A sell-out crowd of 19,000 packed the O2 Arena and made their allegiances clear.
Wardley’s charismatic yet measured personality has made him a popular figure. He looked full of purpose as he took his time on stage, fireworks exploding in front of him, his usual smile replaced by a look of determination.
Dubois, meanwhile, was greeted by jeers as he marched straight past the fireworks and towards the ring, wasting little time soaking up the occasion.
Actor Paddy Considine, comedian Rob Beckett, Oasis star Noel Gallagher and darts world champion Luke Littler were among the famous faces in attendance.
With 41 knockouts between the fighters, few expected the judges to be called upon. The feeling beforehand was that Wardley’s best chance lay in making another fast start, having dropped Dubois inside the opening moments of their first meeting.
But in a stunning reversal, it took just 17 seconds for Wardley to hit the canvas as Dubois backed him into a corner and landed a straight right.
Chants of ‘oh Fabio Wardley’ were quickly silenced as Dubois continued to unload punishing combinations. Another furious attack towards the end of the round left Wardley in deep trouble.
Trainer Ben Davison, criticised for not withdrawing Wardley sooner in their first contest, stood poised with a towel in his hand as his fighter survived to the bell.
There had already been concerns over whether Wardley had returned too quickly after the punishment he absorbed in May, when he was left bloodied and badly swollen.
And those fears appeared justified as the challenger struggled to cope with Dubois’ relentless pressure. Wardley’s hands were low and his punches wild and telegraphed, lacking the menace he had shown in Manchester.
Backed into the corner again in the second round, he was subjected to another barrage before Davison leapt up and threw in the towel.
The two men could hardly be more different outside the ring. Dubois was typically reserved throughout fight week, looking uncomfortable in the media spotlight. Wardley, by contrast, was relaxed and articulate, insisting he had learned from his mistakes.
But despite their contrasting personalities and fierce rivalry, there was mutual respect at the end of the fight.
Though the Dodgers would eventually break open the game via the long ball, and despite the Atlanta Braves being forced to throw a bullpen game coming out of a taxing wild-card round, Game 1 of the NLDS began as a pitching duel.
Braves left-hander Dylan Dodd held the Dodgers to just two hits through three scoreless innings. But Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal was even more impressive, despite the heat. He set the Dodgers up for a 5-3 victory to take control of the series.
“A really good starting rotation obviously is really helpful, but it is very impactful for quality of life,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before the game. “We have gone through years where our starting rotation hasn’t been as good. In ’24 that wasn’t a strength of our roster. We won the World Series. The quality of life is way more difficult than being able to pencil in a Skubal, a [Blake] Snell, a [Yoshinobu Yamamoto], and a [Tyler Galsnow.]”
The temperature at first pitch was 100 degrees, and still climbing, making it the second-hottest recorded first-pitch temperature in postseason history, behind only Game 1 of the 2017 World Series between the Dodgers and Astros (103), according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The announced attendance was over 50,000, but far fewer fans were in their seats in the dangerous temperatures.
Skubal’s command wasn’t at its sharpest in the first inning, with his changeup consistently missing high. But he adjusted before the second and went on to limit the Braves to one run through six innings.
The difference was clear when contrasting Braves leadoff hitter Drake Baldwin’s first and second at-bats against Skubal.
Skubal fell behind with his first pitch of the game, a fastball below the zone. He worked back, with another fastball for a strike and a foul-tipped changeup low and away. But then, in a two-strike count, Skubal missed his spot, giving Baldwin a thigh-high changeup that he could drive.
That sharp single through the middle of the infield was one of just two hits he gave up Saturday. And after it, he retired 15 straight batters.
By the time Skubal faced Baldwin again, with two outs in the third, his whole arsenal was dialed in. Four of the last five outs he’d recorded were strikeouts, with a different putaway pitch for each: slider, sinker, curveball, changeup.
This time, Skubal was the aggressor, getting to a 0-2 count with a slider and sinker inside. Then Baldwin avoided chasing a pair of sliders to even the count. Skubal came back inside with a fastball that Baldwin fouled off.
So, to end the at-bat, Skubal went to his signature changeup, which he’d regained feel for the previous inning. It dove out of the bottom of the strikezone, and Baldwin swung through it, ending the inning on a strikeout.
Skubal strutted off the mound, hit the palm of his glove twice, and slapped hands with catcher Will Smith.
Skubal didn’t allow another baserunner until the sixth inning, when Sean Murphy launched a top-rail sinker for a solo homer.
Dodger pitcher Tarik Skubal is congradulated by Will Smith after making quick work of the Braves in the second ining.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers’ lead, however, remained intact. Two innings earlier Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández broke up the scoreless tie with a two-run homer.
Hernández knows how to fire up a crowd in a big postseason moment. And he seized his chance when he got a cutter down the middle from Braves reliever Victor Mederos. Hernández tossed his bat back toward the home dugout, and it sliced through the air end-over-end.
With the Dodgers’ lead cut to one run, Skubal labored through the rest of the sixth inning, issuing a pair of walks, his first of the game. Smith and pitching coach Mark Prior came out for separate mound visits. But manager Dave Roberts stayed in his seat and trusted his Game 1 starter to face Braves cleanup hitter Matt Olson for a third time.
Skubal escaped the inning by getting Olson to chase an outside fastball and fly out to left field.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Dodgers’ bats came alive. Right fielder Kyle Tucker, in his first postseason game as a Dodger, hit a two-run home run. And Max Muncy joined in with a solo homer of his own.
