Fights & Feuds

Jorge Masvidal vs. Leon Edwards is the fight fans badly want ... and while they're almost certainly not gonna get it next, Dana White says it's closer than you might think.

The UFC honcho joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... when we asked Dana whether Gamebred could do enough to jump Colby Covington and earn the next title shot.

"Let me tell you what's going to happen, if [Masvidal] goes in and does that against a guy like Gilbert Burns, who I have a ton of respect for, Gilbert Burns is an absolute badass. Then you have Colby Covington vs. Leon Edwards, and if Leon Edwards beats Colby Covington, the history between Leon Edwards and Masvidal, then they both win these fights, that fight will be so huge people will be dying to see that fight."

White then added ... "it will be absolutely massive, and maybe we do it back in Miami."

FYI, Masvidal told us earlier in the week he felt he could impress enough vs. Burns at UFC 287 to garner the Edwards scrap.

Of course, White declared Covington next in line after Rocky beat Kamaru Usman at UFC 286, but many fans want Jorge and Leon to scrap because the men have serious beef.

The two fighters were involved in a backstage altercation in 2019 after Edwards yelled something at Masvidal as he was being interviewed backstage after beating Darren Till.

It's not Masvidal's personality to take something like that lying down ... so he walked up to Rocky and punched him in the face, now known as a "3-piece and a soda."

Hoping to ruin Jorge-Leon is 36-year-old Burns ... the number 5 ranked UFC welterweight.

We recently talked to Burns, coming off a dominating win over Neil Magny, before he headed out for fight week ...

There's a bunch more with Dana ... we asked him if this was Israel Adesanya's last shot to beat his rival, Alex Pereira. We also talked to White about the new UFC-WWE deal ... and whether we could now see stars like Conor McGregor cross over to professional wrestling.

Jorge Masvidal apparently doesn't want to wait 'til Saturday night to fight ... 'cause he nearly came to blows with someone on the streets of Miami on Friday morning.

TMZ Sports has obtained video of the UFC star outside of the UFC 287 weigh-ins at the event's host hotel ... and you can see in the footage, he was clearly enraged at someone.

It's unclear exactly who the 38-year-old was quarreling with -- but one witness tells us the person yelled at Masvidal, "You're a clown."

The video shows Masvidal repeatedly trying to go after his heckler ... although he was constantly held back from exploding on the person. He eventually walked away from the scene before things got physical.

Masvidal tipped the scales at 171 pounds at the Friday morning weigh-in in preparation for his Saturday fight with Gilbert Burns. It's not known yet if this video was taken before or after the ceremonies.

Of course, this is not the first altercation Masvidal has been involved in this week in the leadup to the Burns fight ... he and Kevin Holland got into a heated spat on Wednesday at the UFC 287 host hotel as well.

Monica put a damper on her "Goonica" nickname, and a few fans' chances of landing more punches during a fight that erupted at her show.

The star singer was recently in D.C. for the R&B Experience Tour, and was bringing the house down with her hit ballad, "Why I Love You So Much" ... when she noticed the brawl breaking out in the stands right in front of her.

A confused Monica wondered what about her quiet storm classic could prompt people to fight and demanded they stop ... even offering to buy them a drink to cool them off.

“I ain’t singing 'Knuck If You Buck' baby, calm that s*** down,” she told the rowdy bunch, referencing Crime Mob's 2004 fight-starting record.

The bribe didn't seem to work and Monica suggested they take the scuffle outside ... and cleverly dropped her fan-favorite song "So Gone" to celebrate the fans' exit from the venue.

Monica has long been accused of having a thug side ... and did her best to explain the nickname to Stacey Abrams and Ciara last year during election season.

William H. Macy has rocked his neighbor's world by massacring his trees ... so much so he's suffering great emotional distress and now the neighbor wants more than half a mil to make things right.

Pierce Brown lives next door to Macy, and while Pierce was on vacay, people who were working on Macy's property butchered trees that were squarely on Brown's land ... this according to a lawsuit filed by Brown.

Mr. Brown says the damage was devastating ... not only has it obliterated his privacy, presumably turning his house into a duck on a platter for all to see, but he says it's compromised the hillside ... a huge problem for folks who live in the hills of Hollywood.

Brown says after he got over the shock, he went and spoke with Macy, who acknowledge the misdeeds of his workers.

Jorge Masvidal vs. Conor McGregor is arguably the biggest fight you could make in MMA, and one Gamebred wants, but unfortunately thinks he won't get, telling us "that dude ain't trying to get in there with me!"

38-year-old Street Jesus recently joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... where he was asked about a potential super fight with 34-year-old McGregor.

