Fights

Mike Tyson says he loved Michael Jackson ... but there's no way in hell he would've let his kids hang with MJ unattended.

The legendary boxer joined Michael Rapaport on his "I AM RAPAPORT" podcast (coming to Luminary this spring) ... where he was asked about the explosive "Leaving Neverland" documentary.

Of course, Wade Robson and James Safechuck -- the two centerpieces of the HBO special -- accused Jackson of sexually abusing them as children.

Tyson -- who was friends with Jackson and even visited him at Neverland several times -- says he believes a lot of the blame falls on the parents of the kids.

"The parents have to be responsible for that sh*t. I just thought the fact that these kids, Michael is telling them, 'if anyone knows about this we're both gonna go to prison forever.' It was just ... really horrible."

"I have an 8-year-old kid. I wouldn't let Michael hang out with my kid. I wouldn't let my kid go over Michael's house. I love Michael. Ya know what I mean. Michael has a reputation of this."

Tyson says "whatever happened when [Robson and Safechuck] was kids is wrong" ... but did critique the men for participating in the documentary.

"What you're doing now is even wrong. Coming out saying this stuff. It comes across that these are guys just out to get some money."

Michael Blackson says Conor McGregor is a menace to America and should be kicked out of the country already -- telling TMZ Sports, "If it was me, I'd be deported by now."

"Somebody should call Donald Trump and get I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and get him deported. He needs to be deported."

Blackson is originally from Ghana, but the comedian/actor moved to the U.S. in 1987 and he's been here ever since.

Of course, Blackson is all fired up about McGregor's latest arrest for allegedly stealing and smashing a cell phone in Miami. It's the 2nd time Conor's been arrested in the U.S. following the dolly incident in 2018, when he threw a steel hand truck at a UFC bus, injuring multiple people.

"He's a very violent man," Blackson tells us ... "If it was me, I'd be deported by now. I.C.E., forget 21 Savage, go get Conor McGregor right now."

"Send him back to his raggedy country right now."

As for McGregor, he was released from police custody late Monday night and strolled into a waiting SUV. He didn't say a word but posted a statement on Instagram Tuesday morning, saying:

Another NY Knicks fan claims James Dolan banned him FOR LIFE from Knicks games for telling the owner to "sell the team" in 2018 ... and TMZ Sports has the stay away document to prove it!!!

The guy we spoke with is still so afraid of retaliation from Dolan and the Knicks, he asked us to keep his identity a secret ... but provided us with the letter he got from MSG informing he was never allowed back in The Garden.

This incident took place in 2018 ... the fan we spoke with describes the incident as nearly IDENTICAL to the one captured on video on Saturday.

Basically, the fan says he yelled at Dolan to sell the Knicks -- and that's when he was approached by 2 cops and 5 security guards who escorted him to the bowels of MSG where he got his lifetime ban.

In fact, the fan says Dolan personally grabbed security personnel to make sure his order was carried out.

"Dolan himself made sure, came down and shouted 'FOR LIFE' and kept walking," the fan tells us, "It was surreal to say the least."

The fan says he was fully cooperative with law enforcement -- and insists some of the guards sympathized with him -- but he still got the ban.

A short time later, the fan says he received a letter from the Senior VP of legal and business affairs at MSG spelling out his punishment -- "In light of this incident, you are hereby indefinitely banned from Madison Square Garden."

TMZ Sports posted footage of Dolan issuing the same lifetime ban to a different fan on Saturday. Guessing he'll be getting a similar letter sometime soon.

These guys aren't the only people who got the boot from Dolan -- ex-Knicks star Charles Oakley was famously dragged out of MSG in 2017 after an incident involving Dolan.

After the first incident from over the weekend, a rep for the arena told us, "Our policy is and will continue to be that if you are disrespectful to anyone in our venues, we will ask you not to return."

3/11 -- J. Prince just weighed in on the situation ... and the Rap-A-Lot Records CEO is standing up for YBN, who is signed to his record label.

J Prince says ... "mob ties call to my real street n****s around the world, but especially on the East Coast in the Bronx. There's a clown by the name of Zae and his crew who want to become famous by bragging about robbing rap industry n****s. They recently bragged about robbing the artist YBN Almighty Jay, who I'm invested in. They've robbed him of his money and jewelry, including a Rap-A-Lot piece. So therefore they have robbed a piece of me."

"This is a perfect opportunity to execute our unity where we don't allow moment thinkers to muddy the water over the movement. With that being said, to the homies in the Bronx, if any of these clowns are yall's family or friends, speak now so we can get an understanding. To ignore this is a recipe for disaster. Other than that, it's these clowns vs. the realest n****s in every hood around the world and that's the meaning of mob ties."

