Fights

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?

Conor McGregor or Max Holloway.

That's who UFC star Frankie Edgar tells TMZ Sports he wants to fight next.

"I'm hoping I get Max. I'm hoping Max sticks around at 45, and we get to finally get to square up. I think it makes the most sense."

Edgar is currently the #3 ranked featherweight contender behind Jose Aldo (#2), Brian Ortega (#1) and Holloway (Champ).

But, Dana White said this weekend he wants Max to move up weight classes ... so, if that happens, Edgar has his sights set squarely on the Irish superstar.

"I don't know, maybe Conor's free. Conor wants to get down and fight. We were supposed to fight a long time too. If I'm not fighting for the belt, then I guess Conor's the next best thing."

Neither matchup is all that far-fetched -- Edgar was scheduled to fight Holloway at UFC 222 back in March ... but "Blessed" was forced to drop out with an injury.

McGregor said in the past he offered to step in against Frankie ... but the UFC shut that down.

In other words ... both fights almost went down in March.

9:40 AM PT -- Sources close to Nipsey tell us the men he was fighting first attacked him because they thought he was someone else. We're told the men accused Nipsey of starting a fight earlier in the night inside the club, but Nipsey had nothing to do with it. The whole thing was started as a result of mistaken identity and Nipsey was only defending himself.

Nipsey Hussle was smack in the middle of a crazy clash where punches were thrown and tasers were pulled ... all on the heels of celebrating Nipsey's GF's birthday.

The intense melee went down late Sunday night in the parking lot of Nightingale in WeHo. You can see the Grammy-nominated rapper and his crew throw haymakers with a couple of guys that had confronted them earlier that evening.

We got the rapper and his GF, Lauren London, arriving at the club. O.T. Genasis was also there and it was shortly after that when our camera catches the first face-off ... it's at the very end of the clip. Less than an hour later, the brawl started.

You can see Nipsey in the middle of it all ... throwing several punches as valet workers scurry to get away from the chaos. Nipsey eventually cools down but things quickly escalate again. Moments later, someone -- presumably security -- pulls out a taser and things finally de-escalate.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops showed up to the scene but everyone involved had already left. No arrests were made.

Cardi B spent the weekend getting ready to diss Nicki Minaj ... or so it seems.

The "I Like It" rapper dazzled in a stunning headpiece Sunday night in NYC while preparing to shoot a new music video. The headpiece quickly got our attention ... and it doesn't seem like a coincidence that it's eerily similar to the one Nicki wore in her "Ganja Burn" music video.

Our guess here ... Cardi's going after her nemesis in the new music video. We know that's not exactly a leap.

Cardi and Nicki have been at each other's throats for a while now. Nicki's also been poking Cardi where it hurts ... after making a not-so-subtle casting decision that probably reignited their supposedly-squashed beef.

Adding insult to injury ... the alleged side chick who triggered the Cardi-Offset breakup appeared in Nicki's "FEFE" music video.

Kansas City Chiefs owner, Clark Hunt, says the team knew Kareem Hunt was involved in 3 violent incidents BEFORE they cut him ... but says the TMZ Sports video took things to another level.

Clark Hunt finally broke his silence about Kareem to the media after the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday ... saying, "We were obviously shocked by the video, like anybody who saw it."

He added, "We’d had some issues with Kareem not being truthful with what happened that night and we just really felt for everybody’s best interests we needed to head in a different direction."

As we previously reported, Kareem has been accused of getting violent on 3 separate occasions during the NFL offseason -- allegedly attacking a man at a nightclub in January, the hotel incident in February and another altercation at an Ohio resort in June.

"We did know about [those incidents], yes," Clark Hunt said ... "We were familiar with all 3 of the incidents that he had had in the offseason ... They’d all been reported to the NFL, and the NFL was investigating them."

During the media scrum in the Chiefs' locker room, Clark Hunt was also asked about the NFL's investigation into Kareem Hunt ... and how the league could do a better job handling similar investigations in the future.

"I’m not sure I’m at a point right now where I can say there was a breakdown and specifically what that breakdown was. The league has spent a lot of time and resources trying to build a department that can handle these types of situations."

"Obviously, it’s imperfect. I’m not sure you can ever reach perfection. There are limitations on the type of information that league security people are able to get, and I’m not sure that we can change that."

Clark Hunt was also asked if Chiefs' draft scouts ever saw any red flags when it came to Hunt's off-the-field actions before they took him in the 3rd round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

"Our staff felt comfortable with taking him, otherwise we would not have selected him," Hunt said.

"Our scouting staff does a really good job of vetting players. And part of that analysis is their character. Obviously, it’s very hard to learn everything about somebody. Sometimes you have somebody who in college didn’t have any incidents and they get to the pro level and with the fame and fortune and so forth that comes with the position, they do something that you don’t expect."

"So, we’re certainly going to try to get better, but I don’t think you can ever be perfect in that regard."

Despite leaving on bad terms, Clark Hunt says the organization is still rooting for Kareem to better himself.

"I think the most important thing for Kareem is that he get some counseling that can help him with his issues ... and I heard today that there was a report that he was going to do that, and certainly we wish the best for Kareem in the future. I hope that at some point he’s able to come back to the National Football League, not sure when that will be."