Fights

No fake beef to sell a fight here ... Sergey Kovalev tells TMZ Sports he flat out admires Canelo Alvarez ... and is a HUGE fan of the superstar boxer.

But, for those thirsting for blood, don't sweat it ... Kovalev says he's gonna try his damndest to beat Canelo's ass when they fight Saturday night in Vegas.

Kovalev surprised boxing fans when he fanboy'd out during a backstage meeting with Canelo at a promotional event for their November 2nd mega-fight on DAZN ... even asking Alvarez to take a selfie.

Some people clowned Sergey for the selfie move, but The Krusher says he doesn't feel the need to create fake beef just to sell tickets.

“I like his boxing style," Sergey tells us ... "He’s a great champion, really, and I follow him for like all of my career from 2011 when I met with him. Because I saw how he sparred with Gennady Golovkin, and after this, I started to follow him."

As much as Kovalev likes Canelo, he was clear that once they're across from each other on Saturday, he's out for blood ... 'til the final bell rings.

"Inside the ring, we will be like the athletes. We will be like athletes, like boxers. Boxers should punch each other and after the fight, we will be friends again. This is just the sport."

The love ain't only one-sided ... we also spoke to Canelo, who was super complimentary of Kovalev.

The set of "Madam Secretary" damn near turned into a WWE Royal Rumble ... after a background actor's hangry side got the best of him.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops on the show's set in Whippany, NJ broke up a fight Friday between a craft services employee and a background actor. We're told there were several hundred background actors filming a scene where Téa Leoni gives a speech.

When they went to break, a horde of extras swarmed the snacks/coffee table. It was at this point, law enforcement sources tell us, an actor cut the line and was told by a female craft services staffer to get to the back.

Sources say the actor pushed the female employee, and that's when her husband -- who also works craft services -- flew in like a bat outta hell and socked the background actor in the face.

We're told the actor landed on the snack-filled table, and then the husband got on top of him and punched him several more times in the face ... leaving him bloodied. Our sources say cops had to peel the employee off the actor, who was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries.

Evander Holyfield's 22-year-old son is less than 24 hours away from making his pro-boxing debut on the undercard of Canelo vs. Kovalev ... and you better believe the Real Deal flew in to watch it go down in person.

Evan Holyfield is taking on Nick Winstead on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Vegas ... and says it's the opportunity he's been waiting for his entire life!

"It feels like Christmas right now!" Evan says ... "I'm not nervous, I'm excited!"

Evan's been fighting at the amateur level for 10 years -- logging 80 fights before getting a shot at the pro level ... and he can't wait to show the world what he's made of.

Of course, Evan's dad is one of the best of ALL TIME -- so he's had a pretty great mentor to guide him along his boxing journey.

In fact, Evan says Evander is already in Vegas and they had lunch this week to talk about strategy and get ready for the fight.

Evan says his dad is also excited for him -- "He knows what skills I have and all about the hard work I put in."

"I'm just ready to showcase what I have to do."

Oh and get this ... back in July Evan told us his dream match up would be against Canelo. So, consider this an audition for a possible match up!!!

Good luck!!!

Here it is ... the official "Baddest Mother F**ker" belt!!!

UFC honcho Dana White just revealed the new "BMF" belt which will go to the winner of the Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal main event fight at UFC 244 on Saturday.

White had the belt custom made for this fight after Nate said the bout would determine the real baddest mofo in combat sports.

Dana says the belt cost around $50,000 to make -- and it's engraved with the words, "Baddest Motherf**ker."

White has previously said the belt is a one-time thing for this specific fight -- but there are a bunch of fighters who have said they'd love to get a crack at it ... so we may not see the last of it after Saturday.

As far as the fight goes, Diaz is the #7 ranked welterweight and Masvidal is #3. The current champ in that division is Kamaru Usman.

As we previously reported, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be at the fight to give the belt to the winner. President Donald Trump and Patriots owner Robert Kraft are also expected to attend.

Conor McGregor just showed up in court in Ireland where his lawyer told the judge the UFC star will plead GUILTY in his pub attack case.

The UFC superstar is facing one charge of assault after he socked a man in the face at the Marble Arch Pub in Dublin back on April 6, in footage obtained by TMZ Sports.

The charge carries a maximum punishment of 6 months behind bars.

