MMA

Dillon Danis says the viral photos purportedly showing him snorting a white substance aren't what they claim to be ... because he didn't magically lose all his tattoos overnight.

The MMA fighter tells TMZ Sports ... the photos currently making the rounds online are fake, and he says there's one pretty obvious giveaway -- the man in the images doesn't have the same tattoos he does.

Dillon says ... "To be completely clear: those photos are not me, and anyone presenting them as authentic images of me is spreading false information."

Ryan Garcia has a word of caution for women on social media ... beware of boxers!

The WBC welterweight champ chopped it up with TMZ Sports this week at an open workout for his huge upcoming fight with Conor Benn ... and we had to ask King Ry about the biggest scandal in sports -- Daejon Love.

The fugazi Niner seemingly had no problem finding his alleged victims -- he's accused of defrauding 26 women out of $1.3 million -- but Garcia says it's even easier to pretend to be a fighter because "anybody can say they're a boxer."

Claressa Shields has accomplished just about everything in the boxing ring ... but there's still one more MUST on her bucket list -- Beyoncé!

The undisputed champ stopped by the TMZ Sports offices for a sit-down with Babcock on Tuesday ... where she made a direct plea to Queen Bey.

"Beyoncé, listen, baby girl. Before I retire," 31-year-old Shields said ... "I need you to walk me out. You pick the song, and only perform 30 seconds, one minute, whatever you decide."

There are now two empty seats on the wagon -- 'cause Conor McGregor got wind of Brad Pitt's decision to consume alcohol again ... and said he'll drink to that!!

Notorious -- who opened up on his sobriety leading up to last month's Max Holloway fight -- announced his audible on Tuesday ... saying the "fellow actor" inspired him to have a couple pints of Forged Stout, which he launched in 2020.

McGregor sent his best wishes to Pitt ... while adding the bevvy contains 4.2-percent alcohol.

An MMA fighter had a "life comes at you fast" moment this week ... when he made his way to the ring with an epic K-Pop dance -- just to get knocked out minutes later.

The equal parts highlight and lowlight came at the RIZIN 54 event at Toyota Center Tokyo in Japan ... with Ryoma "Jolly" Shishimoto grooving to ILLIT's "It's Me" during his walkout.

The clip quickly made rounds on social media -- some folks praised his choreography execution and declared Jolly their "bias" ... while others questioned the over-the-top efforts before a violent showdown.

Jake Paul is eyeing a jump to MMA -- and his business partner says when it happens, it’ll shatter viewership records!

Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of MVP Promotions, dropped the bold prediction during a recent conversation with Babcock ... where the guys were discussing The Problem Child's future fight plans.

Jake definitely wants to do MMA,” Bidarian said. “And I will say here on this show with you today that when Jake Paul enters the cage, our Hexagon, it will be the most viewed MMA match in history."

"I have no doubt about that.”

Jake Paul won't just be running the new MVP MMA promotion after the merger with PFL ... he'll also be fighting, and he's got two big-name opponents in mind!

The Problem Child chopped it up with Babcock on Friday ... and was asked if he was targeting his longtime rival, Nate Diaz.

"Yeah, Nate Diaz. Mike Perry would be great," the 29-year-old fighter said.

"We love Mike Perry. The Nate conversation has been ongoing. It just never made complete sense. I think up until this moment, things just got a lot more serious with this announcement. So, I want the Nate Diaz MMA fight very, very bad."

Kamu Kirk -- a housemate on season 28 of "Big Brother" -- is catching flak online over a viral video where he jokes about George Floyd.

Here's the deal ... back in December, Kamu shared several videos where he filmed a dude being arrested outside his residence while screaming bloody murder.

During the high-pitch screams for help -- it sounds like the person being arrested is alleging police mistreatment -- Kamu says, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe. Bro thinks he's George Floyd."

The video recently resurfaced and is now going viral ... for all the wrong reasons.

Dominick Cruz, newly minted UFC Hall of Famer, is sending a powerful message to Conor McGregor as the MMA superstar deals with the fallout from the devastating injury ... and it's not the usual BS "get well soon" pep talk.

Cruz, the former bantamweight champ, who himself suffered multiple serious injuries as he attempted to return to his championship form, spent a few minutes chatting with TMZ Sports ... and he put things into perspective for The Notorious.

"I think that at the end, he's going to learn that this happened for him, not to him. And it's going to make him a better man if he chooses the direction that God wants him to," Dom told us.

Drake might want to tread lightly around Sophie Brussaux ... his baby mama just married a Muay Thai fighter!

Sophie -- the mother of Drake's only son, Adonis -- married Efe Caliskan on Sunday in a ceremony in North York, Toronto.

Her new hubby is a professional fighter who recently made his MMA debut ... and he's no chump because he won that fight in a unanimous decision.

Francis Ngannou and Rico Verhoeven were both combat sports stars who went into boxing and were arguably screwed by bad decisions ... and now both fighters could find themselves in a ring together, according to The Predator!

TMZ Sports talked to 39-year-old Ngannou, coming off a first-round knockout against Philipe Lins, when we asked him about his next move.

"[Rico] is very compelling. Very interesting. But nothing has been done yet, so I'm looking forward to it," Francis told us.

Talk about knockouts! OnlyFans girls Karina Petrova and Alexandra Svensson are going from queen mattresses to queens of the ring ... because they're gearing up for their Knockout Queen match-ups!

They hit an L.A. gym in wearing only tight shorts and skimpy sports bras to train with MMA athlete and Knockout Queen commentator Blake "Bulletproof" Troop.

The gorgeous gals glove up and face off in the ring for some sexy sparring ... but their actual fights won't be with each other.

Could the White House go from jabs to jump shots?

Dan Hurley's certainly on board ... telling TMZ DC he'd love to have his UConn Huskies play on the South Lawn next after the recent UFC Freedom 250 extravaganza!!

Coach Hurley -- who attended the elaborate MMA event on Sunday and other UFC fights in the past -- lit up when Charlie Cotton pitched the idea of getting some college basketball at 1600 Penn next.

Amanda Serrano isn't just one of the best boxers in the world, she's also an MMA fighter ... and she's interested in returning to the cage -- and she has a big name opponent in mind!

Gina Carano!

37-year-old Serrano -- the unified featherweight world champion -- chopped it up with Babcock ahead of her return to the ring (more on that in a minute) ... when the topic of mixed martial arts came up.

Ray J underwent a medical evaluation and was cleared by doctors before his fight with Supa Hot Fire -- despite checking himself into a hospital after the event, TMZ has learned. 

Sources connected with the fight tell TMZ that Ray J was “fully cleared” to fight following an “extensive medical evaluation process” overseen by both independent physicians and the athletic commission. 

The source tells TMZ that Ray J submitted to an MRA, an MRI, a chest x-ray, an eye exam, an EKG, and a full physical exam. The test results were submitted to the athletic commission, where the commission doctor separately reviewed the findings and cleared Ray J.