Fights & Feuds

Tristan Thompson came this close to fighting Phoenix Suns player Torrey Craig on Thursday -- calling the guy "trash" as teammates raced to break up a heated on-court screaming match.

Thompson and his Boston Celtics were beating up on the Suns on the court in a 99 to 86 victory ... but as the final seconds were ticking away in the 4th quarter, Tristan had some words for Craig.

Doesn't take an expert lip-reader to see Tristan calling him "trash" -- while Craig tried to get up in his face.

The two clashed heads and contained to talk smack while teammates and staffers raced to break them up.

Eventually, the guys went back to their benches -- no punches were thrown. They each received a technical foul for the spat.

As the announcers pointed out, the two did NOT shake hands or hug it out after the game ... they probably just needed some space to cool off.

Bill Maher told Sharon Osbourne Friday night ... it's ironic her show is called "The Talk" ... because talking can get you canned.

Sharon was Bill's guest on 'Real Time' and he, more than she, trashed people on the show who suggested Sharon was racist for siding with Piers Morgan, who took aim at Meghan Markle and accused her of lying in the Oprah interview.

Maher's take ... you have to agree with what Meghan said or you're a racist.

Again, Bill was more agitated than Sharon, as he mocked her former talkers who suggested, by siding with Piers, Sharon was denying Meghan her voice. Bill said that was just plain stupid on its face.

TikTok star Bryce Hall has a truly adorable reason for wanting to beat the living hell out of YouTuber Austin McBroom in their upcoming boxing match ... saying if he comes out with a K.O., he's getting his mom a new house!!!

Of course, more Internet superstars are following Logan and Jake Paul's lead into the ring ... with 21-year-old Hall and McBroom, 28, headlining the "YouTubers vs. TikTokers" card on June 12.

Hall tells TMZ Sports he's SERIOUSLY cashing in on the event ... doubling down on his claim he's really going to make $5 million just to enter the ring.

On top of that, Hall -- who has 19.6 million followers on TikTok -- says he's going to get another $1 MILLION bonus if he's able to knock out the former college basketball player ... and that money would go to a great cause.

"That's like, my mom's house right there," Hall told us outside Toast in L.A. "I'm gonna buy my mom a house right after the fight. And, that knockout is my mom's house ... that's how much it means to me."

Hall shows us how serious he is by displaying some of his moves ... and even lets a random dude on the street punch him in the stomach!!

MMA star Justin Wren says Conor McGregor is just WRONG for trying to paint Dustin Poirier's charity foundation as some shady operation ... and it's more evidence that Conor is simply not a good person.

Wren is widely respected for his charity work all over the world -- in fact, Joe Rogan has praised Wren's "Fight for the Forgotten" foundation for years for all of the work he's done helping impoverished communities in Africa.

So, when Wren learned McGregor was backing out of his $500,000 pledge to Dustin Poirier's "The Good Fight Foundation" -- Wren wasn't happy.

As we previously reported, Conor not only bailed on the donation he had been promising since October -- but he made Poirier's foundation seem like a clown show, incapable of explaining how the money would be deployed to actually help people in need.

McGregor called Poirier a "fool" with "no plan in place" for such a sizable donation.

Of course, Poirier has called B.S. on Conor -- saying his team reached out to McGregor's camp multiple times to address their concerns, but never got a response.

So, who's lying?

Wren says he's personally worked with Poirier's foundation and can vouch that's it's not only legitimate -- but it's made a REAL impact in communities in need in Dustin's home state of Louisiana.

"Dustin is an honorable man, a good character, who’s a family man, who has literally done everything he ever said he was gonna do and more ... and the other guy hasn’t followed through on a lot of the things that he has said. So, I think that this really calls Conor's character into question even more so than it's already been."

Wren says he's been in touch with Dustin and his wife, Jolie, over the past few days -- and they're upset Conor would take such a "cheap shot" at an organization that was created to help people in need.

"I think that this has really changed Dustin's opinion on who Conor is as a person. He’s not a good guy."

