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Scotland’s Paul Craig has urged UFC fans not “to persecute” Rodolfo Bellato after he was accused of “hamming it up” by “flopping” to the canvas following a kick to the face during their light-heavyweight contest in Atlanta.

Craig admits it was “an illegal move” that resulted in the fight being ruled a no contest.

The fight had been postponed from 14 weeks ago when the 29-year-old Brazilian pulled out with a cold sore – and this time it was cut short seconds before the end of round one.

“I don’t want to think any fighter is looking for an easy way out in this sport. We’re all fighters, we’re all in the UFC – the pinnacle of of our careers – and we’re looking to put on performances. But I can see where people are looking at it and think it looks a bit floppish, like he’s maybe taking a dive.”

Craig admitted it was “raw at the moment” but did not want to think that might be the case.

“I was in the neutral corner, I was looking over and I was seeing him kind of flop like he was trying to wrestle the referee and he was in a daze, but when I spoke to him, he seemed pretty compos mentis and he was like, ‘I don’t know what happened’,” he added.

“You know what, it’s my fault as much as it is his fault. We shouldn’t be looking to persecute him if he’s taking taken the knee – it was an illegal move.”

To make matters worse for Craig, he had moved back up a weight hoping to put a three-loss streak behind him in what was the final fight of his current UFC contract.

“I’m now in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” he said. “I was wanting to make a stamp in that division and say, hey, I am back.

“I’ve got to take positives from it. I felt good in there and I was moving well. I was landing my shots and my shot selection was perfect.

“But, in the heat of the moment, I thought he was standing up, so I throw my axe kick, looking to land a heavy upkick to his face.”

Craig pointed out that a no-contest was at least not as bad as another defeat and is hopeful of a rematch with Bellato.

Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for a 12th time with a clearance of 6.28m at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.

This one was extra special for the 25-year-old, however, as it was the first time he had improved the world best in Sweden.

Born in the United States, Duplantis – who is commonly known by his nickname ‘Mondo’ – represents his mother’s native country.

He had already secured victory in the event when he cleared the new record height at the first attempt before removing his vest, celebrating with friends and family, and taking the acclaim of his home crowd.

“I feel full to the brim right now,” said double Olympic champion Duplantis.

After achieving his goal, he said: “The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old, it was rainy, cold and I jumped right under four metres. It was quite high for how young I was.

“They etch the names of world record holders here. It’s going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium. It’s the most beautiful stadium, in my biased opinion.

“It’ll be one of the greatest memories for me, I think, in my career.”

Duplantis first broke the world record, then held by Renaud Lavillenie of France, in February 2020 with a 6.17m clearance in Poland.

There was also British success on the track as Georgia Hunter-Bell finished strongly to claim victory in the women’s 800m in a time of 1:57.66.

Hunter-Bell was last with 200m to go, but overhauled all her competitors, including world champion Mary Moraa, with a sensational sprint finish.

“I ran that all wrong, making some bad decisions but the whole time I felt good so I knew I had something left,” said the 1500m bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics.

“I was stuck at the back for a bit long and then ran on the outside longer than I should have, but I did feel really strong and very good.

Britain’s world indoor champion Amber Anning was third in the women’s 400m in a season’s best of 50.17 seconds, while Dina Asher-Smith ran 10.93 seconds to finish second behind Olympic champion Julien Alfred in the women’s 100m.

Asher-Smith said: “Today was something to ask for, from running in Oslo three days ago, but I travelled well and the body felt good. So to run 10.9 low is really great, and it’s very exciting to be getting so close to my PB.”

British duo Innes Fitzgerald and Hannah Nuttall smashed their personal bests to finish third and fourth respectively in the women’s 3,000m, which was won by Australian Linden Hall.

Fitzgerald, 19, ran 8:32.90 to beat her fastest mark by more than seven seconds, while 27-year-old Nuttall finished in 8:33.82, more than six seconds quicker than her previous best.

Fitzgerald said: “I went into the race with no expectations and I think that is the best way to race. Sometimes I have let the pressure get to me a little bit, but today I was relaxed and I was determined to enjoy it. I absolutely loved every minute of it.

George Mills was fifth in the men’s 1500m, just three days after breaking Sir Mo Farah’s British 5,000m record in Oslo.

“Obviously I was looking for the win, but I came here on the back of a very good 5,000m in Oslo so I did what I came to do, which was to run fast with only a short recovery,” said Mills, who finished in 3:32.67, just over a second behind winner Samuel Pihlstrom of Sweden.

“It worked pretty well until the last lap or so when the legs started to get heavy, but I think it was a good couple of days’ work.”

