Fights

Andy Ruiz says he's not bothered ONE BIT by Tyson Fury calling him a "fat guy" ... telling TMZ Sports the Gypsy King is just bashing him to stay relevant!!!

Remember ... Fury made fun of AJ to our camera guy out in NYC last month ... clowning him for getting "knocked out by a fat guy!!!"

But, The Destroyer is taking the high road after the body shaming ... 'cause he says he's actually a fan of Fury ... and sees it as a sad attempt to capitalize on Andy's superstar moment.

"Tyson Fury, he wants to be relevant," Ruiz tells us. "He wants to be in the scene. I like the guy too. I'm a big fan of him. I like how he is. I like his energy."

The 29-year-old says he's not gonna let Fury distract him from his rematch with AJ in Saudi Arabia -- aka the "Clash on the Dunes" -- but once he's done with Joshua again, THEN they can settle it in the ring.

"I don't wanna look past Anthony Joshua. I want to win on December 7th, then maybe me and him can get in a fight too."

Forget Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier ... the BEST heavyweight mixed martial artist is Bellator's Ryan Bader -- so says the man himself!!!

TMZ Sports talked to Bader -- Bellator's heavyweight AND light heavyweight champ -- before his clash with Cheick Kongo at Bellator 226 this weekend.

Ryan's been DOMINANT -- he ran through the promotion's HW tournament, beating guys like Matt Mitrione and the legendary Fedor Emelianenko ... prompting Bellator honcho Scott Coker to declare Bader "the best heavyweight fighter on the planet."

Guess what? Bader says his boss is right!!!

"I went through that tournament, I didn't get punched in the face one time," Bader tells us. "Why shouldn't I believe that? I believe I can beat anyone at any given time and that includes heavyweights."

"So, I don't think that's a crazy statement. You put myself and Stipe or Cormier in there, I do believe I can beat them."

Bader says he's hopeful that the future may hold some cross-promotional dream fight that'd pair him against the UFC's top big guys ... but before that, he's gotta deal with 6'4, 235lb. Kongo who was a part of one of MMA's craziest fights ever.

Remember this???

Bruce Dickinson was so pissed off after a fan got the crap kicked out of him at an Iron Maiden show, he stopped the concert to rip into the venue and its security force ... and the video is wild!

The Iron Maiden frontman passionately addressed the crowd over the bloody incident Thursday night at the Tacoma Dome ... saying, "I hope that kid is getting hospital treatment now because he's bleeding from head wounds. I hope that kid takes this building to the f***ing cleaners!!!"

Bruce says the band has been playing to hundreds of thousands of people on tour, and they've never seen anything like the beatdown this guy received. He wondered out loud to the crowd if this kinda thing happens frequently at the venue. Either way, Bruce says it's "f***ing madness!!"

The singer asks the crowd if they have any video of the beating, saying the band would be happy to help find the "bullies and the f***ing criminals who are responsible."

Then in a perfect segue, the band starts playing, "The Evil That Men Do."

It's unclear if the injured fan is still receiving medical treatment, or if he's planning to press charges.

Story developing ...

Are you a history-making former leader of the free world?! Game-changing music mogul??!? Or look super hot in a thong???

Well, good news -- Anthony Joshua wants YOU front and center at his upcoming rematch with Andy Ruiz!!!

The boxing superstar has a massive celebrity following -- with stars like Dame Judi Dench and Ed Sheeran throwing their support behind the 29-year-old heavyweight.

But, who's on AJ's dream list of ringside stars for his massive "Clash on the Dunes" fight in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 7? We asked. He answered. It was awesome.

"Barack Obama, The Rock, Will Smith, Jay-Z, Beyonce ... some Instagram models ... I'm getting to the fantasy part of my brain now!"

In all seriousness, AJ tells TMZ Sports he has a totally different approach to Ruiz this time around -- and realizes how many people are counting on him to avenge his loss.

You gotta watch this clip ... Joshua says he now realizes how devastated his fans in England (and around the world) were after his loss and it motivates him.

"I took my first L as a professional and started realizing, yo, there's people out there who are REALLY rooting for me, feeling emotionally, who really want me to win."

"And, now mentally, I know I don't just fight for myself. I fight for the nation, I fight for the continents, I fight for the people who love boxing. So, it's just more than that."

We also asked Anthony if he's already considering a fight with Tyson Fury down the line -- but he told us one of the mistakes he made before the Ruiz fight was thinking AHEAD instead of focusing on the present ... and he vows not to make that mistake again.

Bar staffers are lucky they weren't seriously hurt in a brawl involving Cowboys stud Tyrone Crawford back in March ... TMZ Sports has obtained new video of the Florida fight, and TC was throwing BOMBS!!!

