Anthony Smith's place among the elite light heavyweights in the world is secure.

"Lionheart" went into Alexander Gustafsson's hometown and finished him via rear-naked choke submission at 2:38 of the fourth round Saturday in the main event of UFC Stockholm. It was the biggest win of Smith's 11-year career and arguably his best performance.

Afterward, Gustafsson took his gloves off and left them in the Octagon. He confirmed after the fight that he would be retiring.

"The show is over, guys," Gustafsson said. "... It feels like I don't have it anymore. I have done it for a long time. I'm 32 years old, I have kids, built the life that I wanted thanks to this sport. It feels like I'm getting old. We all have to realize that it's the end of the story."

Smith controlled the majority of the fight. He got the better of the first two rounds with a series of hard left hooks. Gustafsson seemed content to stay on the outside and wait for the action to come to him.

In the third, Gustafsson found his rhythm. The leg kicks he had been throwing began adding up, he landed a hard jab that got Smith's attention and then hurt Smith with a body kick before landing a takedown.

Smith said he broke his left hand earlier in the bout and was trying to work around it. He said in the fourth round he started to adjust.

"I decided to figure it out," Smith said. "I tried to throw a couple of hard body shots after that. I felt [my hand] swelling in my glove. I think a little of it was panic."

Smith took Gustafsson's back in a wild scramble after a Gustafsson takedown attempt failed in the fourth. He managed to flatten Gustafsson out, land ground and pound and cinch in a rear-naked choke for the finish. Smith reminded everyone afterward that he was a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

Smith (31-14), like Gustafsson, was coming off a loss in a title fight to Jon Jones. This was the Nebraska native's 12th career submission win. Smith, 30, has the most finishes in the light heavyweight division since 2018 with four. He'll keep his top-five ranking.

Gustafsson (18-6) has lost two straight and four of his last six, but all of his opponents have been the very best in the division. He has fought three times for the UFC light heavyweight title and gave Jones the toughest fight of his career in 2013.

Gustafsson has been the best Swedish fighter in the UFC and the promotion's top draw in the country.

"I'm very disappointed," Gustafsson said. "It happened again, I lost in my own home. You know what, it's a sport; it's hard. You do it because you love it.

"... I never did this for the money or anything like that. I did it because I want to be the best, and if I can't be the best, then it is what it is. Now, I'll focus on my kids, I own a gym and have a couple of other projects going on. Let's see what is the next chapter."

TORONTO -- When Kawhi Leonard was growing up in Southern California, he dreamed -- like many others -- of having the ball in his hands with the outcome on the line in the biggest of games.

And as Leonard has gone through this playoff run with the Toronto Raptors, leading them to the NBA Finals and to a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series against the Golden State Warriors, he has done exactly that.

So has this run with Toronto been the most fun Leonard has had in his NBA career?

"Obviously, it's a lot more fun when you're getting plays called for you and you're able to live your childhood dream in being able to shoot the ball 20 times a game," he said. "The offense is coming toward you, rather than just being out there doing one job. Because when you first come in as a rookie, unless you're like a top-10 player, you're really not going to touch the floor a whole lot, or get the offense run through you.

"That kind of throws you off, or for me just like puts you in a box somewhat. You have to figure out a way to have fun. Like I said, being a child, I didn't envision myself just being in a box in the NBA. But once that time comes, I feel like you're just having more fun and you're able to experience the game and grow as a player, making plays, seeing double-teams and finding other guys.

"It just gets more fun. You're able to do a lot more."

It's safe to say Leonard doesn't have to worry about being stuck in a box any longer. That has been the case for a few years now, after he stunned the basketball world and emerged from relative obscurity -- he was the No. 15 pick in the 2011 NBA draft out of San Diego State -- to become the best two-way player in the sport.

But he was doing that in San Antonio, playing alongside future Hall of Famers in Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, and for arguably the greatest coach of all time in Gregg Popovich. Upon arriving in Toronto by trade this past offseason, the franchise was handed over to Leonard, with the goal of spending the 11 months between when the deal was consummated in late July until this summer -- when Leonard will be an unrestricted free agent -- convincing him Toronto is the place he should stay.

