Fights

Douglas Lima says he ain't just the best welterweight in Bellator ... he's the best freakin' welterweight MMA fighter on planet Earth.

Yes ... ya listening, Kamaru Usman? 'Cause Lima says (in the most respectful way ever) he knows for sure he'd beat you!!!

TMZ Sports talked to the 31-year-old Lima -- who's got a record of 32-7 with wins over beasts like Michael "Venom" Page and Paul Daley -- 2 days after his Bellator Grand Prix title win over Rory McDonald.

The prize? The welterweight belt and a million bucks.

We'll get to the money later ... but first, we asked Lima where he stacks up when it comes to the badass welterweight fighters in the UFC.

Flat out, Douglas says he's the best ... and he's tired of people shading him and his skills 'cause he isn't in Dana White's promotion.

"I know real MMA fans, they recognize, they know I'm up there with those guys. They know I can beat, I can fight any of them. But, most of them it's like, 'Man, you're not in the UFC, you're a nobody.'"

Lima continued ... "Man, I hate that. That's people who doesn't understand the sport. It's not the name UFC or Bellator or ONE FC. There's killers everywhere."

Usman is the current champ ... so we point-blank asked Lima what'd happen if they fought.

"I'd beat him. I'd probably KO him. He's a great wrestler for sure, he wrestles a lot. But man, at any point in that fight if I connect, I can put him away. I don't even think about that, I just know I can beat him, I can beat anybody at this weight class.

"I'm not talking bad about the guy. He's a champion there. He's doing his thing. But, I just know it, man. If one day something like this happens, I definitely believe in myself to go over there and kill it."

Now, bout that milli ... the check hasn't hit Douglas' account just yet, but when it does -- he's got some pretty cool plans for the dough.

Andy Ruiz sprang into action after seeing an elderly man struggling to push his stalled car over the weekend -- hopping out of his ride to lend a heavyweight hand!!!

The boxing superstar was cruising with his childhood buddy, Alexander Martinez, in his pricey Lamborghini Urus when he spotted a guy struggling to move his Land Rover in the street.

That's when Martinez says Ruiz jumped into action ... telling The Sun, "Andy noticed he was trying to push the car himself and we pulled over and he got out with Anthony Garnica, a fellow fighter."

You can see in the video what happens next ... the two fighters get the stranded car through the intersection and to safety in a hurry -- and it's pretty awesome footage.

Both dudes struggle to keep their jeans up (seriously, guys, get a belt!!!) while pushing the car ... all while Martinez jokes about this being part of Ruiz's training for Anthony Joshua!!!

"They pushed the car and got back in," Martinez said of the deed. "The guy had no idea who he [Ruiz] was which was cool."

Seems like nobody was injured in the whole ordeal ... and it looks like the man's car is going to be fine after some minor repairs.

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone says Conor McGregor has NOT signed the official UFC contract to fight on Jan. 18 ... and now he's putting the pressure on Conor to get the deal done.

Of course, 31-year-old Conor announced his UFC comeback last week during a media event in Russia ... saying he'll fight on Jan. 18 but wouldn't reveal his opponent.

36-year-old Cowboy tells us both his team and Conor's team have been in contact with the UFC, but they're still trying to "figure it out."

"I think it's gonna happen this time," Cowboy tells TMZ Sports ... "I really do. Conor's really serious about making a comeback."

Cowboy says he knows Conor vs. Cowboy is the fight "everyone wants to see" and says he's "pumped" at the idea of sharing the Octagon with the Irish superstar.

"It's gonna be a fun fight! He's a great fighter. I'm not taking anything away from him by any means, he's got a lot of punching power ... and it should be a good time!"

In fact, Cowboy had a message for McGregor -- "Sign the damn deal man, let's get this done!"

Oh, we also asked if Cowboy has tried Conor's Proper 12 whiskey ... and ya gotta hear his review!

"Supernatural" star Jared Padalecki was arrested at a club he tends to frequent quite often -- which makes this story all the more ghastly.