6:40 PM PT -- Sources close to Lil Tjay tell us ... the rapper had nothing to do with YBN getting jumped later on after the street scuffle. Lil Tjay also shared a message for YBN on Instagram, saying ... "Keep ya head up bro stay strong."

YBN Almighty Jay got his ass handed to him and his chain snatched in an NYC street fight and, unfortunately for him, there's video of the whole beatdown.

The brawl erupted outside a Saks store, of all places ... we're told the 19-year-old rapper was shopping with his pals when another up-and-coming young rapper, named Lil Tjay, walked in with his squad. Witnesses say both sides started squawking, and then it got physical.

The fight spilled out into the street and, at first, it looked like Almighty Jay's side was holding their own. Later, though ... Jay got separated from his homies and you see him getting kicked HARD in the head by at least 2 guys.

We're told the guys who jumped him made off with Jay's wallet, his YBN chain ... and his shoes. Damn. Took the man's shoes.

Police were called, but no one wanted to report a crime.

Street s**t.

Jon Gruden HATES coaching young guys and playing for him was like living with Satan ... so says ex-Raiders stud Jerry Porter.

"Hell," the receiver says of his time with Chuckie ... "I felt like I wanted to fight Gruden once."

Okay, some context ... with Antonio Brown signing that historical contract with Oakland, we wanted to reach out to someone who played for Gruden's Raiders to see what AB could be expecting.

Porter says Brown shouldn't have anything to worry about since he's a seasoned veteran who clearly already has Gruden's respect.

But, the young guys trying to prove themselves? That's another story altogether ...

"Rookies, young guys -- he leans on them. It's nothing they've ever seen before. It's tough."

Porter played his first two NFL seasons under Jon in Oakland in 2000 and 2001 ... and candidly admits he never really clicked with Gruden.

In fact, Jerry describes the coach as "an abrasive guy" ... saying, "Our personalities clashed."

The good news for Raiders fans ... Jerry says it seems Jon's figured out a way to combat the issue -- and that's by adding A TON of veteran guys with proven resumes.

Case in point ... Gruden just traded for Antonio Brown -- and Jerry seems to think that's a marriage that should work out just fine.

As for the THREE first-round picks the Raiders have coming in this season ... good luck to you all!!!

The opposite of punch-drunk must've been what this English pro soccer player was feeling after getting attacked by a rival fan ... 'cause he sure looked clear-headed when he scored the game-winning goal some 45 minutes later.

Aston Villa's star midfielder, Jack Grealish, was bum-rushed Sunday by a Birmingham City fan who rushed the field in the early part of the first half and sucker punched him in the dome. The guy got a running start to the hit and knocked Grealish down in the process.

The Birmingham fan was quickly subdued and yanked off the field by security. He was later arrested and hauled off to jail, according to local authorities.

Funny enough, Grealish went on to score the game-winning goal against Birmingham City in the second half of the game, clinching the W for his squad in a 1-0 victory. The goal itself was pretty sweet too ... a left-footed shot to the bottom corner.

Birmingham definitely were not sore losers either -- in fact, the team issued a statement after the game apologizing to Grealish and Aston Villa at large for what one of their own fans did ... saying the dude would be banned from St. Andrew's Stadium for life.

Conor McGregor has a pretty powerful supporter -- with Chuck Liddell telling TMZ Sports the Irishman is right ... his fight with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone should be promoted as the MAIN event.

Remember, Cowboy told ESPN this week ... fight negotiations broke down because Conor refuses to be billed as a co-main event.

The issue is that neither Conor nor Cowboy currently hold a title -- so they would share the main event billing with whatever title fight would take place on the same card.

Cowboy claims Conor ain't down with that -- and won't share top billing with anyone else. So, for now, the fight doesn't seem to be happening.

Enter, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell ... who tells us he REALLY wants to see that fight because Conor and Cowboy are two of his all-time favorites and the bout would be awesome!!!

"I'm excited for that fight," Chuck told us on the way out of 1OAK in L.A. ... "I hope it happens."

As for the main event issue, Chuck says ... "It's a main event fight for sure. No matter what."

"Come on, Conor McGregor and Cowboy?! Two of my favorite fighters! I love watching those guys fight."

Chuck thinks Conor is ultimately using the main event issue as a way to negotiate more money because he's a smart businessman ... and believes the two sides WILL come to an agreement.

Junior Dos Santos is a BAD man, and Derrick Lewis knows beatin' him ain't gonna be easy, but when he does ... "The Black Beast" knows who's next in line for an ass-whoopin' -- Stipe Miocic.

Lewis is headlining UFC Fight Night 146 this weekend in Kansas against Dos Santos -- a 6'4", 250-pound ex-UFC heavyweight champion -- who's beaten 5 former UFC heavyweight champs.

The champs JDS has beaten ... Fabricio Werdum, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, and Stipe Miocic.

