Fights

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has just approved a motion to release HALF of Khabib Nurmagomedov's $2 million purse from UFC 229 immediately.

The other $1 million will be held until Khabib's next hearing in front of the commission on Dec. 10 -- where the board will decide Khabib's ultimate punishment for the melee at the Oct. 6 incident.

Board members said during the hearing that they felt the $1 million they're still holding will cover all expenses related to the incident and is substantial enough to keep Khabib interested in the hearing.

Translation -- it's too much money for Khabib to blow off the commission.

NSAC officials noted that Khabib made roughly $5 to $6 million from the UFC 229 fight. It's interesting, considering Conor McGregor said he expected to make around $50 mil.

They also said had the board had access to additional video from the UFC 229 melee, they would have held Conor McGregor's purse as well.

As it stands now, both are due to appear in front of the Commission -- in person -- in December after the investigation is complete.

A candidate for Rhode Island Attorney General shocked a room full of students when he spelled the n-word out at ear-shattering levels during a high school event.

Alan Gordon -- a member of the Compassion Party -- showed up at North Kingstown High School Tuesday, where he and his opponent, Peter Neronha, fielded questions from students. Gordon became irate after Neronha used the word "marijuana" twice.

Gordon claimed "marijuana" is a racist term ... comparing it to the n-word, which he emphatically rolled out, letter by letter. Many students roared with applause.

After shout-spelling the word ... Gordon left the stage and never returned.

Anne Armstrong, a member of the Compassion Party who's running for Governor, tells us she and Gordon run a cannabis healing clinic -- and the word "marijuana" is extremely offensive to them because it's rooted in racial stereotypes. Don't ask.

Armstrong says Gordon was promised before the event Neronha would not say "marijuana" -- and when he said it the second time it set Gordon off.

As for why Gordon's opponent referred to marijuana during the event ... Gordon and Armstrong were reportedly busted a few weeks back with 48 pounds of pot.

Joe Rogan doesn't think Logan Paul is a joke -- he watched the YouTube star's boxing match and thinks he has more fighting talent that at least one guy who's fought in the UFC ... CM Punk.

First off, Rogan says Punk is a real nice guy and he doesn't mean any disrespect -- but when it comes to his 2 fights in the UFC, Joe realized CM just doesn't have the raw talent it takes to win.

In fact, Joe -- on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast -- said Punk's brief stint in the UFC was a "nightmare" ... especially since he fought a guy like Mickey Gall who's "f**king good."

As for Logan, Joe heard Dana White slam the door on the possibility of Paul fighting in the UFC because he'd get hurt -- and says, "You had f**king CM Punk fight! This guy's way better than him."

Joe says he was impressed with Logan's striking skills and wrestling background -- and while he's no Canelo Alvarez, the guy clearly has some level of talent.

Joe isn't really campaigning for Dana to book Logan a fight -- he's just making the point that it wouldn't be the craziest thing the UFC has ever done.

If you thought you knew everything about the Rajon Rondo vs. Chris Paul fight, boy were you wrong ... Donnell Rawlings has the only breakdown you need to hear, and he's telling it to TMZ Sports.

We got Rawlings out in L.A. and asked him about all things Lakers, and that's when the "Chappelle's Show" star gave us a blow-by-blow, and a spit-by-spit analysis of the brawl Saturday night.

Highlights include ...

- The exact type of spit that was used, and how it affected the melee.

- How race was a factor (we know what you're thinking, you just gotta listen).

- Why the type of punch that was used meant that CP3 never had a chance.

Conor McGregor has broken his silence on his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 -- saying he simply didn't train for Khabib's stand-up game.

In fact, Conor gave a round-by-round breakdown of the fight ... calling Round 2 the "worst round of my career."

Here's the breakdown ...

Round 1.

"I believe from a sport standpoint, round 1 was his. Top position against the fence. Zero position advancement or damage inflicted. But top position. From a fight standpoint the first round is mine. Actual shots landed and a willingness to engage. Straight left early. Knee to the head on the low shot. Elbows in any and all tie up scenarios. Opponent just holding the legs against the fence for almost the entire round."

Round 2.

"He is running away around the cage before being blessed with a right hand that changed the course of the round, and the fight. It was a nice shot.

After the shot I bounced back up to engage instantly, but again he dipped under to disengage. That is the sport and it was a smart move that led to a dominant round, so no issue. Well played.

If I stay switched on and give his stand up even a little more respect, that right hand never gets close and we are talking completely different now. I gave his upright fighting no respect in preparation. No specific stand up spars whatsoever. Attacking grapplers/wrestlers only. That won’t happen again.

