Video Music Awards

Conor McGregor is still nursing his broken leg, but dude is already back to squaring up -- only this time ... he's doing it well outside the Octagon, and against Machine Gun Kelly.

The UFC star appears to have gotten into a physical confrontation Sunday on the red carpet of the MTV Video Music Awards leading into the Barclays Center -- right before showtime, no less -- in a would-be clash that was captured by several photogs on the scene.

As you can see, there's Conor in the pink suit mouthing off to MGK who's not very far ... and before you know it -- the next shot has Conor seemingly lunging at the rocker as people step in to separate them.

CMG can be seen reaching for Kelly -- but it doesn't look like he ever got a hold of him or even laid a finger on him for that matter. Conor was yanked back by security on hand ... with the Notorious looking furious and animated amid the scrum.

Unclear what might've set this whole thing off in the first place -- but it doesn't seem this escalated beyond a brief showdown ... because we've reached out to cops in the area, and no one's reported this (yet). It's weird ... MGK and Conor don't really have a hostile history.

We got calls in to both guys' camps to see what the fuss was about ... so far, no word back.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez continued their PDA-fest after the MTV VMAs ... dancing on each other at a NY hot spot and TMZ Sports has the video!

J Lo was honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the show -- one of the biggest moments of the night.

Lopez performed a medley of hits including "Ain't It Funny" and "I'm Real" with Ja Rule -- while A-Rod watched gleefully from the crowd.

In fact, there was a hilarious gif of Alex's face lighting up as he watched J Lo twerk her ass off during the performance.

After the show, the couple hit up Beauty and Essex in New York City -- where they continued to dance the night away together while the DJ played some of Jen's hits ... along with other hip-hop classics.

Lopez even rapped along to a Cardi B song while the crowd cheered her on.

Winning the MJ Video Vanguard Award is a big deal -- J Lo now joins an elite group with the likes of David Bowie, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Rihanna, Janet Jackson and more.

Jenny arrived to the show with her two kids -- but put them to bed before she hit the after-party.

Hey, mama's gotta let loose!

Cardi B was friendly and talkative with our photog Monday ... UNTIL we brought up the Travis Scott /Nicki Minaj feud.

We got Cardi B at The London NYC hotel ahead of the VMAs ... and she confirmed our report, there will be no musical performance from the "Bodak Yellow" singer. She'll open the show with some sort of monologue or skit ... but that's it. She says she's a little under the weather ... and will only perform when she feels better.

Don't expect Cardi B to make a triumphant return to rap at the VMAs Monday, 'cause her appearance won't include a performance ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the production tell us Cardi will in fact open the VMAs Monday as has been announced, but she won't be rockin' the mic for MTV. We're told she will either do a monologue or partake in some sort of skit instead.

Many speculated the show would mark Cardi's first musical performance since giving birth to baby Kulture ... but it just ain't happening.

Speaking of Kulture ... we're told she won't be making the trek to the show with mom either.

It's unclear whether or not Cardi's gig will be in the flesh or a pre-taped segment ... but one thing's for sure, fans will finally get their long overdue Cardi fix.

Nev Schulman said it loud and proud ... he's Jewish, and wore the yellow Star of David to the VMAs to make sure his fans know he's standing up against white supremacists.

We got the 'Catfish' host Monday at LAX as he was leaving town after the VMAs, and he explained he wore the symbolic emblem specifically as a response to people marching with Nazi flags ... in America.

Nev said the Holocaust wasn't that long ago, and celebs should wear the Star to remind their fans.

He gave a nod to Billy Joel for doing it recently in concert and encouraged others to follow suit.

The Weeknd was a no-show at the VMAs this weekend, and the reason isn't all that complicated ... he just didn't feel like it.

Abel left a lot of people high and dry ... the MTV folks announced he'd perform. He was also nominated for 4 awards.

Here's how it was put to us ... The Weeknd's been on the road for a prolonged period of time and just didn't feel up to his VMAs gig. In his mind, he booked the gig a while ago, before concert fatigue set in, and he just felt differently in the days before the show.

It's the second Weeknd event that got torpedoed in as many days. The rubber is about to meet the road, because he's about to hit the road again and there won't be a break until December ... at least a scheduled break.

A distant blood relative of Robert E. Lee publicly denounced racism and white supremacy at the VMAs this weekend ... directly calling out "America's original sin."

Reverend Robert Lee IV -- a direct descendant of the Confederate general -- came onstage Sunday at the MTV award show to call out racism and white supremacy as evil and wrong ... and made a call to action for everyone to stand up against it head on.

