Fights & Feuds

Floyd Mayweather's jeweler tells TMZ Sports Jake Paul is fibbin' about the way things went down in Miami earlier this month ... saying there were nowhere near 50 guys in TBE's entourage during their altercation outside of a Heat game.

Shuki International had a front-row view of the two fighters' tiff in the South Florida street back on March 8 -- as he attended the NBA game with the legendary boxer -- and he says there were only about eight guys with Floyd at the time of the ruckus.

He also tells us Mayweather didn't seek out Jake -- saying their encounter was strictly coincidental.

"Jake is exaggerating," Shuki said. "We just finished the game, pulled out, and Jake was there. Floyd was with his eight bodyguards."

"And [Jake] just run like a rabbit."

Of course, Jake's side of the story is a little different ... he said Floyd waited outside the arena for him in order to confront him with several dozen other people -- and he took off because he didn't want to get jumped.

"I'm tough," Paul said at the time, "I don't need to prove my toughness, but I'm not f****** dumb. I'm not gonna sit there and try to fight 50 dudes."

Shuki, though, seemed to imply run-ins like these might become commonplace between the two if Paul doesn't issue an apology soon.

The jeweler tells us Floyd's still got beef over the way Jake took his hat during the Logan Paul pre-fight press conference in 2021.

"He's gotta do the right thing," Shuki says. "He's gotta respect the world champion."

As for a potential fight between Mayweather and Paul -- Shuki tells us he doesn't think it'd even be a contest ... expecting a Floyd KO in a matter of seconds.

Leon Edwards may officially be UFC champion, but Kamaru Usman says Rocky knows who's truly the best 170 lb. fighter, and it's not him ... it's "The Nigerian Nightmare."

35-year-old Usman joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... just days before his highly-anticipated rematch in London against 31-year-old Edwards.

"At the end of the day when you are at home and you look at yourself in the mirror, you know who you are, you know if you're the best and you know if you're not the best," Usman said.

"There's nothing that he can tell himself that 'I'm the best' because you haven't proven that. Of course, you threw the Hail Mary and it landed and you have that belt but deep down inside, he knows what I've done to his heart and this Saturday, I'm gonna remind him."

Of course, Edwards was dominated for most of their UFC 278 in August 2022 ... and went into the fifth and final round needing a knockout to win the belt. In stunning fashion, Leon landed a perfectly placed/timed left round kick to Kamaru's head with just over one minute left in the fight, ending one of the best title runs in welterweight history.

We asked Usman if he planned to approach the fight differently ... perhaps using his wrestling more as a way to mitigate Edwards' striking ability.

"[Leon] has no answer for what I bring to the table as a mixed martial artist. Why change anything?" Kamaru responded.

"Of course, be mindful and keep your damn hands up so you don't get kicked in the head again but at the same time, I believe I'm the better mixed martial artist and this Saturday I can't wait to prove it again to the world!"

Kamaru and Leon are knotted up at one win a piece. The winner of Saturday's fight not only wins the trilogy but will leave the welterweight champ.

"I think the world knows who the better mixed martial artist is, and I can't wait to go in there and prove that on Saturday."

UFC 286 goes down from London's O2 Arena -- in Edwards' backyard -- Saturday afternoon!

We also talked to former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou about his good friend Kamaru's upcoming title fight, and while The Predator has respect for Leon, there's no doubt about who he's pulling for at UFC 286.

Jamal Murray needed both Nikola Jokic and a referee to keep him from going after a fan in the stands during Thursday night's game ... with the Denver Nuggets star losing his cool over disrespectful words being hurled his way.

The altercation was caught on video -- showing Murray on the court playing against the Pistons in Little Caesars Arena as multiple Pistons fans heckle him.

Murray heard the jabs loud and clear ... and once the whistle was blown to stop the play, the 6'4" guard began walking toward the guy with a few words of his own.

The referee immediately got in Murray's way and held him back ... while the guy in the crowd yelled, "you ain't gon' do s*** boy!!!"

Jokic -- who stands at 6'11" -- ran over to assist the ref ... and pulled Murray back to center court.

Arena security witnessed the exchange between Murray and the man ... and you can see in the video what seems to be police officers pointing at the guy in the stands.

As of now, it's unclear if the fan was removed from the arena or if he received any punishment.

BTW, the Pistons lost ... and currently have the worst record in the NBA. The Nuggets, however, are No. 4 in the league and lead the Western Conference.

Do better, people.

Ja Rule is literally laughing out loud at Melle Mel's claims he ruined his own "New York" song by copying 50 Cent ... simply because the timelines don't add up!!!