I also gave my attacking grappling no respect. To defense minded. Lessons. Listen to nobody but yourself on your skill set. You are the master of your own universe. I am the master of this. I must take my own advice."

Round 3.

"After the worst round of my fighting career, I come back and win this round. Again walking forward, walking him down, and willing to engage."

Round 4.

"My recovery was not where it could have been here. That is my fault. Although winning the early exchanges in 4, he dips under again and I end up in a bad position with over 3 on the clock. I work to regain position and end up upright, with my back to the fence. A stable position. Here however, I made a critical error of abandoning my over hook at this crucial time, exposing the back, and I end up beaten fair and square."

Overall Notes

Nipsey Hussle tells TMZ Sports there's NO WAY IN HELL he was gonna jump in the Lakers-Rockets melee Saturday night ... despite what it might have looked like on camera.

You'll remember ... Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul traded blows near the basket Nipsey was sitting under -- and when cameras panned to the rapper -- it sure looked like he was getting ready to jump in.

But, Nipsey -- who teamed up with PUMA to refurbish a basketball court in South L.A. inspired by the brands new kicks -- tells us there was absolutely no chance he was setting himself up to throw hands.

"I would never jump in no NBA fight," Hussle says. "Hell nah!"

Nipsey says he was readying himself JUST IN CASE the fight spilled into his area of the stands.

As for who woulda won the fight if nobody held the two point guards back ... Nipsey says he ain't sure -- but he does tell us the Lakers have a real shot at the NBA title this season!!

BTW, in addition to the new court ... Nipsey and PUMA hooked 200 kids up with fresh backpacks and shirts ... and gave $10K to a local elementary school.

Blac Chyna is ripping a page out of Taylor Swift's electoral playbook -- except Chyna's version sounds a bit more drunken ... and hysterical, TBH.

BC was leaving Mastro's in Bev Hills and, right off the bat, it was clear she had more than water at dinner. She did have a designated driver, who failed miserably at stopping Chyna from ranting about the importance of registering to vote and lots of other stuff.

Yup ... BC was dead serious about the midterm elections, but her execution was lacking. She could barely keep her balance before imploring everyone to look up their state's deadlines for voter registration.

She almost slurred her way through a breast cancer awareness statement.

Imagine how much more effective Taylor's message could have been if she had a couple margaritas beforehand!

Fittingly, her bizarre news conference came to a crashing halt when she got into an altercation with one of the photogs recording her.

Politics ... it ain't for everyone.

Talk about great protection ... a TMT bodyguard tells TMZ Sports he'd straight-up box anybody -- INCLUDING Bruce Lee -- if he had to, to protect Floyd Mayweather.

The Money Team defender's name is Jizzy Mack -- one of Floyd's longtime protectors -- and he tells us it doesn't matter who's comin' after Mayweather ... he's ready to be there to stop them.

"Whether it's Khabib, whether it's Conor, whether it's Bruce Lee, I don't care," he tells us ... "I'm coming at you."

Of course ... this whole discussion kicked off because Floyd's angling to fight Khabib -- and Khabib, after UFC 229, is now known for taking things just a little too far.

So, when we asked Jizzy what he'd do if Nurmagomedov and his crew tried to pull that same stunt on Floyd -- he says it'd get violent in a hurry.

"At the end of the day, my job is to protect Floyd. And, if they're all about that life, they can get it if they want to."

BTW ... if Floyd does eventually get in the ring with Khabib -- you can bet Jizzy's throwin' down cash on it -- 'cause he says he's put AT LEAST $100k on EVERY Floyd fight.

George Lopez and Donald Trump may finally see eye-to-eye on something after a scuffle GL was involved in last weekend at a Hooters ... according to George himself.

We got the comedian Sunday at LAX, where we asked about his run-in with a fan who claims George grabbed his neck in a video of the altercation obtained by TMZ. In our clip ... you can see what appears to be George getting handsy with the dude.

George stays tight-lipped on the whole thing -- not wanting to reveal who he thinks was at fault -- but, he does drop one interesting nugget on us ... Trump probably would've been down for the way George handled it -- ya know, 'cause of that whole body slamming thing.

In case you forgot ... Trump praised Congressman Greg Gianforte for putting a reporter on his back last year, saying anyone who could do a full body slam was "my kind of guy."

Ben Stein says the guy who attacked Mitch McConnell Friday night is like a brownshirt in the early days of the Nazi Party.

We got Ben Saturday at Politicon in L.A., and he was disgusted by the video TMZ posted, showing a restaurant patron verbally assaulting McConnell and his wife at a Louisville, Kentucky restaurant. The person who shot the video told us before the attack, the patron grabbed McConnell's doggie bag and threw it out the door.