Jared -- who plays Sam Winchester on the show, opposite Jensen Ackles -- was busted by cops early Sunday morning in Austin, TX outside of a lounge called Stereotype. Per his booking sheet, he's facing two counts of assault and one count of public intoxication.

Based on video TMZ obtained in the moments leading up to Jared's arrest ... you can see why. The guy was getting physical on the sidewalk, and cops had to get involved.

Eyewitnesses on the scene tell us that at first, Jared allegedly struck a bartender in the face from inside the establishment ... and that a friend tried calming him down outside, but got put into a headlock after a standoff, which you can see here in the footage.

We're also told he got into it with the general manager of the place, and allegedly struck him in the face as well. Eventually, Jared was restrained by police ... but not before pulling out what we're told was a wad of cash, and allegedly flashing it to the officers.

As for Jared's connection to Stereotype -- it's a bit hazy, but he's definitely a regular and might even be an investor too. Local reports suggest he straight-up owns the joint -- he and Jensen own respective businesses in Austin aside from this, BTW -- and we could probably buy that, considering he was there opening night last year, and drops in a lot.

Machine Gun Kelly seemed quite pissed during one of his concerts after his guitar wasn't working, and he took it out on one of his stagehands ... for which he's now apologized.

The Cleveland rapper was performing Friday night at the Credit Union 1 Pavilion in Chicago, where at one point while he and his band were rocking out to MGK's "Hollywood Whore" ... an equipment malfunction occurred, and Kelly kinda lost his s*** up there.

TMZ got video of the meltdown moment, where MGK realizes his guitar isn't working at a part of the song where it's supposed to (his guitar solo, it seems), and he rushes over to the backstage area to see what's going on ... confronting a frantic stagehand.

He seems to make some sort of physical contact with the guy before rushing back to the other side of the stage, with the stagehand following close behind with a mic stand.

Once they're on the left side again, Machine Gun Kelly appears to shove his guitar into the stagehand's chest, clearly frustrated with him as the guy scurries off back to the right again.

The song continues to play as MGK awkwardly stands in the back, not having played a lick of guitar through most of the ending of the track ... and things ended even more poorly as Kelly appeared to lurk over to the stagehand who appeared upset and flustered.

MGK climbs a box behind the main stage and stares the dude down from above, and then LEAPS down and follows him back stage as the guy tries to get away. Bad look, right?

Seems like Kelly himself realized just how nasty he'd acted, and took to Twitter after the show to address it. He wrote, "tonight the frustrations from my personal life came out on the stage. sorry to my fans and my band. i’ll get help after tour is over."

How's this for AWKWARD -- undefeated boxing phenom Shakur Stevenson is fighting his GF's brother on Saturday night ... and he's vowing to bust that dude up!!!

Don't get it twisted, Shakur's opponent is no bum -- he's undefeated 23-0 Joet Gonzalez -- and they're fighting for the WBO featherweight championship!!!

So, how does 22-year-old Shakur feel about trying to knock out his girlfriend's sibling? NOT BOTHERED AT ALL!!!

"He's bothered by the situation," Shakur says. "He's the one who hates me. I don't really hate him."

We asked Shakur if he was going to take it easier on Joet because of the family connection -- and man, he straight up laughed in our faces.

"Hell no! F**k no! I'm not taking it easy at all!!!"

In fact, Shakur says ... "Saturday night I've got something that's gonna make him more mad!"

By the way, Shakur has been dominant in the ring ... and has HIGH HOPES for his pro career -- even calling out Vasyl Lomachenko, widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on Earth.

"Lomachenko. Lomachenko. Lomachenko is my dream fight."

Shakur says the guys have been in the ring together a lot ... 'cause he sparred with Vasyl back in 2017.

The dream could become reality very soon ... as in like the next 2 years, according to Shakur.

"I actually respect Lomachenko, he's one of the people that I think are one of the best in boxing. He's one of the people that I want to take their spot."

One-handed MMA stud Nick Newell says he's trying like hell to prove he's more than just an awesome story ... telling TMZ Sports he's gunning for star status at Bellator 232 Saturday!!!

