw respect in there tonight."

That was the UFC president at Saturday night’s postfight news conference, trying to explain how his much-anticipated main event had been so methodical, with so few fireworks.

But while Dana cited respect, the fighters pointed to other nonphysical factors. Insecurity. Intimidation. A mental block.

"I would totally say that Rashad has been my toughest fight to date," Jones said at the news conference. "I think a lot of it came from how awesome and talented a fighter he is. And a lot of it came from a slight insecurity fighting Rashad. You know, Rashad, he did big brother me a few times when we used to work out together. So having that in the back of my head, it made me more hesitant. So I really had to fight myself in this fight as well as Rashad Evans."

Evans, too, seemed to be fighting himself for much of the bout. Part of the reason for that might have been the residual grogginess from being repeatedly elbowed in the head. But even after he landed a punch or kick on occasion, he never seemed able to take Step 2. It seemed like he was waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen.

"I didn’t do the things I trained to do," Evans said. "It was just something I wish I had back, a couple of moments in the fight that I felt I could have took advantage of some situations. But I didn’t do it. It was my mental block."

Jones, for his part, took something away from the experience of discomfort. "I learned that I need to trust my stuff more," he said. "Not be intimidated by people, by what they have. And just to trust what I have. I definitely move pretty fluidly when I’m going against a heavy bag or a coach with mitts, but tonight I kind of felt gangly and uncoordinated at some points. And I know that came from a slight insecurity in my attacks."

Dubai: The UAE maintained their clean slate in Davis Cup action this year, beating Turkmenistan 2-1 and moving into the play-offs where they will take on hosts Qatar in the Asia-Oceania Group IV Davis Cup being held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

Already assured of a place in the last-four play-off stages from Pool A, the UAE settled the issue in the singles itself when Hamad Abbas Al Janahi defeated Aziz Davletov 6-4, 6-2 and then the UAE’s top player Omar Behroozian powered his way past Aleksandr Ernepesov 6-3, 6-4.

With the doubles match rendered inconsequential, coach Martin Munoz gave his young pairing of Saud Al Ali and Abdul Rahman Al Janahi an outing and they did well before going down in straight sets 3-6, 1-6 against Georgiy Pochay and Jamshid Ilmuradov.

As winners of Pool A, the UAE will now face Qatar, while Turkmenistan will take on Cambodia. The winners of these two encounters will go through to the final but, more importantly, will earn promotions to Group III for the 2013 season.

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London Grace and grit in the face of adversity were the defining features of a memorable running career which took Sebastian Coe to Olympic 1,500m titles in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles four years later.

Now, after twice summoning the perfect blend of speed, stamina and strategy in the classic Olympic track race, Coe has another finishing line in sight.

Today, the chairman of the London Olympics organising committee embarks on the final lap to the Games opening on July 27 with celebrations to mark the 100-day countdown.

It has been a long journey from his days as a competitor during the height of the Cold War to his present role of ensuring London hosts a successful Games for the third time. In an interview in the organising committee’s headquarters in Canary Wharf on an April spring day of sunshine and showers, Coe said his experiences as an Olympic athlete had been a definite help in his current job.

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Baseball’s newest venue is officially open, and it’s impossible to look at Marlins Park in Miami without thinking, That place looks like fun. The fish swimming in the backstop, the Jacques-Cousteau-meets-Timothy-Leary home run sculpture, the South Beach nightclub satellite behind the bullpen, the pop art installations scattered on the courses: Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria isn’t kidding when he says the ballpark he helped conceive and build "is meant to make you smile." Loria spent enough on free agents this winter to sound believable when he says he wants fans to focus on the game and the team. But, just in case your mind wanders, he made sure that baseball is not the only entertainment option at Marlins Park.

