UFC

UFC fighter Sean Strickland is clearly not over Dylan Mulvaney's Bud Light sponsorship three years later ... 'cause he just posted a fake ad featuring himself beating up a trans woman to celebrate Pride Month being "far less gay" now.

The incredibly controversial middleweight champ shared the edited video on social media Tuesday ... showing him punching and kicking an opponent in a pink dress until a referee steps in and calls the match.

The clip then cuts to the end of a Bud Light ad ... which states it's the "official beer sponsor of UFC."

Justin Gaethje has some things in common with the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team -- he's a huge underdog like the boys were in Lake Placid -- and he's gunning to replicate that American Pride with his main event fight against Ilia Topuria at the White House!

"I get to control my destiny. What an opportunity. This is 'Miracle On Ice' type of energy that I'm trying to drive into this country," Gaethje told Babcock on Monday.

"I have an opportunity to do something special and I could not ask for anything better. I think 250 years ago, I think we were definitely bigger underdogs. And look where we are now. So I'm ready."

Justin says he understands he's an American fighting a man born across the Atlantic Ocean at an event celebrating the 250th birthday of the country ... and that brings extra pressure.

There's a huge construction project making major progress at the White House ... and we don't mean President Trump's new ballroom ... we're talking UFC's Freedom 250 arena!!!

Check out these photos of the fight venue going up on the South Lawn ... the structure is really starting to take shape ahead of the historic June 14 card.

The biggest progress appears to be with the star-spangled arch that will stretch over the octagon fight cage ... the arch has the red, white and blue colorway and tons of lighting effects in place.

Conor McGregor is now the owner of one of the most insane pieces of military memorabilia ... Rob O'Neill -- the SEAL Team 6 operator who killed Osama bin Laden -- gifted the UFC superstar one of the gloves he wore during the historic 2011 mission.

O'Neill and McGregor sat down for a chat -- promoting Conor's new energy drink, MAC Energy -- when the retired Tier 1 operator busted out the glove and handed it to the former champ-champ.

"That's a used glove?" McGregor asked ... "These are the gloves that was used on the mission to take down Osama bin Laden?"

Ray J is learning from the best as he prepares for his upcoming MMA fight against Supa Hot Fire ... because we have video of him training with MMA icons Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson.

"The Iceman" -- with an impressive 21-9 record -- got to teach the singer a thing or two about what he'll be in for inside the ring. They swapped the octagon for a dining room, but no worries -- the training looked just as effective.

In the fight prep footage, obtained by TMZ, Ray J looks super locked in ... working up a sweat and picking the brains of two icons who've spent years destroying people professionally.

Ray J posed for photos with Chuck, the founder of Creators Inc., Andrew Bachman, and Ray's longtime manager, David Weintraub.

17 million people tuned in to Jake Paul's MVP MMA 1 card Saturday night, and co-founder and CEO Nakisa Bidarian is giving a State Of The Promotion after the event ... addressing everything from whether Gina Carano should've been in the cage with Ronda Rousey to the UFC's decision to drop big Conor McGregor return news during the event!

"Tremendous success. Unprecedented for someone to come into a sport that has an endemic reference brand like the UFC and to perform the way that we did," Bidarian told Babcock Wednesday afternoon.

"It speaks to obviously our partner in being Netflix, speaks to the fighters on the card, but also speaks to MVP, Jake Paul, who is the biggest brand in combat sports under the age of 30, unequivocally, and all of that magic coming together and our ability to execute. So very, very happy with the outcome."

Nakisa believes it was a smash hit ... begging the question, will MVP do MMA again?

Ex-UFC star Diego Sanchez and his wife, Teresa Tapia, divorced weeks before he avoided prison time in his criminal case, TMZ has learned.

Teresa filed a petition for divorce on February 16, 2026, citing “irreconcilable differences” and said there was no hope for a reconciliation.