Wren adds, "Conor didn’t rob Dustin of anything. What he did was he cheated or stole from the people he would’ve helped."

Bad Bunny is ready to shut up all of his wrestling critics -- he's been busting his ass to get ready for WrestleMania ... and Drew McIntyre admits he's seriously impressed.

The WWE superstar says he's aware of some wrestlers in the company who aren't happy with Bad Bunny getting a prime match against The Miz during the biggest event of the year ... but those people need to get over it.

"Realistically, this is going to draw a lot of new eyes," McIntyre said on "TMZ Live" ... "He's not somebody that's just showing up for a paycheck. He doesn't have to. He's done pretty well in his chosen field of music, [he] won a Grammy."

Bad Bunny -- one of the biggest music stars in the world -- is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who's now in a major storyline with The Miz, which will come to a head this weekend at WrestleMania 37.

Some people have criticized Bunny's athletic ability. Others say he needs to work on his mic game.

But, Drew says he's been working out like a maniac at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando ... and insists Bunny will "shock a lot of people" when he steps in the ring.

"He's there week in, week out. I've been observing him from afar, he has a genuine passion for this. He's putting the work in, he's training almost every single day."

The other major storyline for WrestleMania 37 has to do with WWE allowing 25,000 fans to attend the event at Raymond James Stadium in person each night.

McIntyre says Vince McMahon and his team have spared no expense to keep the venue safe.

"It's gonna be a phenomenal event. For the fans watching at home, this is really cool not just in the sense that it's WrestleMania, it's such a spectacle."

Kevin Holland ➡️ Israel Adesanya ➡️ Middleweight title

That's the blueprint UFC fighter Marvin Vettori tells TMZ Sports he plans to follow ... insisting he's only 1 "Big Mouth" ass-whoopin' away from a long-anticipated rematch with Stylebender.

We talked to the 27-year-old Italian MMA star before his UFC on ABC 2 main event scrap on Saturday with 28-year-old Holland ... who stepped in for Darren Till -- who broke his collarbone (but MV ain't buying the injury) -- about his place in the 185 lb. division.

Per the UFC's Middleweight rankings, Marvin's #6, Holland's #10, and Till's #5. Despite sitting behind a few other top fighters, Vettori says with a dub on Saturday, it's his time for a shot at the title.

"Most of the top five, they're injured or they're not showing up, so it don't count. Like they're top-five just on the paper. I think I deserve the title shot after this," Marvin says.

As for that scrap with Till ... Vettori says he isn't interested anymore.

"[Darren] lost his opportunity. I don't even trust him anymore to show up. I would like to eventually, but he can try and challenge me when I'll be the champion and if he can gain the spot, I'll face him then," Marvin tells us.

"He lost his spot, man. He lost his opportunity. I'm getting more suspicious by the day, to be honest."

Regarding that rematch with 31-year-old Adesanya ... Izzy and Marvin fought in April 2018. Israel won via split decision ... but some people believe MV was the real winner.

But, just beating Adesanya on a single scorecard is an impressive feat ... something that no other UFC middleweight has done.

Get Kevin Holland a new nickname ... 'cause "Big Mouth" won't be running when he fights Saturday night, telling TMZ Sports his sole focus is whooping Marvin Vettori's ass.

28-year-old Holland received an onslaught of criticism -- from fans to Dana White -- for the nonstop crap talk during his unanimous decision loss to Derek Brunson only 19 days ago.

Holland's stepping up on short notice to fight Vettori -- the 27-year old, 6th-ranked UFC middleweight -- and we asked if he was gonna press pause on the trash talk.

"Yeah, I mean ultimately, I go in there and get the job done and then we'll see what happens after that, but it's like a whole lot of talking that night, I don't see that happening. Go in there, get the job done and then we can talk about it after."

It's an interesting dilemma ... MMA fans loved Holland's brashness when he was winning (he fought and won 5 times in 2020!!) -- but turned on him when he talked and lost.

So, moral of the story for Kevin? Win. This. Fight.

"I just got a job to do. The job is to put Vettori away in a nice fashion."

