Fights

UFC superstar Amanda Nunes says her upcoming fight against Cris Cyborg is the biggest fight of her career -- even bigger than her destruction of Ronda Rousey.

Amanda and Cyborg are set to clash at UFC 232 on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas in a championship bout for the women's featherweight title.

Nunes has won 7 fights in a row, Cyborg's on a 20-fight win streak -- they're widely considered two of the greatest fighters in women's MMA history.

And, when we saw Nunes out in NYC, she was downright giddy -- telling us how excited she is to get into the Octagon and square up against Cyborg.

Of course, Nunes famously destroyed Ronda Rousey in Dec. 2016 in Ronda's last ever UFC fight. Since then, she's defeated Valentina Shevchenko and Raquel Pennington.

Amanda has big plans after the Cyborg fight -- she's engaged to fellow UFC fighter Nina Ansaroff -- who's on a 4-win streak of her own after a victory over Claudia Gadelha earlier this month.

The two are so stoked to the knot, they're even extending an invitation to Cyborg to attend the wedding!

"Anyone can come! It's a happy day."

Congrats!

2:10 PM PT -- The Redskins announced they placed Montae on the Reserve/NFI list.

10:48 AM PT -- Redskins coach Jay Gruden says Nicholson will NOT play this weekend in their critical game against the Tennessee Titans.

Gruden says he's aware of the TMZ Sports video and says he'll take a look at it.

When asked if Nicholson would be benched for the rest of the season, Gruden said he hasn't made up his mind yet.

He still has to speak with Montae personally.

TMZ Sports has obtained footage of Washington Redskins safety Montae Nicholson pummeling a man in the middle of a Virginia street around 2 AM Tuesday morning ... and it's violent.

Nicholson -- wearing a red hoodie -- is going after another man in a jean jacket while other people in the melee desperately try to restrain him.

But, Nicholson is too strong and too angry -- and refused to back out ... instead, he throws several punches at his target ... including a knockout blow.

You can see in the video, the man in the jean jacket appears to go limp as Nicholson hits him clean in the face.

One witness tells us the other man in the red sweatshirt was trying to break up the fight -- but Montae was in such a rage, he slammed that guy to the ground and continued the beating.

Loudoun County Sheriffs eventually responded to the scene and arrested both Montae and a female companion. Montae was booked for assault and battery, and drunk in public. He was hauled to a nearby jail and released on a $2,500 bond a short time later.

23-year-old Montae -- 6'2", 215 lbs -- is a solid player for the Redskins who's played in every game this season.

There are reports the fight began after a road rage incident where the victims pulled up in a vehicle and honked at Montae.

But, a witness tells us ... the beef started BEFORE the car incident.

Both victims were taken to a nearby hospital where they were treated for serious injuries.

We've reached out to Montae's camp for comment. So far, no word back.

A rep for the Redskins tells us they are aware of the arrest and still gathering information.

Jermaine Jones is DANGEROUS ... and David Charvet is scared the soccer superstar is going to physically hurt him -- the actor's attorney tells TMZ Sports.

We broke the story last month ... Charvet claims the former Team USA soccer star sent him threatening messages featuring photos of his assault rifle ... all because J.J. believed Charvet banged his wife and ruined his marriage.

Charvet adamantly denied he slept with Jones' wife -- and begged the court for a restraining order against the athlete.

Charvet's lawyer, Jacob Glucksman, was in an L.A. court on Tuesday in an effort to get a permanent restraining order against Jones and on his way out of the courthouse, he made it clear they believe Jones is a serious threat.

"[David's] very concerned about the potential of Jermaine doing harm to him, causing harm. Doing physical injury to him."

The case was continued to February. Charvet currently has a temporary restraining order in place.

We also saw Jermaine as he left court with his lawyer ... but they weren't in the talking mood.

A New York State Senator just joined the ranks of disgusting Twitter trolls by telling a woman to kill herself ... because she ID'd him as the alleged culprit of a parking violation.

Sen. Kevin Parker, who represents NY's 21st District, nastily fired back at Candice Giove Tuesday after she accused him of misusing a parking placard. BTW -- Candice is the Deputy Communications Director of the NYS Senate.

Candice said she did some digging when a Twitter user complained that an "arrogant scofflaw" from the NY Senate was blocking a bike lane with his car ... claiming it was placard abuse.

Giove fingered Parker as the illegal parking perp, to which he replied ... "Kill yourself!"