So, it's gonna be a TOUGH fight ... but Derrick tells TMZ Sports after he takes care of biz Saturday ... he knows exactly who's on deck for a date in the Octagon.

"Stipe is the next guy."

The fight ain't a pipe dream either ... Lewis told us Dana White actually tried to make the fight back in January -- but Derrick wanted to chill after fighting Daniel Cormier.

But, Stipe ain't the only guy on Lewis' hit list ... "The Black Beast" says he also wants to run back the Francis Ngannou fight.

"I have to get that fight out of the way again before I retire, ya know? Just to make it right for the fans. Not right for myself. Right for the fans."

Remember, Lewis won the July 2018 match ... but there were only 31 total strikes landed combined and it's widely considered one of the most boring fights ever in the UFC.

Lewis wants to rewrite history ... under one condition.

Floyd Mayweather has 8 more years to beat the hell out of Conor McGregor, that's according to boxing champ Shawn Porter who says Floyd is so much better than Conor, he could beat him at 50!!!

McGregor let it slip on Twitter that he might be interested in running it back with Floyd and making another $100 mil.

Thing is, that fight was 2 years ago ... and Floyd is now 42 ... so if they were to do it again, is Money too old? When we saw Shawn Porter out in L.A., we had to ask him.

"Mayweather will own the sport of boxing against Conor McGregor any day of the week for the next 5-10 years at least. When he's 50 he could still do it."

Porter was full of shade for Conor, saying that he needs to keep his mind off the ring and on the Octagon because he's not exactly setting the world on fire in there these days.

"McGregor should stay the course he's on in the Octagon and try to make that happen. I don't even pay attention to that too much, but I know he's been struggling there as well."

The guy who hit boxing legend Bernard Hopkins so hard he literally knocked him out of the ring says he rewatches the highlight KO to get him fired up to fight!!!

TMZ Sports talked to Joe Smith Jr. -- a 29-year-old fighter with 24 wins and only 2 losses -- about his iconic, devastating knockout of Hopkins back in December 2016.

In the 8th round, Smith Jr. hit B-Hop with a flurry of punches that lifted B-Hop off the ring canvas and sent him flying through the ropes and onto The Forum floor ... never to fight again.

Smith Jr. -- who's fighting undefeated boxer Dmitry Bivol this Saturday on DAZN -- says he ALWAYS watches highlights of the knockout to get PUMPED before fighting.

"I like watching it before my fights," JS tell us, "It gets me pumped up. it gets me motivated. I tell myself, I need another one of these every time I step in the ring."

We also talked to Bivol -- considered one of boxing's biggest rising stars -- about who he wants after Smith Jr.

Hint, he's Mexican and has red hair.

San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer and his wife have both met with law enforcement as a part of the investigation into their physical altercation that was caught on video, TMZ Sports has learned.

The SFPD launched a probe into the March 1 incident -- in which Baer was seen trying to wrestle a cell phone away from his wife, Pam, knocking her to the ground in the process.

TMZ Sports obtained footage of the altercation -- which took place in a public park area in San Francisco -- and you can hear Pam scream for help.

Cops responded on the day of the incident and spoke with witnesses. Now, we've learned investigators reached out to both Larry and Pam ... who also agreed to speak with authorities.

Larry's attorney, Cris Arguedas, tells us Baer and Pam had separate meetings with law enforcement, but fully cooperated ... and they're confident no charges will be filed.

The case has been kicked over to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office -- which will review the evidence and decide whether or not to bring charges against Larry.

Arguedas tells TMZ Sports she's "never been more confident" Larry will not be prosecuted.

Pam has already commented publicly about the case -- chalking the incident up to a marital spat ... and stating that she still loves her husband.

Larry has stepped away from the Giants while cops and the MLB investigate the situation -- but he's also expressed remorse.

Baer has been involved with the Giants organization for decades. He was named chief operating officer in May 1996, team president in October 2008 and CEO on January 1, 2012.

3/8 -- It's a little clearer now why Bam canceled that 7 PM show, and why he was agitated when he showed up.

Bam posted a video blasting his wife, Nikki, for bolting in their car with his credit cards. He said he couldn't check in to his hotel prior to the show because of his "street ho" wife. His words.

No word yet if Nikki and Bam ever reconnected Thursday night.

Bam Margera is unloading on his manager in shocking new footage obtained by TMZ ... screaming obscenities and threatening violence at a comedy club in New York.

Folks at the West Side Comedy Club tell TMZ ... Bam's team asked the venue to cancel the 7 PM set, but were still hopeful about the 10 PM gig. But when Bam showed up at 8 PM and the place was empty the former "Jackass" star started ripping his manager a new one.

Ya gotta see the video ... Bam is PISSED, and he calls his manager a "f***ing p***y" before threatening to smash his face.

We're told Bam appeared intoxicated upon arrival, and even though they tried to explain that the audience wouldn't start showing up until 9 for a 10 PM show, he was seething.