"From that perspective of us breaking records, I think 100%. I've sold myself 1.3 million pay-per-views and Conor, I mean, the story goes without saying, you know, just 1.3 million in one night against me and Usman, the first one. It's definitely just a promoter's dream. It's a dream fight for a promoter but the UFC can't get him to sign the dotted line."

Why not? You'd think Conor would relish a fight with Masvidal ... as he isn't going to drag you to the ground. He'll stand up and kickbox without the fear of being taken down.

"I think in many ways I'm really, really bad for Conor's style, brass, and brand because I'm not gonna take him down and see what he smells like. I'm gonna beat the f***ing piss out of him. I'm gonna make him quit, stand up, I'm gonna take his shots, laugh at him and then give 'em right back and break him," Jorge said.

The UFC superstar continued ... "I know that he knows that, he said it, Dana has said it, I'm a bigger, stronger, meaner guy so I can't put a gun to his head to sign. That dude ain't tryna get in there with me, man. We've had some similar opponents where I dismantle them and he's taken them to decision, especially at 170."

Of course, before Masvidal-McGregor or Masvidal vs. anyone else, Jorge first has to contend with fellow UFC star Gilbert Burns, one of the top-ranked fighters in the world. The men will battle in the co-main event on Saturday night in Miami.

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s first homer of 2023 didn't go as well as he would have liked ... he was booed as he rounded the bases -- and then the pitcher who served it up straight up called him a "cheater."

The San Diego Padres star hit the dinger on Wednesday night while down in the minor leagues as he continues to serve his 80-game ban for his positive PED test last season.

The 24-year-old, playing for the El Paso Chihuahuas against the Sacramento River Cats, smacked the baseball deep over the left field wall ... and seemed rather impressed by the tater.

He watched it fly -- then skipped around the bases ... but there weren't many outside of him at the Northern California ballpark who were thrilled to see it.

Check out video of the blast -- he was booed loudly as he came home ... and then following the game, the S.F. Giants prospect who threw the pitch took to social media to rip the guy.

"**cheater hits a homerun on a rehab assignment during a steroid suspension**," the pitcher, Kade McClure, wrote.

McClure -- a 27-year-old righty who was picked in the sixth round of the 2017 MLB draft -- didn't back down from the comment ... later appearing to prod Padres fans who were in his mentions.

Dana White's adamant Leon Edwards' next fight will be against Colby Covington ... but Jorge Masvidal isn't quite so sure, telling us he believes he can change the UFC honcho's mind with a win over Gilbert Burns, and snatch the fight from "cop-calling charlatan bitch ass Cupcake Covington."

"100% [I can jump Colby]. I feel it in my heart, I see it in my mind," 38-year-old Masvidal told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1).

"UFC, at the end of the day is a pay-per-view selling business, and Colby's bitch ass has never sold over 300,000 pay-per-views except when it was against me. What are him and Leon gonna do?"

31-year-old Edwards defeated Kamaru Usman last month, retaining the welterweight title. Following the fight, White told reporters Covington was next in line, to the chagrin of some fans who were really hoping to see Masvidal vs. Edwards.

Of course, Jorge and Leon have serious beef -- er, chicken -- which came to a head in the UK in 2019, when the two men were involved in a backstage altercation after Edwards yelled something at Masvidal as he was being interviewed backstage after beating Darren Till.

Gamebred didn't take kindly to what Rocky said, so he served him up a "3-piece and a soda."

First, Masvidal has to beat fellow contender, Durinho Burns, the 5th-ranked fighter in the division, at UFC 287 on Saturday ... a fight Jorge believes suits his style.

"In the Gilbert fight, I don't have a standout wrestler conditioning freak like that where he can just continue to go for takedown after takedown. He doesn't have that, he's never shown that," Masvidal said.

"And on the standup, yeah, he throws hard, but he doesn't understand the sweet science. He doesn't understand setups. He doesn't understand distance, timing, fakes, things like that. From a technical standpoint, I think this is a great match for me. I just have to show up, put my hard hat on, put my mouthpiece on, and get to work and just put the holes in this guy's face."

When Jorge and Gilbert step into the Octagon, they'll be doing it at Miami-Dade Arena in Masvidal's hometown of Miami, where Gamebred, just a kid, grew up fighting older and bigger dudes in backyards and in the streets.

Masvidal reps MIA heavy to this day ... and the card is especially important to him because as a kid, he told a friend he'd bring a big UFC card back to South Florida one day, and now he has.

"I looked over to my friend who I was with and I told him 'One day I'll bring a show over here to Miami.' It took 20 years but now we're in this bitch!"

And, Jorge says the city couldn't be happier or more grateful.

NLE Choppa's "Slut Me Out (Remix)" hasn't even dropped yet, but it's already pissing off some people in the industry ... due to what they see as blatant misogyny.