Newell -- who was born without a left hand -- has had an unreal career despite his disability ... going 16-2 in pro fights with already one Bellator win under his belt.

But, Nick says he wants much more than that ... and tells us he's going to prove he's among the fighting elite against Manny Muro this weekend.

"I really feel like I’m peaking," Newell says.

"I'm ready to make my way amongst the elite ... so it all starts with me winning this fight and I'm happy to show people things I’ve been saying for years."

Newell last fought back in August against Corey Browning -- winning the tilt by submission ... and he tells us he's actually feeling better heading into THIS fight than that one.

"I'm super relaxed," Newell says. "I'm super comfortable. There's nothing that can happen out there that I haven’t seen already."

Conor McGregor doesn't REALLY want to fight Justin Gaethje ... it's all smoke and mirrors ... so says Tyron Woodley who thinks JG would bust him up!

Of course, Conor just announced he's fighting on Jan. 18 -- but wouldn't reveal the name of his opponent. Most people think the front-runners are Justin Gaethje or Cowboy Cerrone.

But, Tyron says his money's on Cowboy ... simply because he thinks Justin poses a much bigger threat that Conor doesn't really want!!!

"If I was him, Gaethje ain't the fight he want. Gaethje punch too hard. His chin is too crazy. He's gonna come forward with all that pressure. I don't think that's the fight."

Tyron says Cowboy is a "safe fight" for McGregor ... and thus, the more likely match-up.

"I think the Gaethje sh*t is just him just talking smoke and mirrors. I don't think he really want that noise. He don't wanna fight guys like me."

There's A LOT more -- Tyron sends a message to his pal Randy Couture, explains why Israel Adesanya is the next UFC superstar and daps up Tony Hawk!

Finn Balor is breaking his silence on his shocking heel turn -- telling TMZ Sports he kicked Johnny Gargano in the head Wednesday because the guy had it coming!

Balor pulled a total sneak attack his fellow good guy on "NXT" sending WWE fans into a frenzy. Seriously, NOBODY SAW THIS COMING!!

So, when Finn touched down at LAX on Friday, we asked if the incident officially makes him a bad guy.

"Am I a bad guy or do I just do bad things sometimes," Balor told us ... "I don't know. You tell me."

"Lines are blurred in this day and age. We don't know what's going on."

Now, everyone wants to know ... who does Balor want to take on next? Finn says he's got someone in mind but won't be revealing a name until Friday night on "WWE Backstage" on FS1.

Conor McGregor was attacked by a pissed off Dagestani man in Russia on Friday who threw a water bottle at the UFC star as retaliation for trashing Dagestan.

You gotta see the video ... it's intense.

The man went to a media event in Moscow on Friday specifically to get answers from Conor about why he's been trashing Dagestan lately.

Remember, just Thursday ... Conor said he "wouldn't go to Dagestan to take a s**t" in a tirade bashing his UFC rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who hails from Dagestan.

Clearly, people in Dagestan -- a part of Russia -- heard the insult and the man who crashed the media event Friday decided to take matters into his own hands.

He pressed Conor about the statement and demanded answers about why he "hates" Dagestan so much.

Conor tried to justify his hatred saying people in Dagestan have been mean to him (boo-hoo) -- but the answer wasn't satisfactory to the Dagestani, so he fired off a water bottle.

The man shouted at Conor, "All the people? My father, my brother ... you think are all cowards?"

Conor replied, "Yes, yes, yes."

The man shot back, "My father?! What did he do to you?! My brother, what did he do to you?!"

Conor managed to duck out of the way and shouted back, "Shut up, you fool." The man was escorted out by security.

McGregor didn't seem fazed -- he just stood there.

Conor McGregor just announced his return to the Octagon -- saying he WILL fight on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas ... but his opponent is still shrouded in mystery.

The UFC star just held a media event in Russia, where he's promoting his Irish whiskey, and of course the conversation turned to his fighting career.

After trashing Khabib Nurmagomedov and telling reporters he would NOT wait around for Khabib to agree to a rematch, Conor said he's ready to move forward with his career.