As for any bad blood with White ... Holland says everything's cool with the UFC honcho.

Geraldo Rivera has seriously pissed off his fellow Fox News pundit Leo Terrell by challenging his cred in the Black community -- and they just went HAM on each other!!!

Geraldo and Leo were on Bill Hemmer's "America's Newsroom" Thursday to talk about race and policing, particularly in St. Louis. That city's Mayor-Elect Tishaura Jones -- a Black woman -- questioned the "lived experience" of white allies in leading a population that is nearly 50 percent Black.

That remark got Leo all hot and bothered, and as he started going off on Mayor-Elect Jones ... Geraldo jumped in with, "Hey, Leo! When was the last time you were in the ghetto?"

Explosion in 3, 2 ...

Leo -- a famed civil rights attorney for several decades -- damn near jumped through the TV screen in his rage at Geraldo. Both men exchanged inner-city resumes, barking out their hometowns. FYI, Leo's reppin' the West coast, and Geraldo the East.

You gotta see the fireworks. Far as we can tell, the only real winner is Fox News' ratings. We doubt Geraldo and Leo will be breaking bread anytime soon.

JuJu Smith-Schuster says Antonio Brown is giving him the crazy ex treatment -- claiming AB has BLOCKED him from ALL digital platforms ... leaving him no way to make contact with his old Steelers teammate.

The 2 NFL stars had butted heads after AB was traded to the Raiders in 2019 ... with both sides taking shots over social media.

AB had called JuJu a "bum" and mocked his name -- calling him, "Boo Boo Shoester."

JuJu fired back saying, "Crazy how big that ego got to be to take shots at people who show you love! Smh."

But, now that some time has passed, JuJu says he's thought about reaching out to AB to try and bury the hatchet.

The problem ... JuJu says AB has completely cut him off.

"Honestly bro, if I could reach out I would, but I can’t," Smith-Schuster said on "The Michael Irvin Podcast" on PodcastOne.

"He’s blocked me on all social media from Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter ... my phone number. And we just live our lives."

Remember, JuJu tried to publicly squash the beef with Brown during a conversation with TMZ Sports way back in April 2019 ... denying he was holding any sort of grudge and saying AB was still "my guy."

But, here we are in 2021 ... and JuJu says no real progress has been made on repairing their friendship.

JuJu says he's ready to move on from the drama ... and he's actually HAPPY to see AB win a title with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"I wish nothing but the best for him, you know, for him to go out there and win a Super Bowl, like, congrats to him and, he keeps doing it."

In fact, JuJu ponders what coulda been if AB and Le'Veon Bell didn't leave ... saying, "I think he’s one of the best to ever do it, um and, if he didn’t have the falloff, I think our team would be, you know, ridiculous, amazing."

Mike Tyson channeled his inner Hulk Hogan on Wednesday night -- ripping off his shirt and beating the hell out of a pro wrestler ... and it was awesome!!

It all went down on AEW's 'Dynamite' -- where Chris Jericho and his allies in the Inner Circle were getting attacked by the guys in The Pinnacle, led by pro wrestling star MJF.

All of the sudden, Mike Tyson appeared -- and unleashed the fury all over Shawn Spears ... throwing punches in bunches and even launching a ground and pound attack!

Eventually, Spears escaped and fled the ring -- and Tyson and Chris Jericho dapped it up while celebrating their new alliance.

Yeah, it's pro wrestling stuff ... but it's still super fun to watch!

Before the incident, 54-year-old Tyson was hanging out with Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer!

Fun Fact: The Jags are owned by Shad Khan -- whose son, Tony Khan, is the president and CEO of AEW!

Vicente Luque wants all the smoke after his UFC 260 victory over Tyron Woodley -- telling TMZ Sports he's begging for a shot at the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards!

Luque jumped to #6 in the UFC's welterweight division after his impressive performance last weekend -- and badly wants to put himself in a position for a title fight as soon as possible.

Remember, VL called out Nate Diaz in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan -- but days later, Diaz agreed to take on Edwards at UFC 262, spoiling Luque's plans.