Candice was incredulous by the Senator's comment, but of course ... he deleted the tweet and apologized shortly afterward. Parker wrote ... "I sincerely apologize. I used a poor choice of words. Suicide is a serious thing and and should not be made light of."

However, he's continuing to go after Giove, reportedly calling her an internet troll and tweeting that she's "on the wrong side of history for every important issue facing New York State!"

Conor McGregor is too freakin' chicken to step into the ring with Anderson Silva, at least that's what Anderson Silva thinks, saying he'd love to fight Conor, but doubting Conor wants any part of him.

Conor has said back in October that he'd be interested in fighting Silva, saying he was willing to bulk up a little to get into the Octagon with Spider and duke it out.

Since then, Conor has taken a beating at the hands of Khabib, but when we got Silva out, he said he doesn't care about that, telling our guy he still wants the fight.

"I say let’s go do it. 180 is the perfect weight for me, I think it's good for McGregor, and let’s go do it because that’s amazing. That’s for the fans."

One problem ... Anderson isn't sure Conor still wants it, and is using the s-word as the reason why.

"It’s close to happening you know, but McGregor, come on, man. Let’s go do this. Don’t run, man, don’t run. You scared? I don’t believe that you're scared, let’s go."

Here's the thing ... the fight kinda makes sense now. Conor might want to take a tune-up before a Khabib rematch, and who better to fight than a much older opponent with a huge name?

An asst. coach for a WNBA team severed two arteries in his arm while allegedly punching through glass in a domestic violence incident and was rushed to the ICU ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The man at the center of the incident is Todd Troxel -- an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury. He's also famously worked with NBA stars like Yao Ming and Marko Jaric.

Todd was hospitalized on Dec. 1 -- and while he was there, he told cops that he accidentally sliced his arm on broken glass while putting up Christmas lights.

But, a nurse at the hospital told cops she had spoken to the fiancee and got a different story -- that he raged out during a fight and punched through a glass window at their home.

Cops spoke with the fiancee who told them the whole thing started after they left the Phoenix Suns game on Nov. 30. She claims they argued because Troxel wanted to smoke weed in their Uber.

Once they got to the home, Todd's fiance essentially broke up with him and he flipped out. She claims he grabbed her and pinned her to the ground and when she got up ... he yanked her hand, dislocating her finger. He then followed her to the front door and punched through a window.

The fiancee called 911 -- and then transported Troxel to a nearby hospital.

When investigators circled back with the fiancee hours later, they told her there was sufficient evidence to support possible criminal charges against Troxel.

But, the fiancee made it clear she did not want to cooperate with investigators -- and just just wanted him to get better.

Troxel required surgery to repair the damage to his arm. Cops documented the bloody scene at the home ... it's nasty.

Troxel has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

We reached out for comment, so far, no word back.

Asante Samuel says he doesn't blame Marcus Peters one bit for going off on a heckler Sunday ... 'cause he used to go hard at trash-talking fans too -- by callin' out their moms!!!

Peters has drawn serious criticism for exploding on a guy during the Rams-Eagles game ... but Asante tells TMZ Sports that kind of fan-player interaction has been going on for years.

In fact ... the ex-Eagles corner says he used to go after dudes in the same fashion -- talking trash about everything from fans' kids to even their moms!!!!

"That was me all day. Somebody would get on my nerves and I would say the most harshest thing. I'd talk about your momma. I don't care. If you talk about me, I'm going to come talk about you!"

Samuel says the incidents were frequent too ... and the only reason people think it's happening even more nowadays is because of social media.

His solution to it all?? "Leave the football players alone!!!"

BTW ... we also asked Samuel for his take on the Eagles' QB situation -- and the former Philly DB tells us which quarterback he'd start if he were in Doug Pederson's shoes.

There's always that one person shouting out song requests at concerts, but one heckler took it too far and totally PISSED OFF Aaron Lewis ... so the singer started lighting up the guy and hitting him where it hurts.

We've obtained video of the Staind frontman going off on a "f*cking rude" guest during his solo set Sunday night at 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis ... and it's a pretty wild scene. You see Aaron onstage, dropping tons of f-bombs and telling the crowd to give the "bald motherf*cker" a taste of his own medicine.

Aaron's performing his solo country set on The Sinner Tour, and we're told the heckler kept interrupting songs by yelling out names of other tracks. As you can see, Aaron had enough and went nuclear after the 3rd interruption.

