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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - T.J. Dillashaw successfully defended his bantamweight title with a fifth-round TKO over late fill-in Joe Soto at UFC 177 on Saturday night.Dillashaw (12-2) was never hurt in his first title defence and playfully toyed with the crowd, sticking out his tongue and raising his hands in the air at one point during the fifth round. Dillashaw later landed a hard kick to the side of the Sotos head and followed with an equally hard left hand that dropped the challenger, then pounced on Soto and landed several more punches before the fight was stopped at the 2:20 mark.Dillashaw was originally slated to fight Renan Barao, the man he upset to win the title from in May at UFC 173. But Barao was a late scratch after he fell and hit his head while trying to cut weight on Friday.The change seemed to throw Dillashaw slightly off track.He pressed the action for a majority of the night but looked nothing like the fighter who dominated Barao for five rounds in one of the greatest upsets in UFC history. Many of Dillashaws punches missed, especially early when Soto repeatedly covered up.Still, Dillashaw was comfortably ahead on all three judges scorecards when the fight was stopped.Its been crazy, Dillashaw said. It was a tough one. To switch my opponent at the last-minute was a real stressful situation. I knew he was going to be a little better with his wrestling so I had to be hesitant with my stand-up (attack).Soto (15-3) was penciled in to fight Anthony Birchak on the undercard before getting the unexpected invitation into the main event in his UFC debut.He turned out to be much more than just a fill-in fighter.A one-time training partner of Dillashaws, Soto looked comfortable in the spotlight and occasionally stung the champion with a stinging left jab. He ended the fight with blood streaming down his nose and received a warm hug from Dillashaw.It was a dream come true that UFC asked me to fight for the title, Soto said.Dillashaw was in control from the start.He dropped Soto to the mat with a leg sweep one minute into the fight. Soto returned the favour later in the first round with a kick that sent Dillashaw down briefly before the champion got up and unleashed a flurry of punches, though only a few landed.Soto stayed on the defence in the second round before finally landing a left-right combination. Soto also scored with a straight left that caught Dillashaw on the chin but wasnt able to sustain his offence.Dillashaw continued to score in the third then outlasted Soto when the two went toe-to-toe briefly in the fourth.After Soto missed on a takedown attempt early in the fifth round, Dillashaw backed Soto against the cage and landed several left jabs. With the crowd chanting, T.J., T.J., Dillashaw stuck his tongue out and raised his hands before his final combination sent Soto to the mat.I got a little too loose at times, Dillashaw said. I didnt want to put too much into each punch because I knew he was a good wrestler. And I was a little too kick happy at the beginning.In the semi-main Tony Ferguson won his third straight fight with a split decision over Danny Castillo.Ferguson (17-3) scored early but couldnt finish several submission attempts, then had to hold on at the end when Castillo (17-7) took the action to the ground.On the undercard, 10th-ranked Bethe Correia (9-0) stopped Shayna Baszler (15-9) by TKO 1:56 into the second round of their womens bantamweight fight and immediately called out champ Ronda Rousey afterward.Also, lightweight Diego Ferreira (11-0) stayed unbeaten with a TKO of Ramsey Nijem (10-5), and Yancy Medeiros (10-2) submitted Damon Jackson (9-1) in another lightweight bout. Dwight Gooden Jersey . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Mookie Wilson Mets Jersey . And though his comeback night didnt quite go to script, Bryant couldnt help reflecting on the work necessary to get back on that court -- and all the months of steady labour ahead to reclaim his game. Bryant had nine points and eight rebounds in his season debut, but Amir Johnson scored a career-high 32 points in the trade-depleted Toronto Raptors 106-94 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday night. http://www.metssale.com/mets-noah-syndergaard-jersey/ . -- Keith Aulie has joined the Tampa Bay Lightning. Adeiny Hechavarria Mets Jersey .The Dallas Cowboys released Sam from the practice squad Tuesday, dropping the rush end as they prepare for several potential reinforcements to return to the defensive line. Jacob deGrom Mets Jersey .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve.Madison, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Sam Dekker scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in No. 5 Wisconsins 86-43 win over Nicholls. Dekker scored 13 of those points in the first half for the Badgers (10-1), who led by as much as 45. Josh Gasser added 14 points for Wisconsin, and Nigel Hayes chipped in 12 points and eight boards. Amin Torres scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Colonels (1-5), and Sam McBeath netted nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. Wisconsin owned a 41-26 edge on the boards and outscored Nicholls 36-26 in the paint. The Badgers also scored 19 points off 21 Colonels turnovers. The Colonels never led in what quickly became a blowout. It took over four minutes for Nicholls to get its second basket and then six minutes to get its third. Nicholls started the game 4-of-21 as the Badgers ran out to a 39-8 lead, and it finished the half with an abysmal 24.1 field goal ppercentage.dddddddddddd Meanwhile the Badgers, particularly Dekker and Hayes, could not be stopped. They took a 47-15 lead into the locker room with those two combining for 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Wisconsin combined to shoot 70.4 percent as a team. The Colonels managed to shoot 47.8 percent in the second half, but they fell behind even more. Wisconsins shooting went cold from the field and had to make up for it at the line. The Badgers hit 20-of-26 from the charity stripe to make up for their 33.3 percent second-half performance from the floor. Game Notes This was the first meeting between these teams ... The Badgers held a lead for all but 1:10 in the game ... After a nine-day break for finals, Wisconsin travels to Cal to take on the Golden Bears ... Nicholls next game is against Arkansas-Monitcello on Dec. 16. ' ' '