But, he's not losing hope of a possible showdown with Diaz down the line.

"I'm interested in any of those two guys so whatever goes down with that fight, maybe one of them can be my opponent after they fight."

FYI, Luque has fought against Edwards before -- losing by unanimous decision in a 3-round scrap in 2017.

"Since then, I've changed a lot. I know that he has evolved a lot as well. We both have been on a great winning streak and yeah, I think that right now it would make a lot of sense to have that rematch. It would be a hell of a fight."

Luque has ripped off 3 straight wins and Edwards had won 8 straight before an accidental eye poke led to a "no contest" against Belal Muhammad in March.

In the meantime, Luque says he's down to be the backup fighter for Diaz vs. Edwards -- willing to step in if one of the guys has to drop out for some reason.

Lil Xan is bringing the beef to Supreme Patty ... throwing a drink and igniting a wild bar brawl.

The rapper was performing at Treehouse Rooftop Lounge in Fort Myers, FL when things got heated in the VIP section. Our sources say Xan and Internet prankster SP exchanged some heated words -- you can see Xan was up on a stage or platform while he and Patty jawed at each other.

But, when Xan threw his drink at Supreme Patty, around 1:30 AM Sunday, the talk stopped and Patty came charging right at Xan before getting pulled back.

As for what set them off, Lil Xan claims Supreme Patty tried mooching off his group's bottle service -- and Patty says he was just defending himself after getting a drink thrown at him.

We're told the cops weren't called and both parties left shortly after the scuffle.

Jake Paul and Ben Askren finally came face-to-face ahead of their April 17 boxing match … and the level of trash talk was through the roof!!

Ben said he could literally “do a homicide” to Jake if he felt like it.

Jake called Ben a "p***y ass bitch."

Then, Jake FaceTimed Jorge Masvidal — who famously KO’d Ben in 5 seconds — to join in on the fun!!

Yeah, it was bananas!!

Of course, the two guys have been going back and forth on social media for months ... and their first face-to-face definitely lived up to the hype.

The smack talk even got physical after both fighters squared up against each other for their face-off ... with Ben shoving Jake's face.

Jake tried to go after Ben in retaliation ... but the folks working the event quickly brought the mayhem to a halt.

Paul and Askren meet in the ring for the Triller Fight Club on April 17 ... an event packed with fights and musical guests like Justin Bieber and Doja Cat.

It's gonna be a party!!

Israel Adesanya admits he "crossed the line" when he threatened to "rape" fellow UFC fighter Kevin Holland during a trash-talking session on social media ... and vows to learn from his mistake.

For context, Israel was responding to allegations Holland made earlier this month against him ... claiming the middleweight champ is a steroid user.

Adesanya responded in an Instagram story by saying, "Bro, I’ll f***ing rape you."

The comment was met with outrage from high profile people ... including New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, who said, "There is never a time to make flippant comments about rape. It’s just not something anybody should do."

Finally, on Thursday, Israel addressed the situation ... and admitted he messed up.

"Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line," Adesanya said on Twitter.

"I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention."

"I am still growing under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be more selective with words under pressure.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov is unemployed ... but if the UFC legend is looking for a new gig, WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre says he'd be a helluva professional wrestler.

TMZ Sports talked to the former 2x WWE champ after the 32-year-old, 29-0 Khabib officially retired from the UFC last week.

Nurmagomedov is known for his fighting -- not his trash-talking -- so we asked the 'Monday Night Raw' star if Khabib would be any good in the WWE ring.

"[Khabib's] so talented that I reckon he could make some noise, and if he can't make the noise himself, we’ve got Paul Heyman. We’ve got a few talented people who can carry the load when it comes to talking," McIntyre says.

"MVP has done a heckuva job for [Bobby] Lashley. Maybe that's another name to throw in the hat. But, [Khabib's] such an amazing performer in the UFC, and if he can't quite figure out that part, we’ll make it work."

Drew continued ... "We’re about enhancing the positives and hiding the negatives. I think the fans would be very excited to see him."

Of course, Heyman is Brock Lesnar's legendary, longtime hype man.