Fights

MMA fighters are terrified of Khabib ... that is, except UFC star Kevin Lee who says he's dyin' to square up with the undefeated champ ... and he's confident he'll kick his ass.

Lee -- the #4 ranked lightweight -- tells TMZ Sports he knows exactly who he wants next after beating up Al Iaquinta at UFC on FOX 31 Saturday night.

Khabib "The Eagle" Nurmagomedov.

Why does Kevin think he'd fare any different than the 27 fighters who were all handed an L from Khabib?

"Everybody's afraid to wrestle with the man and that's what kinda lets him shine through. All of the sudden he thinks he's a good boxer cause he kinda clipped Conor a little bit, but it was really the wrestling threat. Conor was so afraid to wrestle with him."

"I'm bigger, stronger and I ain't afraid to wrestle with no man."

Them fightin' words.

Jermall and Jermell Charlo are already seein' Money before their huge title fights next weekend ... 'cause Floyd Mayweather was a special guest at their open workouts in Houston!!

The undefeated Charlo twins hosted the training sesh/toy drive in their hometown leading up to their big event in Brooklyn ... and anyone who brought a gift got to check out their workout for free.

But, the guests weren't the only people in the giving spirit ... celeb jeweler Johnny Dang dropped by to hand-deliver a custom diamond grill for Jermall!!

Both Charlos are fighting at Barclays Center next Saturday -- both attempting to keep their undefeated streaks alive.

Jermall is 27-0 and Jermell is 31-0.

And, since they're both fighting on the same card -- how did they determine which fight would be the main event? Coin flip.

Jermall won -- so his fight will get top billing when he defends his interim middleweight title against Willie Monroe Jr.

Jermell is defending his junior middleweight title against Tony Harrison.

Floyd's got his own fight comin' up ... with his New Year's Eve exhibition in Tokyo with Tenshin Nasukawa right around the corner.

Mike Tyson says he had smoked marijuana in the hours before his famous 2000 fight against Andrew Golota ... but claims it was the ONLY time he was ever high on weed during a bout.

The boxing legend appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" to talk about his new pot business when Dan asked him how long he'd been using cannabis.

"All my life basically," Tyson said ... before admitting he got high before the "Showdown in Motown."

Tyson said he had smoked before he got in the locker room and when Patrick asked how it affected him during the fight, Mike had a pretty classic answer ...

"It didn't affect me. It affected Golota."

Remember, Tyson famously dominated that fight -- with Golota refusing to get off his stool and continue the match after taking a beating in the first 3 rounds.

After the match, Tyson tested positive for marijuana and was fined $200,000.

He later blamed the failed test on the fact he couldn't find his "whizzer" -- a fake penis loaded with clean urine that helps people beat drug tests.

Tyson was eventually stripped of the victory because of the dirty test -- and it was officially put on his boxing record as a "no contest."

The Dana White vs. Oscar De La Hoya feud is exploding -- but how would things go down if they settled their differences in the ring?

Oscar has some thoughts ... "I would beat his ass."'

The two have been at each other's throats ever since White announced the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight back in June 2017.

Oscar put out a statement calling it a "circus" and said it would hurt the sport of boxing. Dana didn't appreciate that and blasted him as a lying, stupid "cokehead."

In fact, White went on ESPN's "First Take" on Thursday and went scorched Earth on the boxing legend -- even challenging him to a face-to-face showdown.

Cris Cyborg says she and Halle Berry have become so close, the Hollywood star will be her guest of honor at her big fight with Amanda Nunes in two weeks at UFC 232.

Halle's directing and starring in the upcoming MMA movie "Bruised" -- and she's been training for the role at Cyborg's Fitness MMA Gym in Huntington Beach, CA.

In fact, Cyborg says she's super confident Halle's movie will inspire more women to get involved in Mixed Martial Arts.

Now, with Cyborg getting ready for her megafight with Nunes on Dec. 29, the UFC champ says she'd like Halle to walk her into the Octagon if the UFC approves.

Guessing Dana White will greenlight that in a SECOND!

Cyborg is the reigning UFC women's featherweight champion -- and Nunes is the bantamweight champ.

This fight will be for the featherweight belt -- and it's being hailed as one of the biggest fights in the history of the women's division.

Cyborg gave us a little preview of her fight skills at her gym on Wednesday -- and yeah, she looks dangerous.

The woman who plays a post-apocalyptic juvenile on the CW series "The 100" will NOT be prosecuted for domestic violence ... because prosecutors realized there was no domestic violence.

Marie Avgeropoulos' lawyer, Shawn Holley, appeared in an L.A. courtroom Tuesday, along with the prosecutor, for the formality of dismissing the case. Bottom line ... the case was dismissed because there was never any intent on Marie's part to flip out and attack her BF. She had an adverse reaction to medication that triggered the outburst and there wasn't an intentional act of violence.