"I would like to announce the return of The Notorious Conor McGregor will take place on January 18 in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada,” McGregor said.

"That is my comeback fight. It’s 12 weeks this Saturday. I’m in prime physical condition. I have agreed the date with the company. As far as the opponent, I have the opponent’s name, but for me, the game I am in and from experience, if I was to give you people the name, which I would love to do, I know the UFC would flip it because they’re a crafty company."

Conor says to ask the UFC to reveal the opponent because "I don't give a f**k who the opponent is."

McGregor says the Jan. 18 fight will be "the beginning of my season" ... as he teased more fights in 2020.

"I will then look to compete against the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal for the Bad MotherF**ker title. Obviously, I have history with Nate Diaz, we are set to make the trilogy bout, so we will see how that goes."

"Then I will seek [a] Moscow bout and it will be against the winner of Tony Ferguson and .  Khabib Nurmagomedov."

Conor botched the pronunciation of Khabib's name ... but told reporters, "I can't even say the guy's name. Who gives a f**k what the guy's name is."

Conor adds of a possible fight with Khabib -- "The people of the world deserve this bout to take place. It is an inevitable rematch. It is a rematch that I will come in sharp, fresh, I will have no injuries, I will have no alcohol, I will have no outside influences, I will be fully focused -- exactly what the people deserve. Exactly what the fans deserve, and we will settle it once for all."

If Jon Jones really wants a piece of Francis Ngannou, The Predator tells TMZ Sports he's 1 million percent down to clash with the UFC superstar!!!

Of course, it's not that simple ... Jon's the light heavyweight champ and currently fights at 205 lbs. Francis is the #2 ranked heavyweight ... and negotiations haven't even gotten started yet.

But, Ngannou says the bottom line is that he's game ... IF Jon's serious about moving up a weight class and actually signing on the dotted line.

"Listen, let's be clear about something. If that's what you want to know, if I would fight Jon Jones if he goes up to heavyweight, of course. I would say the same thing as he says, it's inevitable if Jon Jones goes to heavyweight. I'm gonna fight him."

Francis is referring to a tweet Jones sent Tuesday night ... when a fan asked him if he could ever imagine himself fighting Ngannou.

Jones -- who recently said none of the light heavyweight contenders excite him -- responded ... "I feel like that fight is inevitable."

During our conversation with Ngannou, he also revealed the UFC offered him a crack at Alexander Volkov on November 9 -- with only 18 days notice -- but says he rejected the fight 'cause he didn't have time to prep and fighting a lower-ranked guy didn't make sense.

Greg Hardy -- who we spoke to about the match on Tuesday -- ultimately accepted the fight.

While he waits, Ngannou -- coming off KO's of Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos -- is clearly frustrated with the UFC ... 'cause he thinks they're dragging their feet booking him a fight.

"I just want to tell the UFC to pay me some respect and give me a damn fight, that's what I'm asking for. I was expecting to have a fight by December to make my Christmas and New Year for my family," Francis tells us.

"Hey, man ... I need a fight. I need to make money."

Cash ... well, a Jon Jones fight would make hella money.

Ben Askren says there's a ZERO percent chance his next UFC fight ends after 5 seconds with a knee to the head. And, why's he so confident?

"I don’t think [Demian Maia] can jump that high!"

Ben's actually got a pretty great attitude going into Saturday's bout with Maia considering his last outing ... well it didn't go so well.

Askren was KO'd with a flying knee from Jorge Masvidal -- setting the record for fastest KO in UFC history.

"I think the best way to deal with adversity is obviously to hop right back in there so that’s what I did," Askren said.

"The UFC gave me the call pretty quickly after the Jorge Masvidal fight, and said ‘Hey would you want a main event in Singapore?’ And, I said 'Yeah, let’s go.' And, I thought that was a good time for me to hop back into the cage, so I’m excited."

Maia is currently the #10 ranked welterweight. Askren is #11 ... and Ben knows if he wins this fight, a title shot could be right around the corner.

"Obviously, I have to get the win on Saturday, and then once I do that, I can go to work calling people out and see where that can take me, but I don’t feel like I’m too far away from the top."