Crawford -- a Dallas team captain -- was the centerpiece of a melee inside of a Coyote Ugly bar on March 15 in Panama City Beach, FL.

In new footage we obtained of the whole brawl ... you can see how it all starts, with bouncers aggressively pulling a man by the neck through the crowd.

A short time later, you can see Crawford -- a 6-foot-4, 285-pound D-lineman -- start getting violent with the bar staffers ... throwing some MASSIVE punches as well as a kick that nearly connects with a guy's head.

The brawl shifts from the heart of the venue to the exit ... where you can see Crawford throw EVEN MORE huge punches at Coyote Ugly staffers.

Eventually, the fight spills out of the bar's entrance ... but the punches don't stop -- Crawford swings several more times at bouncers -- connecting with a few of his looping punches.

The craziest part of the whole melee??? Video shows cops were in the middle of it all -- and still struggled to restrain the 29-year-old defensive lineman!!!

In fact, as cops are slapping the cuffs on one of Crawford's friends ... the Cowboys stud puts his hands on them to try to push them off!!!

Finally, cops and bouncers are able to control the situation ... with Crawford eventually getting separated from the fracas.

Tyrone was hit with a misdemeanor charge of affray for the altercation ... but he reached a deal with prosecutors in July to close out the criminal case ahead of Dallas' season.

We're told in exchange for completing an anger management assessment and keeping his nose clean for the next six months ... he'll have the charge dropped.

As for possible NFL punishment, Crawford said last month he had yet to speak with the league's investigators ... and added, "I did what I had to do as best I could."

"I am going to let God take it. I can’t speak on it too much. I am going to let God take it and handle everything, however it works out, it works out. Hopefully, they see my side."

UFC superstar Tyron Woodley says his hand is just about healed up and he's ready to punch faces again -- telling TMZ Sports he expects to get back in the Octagon before the end of the year.

Woodley was supposed to fight Robbie Lawler on June 29 -- but had to pull out because his hand was still jacked up from a previous fight.

But, good news! Woodley says "I'm good now" -- and he's working with the UFC to line up his next opponent.

"They offered me a couple of fights the last couple days so you should see me in there pretty soon."

Tyron wouldn't name potential opponents -- but said he's still gunning to get a rematch with Kamaru Usman, who defeated him back in March to win the UFC welterweight belt.

"I want my belt back. That's the fight I want the most."

Besides Kamaru, the top names in Tyron's division are guys like Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards ... which would all be great fights.

In the meantime, Tyron says he's training his ass off -- and gunning to work with legends like Georges St-Pierre and the Diaz Brothers.

"If I'm not gonna fight them ... why not train with them?"

Dana White says BJ Penn will never fight in the UFC again after brawling in the street in Hawaii -- advising the Hall of Famer that he needs to get his personal life in order.

"He wont fight again. That's it. That's a wrap" White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

TMZ Sports broke the stories ... 40-year-old Penn has been at the center of TWO street fights in Hawaii over the past few months. Most recently, he got knocked out in a slug fest outside the Lava Shack on the Big Island in a fight captured on video.

So, was the Lava Shack fight the last straw for Dana?

"It's not even that this was the last straw, it's ... I didn't love him continuing to fight anyway, but when you have the relationship that he and I have and he's getting me on the phone begging me for another fight, begging me for another opportunity, it's hard for me to turn him down."

"But, after what I saw on that video, BJ needs to ... he needs to focus on his personal life, get himself together before he worries about fighting again."

Penn is on a 7-fight losing streak in the UFC -- but Dana had said he would let Penn take one last fight against Nik Lentz later this year. Clearly, that's not happening now.

As for BJ, he claims he was NOT the aggressor in either Hawaii street fight -- and insists he was trying to DIFFUSE the situation outside the Lava Shack before things escalated.

"What I saw in that video was sad," White added ... "And, I love the kid and I hope he gets his life together."

The promotional tour for the massive Andy Ruiz vs. Anthony Joshua rematch is officially underway -- the fighters faced off in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday ... guaranteeing another slugfest.

The reality is ... this was no trash-talking, expletive-filled, racist, ugly sideshow (a la Mayweather vs. McGregor), these guys showed nothing but class and respect for each other.

Of course, Ruiz upset Joshua at Madison Square Garden to win all of his championship belts when they faced off in June -- and Andy says he's motivated to show the world it was no fluke.

Ruiz essentially said he doesn't want to be known as a 1-hit wonder -- he wants to solidify a legacy as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time!!!

Of course, Joshua says he's determined to get his belts back ... and warns Ruiz he won't get the benefit of home country advantage this time around.