The Memphis rapper teased the visual for his updated track on Monday, which raised plenty of eyebrows -- it shows him dog-walking his female costars Sukihana and "Pound Town" rookie rapper Sexxy Red by their colorful weaves.

Sukihana's rap career revolves around XXX tropes and Sexxy Red has been going viral for her song's "my booty-hole brown" lyric ... so yeah, NLE's casting for the video was, arguably, spot-on.

However, Lil Mama disapproved of what she witnessed ... only for Sukihana to get wind of the since-deleted comments, and quickly dragged the "Lip Gloss" rapper for her infamous Jay-Z stage crash of 2009.

An unbothered Lil Mama responded to Suki with an eloquent tongue-lashing -- explaining she feels Black women like Suki uphold negative sexual stereotypes, despite history proving it's the wrong route to go.

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to NLE about the track, and he claimed it was an empowerment anthem ... but good luck convincing folks of that, now that the video clip is out.

Rich Homie Quan is feeling some kinda way after being told Roddy Ricch is allegedly why he's not on DJ Drama's new song "FMFU."

An incensed RHQ voiced his frustration Tuesday with Roddy, Drama and even Gucci Mane -- who also appears on the track alongside Lil Wayne -- but doesn't have as good of a verse ... at least, according to RHQ's standards.

Sources close to the project tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Roddy had no say-so whatsoever in the matter, and if Quan has beef, it should be with Drama himself.

The track appears on Drama's new "I'm Really Like That" album, and RHQ says he recorded his track last November ... but only after he negotiated the feature, as he claims Drama's team originally gave him some trash to rap over.

When it dropped last Friday, RHQ says he was embarrassed after telling plenty of people he was gonna be on the project. Now he wants to square things with Roddy through a $10 million wager in a Verzuz battle.

If ya let RHQ tell it, Roddy's only good record is his diamond-selling track "The Box," and the rest of his catalog is absolute garbage.

There's no putting the toothpaste back in the tube now ... RHQ said what he said!!!

Angel Reese has an unlikely ally ... Iowa star Caitlin Clark is coming to the defense of the newly crowned NCAA champ, straight up saying "I don't think there should be any criticism for what she did."

Of course, 21-year-old Clark found herself at the center of the biggest sports story in the country on Monday, after 20-year-old Reese threw up John Cena's famed "You Can't See Me" celly right in CC's face during the waning seconds of Sunday's women's national championship game.

Reese was instantly attacked online, with many people calling her actions unsportsmanlike. Defenders of Angel pointed to Caitlin's use of the Cena celebration during the very same NCAA tourney. Clark's defenders pointed out she didn't do it in her opponent's face. And, the debate raged on.

But, now Clark is weighing in ... and hopefully putting an end to the debate -- was Angel right or wrong.

"I think the biggest thing is we're all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way. Angel is a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game, the way she rebounds the ball, scores the ball is absolutely incredible. I'm a big fan of her and even the entire LSU team," Clark said during an interview with ESPN.

"Like I said, they played an amazing game so I don't think there should be any criticism for what she did. I honestly didn't see it when the game was going on and like I said, I haven't been on social media really at all."

FYI, despite the criticism (there was also a bunch of support), after the game, Reese made it clear she wasn't going to apologize.

Caitlin also addressed Jill Biden's recent comments, where she remarked she'd tell her husband, President Joe Biden to invite the losing Iowa team because "they played such a good game."

FLOTUS was destroyed for the comment ... as it's customary for the winner of a championship, never the loser, to head to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave for some face time with the prez.

"I don't think runner-ups usually go to the White House. I think LSU should, you know, enjoy that moment for them."

So, debate settled??? Probably not.

We covered it all in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Xscape's Tamika Scott has heard and accepted her sister LaTocha's recent apology regarding all the drama that came after she allegedly stole money -- and admits she's even open to building things back to how they once were.

We got Tamika in NYC Monday, and she tells us she still hasn't had a heart-to-heart with her sis since she publicly apologized for all the backlash ... adding she even changed her number in the midst of everything.

Despite all that, Tamika tells us she's open to squashing the beef going on between them -- and she tells us why she's always open to forgiving.

TMZ broke the story, LaTocha made the call to step back from Xscape last year -- but it wasn't a breakup, despite fans speculating otherwise.

The group later revealed the cause of all the drama in their reality show, "SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B" -- with Tamika claiming LaTocha snatched 30K from her, and provided receipts to allegedly back it up.

LaTocha went on to apologize for all the noise ... although she never admitted to stealing anything from her sister. She also didn't apologize to Kandi Burruss for their recent back-and-forth spat online -- but at least it sounds like there's some room for improvement from Tamika.