One of those guys at the top is Masvidal (ranked #3) ... and Ben says he's open for a rematch if the UFC is down.

"Yeah obviously that would be nice, and I think it would be an easy fight for me to get because the story’s so easy to tell."

Logan Paul says the Mayweather family "doesn't give a f**k" if KSI wins their boxing rematch next month ... telling TMZ Sports Floyd's fam is only training him to promote their YouTube channel.

Of course, KSI has been training with some of the top guys in the industry -- including "team advisor" Jeff Mayweather (Floyd's uncle) -- leading up to the Nov. 9 bout at Staples Center, which will stream on DAZN.

24-year-old Paul was training at Wild Card Boxing gym in L.A. on Tuesday ... when he told us his opponent is being used by the legendary family for clout.

"I think the Mayweathers are smart. I think they know if they put KSI's name in their video, they'll get views on their YouTube channel," Logan said.

"Let's be honest. I'm pretty sure Floyd Mayweather or any of the Mayweathers don't give a f**k if he wins or loses the fight ... but you got those views on that YouTube channel!! Way to go!!"

FWIW -- we spoke with KSI earlier this month about his training ... and he's so serious about pursuing a career in the sport, he's already spent $300k of his own dough on training, diet, equipment, etc.

Good news wrestling fans ... Ronda Rousey WILL return to the WWE -- it's just a matter of time.

That's according to WWE honcho Triple H, who says the superstar just has a lot going on right now.

Ronda hasn't been inside the squared circle since WrestleMania back in April -- since then, she's been shooting TV shows and taking time to begin family planning.

Some people are worried we've seen the last of Ronda as a wrestler -- but The Cerebral Assassin says, "She'll be back at some point. She's just getting a lot done."

There's more ... Triple H hit on a bunch of topics while out in NYC.

-- Will 50-year-old Triple H get back in the ring and wrestle again?

"It all depends. Hopefully not. I'm too busy right now to try to. It's a lot of work to get in the ring. Still training all the time, but a lot of work."

-- Is WWE targeting boxing champ Tyson Fury for a full-time contract?

"I'm sure he's got a lot left to do in the boxing world. He's got Deontay Wilder coming up at the beginning of the year ... but never say never. He's custom-made for what we do, right??"

One issue with Tyson Fury ... after this clip was shot, Fury reportedly injured his ankle in a WWE training session. Scripted injury? Maybe. But, maybe not!

Greg Hardy says he's fired up to fight an "actual monster" in Alexander Volkov -- telling TMZ Sports, "It's time to make a statement."

Hardy just agreed to fight the #7 ranked UFC heavyweight on Nov. 9 in Moscow -- replacing his training teammate Junior Dos Santos, who suffered an injury.

The former NFL star hasn't been beat in his pro career -- though he was DQ'd for an illegal knee against Allen Crowder ... and his victory over Ben Sosoli this past weekend was overturned because Greg used an inhaler between rounds.

Still, Hardy has been fairly dominant in the Octagon and when the opportunity came to fight a top-ranked opponent, the 30-year-old says he jumped at the chance.

"I'm excited, man," Hardy tells us ... "This is a a big-time fight, high-level competition. This is what any Prince of War or future King of War could ever hope for."

Hardy says he respects Volkov but believes he can knock out the Russian in under 3 rounds ... just like Derrick Lewis did in 2018.

"If 'Pillow Hands' Lewis can do it, I can go in there and compete," Hardy says.

Hardy says he plans to use this opportunity to show UFC fans he's the real deal.

"It's time to make a statement. It's time to step up and put my mettle to the test ... put my hands up and fight with an actual monster, fight with a top-ranked elite assassin."

We also spoke with Hardy about the inhaler controversy and he took full responsibility for the infraction -- vowing to make sure he's more educated on the rules for his next fight.

Hardy says he's not mad at his coaches and fight team for allowing him to use the inhaler -- saying they've done so much for him over the years, he can't get upset over one stupid mistake.

"This is the best team in the country, best team in the world ... two years ago I was a football player who couldn't throw a punch."