So, how will the fight go? Ruiz put it best ... "Two big heavyweights punching each other in the face."

BJ Penn says he tried to WALK AWAY from the man he fought outside of a bar in Hawaii last month -- but claims the other guy snapped and attacked, leaving BJ to defend himself.

The UFC Hall of Famer is finally speaking out about that crazy incident outside of the Lava Shack on the Big Island where footage published by TMZ Sports showed Penn in a fist fight with another man. Penn was knocked down in the fight but eventually got up and smothered the man.

So, what happened? Penn told his side of the story to TSN ...

"I’m at a concert going to meet a friend that I’ve known since we were really young kids and I’m over there and an acquaintance of mine, he gets mad about something, you know something was said or it was an old past thing and then he wants to fight about it," Penn says.

"I was like, 'No, no, I don’t want to fight, we’re friends, everything is cool.' He even walks outside and I’m thinking, this is silly I’m going to go get him, calm him down and get him to come back inside and enjoy the concert, we’ve got some other friends there."

"I walk outside to go give the guy a hug and then he hits me twice and I’m like, 'No, calm down!'  I try to give him another hug and he hits me a couple more times and he hits me again."

"Finally my adrenaline picked up because he was hitting me so much so I said, 'Go ahead and hit me again.'"

Penn continues ... "I thought the guy would eventually just say forget it BJ, whatever, walk away, but he hit me -- and he hit me good and knocked me down -- and then when I got back up he tried it again and I just had to defend myself and that’s what you see in the second video."

Penn claims the videos were "edited" to cut out moments where Penn was trying to hug the other man. TMZ Sports did not cut a single frame out of the clips. We posted what we were able to obtain in its entirety.

During the TSN interview, Penn also touched on the OTHER recent bar fight he got into outside of a strip club on Oahu in June, another incident captured on video.

"There was another video on TMZ of me holding somebody on the ground ... I’m in the middle of a custody case right now and from that last one I already got a lot of flak from the custody evaluator, from their lawyer of course, from my lawyer."

"The last thing I want to do is get into any type of trouble, my custody case, me seeing my kids depends on all this stuff and it’s just really strange how things just happen and you never see this kind of stuff, but here I am in a custody case and this happened twice."

The Logan Paul vs. KSI rematch is FINALLY SET -- it's going down at Staples Center on Nov. 9 ... and this time, it won't be counted as an amateur bout, this is a PRO fight!!!

Remember, the two social media superstars clashed in England back in August 2018 and fought to a draw in a pretty solid match on YouTube Pay-Per-View.

The fight did so well, even UFC honcho Dana White praised the guys for attracting a pretty big audience ... not an easy feat for people with no real fighting experience.

Clearly, the folks at DAZN took notice -- because they just inked a deal with Paul and KSI to stream the rematch on their app. DAZN is the same company that signed Canelo Alvarez to a 5-year, $365 MILLION deal last year.

As for the actual fight, KSI and Logan will NOT wear headgear this time around -- and it will be promoted by Matchroom Boxing, which is owned by boxing super promoter Eddie Hearn.

Hearn represents huge stars like Anthony Joshua and Daniel Jacobs.

In other words, this is the real deal.

TMZ Sports spoke with Logan over the weekend ... and he said he might literally kill KSI in the ring in "under 90 seconds."

"It's gonna be aggressive. It's gonna be violent. If you're not into violent sports, don't watch."

As for Logan's bro, Jake (who fought KSI's little bro, Deji, on the 2018 fight card)  -- he's been teasing a return to the ring as well but, so far, no opponent has been announced.

Ex-UFC fighter Melvin Guillard knocked out a man on the street in Colorado while working as a bouncer for a popular bar ... and TMZ Sports has now obtained video of the violent punch.

Guillard was working for the Ginn Mill in Denver back on June 15, 2018 ... when a scuffle broke out inside of the bar.

You can see in the video, bouncers wrestle with a man to get him outside ... when suddenly, another male approaches the commotion.

That's when Guillard goes after the guy, pushing him back with one arm ... before socking the dude straight in the jaw.

The punch immediately crumpled the guy ... and he lay lifeless on the sidewalk for nearly 30 seconds before bystanders were able to help him up.

The guy suffered undisclosed injuries in the attack ... and pressed charges -- with cops ultimately arresting 36-year-old Guillard for felony assault.

Guillard fought the charges in court for a year ... but he just cut a deal with prosecutors this summer to have the case closed.

As part of the agreement, Guillard pled guilty to one count of assault in the second degree -- but was only hit with probation -- plus fines and fees -- for the crime.

Guillard had been out of the professional fight game while his case played out in the court system ... but he made his return to MMA action last month in the Bare Knuckle Fight Championship. He lost to Isaac Vallie-Flagg via technical knockout.