McGregor showed up to court Friday in a fancy suit ... but he wasn't smiling and goofing around. Instead, he was clasping his hands and had his game face on as he walked into the building.

Inside the courtroom, McGregor's attorney told the court his client will be pleading guilty -- but  it's not over yet. The court is on a short recess and will resume at 7 AM PT.

The victim in the incident did NOT show up to the hearing and chose not to submit a victim impact statement, according to local reports.

Prosecutors are lobbying to screen the attack video in court before sentencing this afternoon, but Conor's side is trying to block that.

The decision will ultimately be made when court resumes after the break.

McGregor has previously admitted to ESPN he was "in the wrong" for punching the man at the bar ... saying, "That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did."

"I tried to make amends and I made amends back then. But, it doesn't matter. I was in the wrong."

Seems like now he's worked out a plea deal with prosecutors. We'll find out soon how this whole thing will play out.

Stay tuned ...

Israel Adesanya, one of the UFC's brightest stars, says he's excited the President of the United States will be at UFC 244 in NYC this weekend ... and doesn't think there will be any drama.

As we previously reported, President Trump is scheduled to attend the fights at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. He's had a close relationship with the UFC for decades.

But, after Trump was booed at Game 5 of the World Series, some people are concerned he'll get a similar response from fighters and fans when they show his face on the big screen.

"I don't think anyone cares," Adesanya told TMZ Sports outside of Marquee nightclub in New York ... "It's gonna be cool just having the President of the United States."

Jorge Masvidal, who's fighting Nate Diaz in the main event, had a similar opinion when we spoke with him earlier this week.

Bottom line ... doesn't seem like fighters are looking to make a political statement at UFC 244 -- but you never know what's gonna happen when someone gets the mic in their hand.

"How can you call something a fight if there were no punches thrown?!"

That's Charles Barkley expressing his utter DISGUST for that 76ers vs. Timberwolves incident earlier this week ... saying a rear-naked choke doesn't necessarily make a "fight."

Instead, Barkley describes the whole thing as a "snuggle party" -- "there were two guys holding each other!"

The hilarious breakdown went down on "Inside the NBA" where Barkley argued with Ernie Johnson and Kenny "The Jet" Smith about the situation.

Both Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns have been suspended 2 games each for the incident while Ben Simmons, who applied the choke, didn't get suspended at all.

He did, however, get an offer to work on his MMA skills from former UFC and Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez! In fact, Eddie tells TMZ Sports he's already been in contact with Simmons and expects to start training him in the next few days!

As for Charles, dude knows a little something about NBA scraps ... back in his playing days, Chuck went head-to-head with giants like Shaquille O'Neal and Bill Laimbeer.

Ryan Garcia is one of the best up and coming fighters on the planet but says he's still routinely challenged to street fights by macho idiots looking to test their mettle ... and it's becoming a problem.

In case you need his resume, 21-year-old Garcia is 18-0 and fighting on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev undercard on DAZN this weekend.

Oscar De La Hoya recently told us Garcia could be the first fighter to sign a $700 million multi-fight contract in the near future.

Despite having the ability to kill most people with his bare hands, Garcia tells TMZ Sports normies constantly hit him up looking to test his skills outside the ring.

"They're always trying to bully me for some reason, they're always like, 'Yeah, you don't even look like a boxer. I would whoop your ass on the street,' and this and that. And honestly, I don't even pay attention to it."

"I just keep it moving, you know. Alright, whatever. Say what you want. I'm gonna do my thing. Don't matter."

Garcia says people really test his patience, but he always opts to walks away ... 'cause he realizes if he beats up a civilian it could cost him that fat deal.

"Once in a while I just want to throw a left hook right across the face like, 'bang.' But, of course, you can't."

"Then I'll lose my $700 million to lawsuits. So, I'm good."

As we previously reported, Garcia has his sights set on some of the biggest names in the sport ... Gervonta "Tank" Davis, Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko.

Historic moment at the "Crown Jewel" in Saudi Arabia ... where WWE's very FIRST women's match just went down -- and the ladies got a HUGE ovation from the massive crowd.

Lacey Evans and Natalya were electric as they walked to the ring -- men, women and children were standing and applauding, taking pics and going crazy the whole time.

After she got in the ring, Natalya was choking back tears -- clearly emotional about the moment.

