Henderson dominates Diaz for title
UFC: Benson Henderson impressively retained the UFC lightweight championship Saturday night in Seattle during UFC on Fox, unanimously outpointing a flustered Nate Diaz.
Henderson controlled the main event from the start. With the partisan crowd chanting Henderson’s name throughout the fight, he took a decisive 50-43, 50-45 and 50-45 decision, his second successful title defense.
Prior to the main event, rising Canadian star Rory MacDonald took apart former champion B.J. Penn in a decisive unanimous decision that left Penn’s face blooded and his body throbbing from body shots.
Hawks rally past Memphis to grab win
NBA: Josh Smith had 24 points, Lou Williams scored 18 of his 21 in the second half, and the visiting Atlanta Hawks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 93-83.
Al Horford had 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Atlanta, which won for the ninth time in its last 10 games. Jeff Teague finished with 13 points and six assists.
Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol scored 18 points apiece for Memphis, with Randolph grabbing 13 rebounds.
• Bulls end Knicks’ winning streak: Marco Belinelli and Luol Deng scored 22 points apiece as the host Chicago Bulls beat the Knicks 93-85, snapping New York’s five-game winning streak.
Belinelli scored 15 points in the first quarter, while Deng had 10 in the fourth, giving the Bulls their first three-game winning streak of the season.
• Cousins, Salmons help Kings beat Blazers: DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 12 rebounds, John Salmons added 19 points and 11 assists, and the Sacramento Kings snapped a six-game road losing streak with a 99-80 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
• McHale back with Rockets after daughter’s death: Houston coach Kevin McHale rejoined the Rockets after almost a month away from the team, and two weeks after the death of his daughter.
Lyons scores 20 in No. 8 Arizona’s win
College Basketball: Mark Lyons scored a season-high 20 points and No. 8 Arizona used a late second-half run to improve to 7-0 for the first time in 14 years with a 66-54 road win over Clemson.
The Wildcats squandered a 14-point lead and were down 42-36 after Rod Hall’s 3-pointer with 12:07 remaining.
That’s when Arizona got moving with a 25-7 run that put the game away. Solomon Hill and Lyons began the charge with two free throws each.
Clemson scored just two field goals in the final 8:45.
• Adams helps UCLA rally past Texas: Jordan Adams scored 18 points and UCLA closed the game on a 13-2 run to defeat Texas 65-63 in Houston.
Adams converted a three-point play to tie the game at 61 with 1:15 remaining, and found Kyle Anderson in transition to put the Bruins up three points with 25 seconds left.
Cameron Ridley led Texas with 14 points.
• Indiana’s Etherington leaves game on stretcher: No. 1 Indiana lost forward Austin Etherington during the first half against Central Connecticut State.
The sophomore forward appeared to hurt his left leg on a play underneath the basket with the Hoosiers leading 49-29 and 2:28 to go in the half.
Clark, Madsen lead in Durban after delay
Golf: Morten Orum Madsen made a late charge to match Tim Clark’s 5-under 60 and grab a share of the first-round lead at the European Tour’s rain-delayed season-opening Nelson Mandela Championship in Durban, South Africa.
Clark had six birdies and one bogey on the shortened Royal Durban Golf Club course, which was badly affected by heavy rain over the previous few days. The tournament was reduced to a 36-hole event.
• Perry, O’Hair take Shootout lead: Kenny Perry and Sean O’Hair took a two-stroke lead in the Franklin Templeton Shootout, in Naples, Fla., birdying the final six holes in better-ball play for an 11-under-par 61.
Perry and O’Hair were 19 under overall, two strokes ahead of first-round leaders Davis Love III and Brandt Snedeker at Tiburon Golf Club. Love and Snedeker had a 65.
• Feng wins Dubai Ladies: Shanshan Feng of China won the Dubai Ladies Masters by five strokes after shooting a 3-under 69 to capture her second Ladies European Tour title.
The sixth-ranked Feng had an eagle, two birdies and a bogey to total 21-under 267 at Emirates Golf Club.
Messi recovers from injury, makes squad
Soccer: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has recovered from a knee injury and will attempt to surpass Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old record for most goals in a calendar year when Barcelona plays Real Betis.
Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova included Messi in his squad for the Spanish league match at Betis today. The 25-year-old Messi is trying to match Mueller’s record of 85 goals for Bayern Munich and West Germany in 1972. Messi has 84 goals this year for Barcelona and Argentina.
• US women beat China: Carli Lloyd and Sydney Leroux scored in the second half, and the U.S. women’s soccer team beat China 2-0 in Detroit to remain unbeaten on its post-Olympic tour.
Lloyd broke a scoreless tie in the 50th minute. Leroux added a goal in the 84th minute.
Fehr maintains NHL deal was close
Miscellany: Union chief Donald Fehr is sticking to his belief that the NHL and the players’ association were close to a deal before talks broke off Thursday night.
Fehr repeated his stance during a speech to the Canadian Auto Workers union. He then told reporters he thought the owners and players were “very close” to agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman disputed the claim.
• Asada wins Grand Prix Final: Mao Asada of Japan won the Grand Prix Final of figure skating in Sochi, Russia, following a free program that ranged from sprightly to quietly refined.
Ashley Wagner of the United States, who was half a point behind Asada heading into the free skate, fell twice and ended up a distant second. Akiko Suzuki of Japan took the bronze.
• Vonn wins super-G: Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, to stay unbeaten in four speed races this season.
The American racer timed 1 minute, 2.71 seconds, beating World Cup overall leader Tina Maze of Slovenia by 0.37 seconds.