Conor McGregor wins again ...

The UFC superstar appeared in an Irish court Monday morning to deal with charges stemming from a July 10, 2018 incident when he was pulled over by cops in Dublin.

Unclear why McGregor was initially pulled over, but during the stop officials say McGregor failed to produce a valid driver's license and proof of insurance ... so he was cited and ordered to appear in court.

The good news for the 30-year-old ... Conor was able to get his ducks in a row and presented all the documentation he needed during the Dec. 17 hearing -- so the charges were dropped.

McGregor's court appearance was a big event in Dublin -- he rolled up to court in a blacked out BMW surrounded by a team of bodyguards ... while wearing one of his trademark slick suits.

Conor reportedly didn't have much to say inside the courtroom other than, "Thank you, Judge."

Conor's no stranger to the Irish legal system -- he appeared in court just last month to deal with a 2017 speeding charge. He got a 6-month driving ban in that incident.

"Hi, Mr. White ... the President was hoping to reach you by phone when you're available."

That's a real voicemail that Donald Trump's office left for UFC boss Dana White last week ... all because POTUS wanted to shoot the sh*t about the Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega fight!!!!

"He calls me on Tuesday," White said on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast ... "For 15 minutes he couldn't stop talking about the fight."

By the way, Tuesday was the same day Trump sparred with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi about possibly shutting down the government during a debate over his border wall.

Unclear if the conversation with White took place before or after the meeting -- but it sure sounded like Trump was in a good mood.

White said Trump praised both fighters for their toughness and called the bout at UFC 231, "The greatest fight I've ever seen."

White and Trump have been friends for decades -- with Dana even giving a campaign speech for Donald at the Republican National Convention.

Bernard Hopkins doesn't seem to care that Michael B. Jordan and Roy Jones Jr. squashed their beef ... 'cause the legendary boxer says he wants to train the actor to whoop Roy's ass!!

ICYMI ... Michael B. previously told us his boxing skills were so good after filming "Creed II," he wanted a scrap with Roy -- and then the 49-year-old boxer told him to set it up!!

But, when we got Roy out at LAX last week ... he said the beef has been squashed -- and it doesn't look like a fight will go down.

Enter B-Hop ... who says not only should the fight still happen -- he wants to train MBJ to beat that ass!!!

"I'd love to be his trainer. I'd love to be Michael B.'s trainer. ... Michael cannot beat Roy Jones unless he has B-Hop's assistance!"

Of course, Bernard and Roy have history ... the two fought in 1993 and in 2010 -- and Bernard says that most recent bout (the one Hopkins actually won) is the key for MBJ.

"You know what the first lesson I would show him? I wouldn't show him the first fight, I would show him the second one when I won!!"

10:00 AM PT -- Ariana's ex, Pete Davidson, has jumped into the conversation, saying ... "Bravo Kanye West for standing up for yourself and speaking out against mental health. I can't explain to you enough how difficult and scary it is to be honest about stuff like this."

He adds ... "We need people like Kanye. No one should ever point fingers at you for your bravery in speaking about mental health. I'm seriously disgusted."

Before Pete posted his message, Ariana tweeted ... "last thing. stop weaponizing mental health. everyone."

Damn.

9:15 AM PT -- Ariana's replied to Kanye on Twitter, saying ... "with all due respect, i don't need to use anyone to promote anything. period." She adds it was just a joke comparing men and women, but did apologize for being insensitive and sent her well wishes to him.

Some fans were quick to say Ariana needs to retract her apology since she didn't owe him one ... to which she replied, "potentially triggering him? nah regardless of how i feel about a situation, i can also care about their mental health."

Kanye West is jumping all over Ariana Grande for making fun of his war with Drake and adversely affecting his mental illness.

Ariana did indeed make fun of the Kanye and Drake feud Friday, minimizing what Kanye says was a physical threat by Drake to him and his family. Ariana joked about "grown men arguing online," grousing it was taking attention away from her new single.

Ye fired back that he knew Ariana "said this to be cool and didn't mean no harm," but he still felt it was shading him. Fair point.

He goes on to say, "All of this foolishness weighed on my mental health so @arianagrande ..." In another post, he says, "No one would ever choose to end up in a mental hospital and diagnosed with a mental disorder but god chose me to publicly go through this journey and it is beautiful."