The Furious Five rap legend recently accused Ja of mimicking 50's hood nature on the 2004 track, thus losing the NYC anthem race to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' hit collab "Empire State of Mind" ... but Ja tells us his record did exactly what it was supposed to do on the charts.

Ja explains his song, which featured Fat Joe and Jadakiss, was a street anthem while Jay and Alicia's classic was created for mainstream platforms like radio -- but he's still proud of its legacy, peaking at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.

As for 50, Ja notes his career as a rapper-singer began first -- he says he laid the blueprint for 50's rap-singing success on songs like "21 Questions," but he adds ... Melle's earned the right to spew whatever opinion he wants.

He also bigged up another hip hop pioneer: KRS-One, whose 1990 "hundred guns, a hundred clips" lyrics fueled Ja's "New York" chorus.

"Vanderpump Rules" fans hoping to see behind-the-scenes drama from Raquel Leviss' perspective on the cheating scandal might be disappointed -- so far, she's barely speaking on camera ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to production tell TMZ ... show honchos scrambled to get camera crews together once we broke the news of the split and the drama that followed. They'd already wrapped for this season, but the new goal is to edit the so-called "Scandoval" into later episodes.

While we know Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix have been filming, including a scene they shot together in the hours after she found out he was cheating with Raquel ... it hasn't been that way with Raquel.

Our sources say she's only filmed one scene since the drama broke, a scene with Tom at her apartment in North Hollywood. Since then she's been staying with family members in hopes things would die down.

TMZ broke the story ... up until this week, Raquel had ignored show producers about attending the reunion episode set to film later this month. However, that recently changed, and our sources say she's become more open to participating in the reunion and telling her side.

Paris Hilton is getting a lot of things off her chest in her new memoir, now revealing she felt a great deal of shame after Pink mimicked her infamous sex tape in her music video.

Paris says she felt unsupported when the singer parodied her 2003 sex tape with her ex-bf, Rick Salomon, three years after its release, in the music video for "Stupid Girls".

PH explains in "Paris: The Memoir" she felt pressured to film "One Night in Paris" with Salomon, who was 33 at the time while she was just 19. She says Pink didn't help things, only making her feel ashamed years later, when the noise and slut-shaming had mostly died down.

Paris writes, "When everyone was buzzing about a sex tape of a certain teenage girl from a soon-to-be-hit TV show – a girl who said emphatically over and over that she did not want the tape out there – the takeaway was Stupid Girl".

She also doubled down on the fact that she had no clue the tape would be made public, and only agreed to film it because she was "tipsy and tired." She says Rick threatened he would find someone else to do the tape if Paris refused.

You'll recall, Rick sued Paris for defamation, however, she countersued and was awarded around $400K in damages.

"Vanderpump Rules" fans are salivating at the thought of Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix and Raquel Leviss all coming face-to-face for the show's reunion ... but TMZ has learned Raquel has major reservations about joining.

Sources close to production tell us Raquel iced out 'VR' honchos most of last week, and was telling people close to her she had no plans of participating in the reunion taping ... in-person or remotely.

However, we're told things started warming this week, and she's started talks with producers about appearing ... and doing so in person, no less.

Of course, there is one small hurdle -- Raquel currently has a restraining order against fellow cast member Scheana Shay, but we're told the network is willing to work that out to ensure everything happens without violating the order.

Obviously, having Raquel at the reunion would be much more than a small victory for Bravo ... it's the whole ball game as her presence is what fans are dying to see. It'll be interesting if they're forced to push Shay out to ensure Raquel's on board.

TMZ broke the story ... Raquel accused Scheana of punching her after finding out she and Tom cheated on Ariana. Raquel's temporary restraining order is good until at least the end of the month when the case will be heard in court.

Scheana's attorney, Neama Rahmani, told us, "This case is a fabrication by a known liar and a cheat who has betrayed everyone close to her. Scheana never punched Rachel (Raquel), period."

As for Ariana, she recently landed back in L.A. with a friend after they attended a wedding down in Mexico. We know she's shot at least one scene with Tom since we broke the news of the split.

While Bravo hasn't yet announced a specific date to shoot the reunion, our sources say it's supposed to happen at some point next week in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday's episode of "Watch What Happens Live," Andy Cohen assured the audience there would be a 'Vanderpump' reunion.

"The Real Housewives of Miami" star Alexia Echevarria tells us she still isn't on speaking terms with her costar Adriana de Moura, after comparing her foot injury to Alexia's son's near-fatal car crash ... but she's still holding out hope the relationship can be repaired.