Fetty Wap's in big trouble for busting out a can of whoop ass on a Las Vegas valet ... at least according to staffers at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the rapper was arrested Sunday at the Mirage after he and one of the valets got into a dispute. Things got physical and Fetty allegedly uncorked at least 3 punches on the valet.

We're told another Mirage staffer made a citizen's arrest ... holding Fetty until Las Vegas Metro PD showed up to take him into custody. Our sources say the Jersey rapper was booked for 3 counts of misdemeanor battery -- one for each punch he's accused of landing.

FW was only in custody for a few hours before he was released -- but he'll have a date with the judge before too long.

We've reached out to Fetty's attorney and rep, but no word back yet.

Originally published -- 7:53 AM PT

Judge Mathis denies spitting on a parking valet, despite the valet's accusations ... well we got the video, and you can judge for yourself.

Security cam footage of the incident -- obtained by TMZ -- shows the TV judge looking like a spitfire as he approaches a vehicle with the valet sitting inside. As we've told you ... the guy had Mathis' keys in his pocket, which kept him from retrieving his Rolls-Royce. Mathis says he waited a full 40 minutes.

You see hizzoner storming at the car and leaning in to berate the valet, and after a couple seconds ... lunges his head forward into the car window. This is when the valet alleges Mathis hocked a loogie right in his face.

Spit or no spit -- it's difficult to tell, even with the video zoomed in and slow-moed -- Mathis sticks around to yell and point at the valet a little more ... and makes one more mini-lunge toward him before a man comes and pulls him away.

We broke the story ... the valet claims the judge actually spit on him twice -- the second launch ended up on his shirt -- and he now wants a DNA test to prove his point. He also claims to have witnesses who can confirm the spit attack.

Judge Mathis denies launching any spit at the valet, and he gave us the reason for his frustration -- a long, long wait.

Judge Mathis' altercation with a valet just got a spittle more interesting -- the man claiming he was spat upon by the judge believes DNA will crack the case.

Mathis strongly denies spitting on the valet, who kept the TV judge waiting -- he says for 40 minutes as the valet ran errands with the Judge's Rolls Royce keys in his pocket -- but the valet's lawyer, Karri Mitchell, tells us the loogies are going to the lab.

Mitchell claims Mathis didn't just spit in his client's face -- he also launched some saliva on the valet's shirt with separate spit. Even worse, the lawyer alleges Mathis walked over to some people nearby and bragged about what he had just done.

The lawyer says there are at least 2 witnesses who can back up the valet's story. The valet filed a police report for assault and Detroit detectives are investigating.

We've never seen anything like this ... ever.

BJ Penn is getting a SERIOUS offer from the man he's supposed to fight in October -- with Nik Lentz telling TMZ Sports he wants Penn to come live and train with him to help get his life back on track.

Remember, Dana White said Penn's last ever UFC fight would be against Lentz later this year -- but after Penn was KO'd during a street fight in Hawaii, it seems the bout could be in jeopardy.

Lentz tells us he "needs" this fight to happen for the sake of his own family -- but also he cares about Penn and wants to help him get cleaned up.

"Clearly, there's something wrong here," Lentz says about Penn's recent altercations ... "You need to get your life together."

Lentz says he wants Penn to move out of Hawaii -- where he thinks Penn is running with the wrong crowd and it's dragging him down.

"There's people there that are not good for you."

Instead, Lentz says Penn should relocate to Florida -- where he can train at his gym and sleep in his home.

"I'm gonna teach you how to be a man because right now you're a monster" ... adding, "You can't be getting knocked out in front of the Lava House."

But, don't mistake Lentz's kindness for weakness -- Nik says he won't have mercy with Penn when they step into the Octagon.

"I'm going to help him more than he's ever been helped in his life," Lentz says ... "I'm gonna kick his ass for money at the same time, but I'm still gonna help him."

When it comes to street fights, Chuck Liddell has one important piece of advice for BJ Penn -- "It really isn't worth it at this point in our lives."

Liddell and Penn came up around the same time and are both members of the UFC Hall of Fame -- and both had a reputation for fighting ANY opponent, any time, any place.

But, after 40-year-old Penn got knocked out in a street fight in Hawaii this week, Liddell says Penn should probably take some time to think about his decisions.

In fact, when we saw Liddell leaving Rafi Anteby's birthday celebration at the Sofitel in L.A., we asked how he deals with potentially violent situations when he's out in public ... and Chuck told us he kills people with kindness these days.

"I usually have fun with them," Liddell says about hecklers ... "I usually just joke around with 'em. I have a good time."