After beefing with his manager, we're told Bam stormed out of the venue and flipped off the parking attendants as he climbed into a waiting car.

As you know ... Bam's been in and out of rehab for alcohol abuse.

The comedy club scrapped both of Bam's sets, which are part of his tour through New York and Connecticut.

Conor McGregor's bus attack drama is OVER -- and he can thank Jesus for the assist.

TMZ Sports has learned the UFC superstar has completed his sentence in his bus attack case -- where he was ordered to do 5 days of community service and complete an anger management course.

Our sources tell us ... both McGregor and officials wanted Conor to be able to serve his community service without creating a giant public spectacle, so they came up with a plan where he would work in 2 different churches in the Brooklyn area.

As for his specific tasks, one source put it this way -- "He performed manual labor."

We're also told the staff at both churches had glowing remarks about Conor -- with one source telling us, "They all loved him."

During the service, we're also told Conor had a "long and meaningful conversation with a reverend" -- though it's unclear exactly what they talked about.

The good news for Conor ... now that he's completed the terms of his plea deal, it's essentially case closed.

As we previously reported, Conor's attorneys negotiated the plea deal in the felony mischief case -- after the Irish superstar threw a dolly at a UFC bus on April 5, injuring several fighters.

Conor was initially charged with 1 count of felony criminal mischief and 3 counts of misdemeanor assault.

Back in July, prosecutors agreed to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor -- which is a big deal since a felony involving violence could have triggered permanent deportation from the U.S.

The 30-year-old UFC fighter faced up to 7 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Conor is still facing civil lawsuits stemming from the bus attack -- with UFC fighter Michael Chiesa suing McGregor for injuries he sustained in the incident.

Chiesa was on the bus when Conor threw the steel dolly and suffered cuts from the broken glass of the shattered window.

Tyron Woodley is keeping it real about why he fought so poorly against Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 -- and it's really interesting.

By all accounts, including his own, the UFC superstar looked flat in his welterweight title defense that night ... leaving many people wondering what went wrong.

So, we got into it during this week's 'Hollywood Beatdown' -- where Tyron fielded questions on why he didn't have it that night, and if other things like his rap and acting career were distractions going into the fight.

We also talked about that viral clip of Tyron's mom congratulating Usman after the fight -- and asked if Tyron had an issue with his mother telling Kamaru that it's now his time to be champion.

The good news ... Tyron says he's going back to the drawing board and training harder than ever to get his belt back.

He also has been getting support from some huge stars including Floyd Mayweather and Reggie Bush.

The husband and wife stars of "Tanked" got into a nasty fight at home that ended with him getting roughed up and her in handcuffs ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... Heather King was arrested Wednesday in Las Vegas after she allegedly slapped her husband, Wayde, in the face and kicked him in the stomach twice during a heated argument.

We're told cops were called to their house and noticed visible redness on the right side of Wayde's stomach. He also told police when Heather drove away, he was hanging out the window of her car.

Our sources say Heather admitted to cops she slapped Wayde, but only because he wouldn't let her leave a room -- and she also denies dragging him with her car.

Heather was booked for misdemeanor domestic violence, and has been released from custody.

The couple's Animal Planet show follows Acrylic Tank Manufacturing, an aquarium company in Vegas owned by Wayde and his brother-in-law, Brett Raymer. Brett is Heather's bro, and she's the accountant.

The show has installed incredible fish tanks and aquariums into the homes of several celebs ... like Tracy Morgan, Alyssa Milano, Shaq, Neil Patrick Harris, Betty White, David Hasselhoff, Howie Mandel, and Ludacris.

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY ... Jim Ross is leaving WWE.

The 67-year-old legend made the announcement on "The Jim Ross Report" podcast on Thursday -- explaining he'll be leaving the company later this month when his contract expires.

"My WWE contract after 26 years will expire on Friday, March 29," Ross said.

"And, after talking a couple of weeks ago with Vince McMahon, we have mutually agreed I need to move on."

While noting the move is on good terms, Ross suggested powerful people in the organization clearly wanted him out.

"I still think I can do play-by-play even though others that may surround Vince think I can't."

Ross says he's leaving the company "with great thoughts, very positive."

"I've made a lot of money, Vince is amazing to Jan and myself. He set us up for life financially, of which I can never repay him."

"I'm 67, I still feel I can get the job done doing wrestling play-by-play, and I want to explore that opportunity and possibility," Ross said.

So, what's next for Ross? There are rumblings he will sign with the new AEW wrestling organization -- but nothing is official at this point.

Ross has been calling matches for WWE since the early '90s and has been part of the company's biggest moments.

After calling The Undertaker's match at WrestleMania 33 in 2017, he signed a 2-year contract to call special events for WWE. The last time he was on-air was back in April to work the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.