Baseball’s oldest venue is about to open for its 100th anniversary season, and it’s easy to look at Fenway Park and think, What’s so fun about that place? At first glance, there’s little at Fenway to make the casual visitor smile. It’s not easy to find in the labyrinth Boston calls a city plan. If you manage to get there by car, it’s nearly impossible to park. If you tune in for the Red Sox’ April 13 home opener, you’ll see fans bundled up like it’s a playoff game at Lambeau Field. They’ll be crammed into seats made for 1912-sized derrieres, and most of their heads will be twisted at 70-degree angles to glimpse home plate. Anyone looking for fish will have to flip over to Wicked Tuna.

The first game at Fenway, on April 20, 1912, set the tone for the next 100 years: The Red Sox didn’t even hold an opening ceremony — "the real-down-to-the-book official dedication with the music stuff, the flowers and the flags," as the Boston Globe wrote then — until May 17. The implicit message from the new Fenway to its fans: This is a baseball park. You are here to watch baseball.

Fenway has been dressed up over the years, particularly in the decade since John Henry and friends bought the Red Sox and committed to staying in the old yard rather than building a replacement. There are seats above the Green Monster, a bar on the right field roof, a food court beneath the bleachers. But the creature comforts still lag behind what can be found at the wave of mallparks that have sprung up around the majors over the last two decades. Forget aquariums and swimming pools and steakhouses. The main attraction at Fenway is the same as it was the day it opened: baseball.

In 2012, that simplicity, that purity of purpose, is as much of a novelty on the major league landscape as Loria’s psychedelic sculpture. As much as the famous proximity of its seats to the field, it’s what makes Fenway baseball’s most intimate ballpark, and what connects fans there to the sport in a way that isn’t possible anyplace else. In some ways, the experience of taking in a game at Fenway mirrors the experience of playing there. Fans who navigate narrow concourses to get to seats with too little legroom are watching players who dress in a cramped clubhouse, work out in a tiny (by big-league standards) weight room and are bedeviled by the strange hops and caroms created by the field’s many nooks and crannies. Playing baseball is difficult, and requires a special commitment. At Fenway, the same goes for watching it.

Over the next six months we’ll hear a century’s worth of hosannas to Fenway Park, but the place hasn’t always been beloved. Over the years pitchers fed up with its cozy dimensions and players and managers frustrated with its substandard facilities have taking turns suggesting that it be burned down (Sparky Anderson’s choice) or blown up (Mo Vaughn, David Wells, John Lackey). Until the current ownership group spruced up the place with a series of renovations, there were strident calls from Boston fans and media for a new stadium to be built.

And yet, Fenway endured and now, on its 100th birthday, it thrives, a shrine to the game and to a simpler sports era. Ballpark fads come and go. Fenway has outlasted concrete contemporaries like Tigers Stadium and the original Yankee Stadium. It has surpassed the life spans of domed wonders of the earth and cookie-cutter, multipurpose ovals. And its allure will hold strong long after the novelty of retro chic and rightfield shopping districts and in-house marine life fades. For 100 years, the joy of Fenway has been the unadorned, uncomplicated joy of the game itself — a joy that connects us to the thread of history like little else. Over the next few weeks, as 30 major league parks open for another season, cries of "Play ball!" will ring out in parks across the country. The message will be at its purest in Fenway.

Dubai: Mohammad Juma Bu Amim, the CEO of Golf in DUBAi, believes the Mena Tour can help UAE nationals fulfil their dreams of Asian and Olympic Games qualification following last week’s historic recognition by the National Olympic Committee (NOC).

In reaction to the rise of UAE golf over the past season — with the national team on course for a regional hat-trick of honours — the NOC awarded the UAE team membership, giving them potential to feature in forthcoming major championships.

The UAE’s leading golfer, Ahmad Al Musharrakh, told Gulf News last week that this recognition opened up new chances of exposure and the 21-year-old golfing sensation dared his team mates to dream about the ‘very real’ prospect of qualification for the 2016 Olympics, where the sport will make a comeback after a 112-year absence.

These sentiments were echoed yesterday by Bu Amim. He claimed the two-year-old Mena Tour had helped endorse golf and catch the attention of the NOC.