If we dare to interpret ... Kanye seems to be saying Ariana -- for whom he says he has love -- knows full well he's bipolar yet she jumped into the fray for pure self-promotion and in the process upset him.

It's interesting ... Kanye never called out Miley Cyrus. Ariana not only tweeted the guy fight was a distraction for the release of her single, but it also did the same for Miley. And, Miley was quick to respond by also making light of Kanye's fight with Drake. Yet Ye was silent on Miley.

We got Kanye in New York City Friday and asked him about the nature of the threat Drake leveled against him and his fam, but he was mum. We tried finding out from various Kim and Kanye sources all day long exactly what Drake said, but everyone is locked up tight as a drum.

Floyd Mayweather is wrong when he calls himself THE BEST EVER ... because, according to Sugar Ray Leonard, there's only one guy in that discussion ... the great Muhammad Ali.

A little backstory here ... Mayweather and Leonard ain't exactly the best of friends, having exchanged several barbs over the years over boxing, and the fact the Sugar Ray KO'd Floyd Sr.

The two men even reportedly traded insults IN PERSON once ... with Floyd reminding Leonard he's TBE, and Leonard telling Floyd he'd KO him just like he did his father.

Even still ... Sugar Ray has always been complimentary of Floyd as a boxer, so when we got him out in NYC we thought it was fair to ask him if Money has a legit claim to calling himself TBE.

"Muhammad Ali. Without question."

Sorry, Deontay Wilder ... Clubber Lang's son should not be the star of the next 'Creed' movie ... so says Dolph Lundgren, who tells TMZ Sports he's got a WAY better idea.

"What if Drago has a daughter?!"

Of course, all this Rocky talk kicked off last week when Deontay told us straight-up he wants a piece of the next 'Creed III' film as Lang's kid.

Dolph tells us he doesn't think the boxer's idea is the worst one ever ... he just doesn't seem ready to give up the Drago bloodline yet.

But, bad news for Dolph ... we got Sylvester Stallone out in Los Angeles just a couple days ago -- and he already seems all in on Wilder's vision for Adonnis' next foe.

It all begs the question ... why can't the next movie have both Drago's daughter AND Lang's boy???

Dog the Bounty Hunter will not face any charges after a confrontation with an angry teen at the Denver Airport.

Dog got into it with a 17-year-old last month at the Denver airport who claimed Dog roughed him up after asking for a photo, and the teen filed an assault report with cops. Our Dog sources said that claim was BS ... and the kid was the one who instigated things by saying, "I have a bounty on my head, what are you going to do about it motherf***er."

Our sources say the teen also made a remark about Beth Chapman -- who was in a wheelchair at the time -- saying, "Tell that fat bitch to get out of her chair."

Dog filed a report for harassment against the teen and his father a few days after the incident.

Law enforcement sources tell us the police department sent its case to the Denver District and City Attorney's Office who both declined to press any charges.

Dog's attorney, Andrew Brettler, tells us, "We're grateful to the Denver PD and City Attorney for investigating the matter and recognizing that Duane was innocent. His focus continues to be on Beth's health and recovery."

Shane Mosley has some friendly advice for Dana White -- DON'T ACCEPT OSCAR DE LA HOYA'S BOXING CHALLENGE ... fight him in the Octagon instead!

Remember, Oscar and Dana have been beefing hard lately -- with Dana calling Oscar all sorts of nasty names on ESPN.

So, Oscar issued a challenge of his own -- going on SiriusXM's 'Luke Thomas Show' and saying, "Let's get in the ring. Three rounds. Let's do this."

De La Hoya also told TMZ Sports that he would beat Dana's ass if things actually came to blows.

And, since "Sugar" Shane Mosley knows exactly what it's like to fight the Golden Boy -- he beat Oscar twice -- we asked if he had any advice for the UFC boss.

"Don't take the challenge," Mosley joked at the Smash Global MMA party in L.A. ... "I wouldn't do that. That wouldn't be a smart move."

Mosley's fiancee suggested the boxer give Dana some 1-on-1 personal training ... but Mosely replied, "It's not gonna help."

But, get this, Shane DOES think the guys should fight -- but he wants MMA rules since Oscar would have too big of an advantage in a boxing match.

BTW -- Mosley also reminded us that he and Oscar BOTH fought Shaquille O'Neal back in the day ... and we found the video.

And, it's AMAZING!!!