Given how this season has turned out, the sales pitch couldn't have worked better. The Raptors cruised to 58 wins in the regular season and the second-best record in the NBA (behind Milwaukee). Leonard played 60 games, with Toronto working with him diligently to be as healthy as possible come playoff time. And once the postseason arrived, Leonard turned into a world-destroying force, carrying Toronto past the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Milwaukee Bucks in the East finals -- a performance that has firmly placed him back in the debate of who is the best player in the sport.

Three more wins over the Warriors will make his argument for that top spot close to unassailable. But as Toronto claimed Game 1, Leonard didn't have the same kind of incredible performance he has recreated time and again during this postseason run. His numbers -- 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists -- while great by most standards, were rather ordinary by his incredibly lofty ones, including going 5-for-14 from the field.

That Leonard again was caught on camera limping at times during Thursday's Game 1 -- just as he was during the Bucks series -- was cause for concern in many quarters even after Toronto's win.

The only people who seem unconcerned about the state of Leonard's health, however, are members of the Raptors themselves.

"Yeah, I don't think the leg trouble is much of an issue," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Saturday.

"And I'm expecting him to play a lot better tomorrow."

Publicly and privately throughout Toronto's playoff run, the same line has been repeated: The talk of Leonard playing through an injury has been overstated by those outside the team.

The concern about Leonard's health is understandable, given he was traded here by the San Antonio Spurs last summer after playing just nine games in 2017-18 due to tendinopathy in his left quad. But his performances during this playoffs have backed up the belief that he's more than capable of playing to the level that's required for Toronto to win the three more games they need to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time.

Meanwhile, the Raptors would point to the way Golden State attacked Leonard in Game 1 -- often doing anything it could to ensure he wouldn't beat it -- as a bigger cause for his mundane play than any issues physically.

And given how that attention on Leonard manifested itself across the rest of the court, with Pascal Siakam scoring 32 points, Marc Gasol 20 and Fred VanVleet 15, the Raptors won't be terribly upset if things remain the same.

"I come into the game just trying to win," Leonard said. "If I have my mindset on just trying to score the ball, yeah, it could be difficult. But I'm trying to make the right play out there, and obviously if there are two people on me, somebody is open.

"It's really not about me. If they play defense like that, guys are going to step up and make shots. All I could do is keep making the right play. When I do get a free look, make my shots and go back on the other end and play defense.

"It's just not about me scoring or trying to get my offense off. It's a whole collective group out there playing basketball."

That has been Toronto's ethos throughout its run. And yet, time and again, it has been Leonard at the center of everything the Raptors have done. The days of him being a rookie in San Antonio spending time guarding the best player on the other team, and largely staying out of the way of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker, are long behind him.

Now, after a playoff run filled with multiple iconic moments -- notably his unbelievable series-ending buzzer-beater against the Sixers -- Leonard has yet another chance to add to his growing legacy.

"I feel like I made some big shots in my career before," Leonard said. "I mean, obviously not like the ones now, but it's been fun. I can't complain about my career.

"I had a great time each step of the way. I had fun with my whole journey."

The Raptors hope the next steps in that journey will be three more wins in this series -- and, with them, an NBA championship.

World fourth-placer is back in training following his Scottish marathon record run in London

Scottish marathon record-holder Callum Hawkins is ready to step up his preparations for the IAAF World Championships this autumn – and a midnight run in Doha, writes Peter Jardine.

The Kilbarchan AAC athlete ended a 34-year wait for a new fastest time by a Scot over the classic distance when he clocked 2:08:14 to finish 10th in the London Marathon in April.

Allister Hutton’s 2:09:16 mark had stood since 1985 and, after a short break which included his own version of the North Coast 500 road trip around Scotland, Hawkins has resumed training following confirmation of automatic selection for the global event in Qatar.

“I’m selected for Doha and that’s the main target for 2019,” said Hawkins, who was fourth in the 2017 world championships marathon.

“It will be warm out there, of course, but they have put the start of the marathon to midnight to try and help that. The main thing is there won’t be any sunshine because, as I’ve discovered, that can be the worst element!

“I’m racing again next in the Czech Republic in a half-marathon on June 15. It’s an evening start-time but the last time I was there for this race, at the same time of year, it was 27 degrees.”

Hawkins, of course, had collapsed in the final stages of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games marathon some 12 months prior to exorcising those ghosts with his superb run in London.