We got Alexia and her hubby Todd Nepola outside Il Pastaio in Bev Hills and she says Adriana hasn't reached out to her after filming their explosive reunion -- she was hoping she'd hear something from her costar.

Fans of the show know Adriana messed up her foot after castmates Guerdy Abraira and Kiki Barth fell on top of it on their Bahamas cast trip this season, and Adriana compared her foot injury to what Alexia's son Frankie faced in 2011.

Frankie was in a friend's car when they got into a serious crash ... resulting in permanent brain damage. Needless to say, the two events are not even close to comparable.

Adriana already attempted to repair the relationship a couple times on the show this season ... but Alexia still hasn't accepted an apology.

Blueface is coming to the realization he might be expecting a kid with his on-and-off again girlfriend Chrisean Rock ... and the thought of new fatherhood is keeping him up way past bedtime!!!

The "Thotiana" rapper dropped off what he framed as a PSA after a night of performing and partying in Dubai. He focused on the never-ending debate around double standards between men and women, but he was clearly just wringing his hands over Chrisean's pregnancy.

Seems his rant was prompted by Chrisean posting a shot of her growing baby bump ... something he's definitely not celebrating. Instead, BF went on about women benefitting more than men from double standards ... claiming the power of their 'P' goes much further than men's.

What's not debatable is that Blue and Chrisean's relationship is as rocky as ever -- they exchanged disses on Twitter, but he remained firm in doubting he's the father of her child.

Blueface also praised Jaidyn Alexis, the mother of his 2 children, for the classy way she presented her last pregnancy, and for not having weird men around his kids.

On the other hand, he's labeling Chrisean a "MeToo Bitch" who runs the streets.

He eventually signed off and decided to live his best life this morning on a yacht, surrounded by a new crop of women to tickle his fancies.

Jimmy Kimmel's hosting the Oscars again tonight, and a year out from the infamous slap ... the dude has been talking a lot about it, kinda turning the moment into a punchline.

The late night funny man has been doing a ton of press in the weeks leading up to the big gig -- his third such time handling MC duties for Hollywood's biggest show -- and yes ... he's been asked repeatedly about Will Smith smacking Chris Rock, and how he'll address it.

Here's a few quotes of JK's from the past couple weeks or so. When asked by THR what he would do if someone tries to pull a copycat and slap him, Kimmel said ... "If I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s*** out of them on television. And if it’s The Rock, I run."

A few days ago, as preparations were underway, Kimmel made another joke about carnage ...  with reference to the color of this year's walkup. He said, "People have been asking, 'Is there going to be any trouble this year? Is there going to be any violence this year?'"

He adds, "We certainly hope not. But if there is, I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet over a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed."

In other words, he's been swearing off the brutality by teasing the possibility of more, albeit in jest. On the issue of actually talking about it in his monologue, Jimmy says he'll do it.

He's said in interviews that he's going to "squeeze just a couple more drops out of it" and give a take that he thinks no one has heard yet. Kimmel did note he doesn't plan on talking about it at length but says it's the elephant in the room and that it must be addressed.

As for the whole crisis team thing -- namely, AMPAS hiring a bunch of people to "deal" with any craziness that might go on -- JK says he isn't privy to it ... and knows nothing of the logistics of what they have planned or how they would implement him if things go south.

It's interesting that Jimmy's been making light of the slap as much as he has, and will presumably do so again come 5 PM. Ya gotta figure ABC and the Academy have signed off on it all ... they're the producers and showrunners of this thing, and they call the shots.

Ryan Garcia tells TMZ Sports Jake Paul would probably get "beat up" by Floyd Mayweather if the two ever got in the ring ... but he did put at least some respect on the YouTuber-turned-boxer's game -- saying he believes the tilt would at least go the distance.

A potential Paul vs. Mayweather fight appears to be in the works ... after the guys got into a heated back-and-forth outside of the Miami Heat game on Wednesday night.

So, when we got Garcia out promoting his upcoming match with Gervonta Davis out in LA this week -- we had to ask ... who'd win if the fight went down?

Garcia made it clear that despite his friendship with Jake, his money is on Floyd ... "but, guess what," he said, "Jake won't get knocked out."

His explanation for why was simple ... Mayweather couldn't KO Jake's big bro, Logan, in their exhibition match back in June 2021 -- and he obviously believes Jake's a better fighter.

As for the meetup in the streets this week ... Garcia called out Floyd for it all, saying it wasn't "right" to confront Paul with a huge entourage.

But, Garcia told us he isn't too worried about that matchup ... saying his focus is solely on Davis -- who he'll take on next month after years of smack talk.

