OMAHA, Neb. Sam Mewis Jersey . -- Terence "Bud" Crawford stopped Yuriorkis Gamboa in the ninth round Saturday night to successfully defend his WBO lightweight belt in a match of unbeatens. Crawford wobbled Gamboa with a left and knocked him down with another left earlier in the ninth, then connected with a right to the chin at the 2:53 mark, prompting referee Gino Rodriguez to call the fight. As Rodriguez waved his arms, Crawford ran to a neutral corner and jumped on the shoulders of co-manager Brian McIntyre. "I hurt him plenty of times," Crawford said, "so when I hurt him the last time, I was looking to finish." The 26-year-old Crawford (24-0, 17 knockouts) was fighting in his hometown for the first time as a professional, and more than 10,000 showed up at the CenturyLink Center, many of them chanting "Craw-ford! Craw-ford!" throughout. "I imagined everybody screaming, supporting me," Crawford said. "It was everything I thought it was going to be." It was his first title defence since his 12-round unanimous decision over Ricky Burns in Glasgow, Scotland, in March. He said he plans to move up to junior welterweight after this fight. The 32-year-old Cuban-born Gamboa (23-1, 16 knockouts), a 2004 Olympic champion, was fighting for the first time in a year. Crawford took control in the middle rounds. In the fifth, Crawford knocked down Gamboa with a left to the side of his head. Crawford staggered him just before the bell with a flurry of shots, bringing the crowd to its feet. The 5-foot-5 Gamboa, with a 5-inch reach disadvantage, had trouble working inside against Crawford. When Crawford moved in, Gamboa used his superior speed to duck under him. Crawford landed a right to Gamboas cheek in the second round. As the fighters went into a clinch, Gamboa put a couple quick rights to the back of Crawfords head, drawing a warning from the referee. Gamboa landed a couple stinging shots in the third, but that he never was able to hurt Crawford. "He caught me with a good shot in the ninth, at the beginning," Crawford said. "It got my attention and buzzed me a little." Omaha hadnt been site for a world championship fight since 1972, when Joe Frazier successfully defended his heavyweight title against Ron Stander, who was in the crowd Saturday night. In the co-main event, WBO No. 1-ranked middleweight Matt Korobov remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision over Jose Uzcatequi for that organizations intercontinental title. Korobov (24-0) landed a hard left to the previously unbeaten Uzcatequis nose in the first round, knocked him down twice in the fifth and put him on his knees with a body blow in the ninth. The 23-year-old Uzcatequi (22-1), who had stopped his previous five opponents, was in his first professional fight outside Mexico. In another fight, unbeaten Canadian Mikael Zewski stopped Prince Doku Jr. of Ghana in the third round of a scheduled 10-round bout for the NABF welterweight title. Allie Long USA Jersey . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. Blank Jersey . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. http://www.officialsocceruswntshop.com/Casey-Short-Usa-Jersey/ . -- Hal Steinbrenner says Alex Rodriguez is "a great player" and "obviously an asset," but the New York Yankees managing general partner wouldnt discuss the third basemans possible return to the team following a season-long suspension.SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Demian Maias star was on the rise in the UFCs welterweight division, with president Dana White even talking about the possibility of a title shot for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Jake Shields put a big roadblock in the way of those lofty aspirations. The veteran edged Maia for a split-decision win Wednesday night in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields. Shields won by scores of 48-47, 47-48 and 48-47 in a moderately-paced five-round affair heavy on stalls and clinches. Maia entered the fight ranked as the No. 4 contender in the welterweight division, and had won his last three fights in the first round. White had said that Maia would be in the conversation for a title shot against champion Georges St-Pierre of Montreal with a win over Shields. But Shields, coming off a split-decision win after serving a six-month suspension for a positive drug test, did enough to win in a match lacking action. The two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts each had moments of brilliance, but the skills ultimately negated each others strengths. Even a crowd in the country where the art was born found