TMZ broke the story ... Marie -- who stars as Octavia Blake on the CW sci-fi show -- was arrested back in August after her BF called cops from inside a car claiming she struck him during a verbal argument. The BF called police hoping they'd just defuse the sitch but instead ended up arresting Marie.

All water under the bridge now.

Justin Gimelstob -- an ex-tennis star and current broadcaster -- pled not guilty to felony aggravated battery after he was accused of beating the hell out of a man during a trick-or-treating run on Halloween.

Gimelstob -- a former doubles champ who coaches tennis stud John Isner -- was arrested on the suspicion of roughing up a guy named Randall Kaplan while the man was trick-or-treating with his family in L.A. on Oct. 31.

In a restraining order Kaplan filed in November, he claims the tennis coach hit him from behind, pinned him down, punched him "more than 50 times" in the face and head and threatened to "f**king kill" him.

Justin showed up in court Wednesday in L.A. to face the battery with serious bodily injury charge -- a felony -- and pled not guilty.

If convicted, Gimelstob faces up to 4 years in prison AND a fine of up to $10,000.

While dealing with his case, Justin has reportedly taken a leave of absence from his role as an analyst at the Tennis Channel.

Post Malone says he has the perfect opponent for Wiz Khalifa's first real MMA fight ... and it's UFC all-time LEGEND Anderson Silva ... which has us at TMZ Sports asking an important question ...

Why does Post Malone want Wiz Khalifa dead?

Wiz has been training MMA at Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Performance gym for a while now, and he looks GREAT, but Posty's answer on who he should fight first left us scratching our heads.

"I wanna see Wiz and Silva. They got the same type of body type, long and skinny." Post said when we got him out in L.A.

Yes, that Anderson Silva ... the same one that ran off a 17-match winning streak in the UFC and is regarded by some as the finest MMA fighter of all time. That guy.

Post and Wiz have worked together for years -- as a matter of fact, Wiz was instrumental in the early success of Post's breakout hit, "White Iverson" -- so we're not sure when Post decided Wiz had to die.

On the other hand ... maybe Post really thinks Wiz could compete with Silva.

Say no to drugs kids.

Canelo Alvarez is sick of trading insults with Floyd Mayweather -- he wants to trade punches ... telling TMZ Sports the time has come for the two to finally get back in the ring.

Just this week, Floyd trashed Canelo again -- saying he was an "old man" (at 36) when he beat Alvarez back in 2013 ... claiming Canelo was "some of the easiest work I had."

So, when we spoke with Alvarez on Tuesday, we asked if he had a response.

"The truth is I have nothing to say to him," Canelo told us ... "He’s bothered and I don’t know why. In reality, he said he was old, but I was too young for that fight."

"Those are just arguments that he can have and that I can have as well. It looks like it’s getting to him."

Canelo says a rematch would not only be great for boxing, but also for Floyd's bank account -- the insinuation from Alvarez is Mayweather ain't exactly as rich as he claims to be.

And, how would the rematch go? Much different than the first fight ...

"I’m different now, I have more experience and more confidence in the ring and it would be a different result, I can assure you of that and it would be a better fight and I know that the public would walk away very happy from wherever in the world that they’re watching."

In the meantime, Canelo is gearing up to fight Rocky Fielding this weekend on DAZN -- and Fielding tells us he's ready for war.

THE SON OF CLUBBER LANG IS COMING ...

That's because Sylvester Stallone says if Deontay Wilder really wants to play that very role in 'Creed 3' ... Sly is all about making it happen.

A little background ... We got Wilder out last week, and the heavyweight champ told us his career after boxing is gonna be on the silver screen -- and his dream role is to play Clubber Lang's kid in 'Creed 3.'

So, when Stallone was leaving Caffe Roma in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, we asked him if he could make Wilder's acting dream happen.

"The answer is yes ... come one, come all."

Before you think Stallone was just giving us lip service, he went on to say he thinks Wilder has a lot of hidden talents, and seriously would have no issue giving him a shot.

We also asked if Wilder could count on any special, one-on-one mentoring from Sylvester, and his answer was pretty definitive.

"No, I don't think so."

O.T. Genasis is technically the reason Nipsey Hussle got roped into a brawl, 'cause the dude who confronted Nip had just gotten socked by O.T. ... and confused the two.

We got footage of O.T. getting into a fight inside of Nightingale in WeHo Sunday night just moments before the rapper ran into Nipsey outside, who was just arriving with his gal. In this clip, obtained by TMZ, you can see that the guy O.T. throws a haymaker at, is the same dude who confronts Nipsey outside as he and O.T. try making their way back in.

As we reported ... it was a classic case of mistaken identity, but now we know it was O.T. that the aggressors were after. Look at their outfits -- Nip and O.T. are both wearing plaid, which is presumably why the gentleman in white thought Nipsey had punched him.