“To be honest, it didn’t feel like a huge mental barrier to complete the race in London,” added Hawkins, who helped Scottish Athletics present the Lindsays Trophy for cross country participation to Giffnock North in Glasgow this week (pictured below).

“I was really just thinking and concentrating more on trying to run fast, rather than just finishing.

“Having said that, I did have a wee wobble at the 40km point and my head just went a bit for a moment. I really just had to grind out the last 2km and get it done.

“However, it was a good run. The last 5km were actually quicker than Mo Farah’s last 5km! His last 1km was definitely faster than mine, though!

“I had come out beforehand and said publicly I was looking to get a new Scottish record and a top 10 finish in London and in the end that’s what happened – even though I took the record by over a minute and I do feel I can go even quicker.

“I don’t know too much about Allister Hutton and I’ve not spoken to him.

“But John Graham, who was second on the all-time list prior to my run, and also with a 2:09, did send me a message prior to London and said: ‘Good luck, that record really needs to be broken as it has been far too long’. I appreciated that gesture.”

In the recovery period after London, Hawkins’ only long run was a car run.

“I had a bit of down time afterwards,” he said. “We took a road trip up to the north of Scotland and it was fantastic – it was something I’d never done and bits of Scotland I’d never seen.

“It wasn’t the exact North Coast 500, more my version of it, because we ended up driving about 1000 miles in five days and the scenery was fantastic. I will go back again at some point but I don’t mean for a run – I’m not quite ready for the ultra running yet!

“Since then it is just a case of easing back into the training; doing a lot of work on the bike first and then some miles. This week is my first session of eight times three minutes a bit faster and we will take it from there. I feel in pretty good shape.”

Hawkins, twice winner of the Lindsays National XC title, isn’t ruling out a return to cross-country action next winter in what could be the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics.

He joined Scottish Athletics chairman and Lindsays chief operating officer, Ian Beattie, in celebrating success for Giffnock North AC in the Lindsays Trophy for the largest aggregate of finishers across three National XC events over the winter.

The Glasgow club, winners in 2016 and 2017, won the accolade back from holders Garscube Harriers after fielding no fewer than 283 finishers.

Novak Djokovic is still to drop a set at the French Open after sweeping aside Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso 6-3 6-3 6-2 to make the fourth round.

The Serb has never lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as world number 147 Caruso and breezed to victory in two hours and four minutes.

He is three wins away from the final and a possible meeting with 11-time champion Rafael Nadal.

Fifth seed Alexander Zverev withstood Dusan Lajovic's fightback to advance.

The German, who lost to Austria's Dominic Thiem in the last eight at Roland Garros last year, finally prevailed 6-4 6-2 4-6 1-6 6-2.

Serbian world number 35 Lajovic also took Zverev to five sets at Roland Garros last year.

Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also had to work hard, finally overcoming Filip Krajinovic 7-5 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6) in a match played over two days after bad light stopped play on Friday.

The Greek will play 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round after the Swiss beat Grigor Dimitrov, while Zverev will take on Fabio Fognini following the Italian's 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 4-6 6-1 win over Spanish 18th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Djokovic's serene progress into the second week continued as he lost just 19 points on his own serve in his victory over Caruso.

The 32-year-old, who is the Wimbledon, US and Australian Open champion, is bidding to become the first man in the Open era to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously on two separate occasions.

Tsitsipas, who lost to Nadal in the Australian Open semi-finals in January, is another potential final opponent for 15-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.

The 20-year-old beat Nadal in Madrid last month and won his first clay-court Tour title in Estoril.

His victory over Serbia's Krajinovic makes him the first Greek to reach this stage at Roland Garros since 1936.

Elsewhere, Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro made short work of Australian Jordan Thompson, racking up a 6-4 6-4 6-0 win in a minute more than two hours.

Last year's US Open runner-up will face Russian Karen Khachanov next after the 10th seed's 6-1 6-4 6-3 win over Martin Klizan.

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem once again needed four sets to beat his opponent. The Austrian, who beat Tommy Paul and Alexander Bublik with similar scorelines in the previous two rounds, overcame Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 to book a meeting with home-crowd favourite Gael Monfils. The Frenchman was a 6-3 6-2 6-3 winner over compatriot Antoine Hoang.