it hard to watch, booing in moments that featured precious little movement. Neither fighter came close to locking in a finishing hold. The key moment came in the third round. With the score tied after two and Maia (18-4) starting to take over, Shields (28-6-1) hit a beautiful sweep to the top that stole him the round and put him in the drivers seat for the remainder of the fight. While he tired over the final two rounds, he did enough to earn the split decision. "That was one of my hardest two or three fights of all-time," Shields said following the win. "It was up there with Georges St-Pierre and Dan Henderson. The guys a phenom. I expected that going in. He gave me everything I could handle." The nights co-feature ended with an incredible knockout, but it was Korean judoka Dong Hyun Kim scoring the highlight-reel finish over heavy-handed Brazilian dynamo Erick Silva. After Kim dominated the opening five minutes with a top-based grappling game, Silva mounted an impressive start to open the second. A big right hand started off the barrage, and Kim was immediately in survival mode. Yet as Silva rushed forward for the finish, Kim bobbed, weaved and clinched until he could clear the cobwebs. Then it happened. With Silva launching another heavy left hand, Kim slipped the punch and scored with a left of his own on the button. Silva (15-4) was out before he hit the canvas, and Kim (18-2-1) was the surprise victor, collapsing to his knees in celebration at the 3:01 mark of the second frame. Kim was awarded a US$50,000 bonus cheque for the evenings clear "Knockout of the Night." "It was incredible and very difficult because Erick Silva is a very tough fighter," Kim said. "He tries to overpower his opponents. I knew he was going to throw a lot of punches, so I tried to counter the attack from Erick. Morgan Brian Jersey. " A pair of light-heavyweight contests played out in disappointing fashion as Thaigo Silva outclassed Matt Hamill and Fabio Maldonado earned a split-decision win over Joey Beltran in a lacklustre affair. Silva, who missed weight for the matchup at Fridays official ceremony, was clearly better than Hamill, who was fighting for the first time in 13 months. While neither fighter particularly impressed, Silvas heavy punches and devastating leg kicks took their toll. Hamills vaunted wrestling attack was ineffective, and he was punching back for most of the 15-minute affair. Hamill showed heart in surviving until the final bell, but Silva was awarded the clearcut unanimous-decision win, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. "I think it was a bad fight," Silva admitted. "I had a bad weight cut, which was my own fault. I disappointed the UFC, but Ill make up for it. "I had many chances to knock him out, but I gassed out. It was a bad fight even though I won." Meanwhile, Maldonado got off to a slow start, and Beltran slowed as the fight wore on, making for a rather tedious affair eventually won 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 by Maldonado. While both fighters were willing to trade blows on the feet, Beltran preferred to fight on the inside and work dirty boxing in the clinch. Maldonado, who works better for distance, inexplicably put himself willingly in tight quarters. Beltran (14-9) scored a takedown late in the third and finished the fight winging punches at his opponent, but it was a case of too little, too late as Maldonado (20-6) was awarded the win. "I know he usually likes to slow down the pace to explode in the end, so I had to watch my pace, too," Maldonado said. "I had a few opportunities to finish it but I was always mindful of that. "I wish I had thrown more punches, boxed more, and hadnt stayed so much against the fence. I did damage there too, but I know the judges sometimes see the fence as a sign of control." Wednesdays event was attended by a reported sold-out crowd of 6,621 fans, according to UFC exec Marshall Zelaznik. In other matches: -- Brazilian submission ace Rousimar Palhares (15-5) snapped a two-fight losing streak in emphatic fashion, making Mike Pierce tap out in just 31 seconds. Despite scoring the only submission victory of the night, UFC officials declined to award the Brazilian the "Submission of the Night" bonus, citing his refusal to immediately let go of the hold after his opponents submission as "unsportsmanlike conduct." -- Bantamweight Raphael Assuncao ran his UFC record to 5-0 at 135 pounds with a hard-fought split-decision win over fellow top contender T.J. Dillashaw. The bout earned both fighters a bonus cheque for the evenings "Fight of the Night." ' ' '