Tom Aspinall claimed the interim UFC heavyweight title on Saturday night, knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in the first round in New York City. The main event of UFC 295 was due to see Jon Jones defend the heavyweight title against divisional great Stipe Miocic, but that bout was cancelled on two weeks’ notice after Jones suffered an injury in training. With Jones, 36, set to face eight months on the sidelines, the UFC pitted Aspinall against Pavlovich to crown an interim champion, and it was the Briton who triumphed at Madison Square Garden. Aspinall, who admitted to being “scared” ahead of his fight with the Russian, caught Pavlovich with two clean right hands in the first round, wobbling him with the first and dropping him with the second. The Wigan fighter, 30, followed up with a hammer fist to the downed Pavlovich, sealing the knockout to become the third British champion in UFC history. “I can’t even tell you, it’s been a crazy two-and-a-half weeks. If you ever get the chance to do something, and you’re scared to do it, you should definitely f***ing do it,” Aspinall said, having fought through a bout of tears. “I’ve never been as scared in my life as fighting this guy, but I believe in myself.” In 2016, Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold to win the middleweight belt on short notice, and in 2022, Leon Edwards won the welterweight title with a knockout of Kamaru Usman. It is as yet unclear whether Aspinall will fight Jones next, or whether the UFC will rebook Jones versus 41-year-old Miocic. In that case, Aspinall would potentially have to defend the interim belt in the meantime. However, there is also a belief that Aspinall could be elevated to regular champion in Jones’s absence. Aspinall vs Pavlovich in fact served as the co-main event of UFC 295, while the original co-main event was elevated and saw Alex Pereira beat Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light-heavyweight title. Pereira, a former middleweight champion, became the ninth two-weight champion in UFC history by securing a TKO in Round 2. The Brazilian dropped his Czech opponent with a left hook before unleashing a series of elbows, before referee Marc Goddard stepped in. Although some viewers suggested that the stoppage had come too early, Prochazka – fighting for the first time since vacating the light-heavyweight title due to injury last year – dismissed the notion. “I think in the end, it was right; I was out,” he said. UFC 295 results in full Main card Alex Pereira def. Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO (punches and elbows, 4:08) Tom Aspinall def. Sergei Pavlovich via first-round knockout (punches, 1:09) Jessica Andrade def. Mackenzie Dern via second-round TKO (punches, 3:15) Benoit Saint-Denis def. Matt Frevola via first-round knockout (head kick, 1:31) Diego Lopes def. Pat Sabatini via first-round knockout (punches, 1:30) Prelims Steve Erceg def. Alessandro Costa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Loopy Godinez def. Tabatha Ricci via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28) Mateusz Rebecki def. Roosevelt Roberts via first-round submission (armbar, 3:08) Nazim Sadykhov and Viacheslav Borshchev fought to majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28) Early prelims Jared Gordon def. Mark Madsen via first-round TKO (4:42) John Castaneda def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Joshua Van def. Kevin Borjas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Jamall Emmers def. Dennis Buzukja via first-round TKO (0:49) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Donald Trump greeted by cheers upon arrival at UFC 295 in New York City When will Conor McGregor return to the UFC? UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year Tom Aspinall admits he’s ‘scared’ ahead of UFC title fight Tom Aspinall makes UFC 295 vow ahead of Sergei Pavlovich fight UFC 295 LIVE: Prochazka vs Pereira – fight updates and results tonight

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Astronomers have seen the “afterglow” of two huge planets crashing into each other for the first time. Scientists watched as the heat and dust that were left behind from the crash swirled in front of their star, allowing them to see the aftermath of the explosion. The incident happened when two ice giant planets collided with each other, around a star like our own Sun. A blaze of light and dust resulted, which could be seen from Earth. Those effects were first spotted by an amateur astronomer social media, who noticed unusual light coming from the star. It had brightened up in infrared – getting lighter at those wavelengths for three years – and then the optical light began fading. Scientists then watched the star in an attempt to understand what was happening. They monitored for further changes at the star, named ASASSN-21qj, to see how the star’s brightness changed. “To be honest, this observation was a complete surprise to me. When we originally shared the visible light curve of this star with other astronomers, we started watching it with a network of other telescopes,” said co- lead author Matthew Kenworthy from Leiden University. “An astronomer on social media pointed out that the star brightened up in the infrared over a thousand days before the optical fading. I knew then this was an unusual event.” Their research suggested that the glow was the heat from the collision, which could be picked up by Nasa’s Neowise mission. Then the optical light began to fade when the dust covered the star, over a period of three years. “Our calculations and computer models indicate the temperature and size of the glowing material, as well as the amount of time the glow has lasted, is consistent with the collision of two ice giant exoplanets,” said co-lead author Simon Lock from the University of Bristol. The dust is then expected to star smearing out. Astronomers hope to confirm their theories by watching as that happens, since it should be visible both from Earth and with Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope – and they might see that dust begin its journey into something else. It will be fascinating to observe further developments. Ultimately, the mass of material around the remnant may condense to form a retinue of moons that will orbit around this new planet,” said Zoe Leinhardt, from the University of Bristol, who was a co-author on the study. The research is described in a paper, ‘A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud’, published in Nature today. Read More 1.2 mile-high ‘dust devil’ spotted on Mars by Nasa’s Perseverance rover Researchers capture first-ever afterglow of huge planetary collision Earth hit by a huge solar storm that would devastate civilisation, trees show

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