During the match, the crowd even busted out a "This Is Awesome" chant -- pretty cool, right???

As far as the match went, Natalya emerged victorious ... but afterward, both were treated like heroes by the fans, who couldn't wait to take selfies and high-five the wrestlers.

As we previously reported, both women wrestled in special outfits that covered up most of their bodies out of respect for the Saudi Arabian culture.

Stephanie McMahon told us they took extra precautions to make sure to show respect to the Saudi people.

Here's ex-UFC champ Eddie Alvarez breaking down Wednesday's big 76ers vs. Timberwolves NBA brawl ... and it's pretty great.

Alvarez -- who was the lightweight champ in UFC and Bellator -- LOVED the way Ben Simmons applied a perfect rear-naked choke on Karl-Anthony Towns ... but thinks there's room for improvement.

So, the Philly native tells TMZ Sports he reached out to Simmons and the two will connect in the next few days for some real MMA training so the team can step up their fight game.

Eddie also has some advice for Karl-Anthony, too -- pointing out the MAJOR mistake Towns made during the brawl that left him fully exposed.

Bottom line, Eddie says he was super IMPRESSED with Ben's fight skills -- same with Joel Embiid -- and he cant wait to hit the mats with the guys.

Benson Henderson is the ONLY pro MMA fighter with wins over both Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal ... so, naturally, we asked him for his prediction on the 1st ever 'BMF' main event!

First off, Benson LOVES the whole "Bad Mother F*cker" belt concept -- praising the UFC for a "great marketing ploy." He also has a lot of respect for both fighters.

Benson famously defended the UFC lightweight title against Nate back in 2012 -- and won that 5-round fight via unanimous decision.

Then in 2015, Henderson took on Mavidal at "UFC Fight Night" in South Korea and won that fight via split decision.

So, who wins when Diaz takes on Masvidal at UFC 244 Saturday night at Madison Square Garden???

Benson says there's one guy who clearly has the edge if they fight a traditional MMA fight.

But, if these guys REALLY want to prove who's the baddest MOFO around -- and they stand toe-to-toe and slug it out for 5 rounds -- Benson says that changes everything!

Henderson ultimately makes his official prediction. Watch the clip, it's great stuff.

As for Benson's fighting career, the 35-year-old is coming off 4 straight wins in Bellator -- and is scheduled to take on Michael Chandler in Japan on Dec. 28.

An NBA game turned into an MMA match Wednesday ... 'cause during a bench-clearing brawl, Ben Simmons put Karl-Anthony Towns in a chokehold -- AND KAT TAPPED!!!

The insane scene all went down in the third quarter of the Sixers-Timberwolves game ... when Anthony Towns got pissed over Joel Embiid's aggressive defense.

The two big men pushed and shoved ... and ultimately, EVERYBODY jumped into the fracas!!

At one point -- after Embiid and KAT were separated -- Simmons ended up on the ground on top of Anthony Towns ... and 76ers star began choking KAT out!!!

Karl quickly tapped ... and Simmons let go -- and the whole altercation was crazy/hilarious.

Maybe the best part of the entire skirmish? After Embiid was ejected ... he played it up to the crowd -- AND ANTHONY TOWNS' MOM BEGAN FLIPPING HIM OFF!!!

Cooler heads ultimately prevailed on the court -- the Sixers ended up winning, 117-95 -- but the battle continued to rage on on social media afterward.

"Great team win!!!" Embiid said. "I was raised around lions and a cat pulled on me tonight lmao @jimmybutler I missed being part of the 3rd stringers... I got his mom giving middle fingers. That’s some SERIOUS REAL ESTATE #FightNight #IAintNoBitch"

Didn't take long for KAT to fire back ... "I aIN’t nO BiTcH RaiSeD ARoUnD LiOnS #BitchTalk." He also tagged the location as, "All Bark & No Bite"

Amazing.

UFC star Jorge Masvidal says fighting in front of President Trump will be a "humbling" experience ... telling TMZ Sports he's honored to put on a show in front of POTUS!!!

As we previously reported ... a TON of star power will be watching Masvidal take on Nate Diaz for the "Bad Mother F**ker" belt at MSG on Saturday -- from The Rock to Robert Kraft to yes, the President of the United States of America!!!

Masvidal says politics aside, it's a once in a lifetime moment at UFC 244 ... and he's going to make the best of it, saying some fighters who love Trump will never even get this opportunity.

