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Tom Aspinall admits he won't be at his cardiovascular peak for his upcoming title fight -- he wasn't planning on being in an Octagon Saturday night -- but the UFC star says he's healthy enough to leave The World's Most Famous Arena as interim heavyweight champ!

TMZ Sports talked to 30-year-old Aspinall, the #4 ranked UFC heavyweight, days before his scrap with 31-year-old Sergei Pavlovich, ranked the #2 contender, during UFC 295's co-main event at Madison Square Garden ... and we asked the fighter from the UK how close he'd be to 100 percent.

"I can't lie and say I'm at my fittest ever because I'm not. But also there's been times when I haven't had a fight that I've been way further away than what I am now. I've still been training. I've been training every day," Aspinall told us.

Tom added ... "Two and a half weeks is enough time to switch on your mind. To get in the mode of fighting, to mentally prepare yourself. I'd say I'm around 80 to 90%. I feel good."

Of course, Aspinall got a phone call from the UFC on October 24 ... with news that Jon Jones wouldn't be able to fight Stipe Miocic after suffering a serious injury to his pec. Tom was offered an interim title fight against Pavlovich, who had already been contracted to serve as the backup for the original Jon and Stipe fight.

Despite Sergei having been in camp already, and Tom not ... he said yes, and here we are!

We asked Aspinall how difficult a decision it was.

"It wasn't really a tough decision to be honest. I don't know why. I think for anybody else it maybe was. That's the fight that I wanted. That's the fight I've been asking for. I wouldn't be asking for it if I felt like I didn't want it.

"Obviously, in an ideal world, I would've liked longer to train. I would've liked longer than the short amount of time, but I believe everything happens for a reason, and I believe it's gonna help me somehow, whatever that is I'll find out Saturday. And I'm very much looking forward to it!"

Pavlovich is one of the scariest fighters in the promotion. He's only lost once as a professional and has won 6 UFC fights in a row. His last loss was to now-retired MMA legend Alistair Overeem in 2018.

Segei's known for his incredible knockout power ... finishing 83% of his fights by knockout.

Aspinall's no slouch, either. He's 13-3, and an incredible athlete ... especially considering his massive frame (he's 6'5", 262 lbs.). Tom's beaten the likes of Marcin Tybura, Alexander Volkov, and Andrei Arlovski since joining Dana White's promotion in 2020.

Adding to the massive moment ... the fight's going down at MSG, where legends like Muhammad Ali have fought over the decades. Aspinall's from Manchester, but we asked him if he cared about UFC 295's distinguished location.

"I personally know that Madison Square Garden is the most prestigious arena in the world for a combat athlete. I think that's globally known. There are two places that I wanted to fight being a UK guy, I always wanted to fight in the O2 Arena. I've headlined the O2 three times now," Aspinall said.

An enormous collection of Irene Cara's personal items from her Largo, FL, estate has gone up for auction ... nearly a year after the "Flashdance" singer passed away at 63.

Jewelry, artwork, tapes, personal memorabilia, and costumes Irene wore are among 280 pieces up for grabs online ... after being personally removed by Richard Stedman Estate Services from her residence, where she semi-retired and continued developing music privately.

Items from the late icon's stash also include vinyl, shoes, handbags, autographs, and her electric piano ... while additional belongings come from her touring trunk.

Each item holds a Certificate of Authenticity authorized by her Estate Personal Representatives.

As we reported, the singer passed away in November 2022 inside her Florida home.

Earlier this year, medical docs obtained by TMZ ruled Irene's official cause of death as Arteriosclerotic and Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease. It was also noted Irene had diabetes.

Irene enjoyed a storied career, scooping an Oscar gong for "Best Original Song" for her iconic "Flashdance" song "What a Feeling" in the '80s, and receiving a "Best Actress" Golden Globe nom for the movie "Fame".

Una enorme colección de objetos personales de Irene Cara de su finca en Floridad ha salido a subasta, casi un año después de que la cantante de "Flashdance" falleciera a los 63 años.

Joyas, obras de arte, cintas, recuerdos personales y sus trajes están entre las 280 piezas disponibles en línea, después de que Richard Stedman Estate Services las removiera personalmente de la residencia donde se retiró y continuó desarrollando música en privado.

Entre los artículos de la artista hay vinilos, zapatos, bolsos, autógrafos y su piano eléctrico, mientras que otras pertenencias provienen de las cosas de su gira.

Cada artículo tiene un certificado de autenticidad autorizado por sus representantes personales.

Como informamos, la cantante falleció en noviembre de 2022 en su casa de Florida.

A principios de este año, los documentos médicos obtenidos por TMZ dictaminaron que la causa oficial de muerte fue una enfermedad cardiovascular arteriosclerótica e hipertensiva. También se señaló que Irene tenía diabetes.

