T20 World Champions, Rugby World Champions, the end of an UFC pound-for-pound reign, etc.

  • T20 World Cup. England beat Pakistan by five wickets to become the second team that wins the tournament twice. This had been achieved previously by the West Indies.
  • New Zealand again. The 2021 Rugby World Cup (women) was held in 2022, in New Zealand. The local team extended its streak as the winningest team ever, with a 6th title. Portia Woodman (NZL) scored the most tries, with 7. New Zealand beat England 31-34 in the Final.
  • The previous ghosts. Alex Pereira (BRA) had already beaten Israel Adesanya (NZL/NGR) each time they fought in kickboxing, but the UFC considered Adesanya the best pound-for-pound mixed martial arts male fighter. Pereira, however, beat him with a 5th round TKO (punches) to take the UFC Middleweight Title. Pereira was a Glory Kickboxing World Champion from 2017 to 2021, when he lost the title to Artem Vakhitov (RUS). Zhang Weili (CHN) recovered the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship as she beat Carla Esparza (USA) with a submission in the second round.
  • First for Swtizerland. Belinda Bencic (CHE) was last year’s Olympic women’s singles Champion in tennis and this year she added another triumph for Switzerland, as she was a key element of the team that won the Billy Jean King Cup Finals. In fact, she won the decider against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović and the Semis’ decider against Czech Karolína Plíšková. Jil Teichmann, Viktorija Golubic, and Simona Waltert were the rest of the team.
  • More motorsport Champions. This week continued to crown more motorsport Champions. Álvaro Bautista (ESP, Ducati) secured the World Superbike title ahead of time, with two second places even though incumbent Champion and main rival, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (TUR, Yamaha), won the three races at the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia. Dominique Aegerter (CHE, Yamaha) also secured another crown by winning the Supersport World Championship on the same year he was MotoE Champion. He won the second race in Indonesia. The FIA World Endurance Championship concluded, and one of the Toyotas, the one driven by Brendon Hartley (NZL), Ryō Hirakawa (JPN), and Sébastien Buemi (CHE), won the World Championship. James Calado (ENG) and Alessandro Pier Guidi (ITA) won their third GT World Championship on a Ferrari. Le Mans winners António Félix da Costa (POR), Roberto González (MEX), and Will Stevens (ENG), won the LMP2 Championship, while Ben Keating (USA) and Marco Sørensen (DNK) won the GTE-Am title with an Aston Martin. Johan Kristoffersson (SWE) won the World Rallycross season finale at the Nürburgring to conclude a season with seven wins in nine races and secure his fifth World title in a row. The World Rally Championship also concluded in Japan, with a win by Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL, Hyundai). Toyota has secured the Drivers’ (Kalle Rovanperä, FIN), Co-Drivers’ Jonne Halttunen (FIN) and Constructor’s Championships previously.