Los Angeles Angels star Anthony Rendon was just punished for his heated altercation with a fan last week ... getting slapped with a 5-game ban and a fine.

Major League Baseball senior VP for on-field operations Michael Hill shared the decision minutes ago ... saying unless Rendon appeals, the suspension will begin immediately, which means he would be eligible to return to the Angels on Sunday against the Blue Jays.

As we previously reported, Rendon grabbed an Athletics fan and attempted to hit him after the Halos' 2-1 loss in Oakland ... seemingly over being called a "bitch."

The interaction caught Oakland PD's attention ... and an investigation was launched.

"Although we are still unaware who the victim is, surveillance video of the incident has surfaced," cops said in a statement. "As a result, OPD created an incident, made a report, and is actively investigating."

Kourtney Kardashian has apparently chosen a side in the Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez feud ... at least that's what fans believe after a new promo video for KK's latest product.

Kourtney's wellness brand, Lemme, just released a line of liquid drops, and Selena's song "The Heart Wants What It Wants" is used in a new TikTok from the brand showing off the product.

Whether or not the use of the song is purely a coincidence remains unknown, but fans think it means Kourtney has chosen to be on Team Selena in the feud with Kylie Jenner and Hailey.

As we reported, Selena fans were outraged when they thought Kylie and Hailey were taking jabs at Selena, who dated Justin Bieber years before marrying HB.

The whole thing started after Selena posted a vid saying she accidentally laminated her eyebrows too much. Hours later, Kylie posted a FaceTime screenshot with Hailey, focusing on their brows -- with the caption "this was an accident?????" over her own eyebrows.

The eyebrows were only the beginning -- the drama between Hailey and Selena went on for weeks with fans comparing their relationship to JB and some accusing Hailey of stealing him.

Eventually, the Internet hate toward Hailey got so bad -- with death threats -- SG released a message telling everyone to calm down.

One more note, Kourtney's daughter, Penelope, is best friends with Selena's little sister, Gracie ... further driving fans to believe Kourtney's supporting the singer.

Snoop Dogg just made matters worse for The Miz during WrestleMania 39 on Sunday ... doubling up on the Superstar's beatdown from the night before by wrecking him again!!

It all went down at SoFi Stadium ... when the rap legend brought out Shane McMahon for a surprise appearance.

Shane and Miz went at it for a bit ... but Snoop intervened and set his sights on the WWE Superstar himself!!

Snoop stood over Miz, showboating for a bit before dropping him with a vicious People's Elbow and ending him with a three count.

"This is humiliating!!!" the announcers said as Snoop finished Miz.

The whole interaction came as a surprise ... as Miz was fully expecting a casual interaction with the California icon.

Naturally, the hometown guy had the sold-out crowd losing their minds ... but Snoop played it cool as if he had been in the ring plenty of times before.

Of course, Miz took a beating just hours prior -- when George Kittle and Pat McAfee threw him for a loop to end night one of the annual festivities.

Night 2 of WM39 has been filled with a ton of amazing moments ... and we're only halfway through the show -- so stay tuned for even more highlights.

WWE legend Rey Mysterio had a music superstar help him defeat his own son, Dominik, during WrestleMania 39 on Saturday ... with Bad Bunny playing a pivotal part in his win.

The whole match was set to be a star-studded event from the beginning ... with Snoop Dogg helping Rey make his grand entrance at SoFi Stadium.

When the bell rang, it was a hard-fought matchup between father and son ... but one thing that wasn't on Dominik's side was the superstar artist -- the former WWE 24/7 Champion, who patiently awaited his opportunity to help Rey out.

Ultimately, BB's move helped Rey secure the win over Dom ... which restored order to the Mysterio name.

Either way, he still played a huge role in Rey's win.

Bad Bunny is a MASSIVE wrestling fan ... but considering he has Coachella in a few weeks, we take it he was restricted from doing too much inside the ring. WrestleMania 39 has been an event to remember through one night of action ... and we can only imagine what Night 2 will hold.

Madonna's oldest brother, Anthony Ciccone, died from several health issues ... including cancer.

According to the death certificate, obtained by TMZ, Anthony died from a combination of respiratory failure and throat cancer.

The specific type is oropharyngeal cancer, which is often caused by smoking ... and the document says tobacco use contributed to Anthony's death.

TMZ broke the story ... Anthony was getting treatment at a Michigan nursing facility when he died in February at age 66, with Madonna footing the bill. Anthony had his feeding/breathing tubes removed two days before he passed, even though he knew doing so would have dire consequences.

Madonna actually shows up on the death certificate ... that was the first name of their mother. The doc also says Anthony has since been cremated.

Remember ... Anthony reportedly suffered from alcoholism, which led to homelessness, and his relationship with his famous younger sister was challenging.