La cantante disfrutó de una carrera ilustre, ganando un Oscar a la "Mejor Canción Original" por su icónico tema en "Flashdance" en los años 80, "What a Feeling". Además, recibió una nominación a "Mejor Actriz" en los Globos de Oro por la película "Fama".

Trinidad James is straddling the fence on record labels' decision to block artists from rerecording their music. but does think their primary reason for doing so -- Taylor Swift -- should be allowed to keep cookin' the system!!!

Ditto for Ashanti, who's been actively redoing her Murder Inc. albums in order to nab the biggest piece of the pie for herself!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got the 567 Agency exec at LAX, and he admits some newer artists might be affected by the rules changes in the wake of Taylor's historic, and financial, victory over her old label.

TS is largely responsible for the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 going dude-free twice through the boom of her rerecorded albums -- which labels are down in the dumps over because it devalues the OG master recordings. 🥴

Trinidad argues both Taylor and Ashanti were treated like slaves during their record label tenures ... and he thinks female artists tend to get the short end of the stick in the music biz.

However, speaking for the other side ... TJ says it takes $250K just to get a record off the ground, which is probably why labels are particularly tight with their budgets.

will.i.am and Van Jones want minorities to be at the forefront of tech space -- so they hosted a full-blown summit in L.A. to raise awareness for its future leaders.

The shindig was billed "Make Wakanda Real" -- like bringing the gadgets found in "Black Panther" to life -- and was held inside Will's FYI Campus Thursday night.

Tiffany Haddish, Ashton Kutcher, Jason Lee, and Quincy Jones III were just some of the supporting guests, as were dozens of innovators, tech experts and entrepreneurs.

Ashton helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars through his VC firm earlier in the year and stressed to the summit how he believes AI could help bridge the gap for underserved communities in the medical and legal realms.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, actor Boris Kodjoe, InfectionAI co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, Waye Talks founder Sinead Bovell, Black Ambition Opportunity Fund CEO Felecia Hatcher also tuned in virtually to lend their various expertise to the panels.

Naturally, the biggest topic of the evening was the boom of AI ... and the Black Eyed Peas frontman got a crash course during his panel with Van and 1500 Or Nothin' producer Larrance “Rance” Dopson debating with an AI bot!!!

Will was arguing the case that AI could end up sentient and conquering humans and exchanged in back-and-forth banter with the CPU.

C.T. Tamburello, known from his time on MTV's "The Challenge," has finalized his divorce ... this coming a year after heading to court to pull the plug on their marriage.

According to new docs, obtained by TMZ, C.T. and his ex, Lilianet Solares, reached a settlement earlier this month -- agreeing to split custody of their 7-year-old son, Christopher Jr., and also to evenly divvy up expenses for the child.

But C.T.'s also gonna have to pay Lilianet $761.39 each month in child support ... and an additional $332.45 for each week he is working, and unable to exercise equal timesharing for their little one.

In addition, C.T. keeps their home, but will give Lilianet another $30,000 for her portion of the property's equity -- he'll also retain ownership of his company, New Leaf Investments, and she keeps her business, Solares Management.

TMZ broke the story, C.T. filed for divorce in Florida last November, following a very up-and-down relationship.

Docs filed in September showed they agreed on strict rules when it came to raising their kid -- which included them not being able to ask Christopher Jr. about the other parent while spending time with them.

Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky have said they're separating, and we've learned they're doing pretty much everything separately, including therapy.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the estranged couple is not in marriage counseling or couple's therapy. We're told they're both in individual therapy, but nothing together at the same time.

It seems strange on the surface ... that they're not working on the issues that have driven them to separate, but we're told they are not. Multiple sources tell us ... they just want space -- to explore individually.

Our sources also tell us there are still no talks whatsoever of divorcing ... even though Kyle recently referenced their separation as a straight-up divorce, which was an apparent slip of the tongue.

One source in the know tells TMZ ... "Look, they may get back together, but they may not. They just don't know right now. They will decide at some point whether they stay married, but not now."

Tucker Carlson is open to playing GOP candidate wrangler for a debate, but the Republicans would have to be down with the parameters he'd demand ... TMZ has learned.

In case you missed this week's debate, Vivek Ramaswamy gave a full-throated endorsement for Tucker to moderate a future Republican debate, predicting it would spark a major ratings boost.

Well, sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Vivek has personally verbalized this wish to Tucker himself, and while the former Fox News firebrand likes the idea of doing it -- he's not keen about doing it on a traditional TV network.

We're told Tucker actually spoke to GOP officials about the role back in the summer, after Fox News let him go ... but he didn't want to fall back in with corporate media, which he thinks is all buddy-buddy with the RNC.

So, the only way Vivek's dream will come true is if the party approves the debate airing exclusively on X. Obviously, Elon Musk would love that, but our source adds the real benefit for the RNC could be finally landing Donald Trump ... who's been absent from previous debates.