The paperwork listed the date of marriage as December 20, 2024. The exes reached a settlement agreement, which stated they started to live separately in April 2025.

Freedom 250 is the most exclusive ticket in the sports world right now. The fights ain't goin' down in big arena -- and the White House lawn doesn't have unlimited space ... begging the question, how many tickets does Dana White himself have? Or, how about President Trump?

TMZ Sports asked him.

"There's a lot of people who hit me up for tickets. We did invites," the UFC honcho told us recently in New York City.

Ronda Rousey made quick work of Gina Carano in their highly anticipated mixed martial arts fight, forcing her tap out in just 17 seconds.

Rousey returned to the Octagon at L.A.'s Inuit Dome Saturday night after a nearly 10-year hiatus and came storming out of the gate in the first round, tackling Carano to the canvas. 

The MMA star then put Carano in her signature armbar, and that was it, folks. Carano immediately tapped out. After the match, Rousey said she's headed back into retirement to be with her family, ending her 13-2 MMA career on a high note.

Dana White is the opposite of frightened leading up to the HEATED UFC 328 main event matchup between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland, telling TMZ Sports ... "It's exciting!"

"It doesn't scare me," the UFC honcho said Friday in Manhattan, referencing all the insane trash talk leading up to Saturday's fight card.

"It's been a minute since I've had a fight that's had this much heat on it. Ya know, it's exciting."

Luke Rockhold has a face for the camera ... but don't expect him to get in front of one any time soon ... the former UFC star says he HATES the idea of being anyone but himself.

TMZ Sports caught up with Rockhold at Santos Studios in Newport this week ... and asked him all about his life outside of the Octagon ... his last fight was a boxing match against Darren Till in 2025, and his last MMA bout was all the way back in 2022.

Of course, he's not too far removed from the fight game -- he is helping Khamzat Chimaev train for his big fight with Sean Strickland at UFC 328 next weekend -- and LR admitted with the way that's going, he's not unretiring unless he gets an astronomical payday.

So, what does he want to do if not fight?? He explained he's got his hands tied with several business ventures like Santos, Gameday Men's Health and Protein Candy.

Khamzat Chimaev has a huge title fight in exactly one week, but the MMA superstar is also interested in taking a detour to the boxing ring ... and he wants to fight Conor McGregor!

TMZ Sports was in SoCal this week for a workout sesh and media event with the 32-year-old middleweight champion ... when Chimaev was asked what currently excited him.

"I don't know, probably it would be Zuffa boxing with Conor. Maybe that. We will just box 12 rounds."

Andrew Tate is calling Guy Fieri a "bitch ass n*****" for a total switch up after their friendly UFC meetup that quickly turned into online backlash.

We caught up with Tate in Beverly Hills Tuesday, and he made it clear he’s not buying Guy’s explanation for distancing himself after the viral moment.

As we reported ... Fieri was seen greeting Tate and his brother at the fight in April, but the brief interaction sparked backlash online, with fans dragging Guy for being seen with the controversial influencer. He later claimed he didn’t know them and doesn’t support them.

UFC star Rose Namajunas just shared the most disturbing clip of the week on this lovely Monday afternoon ... showing her getting a silicone tube removed from her eye.

We saw it ... so now you do, too.

Thug -- who underwent surgery after her loss to Natalia Silva at UFC 324 in January -- says she's back to 100% after a recent trip to the doctor ... where he pulled the medical device right from her socket.

Freedom 250 at the White House will be one of the most secure places on the planet, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to an official from the Department of Homeland Security, Freedom 250, going down on the South Lawn on June 14, has been designated a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) ... meaning multiple federal law enforcement agencies will be involved in keeping fighters, teams, and throngs of fans safe.

Officials take importance, attendance, visibility, and risk assessment into account when designating an event ... and level 1 is reserved for events like the Super Bowl and major marathons.

The Indianapolis 500 and Kentucky Derby have traditionally been SEAR 2, while the Masters is SEAR 3.