Dodgers relievers Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia each retired the side in order, in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Lefty Tanner Scott, whom Roberts plans to use in a fireman role, surrendered a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies in the ninth. But right-hander Evan Phillips came in to record the final out.
UCLA running backs coach A.J. Steward preaches it and it is the mantra adopted by the Bruins’ prolific running backs.
UCLA’s three-headed backfield, composed of fifth-year players Wayne Knight and Anthony Woods and senior Jaivian Thomas, is hailed for its undeniable impact on the ground, ranking first nationally in rushing touchdowns, third in yards per carry and fifth in yards per game this season.
Steward, who works in tandem with offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Smith, said it’s what his tailbacks do without the ball and the group’s commitment to each other that separates the group from the rest of the pack.
UCLA running back Anthony Woods scores against Cal while receiver Mikey Matthews celebrates the touchdown on Sept. 5.
(Godofredo A. Vasquez/For The Times)
“The way we play without the ball in our hands is no different. It should be no different than what we do when we have the ball in our hands in terms of trying to make a play for our offense,” Steward said. “You cut the film on any of these guys, you’ll see they’re downfield making blocks. They’re there at the end of the play in case somebody puts the ball down [on] the ground and that’s because they hear it every day how you do anything’s how you do everything.”
Apart from the group’s buy-in to doing the little things, its commitment to unselfish football keeps one of the most dynamic running games in the country from fracturing.
All three of the Bruins starting running backs could have been the sole starter at another program, with Woods rushing for 1,131 yards and 16 scores at Idaho in 2023, Thomas running for 626 yards and seven touchdowns at California in 2024 and Knight earning AP All-America honors last season at James Madison for his record-breaking 2,039 all-purpose yards.
But, as Steward preaches, the star of the running unit is the running back unit. And that belief is shared by the players, keeping them tightly knit and unbothered by who gets the most touches or scores.
“It goes into their buy-in as a program, as a group, because you’re talking about three dynamic running backs that could have 40 carries, 50 carries, 30 carries, 20, whatever it is,” said offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy. “But the fact that they’re buying into each other, that you could see them on the sideline, genuinely caring about other people’s success, and when you have a group like that, it bleeds to the team.”
The ability to utilize three differently skilled but equally high-impact running backs has dramatically opened Kennedy’s playbook, allowing him to put the tailbacks out on the perimeter and act as receivers, creating headaches for opposing defenses.
But the real value comes in the dying embers of games, when everyone on both sides of the field is exhausted — except the UCLA running backs.
“The ability to when we’re in the fourth quarter, I’m looking at these three guys and none of them are banged up, none of them are gassed and we can just roll,” Steward said. “We have guys that have only played 15 snaps in a game, 20 snaps in a game, that we trust with the game on the line to be able to push the ball forward and get first downs in a four-minute situation. That’s a competitive advantage. That’s part of the method to the madness is to have guys really fresh by the time we get to the fourth quarter.”
The team-first mentality of the running back group stems from the emphasis Steward places on having authentic relationships with his players, a lesson he learned under coach Dave Bailiff, now the special assistant to the head coach at Texas State, when Steward was a graduate assistant at Rice.
After a fellow graduate assistant chewed out one of the scout team players, Bailiff brought all of the young coaches into his office and reprimanded them, highlighting that they should never say or do anything they wouldn’t do to their own son.
UCLA running back Jaivian Thomas weaves through the Purdue defense on Sept. 19 at the Rose Bowl.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
And Steward has carried that experience from more than a decade ago in Houston, inspiring how he leads his group in Westwood.
“I definitely see them as somebody’s sons. I struggled earlier in my career to be blunt in the moments that they needed me to be blunt, because I didn’t want to ruffle their feathers or strain our relationship momentarily,” Steward said. “But now, I’m addressing it with them because I don’t want them to get hurt from a place of love. It’s been good for them to see me with my family, so they see a lot of the consistency with how I raise my boys, with some of the lessons that I’m trying to teach them.”
That spirit allowed Steward to be one of two coaches — alongside nickels coach Gabe Lynn — to be retained after working for former coach DeShaun Foster.
Soon after he arrived, new UCLA head coach Bob Chesney asked Steward whether he wanted to remain in Westwood.
And the answer was easy.
“I told him how much I really believe in this place and how much I love the players that we have here. I knew it was only a matter of time before we could get this thing going in the direction that I’ve always envisioned it,” Steward said. “I’m blessed that he gave me an opportunity to stay, and we’re seeing the fruit of some of the work that was put in before they got here, but also the success that they brought and the culture they added.”
And Steward’s emphasis on cultivating a genuine connection to his players fit naturally with the culture Chesney vowed to instill in Westwood.
Steward’s three top running backs now praise the coach for who he is as a man and a leader.
“His faith and how he carries himself as a father and off-the-football-field stuff — I admire a lot of that,” Knight said. “He’s a very respectable man.”
On the field, Knight said Steward has made him become more of a pro, by harping on the little things and making sure that no one takes anything for granted. Thomas said Steward knew things about his game that Thomas did not know himself.
UCLA running back Wayne Knight smiles after scoring a touchdown against Purdue at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 19.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
Woods echoed his teammates’ message, adding that Steward has pushed the group to its limit and held them to the highest standard because he knows the players’ potential.
“If they believe the why behind the things that you do, it opens the door for them to trust your decision making sometimes when it doesn’t necessarily benefit them,” Steward said. “That’s really what’s unlocked our ability to see these guys get closer to their ceiling. Even when I’m giving them coaching points, they understand this comes from a place of love. Love is saying great job when it’s a great job, or telling you that’s not the standard when it’s not the standard.”