"Not every fighter can say, 'Hey, the president is showing up to my fight', you know? So, that's humbling in itself."

Of course, with Masvidal being from Miami, we had to ask about Dwayne Johnson being there as well ... and he says the whole event is such a big deal, he can't even think about all of the hype until AFTER the fight.

KSI is eating like the Notorious leading up to his rematch with Logan Paul ... hiring Conor McGregor's personal chef to cook his meals leading up to the fight!!

The 26-year-old British internet superstar gave an inside look into his insane training program for the Nov. 9 bout ... revealing he hired combat sports superchef Eric Triliegi to help him get in fighting shape.

"When it comes to cooking, we needed to upgrade the nutrition," KSI said on DAZN's "40 Days: Behind-The-Scenes With KSI" docuseries.

"We needed something more performance-based and that's why we decided to get Eric in."

As we previously reported, KSI says he's spent $300k of his own money on boxing training and other fight preparation expenses ... dude's taking this extremely seriously.

Chef Eric -- who's worked with pro fighters like McGregor, Anthony Pettis and Miesha Tate -- gave a breakdown on the diet he's cookin' up for KSI ... and it doesn't hurt that the food looks BOMB.

"Our main goal is to give fighters food that enhances performance. If we're not doing that, then why are we even here feeding them?"

Logan also kept the cameras rolling for his 'Countdown to Fight Night' docuseries with DAZN ... which shows the intense training he's been putting into the rematch. There's a cool moment where he puts on the 10 oz. gloves for the first time.

"This shouldn't be allowed. I swear to God, this shouldn't be allowed," Logan said ... saying the 2 oz. glove difference from the 12 oz. gloves they rocked in the first fight will give him a huge advantage.

Logan also had Elvis Grant Phillips -- founder of Grant Boxing Worldwide -- over to his mansion to try on a sick pair of silk-lined gloves, which Elvis says is a first of its kind.

"I feel like I am holding a gun in my hand."

Huge news from Saudi Arabia ... where WWE just announced its very first WOMEN'S wrestling match in the country -- and it will all go down THIS WEEK!!!

Saudi officials had previously blocked WWE from holding a women's match -- but Triple H had noted the country was going through a "significant cultural shift" and was hopeful things would change.

Now, Triple H has gotten his wish ... with WWE commentator Michael Cole making the announcement from Riyadh on Wednesday morning.

"I am so proud to announce that tomorrow at WWE Crown Jewel we host the first ever WWE women's match in Saudi Arabia."

So, who's getting the ring? Lacey Evans vs. Natalya ... two superstars with a storied history.

And, get this, Evans is a real-life veteran of the U.S. Marines who served for 5 years -- and her WWE finishing move is called, "The Women's Right."

Evans spoke out about the match saying, "When I signed up for WWE my goal was to really impact the world and the people that I can, and we're doing it one day at a time."

One thing the world will definitely be watching when "Crown Jewel" goes down on Thursday -- the ring attire.

During a women's match in Abu Dhabi back in 2017, the women wore outfits that covered most of their bodies. Guessing they will go with a similar look this time around.

It'sssss TIME ... for President Donald Trump to attend a UFC fight in person!

That's exactly what's happening on Saturday -- POTUS will be in the house at Madison Square Garden for UFC 244, featuring a massive fight between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.

Trump has been a longtime supporter of the UFC and Dana White -- in fact, White has publicly credited Trump for being a key figure in turning the MMA promotion into the juggernaut it is today.

Now, Trump has reportedly made time in his schedule to see Diaz and Masvidal fight for the coveted "Bad Mother F**ker" belt when they clash on Nov. 2.

And, get this ... the celebrity guest list that night is insane -- Dana White previously told us Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be on hand to present the winner with the 'BMF' belt.

New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft -- whose also close with Trump -- will be in the house as well. The Patriots play the Ravens in Baltimore the next day.

President Trump's sons, Don Jr. and Eric, attended a UFC fight in New Jersey earlier this year -- when Trump supporter Colby Covington defeated Robbie Lawler.

Donald Trump called Colby after the fight to personally congratulate him.

As for UFC 244, you better believe Secret Service will be swarming that night.

And, it'll be VERY interesting to hear what the always outspoken Nate Diaz has to say if he gets the mic after the fight!