Femke Bol of the Netherlands broke her own meeting record to win the women’s 400m hurdles in 52.11 seconds, while Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran 1:41.95 – the fastest time in the world this year – to win the men’s 800m.

Netball legend Geva Mentor says she is positive about the future of the sport after playing the final game of her career on Sunday.

The 40-year-old retired after Leeds Rhinos’ last game of the Netball Super League season – an 80-61 defeat by Nottingham Forest.

“I’m excited to see where netball goes over the next few years,” the former England international told BBC Sport.

“We are looking at the improvement of the game and making it a real product that everyone can get behind.”

Netball Super League is in the early stages of a move towards a fully professional future.

Mentor, who is now based in France, has been a trailblazer of the sport – playing more than 310 games at club level and twice being named the World’s Best Netballer.

She spent 16 seasons playing in New Zealand and Australia and played 175 times for her country, competing at six World Cups and six Commonwealth Games, winning gold in 2018 thanks to the famous win over Australia.

She joined the Rhinos for the 2024 season and, although she was unable to end on a winning note, received a warm reception at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham – which included being given a guard of honour after the game.

“We probably haven’t had the results or performances we wanted this season,” she added. “But there is a brilliant culture here and it’s pushing and building.

“I wish them all the best for the future and I will be in the crowd cheering them on.

Betfred Super League

Salford (0) 4

Tries: Hill

St Helens (20) 46

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley accused forward Sam Stone of ‘downing tools’ by making himself unavailable for selection against St Helens.

Kyle Feldt scored four tries and kicked three goals as Saints thrashed the Super League’s bottom side, who had only 17 players available for the game.

Australian Stone has been linked with a move to Warrington Wolves.

“He has been talking to another club since pre-season and now he is fit, I guess that move can start to take shape,” said Rowley.

“Yesterday he downed tools, which makes it a difficult position for us and certainly made today difficult.

“I’m fully understanding of everyone’s thresholds and tolerance, but the situation of that yesterday put us in a bit of strife.

“The manner of it is not good. There is a way of doing things and that is not the way.

“Everyone has to look after themselves and I would facilitate it [the move], but I think if you make a decision which hurts your team-mates it is not a good decision.”

Rowley’s side lost 82-0 to the same opposition on the opening day of the season in February and went close to another nilling at the Salford Community Stadium.

Sam Hill went over for the hosts in the final minute to avoid another shutout, after Feldt’s tries, two from Harry Robertson and one each for Alex Walmsley, Curtis Sironen and debutant Owen Dagnall set up the rout.

Saints’ victory was their third in their past four matches and left them fifth in the table, three points adrift of Leigh Leopards in fourth and four behind Leeds Rhinos in third.

The game was a strange watch at times, with dominance from Saints and indiscipline and handling errors from Salford framed by patches where the hosts might have made more of their possession.

Yet they were on the back foot early, with the visitors racing into a 20-0 lead in 25 minutes, with tries from Sironen, Alex Walmsley and the first two of a quartet from Feldt.

The hosts gained a foothold of sorts after cutting out errors from that point to the half-time siren, but it did not translate into points and in the second half they were blown away.

The understandable frustration spilled over into a couple of flashpoints after Robertson and Feldt extended the lead to 30-0.

Saints’ Walmsley and Matty Foster sparked a mass confrontation around the hour mark and the match simmered from there to the hooter.

Robertson went over for a second just after the hour, Owen Dagnall, on his debut with a first Super League try, added another, and Feldt came back for his fourth to drive yet another nail into Salford’s season.

“Ultimately we are playing teams who have got more quality than ourselves,” Rowley told BBC Radio Manchester. “That is not disrespecting my players but you cannot win a game on heart alone.

“With a 21 or 22 man squad it is extremely difficult and we have lost a couple of bodies today as well. I just urge everyone to keep supporting the boys.

“They are definitely playing with pride and representing the shirt with grit and determination. If we can just put some quality to go along with it there are some green shoots within that team.”

St Helens boss Paul Wellens was understandably pleased with his side’s display but was also coming to terms with a couple of significant injuries

“Curtis (Sironen) came off – he had pretty bad back spasms – George (Whitby) failed a HIA and Joe (Batchelor) came off with what seems calf issue. It was good to come here and get a result but it has come at a bit of a cost,” he said.

Salford: Connell, Vaughan, Hankinson, Warren, Hill, Marsters, Brierley, Ormondroyd, Morgan, Hill, Wright, Foster, Shorrocks

Interchanges: Sangare, Wilson, Glover, Chan

St Helens: Sailor, Feldt, Robertson, Cross, Dagnall, Lomax, Whitby, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Whitley, Knowles

Interchanges: Batchelor, Mbye, Delaney, Stephens