The feeling is Tucker's involvement might prompt Trump to participate.

Tucker's potential involvement came about after GOP candidate Vivek took aim at NBC's Lester Holt, Hugh Hewitt, and Kristen Welker during Wednesday night's third battle of Republican candidates.

As it turns out, the journalists got off easy ... relative to Ramaswamy's attack on Nikki Haley, who he called "Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels."

Tucker Carlson está abierto a ser moderador de un debate, pero el republicano tiene algunas exigencias, TMZ ha indagado.

En caso de que te hayas perdido el debate de esta semana, Vivek Ramaswamy le dio un respaldo a toda voz a Tucker para moderar un futuro debate republicano, prediciendo que provocaría un aumento de audiencia importante.

Fuentes directas nos dicen que Vivek ha verbalizado personalmente el deseo de Tucker a sí mismo, y mientras que al ex incombustible de Fox News le gusta la idea de hacerlo, dice que no está dispuesto a hacerlo en una cadena de televisión tradicional.

Nos dicen que Tucker habló con funcionarios del Partido Republicano sobre su papel en el verano, luego de que Fox News lo dejara ir, pero él no quería volver a caer en los medios de comunicación corporativos.

Por lo tanto, la única manera de que el sueño de Vivek se haga realidad es si el partido aprueba que el debate se emita exclusivamente por X. Obviamente, a Elon Musk le encantaría, pero nuestra fuente añade que el beneficio real para el RNC podría ser finalmente conseguir a Donald Trump, que ha estado ausente en los debates anteriores.

La sensación es que la participación de Tucker podría incitar a Trump a participar.

La posible participación de Tucker se produjo después de que el candidato del Partido Republicano Vivek apuntara a Lester Holt, Hugh Hewitt y Kristen Welker de la NBC durante la tercera batalla de candidatos republicanos del miércoles por la noche.

Resulta que salieron bien parados en relación al ataque de Ramaswamy a Nikki Haley, a quien llamó "Dick Cheney en tacones de 3 pulgadas".

Chet Hanks must defend his house, and he'll do it with his bare fists, as a man who was allegedly trying to get into Chet's place found out the hard way ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... before authorities arrived early Monday morning, Tom Hanks' son punched the 42-year-old suspect after finding him attempting to break in around 3:00 AM. When L.A. County Sheriff's deputies got on scene they tried to slap cuffs on the man, but he kept fighting.

Eventually, they subdued him enough to get cuffs on him ... but while leading him to the car, the guy fell backward onto one of the deputies, who ended up with a broken leg!!!

Both men had to be taken to a hospital for treatment. Once he was medically cleared, the suspect was booked for burglary. As for Chet ... at least physically, he was unscathed.

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe is hoping to share a dugout with Shohei Ohtani next season ... telling TMZ Sports he believes New York should go after the former MVP in free agency.

"Yeah!" he said emphatically while out at the MLB Flagship Store in NYC on Thursday. "Of course!"

Ohtani is eligible to leave the Angels this year ... after he spent the last six seasons with the team turning himself into one of the biggest superstars the sport's ever seen.

In his time in LA, he racked up three All-Star appearances, a .274 batting average, a 3.01 ERA and 171 home runs.

And, despite undergoing a second surgery on his throwing elbow in September, Volpe made it clear to us he really wants to see the 29-year-old in pinstripes.

"I mean, I think he's the best of the best," Volpe said.

Ohtani is expected to stay off the mound in 2024 while rehabbing, but he is slated to be healthy enough to hit at the dish -- and many in the MLB believe he's now poised to land the biggest contract in the history of the sport.

Harry Styles is swapping out his sexy locks for a shaved head, instead ... and debuted the new look while checking out U2's Las Vegas Sphere concert with his boo, Taylor Russell.

The singer and the actress were jamming out to U2 hits, and looking all coupley while they were at it. Harry had his arm around Taylor ... so, if you weren't sure they're really an item, this should seal the deal.

Witnesses tell us they were cuddled up all night long during last week's show ... with a lot of little kisses and selfies shared between them during U2's engagement.

They were hanging with a big group of friends, and everyone was having a great time -- even dancing in a circle toward the end of the night.

Girlfriend aside, the haircut is probably what's more jarring for Harry's adoring fans ... whether you're used to the One Direction era or his successful solo career, one thing that was always there was his long, luscious hair.

No more, apparently.

As we reported, Taylor and Harry have been linked together since July, when she got some VIP treatment at his Vienna concert. They've been spotted out together since -- sharing some more PDA moments at the press night of her London play, "The Effect."

It's been said Harry's hair is what makes him beautiful, but fans -- and Harry -- will have to grow into his new look.