Luckily for everyone, the madness had dispersed by the time cops showed up on the scene. No arrests were made, but a taser was pulled out at one point to de-escalate things.

Oscar De La Hoya says he's got big plans for Canelo Alvarez once he runs through Rocky Fielding this weekend ... telling TMZ Sports a 3rd fight with Gennady Golovkin will definitely happen.

Oscar confirmed that Golden Boy Promotions has locked up T-Mobile Arena in Vegas for Canelo to fight on May 4 -- but said he's not ready to announce the opponent.

When we asked if he was gunning for Gennady Golovkin, Oscar downplayed it.

"I haven't even spoken to GGG, I haven't even spoken to his handlers. I have that date for Canelo and that's it," Oscar said.

But, he did assure us a 3rd fight is coming -- whenever Canelo feels like it.

"Is he gonna fight GGG again? Yeah, whenever we say he's gonna fight him again. We call the shots now. Canelo beat him so if he's gonna fight him it's gonna be when we say."

Canelo and GGG have fought twice before. The first fight ended in a draw. Canelo took the rematch in a controversial decision.

Oscar said there are other fighters in the mix for Canelo as well -- including Daniel Jacobs, Billy Joe Saunders and the Charlo brothers.

"They're all gonna get it," Oscar says ... "Canelo fights the best."

Jon Jones is BACK!!

The UFC superstar just got his license to fight in California reinstated -- essentially clearing the way for him to fight at UFC 232 on Dec. 29.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Jones tested positive for the banned substance Turinabol (an anabolic steroid) before his fight with Daniel Cormier at the Honda Center in Anaheim in July 2017.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency meted out a 15-month suspension for Jones -- and the California State Athletic Commission said it would honor that punishment.

Even though Jon's upcoming fight against Alexander Gustafsson is set to go down in Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission won't license him unless he's clear in California.

The good news for Jon ... he appeared at a CSAC hearing on Tuesday with his attorney and the board voted 6-0 to reinstate him and granted him a temporary license.

Jones also paid his $205,000 fine.

After he was reinstated, Jon had a message to the California State Athletic Commission -- "Make sure you guys watch."

For his part, Jones has always insisted he never intentionally took the Turinabol -- claiming he's not a cheater.

At the hearing, CSAC executive director Andy Foster actually defended Jones -- saying, "I do not think Mr. Jones is intentionally a doper."

He added, "I just don’t believe it. If he is, he’s the worst doper in combat sports. He fails the one test he knows is coming."

Nipsey Hussle's paying very little mind to his involvement in a brawl over the weekend ... he's too busy putting in work.

We got the rapper at LAX Tuesday afternoon and wanted to get his side of the story following a crazy ass brawl on the same night he was celebrating his GF Lauren London's birthday. TMZ broke the story ... Nipsey and his crew got dragged into an intense melee in the parking lot of Nightingale. It happened less than an hour after he was confronted by two guys ... some of which was caught by our camera.

Nobody was arrested or injured -- something Nipsey was quick to point out to our photog. He also made sure to turn the fight into an easy plug for his Grammy-nominated album, "Victory Lap."

Great news from Brian Ortega's camp ... the UFC star is improving by the minute after that bloody loss to Max Holloway this past weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Ortega suffered a broken nose and thumb during Saturday night's fight at UFC 231 in Toronto -- and his left eye was swollen shut. The doctor stopped the fight in the 4th round.

We spoke with Ortega's coach, Rener Gracie -- who's been coaching Brian since Ortega was 13 years old. The two are super tight and Gracie was working the corner during the Holloway fight.

Gracie tells us T-City was initially crushed by the loss ... and even apologized to his team at the hospital for letting them down.

But, Gracie says the apology was completely unnecessary -- telling TMZ Sports he's proud of the young fighter for the tremendous effort he displayed against "one of the best to ever do it."

Now, Gracie says Ortega is "doing much better" -- he's healing up and excited to getting back to work ... and tells us why the loss will ultimately be a GOOD thing for his career.

A lot has happened to Meek Mill since he allegedly sent goons to jump Safaree Samuels more than a year ago -- and that's exactly why Safaree says it's all water under the bridge.

Our Raquel Harper chopped it up with Nicki Minaj's ex about her other ex, Meek, whom Safaree accused of orchestrating the would-be jumping that went down during the BET Awards last summer ... which Meek, of course, denied.

Welp, Safaree's changed his tune since then ... saying he's seen just how much Meek's been through and how much he's grown as a person since walking out of prison. He even tells Raq they were recently in the same vicinity and things were copacetic.

Funny how petty stuff like ex-girlfriends and verbal jabs fall to the wayside when s**t gets real. Also ... time sure does fly, right?