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Madrid Fernando Torres had a knack of scoring against Barcelona when with Atletico Madrid and will be hoping to have an opportunity to haunt them again in their Champions League semi-final tonight.

The Spain striker was dubbed Barca’s "Bestia Negra" (black beast) in his five top-flight seasons with Atletico before leaving to sign for Liverpool in 2007.

He made his La Liga debut at the Nou Camp aged 18 in 2002 and his pace helped him to knock seven goals past the Catalans, including six in Barcelona’s title winning years of 2005 and 2006. "The Nou Camp is a place that has a special significance for me because I made my La Liga debut there and their fans have always been very good to me," Torres said earlier.

Torres’s ability to score against Barca had always contrasted with his ineffectiveness against bitter city rivals Real Madrid, though he finally managed to break his duck in a 1-1 draw against them in 2007.

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Dubai: Back in December 2011, Victoria Azarenka practised for three weeks at the Elite Tennis Academy of Dubai (formerly Equelite Juan Carlos Ferrero Tennis Academy of Dubai) for her pre-season training for the Australian Open, a tournament which she went on to win and become the world number 1. She was joined by three men’s players, Dmitri Tursunov (former ATP Top 20), James Ward (UK number 2 after Andy Murray) and Sergio Bubka Jr.

"It was a wonderful experience for a number of our juniors to hit with Victoria and spend time with her. She is a wonderful role model and our kids certainly learned a lot watching her practise," Luis Miguel Reis, the academy founder and director, told XPRESS.

Elite have their two main training centres at Atlantis, The Palm Jumeirah and at the Emirates Golf Club. While the academy no longer co-brands with former world number 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy in Spain they still maintain an excellent exclusive agency agreement with one another. "We are a non-profit academy and also offer scholarships to promising players in the competition squad. We charge as little as Dh1,125 for a 15-week programme. Elite works with players of all ages and levels starting at grass-roots level; the ideal age for a child to get involved in the sport is four years of age," Reis said.

"Elite follows the very successful Spanish model for developing players. Our teaching methods and programmes are very similar to the academy in Spain as is the work ethic of our very dedicated staff. We love tennis and we love to teach tennis; for us it is more than a job, it is a passion. Our players are not one-dimensional as we take into consideration a player’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the physique, speed, strength and endurance of a player.

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New York: Jonathon Niese took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his first start since signing a rich contract and the New York Mets completed a season-opening sweep of the Atlanta Braves with a 7-5 victory on Sunday.

Niese (1-0) allowed just two balls out of the infield through six innings and retired 15 in a row before walking Dan Uggla on a nine-pitch at-bat leading off the seventh. On the next pitch, Niese’s 98th of the game, Freddie Freeman singled cleanly to right.

New York has played 7,971 games in its 51-season history and is the oldest team in the majors without a no-hitter, startling for a club that produced pitchers such as Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden. San Diego (6,846) is the only other big league team without one.

Niese lasted just two more batters after Freeman. Right fielder Lucas Duda, looking into a sunny, cloudless sky, dropped Matt Diaz’s fly ball for a run-scoring error that made it 7-1, and Jason Heyward chased Niese with a two-run double. Pinch-hitter Jack Wilson added a sacrifice fly off Manny Acosta.

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home team in CAPS

Visakhapatnam: Deccan Chargers have their work cut out as they seek a change of fortunes against the mighty Mumbai Indians in today’s only Indian Premier League match.

After losing their first match to defending champions Chennai Super Kings by 74 runs, the Chargers welcome back skipper Kumar Sangakkara from international duty for Sri Lanka, which is sure to prove a shot in the arm in the batting department.

A target of 194 was always going to be a daunting chase against Chennai, but Deccan’s woeful batting performance emphasised how badly the side missed their talisman.

A line-up which looks thin at the best of times will need Sangakkara to fire at the top of the order along with Shikhar Dhawan and some solid contributions in the middle from Cameron White and all-rounder Daniel Christian.

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