Ben is consistent ... saying the verbal assault against Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats are just as bad as what happened to the Majority Leader.

It was fight night at the Staples Center when players from the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets got into an intense fist fight ... marring the hometown debut of LeBron James.

It all went down Saturday night late in the 4th quarter. Lakers forward, Brandon Ingram, shoved Rockets Guard, James Harden, for which Ingram received a technical foul. Moments later, Houston PG, Chris Paul and Lakers PG Rajon Rondo began trading punches.

It is unclear why Ingram shoved Harden in the first place ... he was visibly upset and took out his frustrations on the ref after being called for the shove. The shoving continued between Rondo and Paul before Rondo threw a punch, igniting the fight.

Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram are sure to be socked with suspensions.

LeBron says he tried his best to calm things down and he didn't speak to his team after the game.

Nick Diaz says Canelo Alvraez is fighting BUMS -- and if he wants a REAL superfight, Oscar De La Hoya needs to call him, ASAP.

He's not joking -- telling TMZ Sports, "Let's be real. Canelo moving up to my weight? You ain't gonna win that fight."

Diaz says he's sparred with top-flight boxers like Andre Ward, and honestly believes he can compete and defeat Canelo, widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

"You're just basically one of them little guys I spar before I fight," Diaz says ... adding, "Nothing personal. Motherf**ker don't speak English so he ain't knowing what I'm saying anyway."

So, we went to Oscar -- Canelo's promoter -- to ask if there's a chance he'd make it happen.

Oscar ain't exactly saying "no."

Don't get your hopes up when it comes to seeing Floyd Mayweather box Khabib ... 'cause the fight is NEVER HAPPENING -- so says ex-UFC star Brendan Schaub.

We got the UFC fighter-turned-MMA analyst out at LAX ... and dude wouldn't even let our photog finish his question about a possible Nurmagomedov-Floyd tilt.

"Stop it," Brendan tells TMZ Sports ... "It's never happening. It's never happening."

"It's not happening. EVER."

Why's Schaub so confident about that??

"Khabib's not a striker!!!!!!!"

Khabib feels otherwise -- he's bragged about putting Conor McGregor on his ass with an overhand right during their fight at UFC 229.

Of course ... all this Khabib-Floyd talk has gotten real recently 'cause Mayweather told us the fight is 100 percent going down.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was confronted Friday night by some angry diners who loudly berated him for his politics.

The Kentucky Senator was eating dinner with his wife at Havana Rumba in Louisville, when 4 men confronted Mitch. The main aggressor screams at McConnell, "Why don't you get out of here?  Why don't you leave the entire country?"

The woman who shot the video tells us, before she started recording, the main aggressor slammed his fists down on McConnell's table, grabbed his doggie bag and threw the food out the door of the restaurant.

The woman says the main gripe seemed to be the Senator's stance on Social Security and health care.  McConnell recently said entitlement programs are the main cause of massive debt. The woman says before she started shooting, the main aggressor was screaming that McConnell was killing people with his views.

McConnell kept his cool and afterward thanked some of his supporters, shaking their hands.

And there's this ... the woman who shot the video says before McConnell left there appeared to be some dispute over the bill. They talked to the waiter and restaurant manager and apparently resolved it.

Jenelle Evans doesn't have a care in the world after a horrific domestic violence incident ... at least if you're buyin' the video her husband shot.

David Eason recorded his dinner with Jenelle and their kid Friday night at a North Carolina restaurant ... and he sounds like he's going a little overboard to make everything seem all kumbaya.

It's in glaring contrast to Jenelle's desperate 911 call last weekend, in which she graphically explains how she was the victim of domestic violence at his hands.

Sorry, fight fans ... Floyd Mayweather's making it clear -- the Manny Pacquiao tilt is off.

"I don't give a f*** about what's going on with Pacquiao," Floyd tells TMZ Sports.

Remember ... Floyd was singing a little different tune just a few weeks ago -- when he said, "I'm coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year another 9 figure pay day on the way."

But, Floyd tells us that's now off, saying, "We not going to make that happen right now. Not right now. We must take that fight and let that fight build. And then, down the line, let that fight happen."

So, what happened??

Mayweather says it's kinda complicated ... but, basically, since Pacman's now signed with Floyd's manager, Al Haymon -- they wanna go a different route.

"I think the best fight for Pacquiao -- what I told Al Haymon -- was probably the Adrien Broner fight. And then we got Errol Spence and Terence Crawford."

In the meantime ... Floyd seems sure as hell set on getting in the ring with Khabib and/or Conor McGregor.