JFK's assassination 60 years ago this month was not the work of a lone gunman, and Rob Reiner & Soledad O'Brien are naming names.

Rob and Soledad joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to talk about their new podcast, "Who Killed JFK?," which debuted Wednesday. They present a compelling case -- Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone back on November 22, 1963.

The "All in the Family" star and mega-producer has been obsessed with the assassination since he was 16, when Kennedy was shot, and he's been doing deep research ever since. Rob previewed his theories with us, clearly suggesting there were rogue government officials who plotted to get JFK.

Soledad and Rob agreed ... much of the distrust Americans feel toward their government emanated from the Kennedy assassination.

There are CIA connections to the plot to kill Kennedy, and even President Lyndon B. Johnson -- who succeeded Kennedy -- had a significant role in the coverup, according to Rob.

The fascination with the assassination has hardly subsided ... there's even an auction going on to sell a portion of the infamous picket fence behind the grassy knoll.

T.I. says his joint album with Boosie Badazz is still coming ... when exactly though, is still up in the air with the moon, stars and rest of the cosmos!!!

We caught the "Rubber Band Man" rapper poppin' tags out on Rodeo Dr. ahead of his southern hip hop Grammy tribute performance alongside Boosie, and we had to get an update on their album.

Just like Boosie told us when he spoke to him this week, Tip promised nothing short of fireworks with his Grammy set, which also costarred Jeezy, but admitted he and Boosie's schedules have been too jampacked to pick up the collab where they left off.

The two rap heavyweights were on the verge of dropping the project at the top of 2023 ... but Boosie got the false impression T.I. was a snitch and went on an interview campaign about it.

After Tip and Boosie patched things up, Young Thug even used his limited social media privileges over the summer -- amid his own incarceration -- to plea for the album to drop, but still nada nearly 6 months later.

They're not capping about their busy schedules ... Boosie told us he's actively working on a new track with Sexyy Redd and an album with Daz Dillinger, in addition to a movie.

Ryan Blaney is just days removed from the biggest moment in his racing career ... so, how's the 2023 Cup Series champion celebrating?! TMZ Sports asked the NASCAR star.

"I'm going on vacation this upcoming weekend, so I'm excited for that!" Blaney told us ... adding the vacay was planned before winning the title, but it certainly makes the trip "even more special now," according to the driver.

But, even more so than a boy's trip, Blaney says he's looking forward to spending time with the team behind the great season.

"I'm excited to go to our race shop [Wednesday] to see everybody. See all the men and women who are a part of Team Penske in North Carolina. So that's gonna be another special moment to spend with everybody."

Blaney, at just 29 years old, secured the coveted title with a second-place (behind Ross Chastain) finish during Sunday's season finale at Phoenix Raceway ... earning Ryan enough points to win the Cup Series title!

Ryan comes from a racing family ... his dad Dave made nearly 500 NASCAR starts. Grandpa was a driver, too -- mostly on dirt tracks -- and the racing lineage was a huge inspiration for the new champion.

"I was lucky enough as a kid to grow up around it, with my dad racing, him coming from dirt tracks just like my grandfather and I just saw it at a young age. As a kid, I just wanted to do what my dad did. I was fascinated by it, so he was obviously a huge part of getting me going, and supporting me throughout the way."

Ryan continued ... "Still having my family in my life the way they are, supporting me week in and week out, supporting me in my adulthood, is something that I can never thank them enough for."

FYI, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin rounded out the Cup Series standings.

As for when he turns his attention to next season ... here's what Ryan told us.

"Now. But at the same time, I'm still gonna enjoy this one. I don't want to look ahead too much."

Blaney continued ... "I think when it gets to the New Year, when January rolls around, 'Okay, it's time to go back to work! What do we have to do to get another?' But until January, I'm enjoying this one, and then I'll focus on the new one!"

Jenelle Evans' teenage son, Jace, has been keeping his distance from his mom and her husband, David Eason ... and we're told the kid's happier now than he's been in a long time.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... 14-year-old Jace has zero contact with the "Teen Mom" star and David, as he's been living with Jenelle's mom, Barbara, while he remains under custody of Child Protective Services. Sources say Barbara also isn't in contact with Jenelle or David.

TMZ broke the story, David was charged with child abuse in a case involving Jace ... allegedly roughing up the teen and causing "marks on the right arm and left and right side of the neck," according to court docs.

The docs also say Jace's injuries weren't sustained by accident ... and the date of the alleged incident was the same day Jace slipped out his bedroom window and ran away from home.

We're told Jace is glad to be back living with his grandma ... and the place feels like home to him. Jenelle just regained custody of Jace earlier this year, so he's really spent most of his childhood in Barbara's care.

He also recently enrolled in a brand new school after being out for the past few months. You'll recall, he was reported as a runaway after getting in trouble at school back in August.