"I don't think fans wanna tune in to see me wrestle. They damn sure don't tune in to see me do Brazilian jiu-jitsu. So, why not cut the fat and get right to the meat and potatoes."

That's former UFC and Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez, 39 -- one of the greatest lightweight mixed martial artists in history -- on why he's decided to leave MMA for bare knuckle boxing.

Alvarez recently inked a deal with BKFC ... and will fight 37-year-old fellow former UFC star Chad Mendes on April 29.

The men have over 60 pro MMA fights combined (Eddie has 40), but Alvarez points out the sports are considerably different, including the fact that cuts are very prevalent.

"There's a lot of little subtleties that I learned when I went to the event myself. Usually you get cut about a minute or two into the fight, typically there's a cut that goes on and you have to learn and you gotta learn to fight with that," Eddie says.

And, cuts are a serious factor, according to Alvarez, who says seeing one's own blood can screw with a fighter's head.

"Some guys could be world champs, undefeated. Never seen their own blood and when they do, you get to see the bitch in them real quick. You need to see your own blood a few times," Eddie tells us, adding, "I'm very familiar with my own blood. I know what it tastes like, smells like, and oftentimes I don't feel like I'm in a fight until I'm cut."

The Underground King says there are more differences between the sport.

"There's even smaller margin for error. And it's a sprint, not a marathon. You need to be ready when that bell rings. There's no feeling out process."

Eddie and Chad aren't the only combat sports stars on the card. Former UFC champ Luke Rockhold is also boxing former UFC star "Platinum" Mike Perry the same night, and we spoke to the 38-year-old fighter.

"It's different, it's intriguing, and it's f****** scary. F****** crazy shit. I'm a f****** crazy man."

Aside from being a great fighter, Rockhold's also a model (he was previously the face of a Polo Ralph Lauren advertising campaign), so we asked him he if was concerned about his moneymaker getting damaged (see Eddie's comments above about the cuts).

"Do I seem like I'm worried about my face?" Luke joked, adding ... "Mike Perry should be worried about his face cause I plan on putting it right on his f****** nose!"

"I wanna make that nose a little more crooked."

MMA fans are clamoring for a Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou megafight ... but Dana White says there's nothing to see there, 'cause the new heavyweight champ would've demolished "The Predator" much like he did Ciryl Gane last weekend!

The UFC president joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... when White was asked if he could foresee any situation where he'd welcome Ngannou back to the UFC and make the Francis-Jon fight.

"I'm not interested," Dana said.

"I tried to make that fight for two years. He didn't want the fight. Know what I mean? He didn't want the fight, and he left here without even having another deal in place. And, I know how the boxing world is, it's crazy, but Francis didn't want to [fight Jones]."

Don't be too disappointed ... White says Francis almost certainly would've been easy work for the G.O.A.T.

"Let me tell you what, I think, a lot of other people feel this way, I think that's exactly the way the fight would've gone if [Ngannou] was in there, too."

Of course, Jon made Ciryl look like light work at UFC 285 ... taking him down and forcing a tap out in a shade over 2 minutes.

Dana, using some MMA math, explained why Ngannou wouldn't have stood much of a chance.

"[Francis] and Ciryl had a five-round war, and if Ciryl doesn't go for that submission, Ciryl probably wins that fight. At the end of the 5th round there."

FYI, Ngannou won their UFC 270 scrap in January 2022 by unanimous decision, but it was a very close fight.

Dana then answered the original question -- can you see yourself making JJ vs. FN?

"No."

We also talked to White about the next big heavyweight matchup, Stipe Miocic vs. Jones. There's talk the fight will go down at UFC 290 on July 8 during International Fight Week, but Dana says nothing's set in stone, and there's not much time to get a deal done.

Dana also said he wouldn't be surprised if this is 35-year-old Jones' last fight.

"I wouldn't be shocked either if he fights Stipe and then retires."

We also talked to Dana about his upcoming Power Slap 1 event, going down Saturday night in Las Vegas. The card features four title fights ... including the two top-ranked heavyweights in the world.

White says he sees parallels between Power Slap/slap fighting and the UFC in its early days, when MMA was viewed as being brutal and too violent.

Dana also broke some news about the future of "Power Slap: Road To The Title," announcing they've signed a two-year deal. White says the next season will take place in Dubai.

Floyd Mayweather and Jake Paul came face-to-face in Miami after the Heat game Wednesday night ... the legendary boxer and a group of men confronted the Problem Child -- before JP booked it from the area.