Lee said it was his duty to speak out against racism, which he referred to as "America's original sin." He then introduced Heather Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, who announced the winner of the Best Fight Against the System award ... which ended up going to all 6 nominees.

Looks like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry's bad blood has finally been mopped up -- 'cause Taylor's new album throws no shade her way ... like, AT ALL.

Our sources tell us TayTay's 6th album, "Reputation," is devoid of hate or trash talking directed at her longtime foe. Anyone expecting another epic slash at Katy is going to be sorely disappointed.

On the surface it seems as if Taylor is taking a swipe at Katy. In her new song, "Look What You Made Me Do," Taylor sings, "I've got a list of names and yours is in red underlined." It appears she's making reference to the movie "Mean Girls," where Regina George's picture is in the burn book with the words, "She is a fugly slut" and underlined in red.

Katy raised the issue in a tweet directed at Taylor back in 2014 ...

Our sources say Taylor's album lyrics have nothing to do with "Mean Girls," Regina George or Katy.

Katy has recently said she wants to end her feud, so now it's all on Taylor.

The mystery ... we're told something big will happen at the VMAs ... and reading between the lines it would not be surprising if Katy and Taylor appear onstage and publicly bury the hatchet.

It makes sense ... Taylor will probably dig that hatchet right back up and go after Kim and Kanye.

Taylor Swift may be sorely disappointed at the VMAs Sunday, because she's gonna have no one to glare at ... we've learned Kim and Kanye are otherwise engaged.

It would have been pretty epic ... Taylor showing off "Look What You Made Me Do" as she stares down the royal couple, but we're told long before the single was released they decided the VMAs were not for them.

They're in town, but we're told there's no particular reason for them to trek to The Forum near LAX.

It's actually kinda brilliant ... Kim and Kanye become the center of attention at the music event, courtesy of Taylor Swift, and they don't have to lift a finger.

Drake and Rihanna fans went crazy Tuesday when a site -- drakeandrihanna.com -- popped up with a countdown clock ... starting rumors they were releasing a collab together.

We know now the site is completely fake, and TMZ has learned the hoax was started because Drake pissed off one vengeful fan ... Joanne the Scammer.

Joanne is a character played by Branden Miller. He tells us ... he made the fake site as payback for Drake not taking a selfie with Joanne at the VMAs. Branden claims he got bum-rushed by security when he tried to take the shot.

He says he went home and created the site, which cost about $3k. It blew up, but when people found out it was a hoax he decided to reveal why he did it.

Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast in the world ... but even she couldn't avoid taking a spill because of those damn high heels.

Kanye West still has a lot on his mind after his famous VMAs speech ... like why the hell is Ray J so pissed?!

We got Yeezy leaving The Mercer Hotel in NYC, and he says he can't understand why people are getting mad about him shouting out to Ray J. After all, they're all in the same bed together in his "Famous" vid.

Our photog also asked Kanye if there was anything at the VMAs he wanted to say but couldn't, and he did not disappoint ... with some ideas on how his school uniforms can save the world.

The homeless guy Miley Cyrus took to the VMAs is finally cashing in on his big night with the singer ... by hawking her Moonman.

Jesse Helt is auctioning the trophy on eBay-- the bidding starts at $10k, but there's a "Buy It Now" option for $15k. Helt got his 15 minutes back in 2014 when he accepted Cyrus' Video of the Year award with a tearjerker speech about homelessness.

People connected to Jesse tell us he's been on a hot streak -- he recently got a studio apartment in L.A. and he's expecting a baby in a few months. We're told he's selling the VMA to prep for il bambino.

If $10k sounds steep -- keep in mind Coolio's trophy for "Gangsta's Paradise" once sold for $6k, and someone paid $72k for the "We Are the World" statuette!

Fun fact: Miley's Moonman is engraved with her name and Jesse's.

Drake and Rihanna -- are they bangin' or is it just a figment of our imagination?

Drizzy and RiRi played followed the leader at Up & Down in NYC where they probably had lots to talk about after Drake straight-up said at the VMAs he's been in love with Rihanna since he was 22.

Just do it already.

Kanye West was given 4 minutes onstage during the VMAs to do anything he wanted, and he did ... he took 7.

Yeezy started with an homage to himself ... how good it was to be him, and then he quickly gave shout-outs to the man who made his wife famous in that sex tape and the woman who preceded her with him.

Yes, Ray J, Amber Rose, even Taylor Swift all made air, along with many others who were in the bed of celebrities ... which Kanye explained in great detail.

Kim was eating it up.