The incident happened after the Heat-Cavs game in south Florida ... when Mayweather rolled up on Paul, who appeared to have a lone security guard with him at the time.

After exchanging a few words, Jake made a run for it ... getting out of there before any fists started flying.

Of course, Floyd and Jake have been beefin' since Paul snatched the hat off the 50-0 boxer's head at a press event promoting his brother Logan's fight with TBE in May 2021.

Jake addressed the situation on social media shortly after the incident occurred.

"So I'm leaving the Miami Heat game and Floyd Mayweather and 50 dudes pull up out of nowhere, out of like some side alley, waiting for me outside the stadium, and they're like, 'So what's up? what's all that talk now?' Paul recounted on Instagram.

The 6-1 fighter continued ... "I'm like first of all, what did I say to you Floyd? I just took your hat and you're still mad about it? Come on, bro. And then 50 dudes literally start surrounding me to jump me, and I'm out that bitch, ok?"

As for Floyd, sources close to the fighter say he just happened to run into Jake while leaving the basketball game, denying they were lying in wait. We're told Mayweather believes Jake previously made comments that went beyond the typical trash talk amongst fighters, so he confronted him.

“Jake crossed the line. This wasn’t about grabbing a hat. This was about Jake’s comments to Floyd about Floyd’s deceased family member and other below-the-belt inappropriate behavior,” a source close to Floyd told us.

As for Paul's social media response after the arena incident, our Floyd source responded ... “Jake went to his IG and started name-calling once again when he can hide behind a camera.”

Speaking of Instagram, Jake didn't miss the opportunity to challenge Floyd to an organized boxing match.

"You wanna run it one on one, no problem. But I'm not dumb. Okay? I'm tough, I don't need to prove my toughness., but I'm not f**king dumb. I'm not gonna sit there and try to fight 50 dudes."

So ... Floyd Mayweather vs. Jake Paul this summer sounds about right!

Country singer Clay Walker is in hot water after getting caught on audio berating his bus driver ... but Clay tells us it went down a year ago, and it's all water under the bridge.

Clay starts by saying he could easily whup the driver's ass. The singer also claims the driver didn't show on time ... and Clay is PISSED.

It's pretty harsh ... and just when it sounds like all is said and done, Clay finds another reason to call him out.

While this is clearly an intense one-sided convo, Clay tells TMZ ... "This happened over a year ago, and it came at the end of a long, tough weekend. The bus driver and I reconciled immediately, and we are friends and stay in touch.”

FYI -- Clay's been in the country game since his debut record in the early '90s ... first topping the charts with his single, "What's It to You."

Raquel Leviss claims fellow "Vanderpump Rules" star Scheana Shay punched her in the face, -- and is threatening to do it again -- all over Raquel's affair with Tom Sandoval.

A judge granted Raquel a temporary restraining order after she claimed her 'VR' castmate Scheana -- who's also BFFs with Tom's ex, Ariana Madix -- attacked her last Thursday in NYC. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Scheana allegedly shoved Raquel against a brick wall and punched her in her left eye.

Raquel included photos of her bruised eye and cut face in her court filing. She's also afraid this could happen again -- she claims co-workers are telling her Scheana "doesn't regret the physical attack on me and would do it again if she found that further emotional distress was caused to our mutual friend."

That friend, of course, is Ariana ... and the timing of the alleged attack matches up to when we know the cast all found out about Tom and Raquel's affair.

In fact, Scheana and Raquel had just finished shooting an episode of "What What Happens Live" ... where they were getting along just fine. That shifted dramatically hours later.

Scheana even boasted on social media about supporting her friend ... she posted a pic of Ariana and herself with the caption, "Always got your back" ... followed by the punch emoji. Raquel included that IG post in her court filing.

As we first told you ... Raquel beelined it to a L.A. County court Tuesday and filed for the restraining order against Scheana, which the judge granted. She also filed a report Tuesday with LAPD ... both women live in Los Angeles.

Scheana must stay at least 100 yards away from Raquel, her home and her workplace ... which will make the 'VR' reunion show kinda sticky.

For those who don't watch the reality show ... Scheana is besties with Ariana, who saw her 10-year relationship with Tom crumble last week when she discovered her man was having an affair with another woman from the show.

Raquel and Tom have since apologized ... with Raquel saying she regrets hurting Ariana and explaining how she got herself into such a bad spot.

Now, Scheana is fully inserted into this mess. There's a hearing set for March 29, where Scheana and Raquel can have their say in court -- but the 'Vanderpump' reunion is supposed to be shot before that ... so, one of them won't be in the room.