Fights

It's time to play "SPOT THE G.O.A.T." -- and if you picked any of those farm animals in the background, YOU LOSE!!!

Here's the UFC's G.O.A.T. Amanda Nunes -- living up to her G.O.A.T. nickname with actual goats on a farm in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

We're told 31-year-old Nunes -- widely considered the greatest female fighter of all time --  posed with the goats as part of a promo shoot for UFC 245. She's set to defend her bantamweight title against ex-UFC featherweight champ Germaine de Randamie.

Besides holding TWO belts at the same time (champ, champ!) -- Nunes is currently #5 on the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings list ... above male stars like Daniel Cormier and Max Holloway.

Also, she happens to be on a 9-fight win streak -- with victories over some of the toughest women to ever fight in MMA ... women like Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko.

"I think I ate everything ... EVERYTHING ... that's why I gained so much weight."

That's Andy Ruiz keeping it all the way real about his loss to Anthony Joshua -- admitting to TMZ Sports he just let himself go leading up to the rematch.

"I was having too much fun, I was celebrating too much," the former heavyweight champ told us at LAX.

Ruiz says his partying was also out of control leading to the Dec. 7 fight in Saudi Arabia -- "Just being with my friends and just celebrating. Drinking a few more Coronas than I should have."

FYI, Ruiz weighed in at 284 lbs for the rematch -- 15 pounds heavier than his weight for the June 1 fight, when he shocked the world with a 7th round TKO over the British superstar.

Still, Andy tells us he was impressed with his performance despite being out of championship shape.

"Even out of shape, even the way that I was training back and forth (between Mexico and California) ... f**king, I did pretty good, dude! I did pretty good! But, I wish I had taken it more serious."

Ruiz lost via unanimous decision -- and even though he suffered a gnarly cut over his eye in the fight, he's in pretty good spirits. He also showed us the cut and it's already all stitched up.

Now, Ruiz says he plans to take some time off and hang with his family before trying to lock down a 3rd fight with Joshua ... a fight Andy says he'll PROPERLY train for.

NCAA Div. 2 basketball player Isaiah Hill has been suspended indefinitely after he LEVELED his opponent with a violent cheap shot elbow to the face ... and the video will piss you off.

The disgusting play went down when Hill's Saint Leo University team faced off with Nova Southeastern in Florida on Saturday ... when Hill cut to the perimeter and cracked Nick Smith with a nasty elbow.

Smith fell right to the floor ... and somehow, the ref standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT did not call Hill for a foul.

Video of the play -- captured by Post-Gazette reporter Mike White -- has gone viral ... and Saint Leo has since punished its player for at least the remainder of the 2019 calendar year.

"Isaiah's conduct on the court is not an accurate representation of Saint Leo's core values," the school's athletic director said in a statement.

"Saint Leo University holds its students to high standards of moral and ethical conduct as a reflection of Benedictine values."

"Upon review of Isaiah's actions this past Saturday, he will not represent Saint Leo University in competition for the remainder of 2019."

We're told cops were present at the game, but it's unclear if Smith plans to pursue criminal charges. We're told the Pasco Sheriff's Office has not received a formal complaint.

First they boo'd the team ... then Pats fans FOUGHT EACH OTHER after Tom Brady's squad lost to the Chiefs -- and it's all on video.

It was peak embarrassment at Gillette Stadium where even the TV announcers calling the game clowned Pats fans for having the audacity to BOO while the team was down at halftime.

But, it got even worse AFTER the game, when a couple of Pats fans in the disappointed crowd turned on each other and began throwing punches right in the stands.

At one point, one of the combatants took TWO left-handed bombs to the face ... and you can hear in the audio, people were pretty disgusted by the scrap.

Unclear how the issues were resolved ... we're still waiting to hear back from the Foxborough Police Dept.

As for the Pats on the field ... it's understandable why some fans are going crazy after their games these days -- Brady and the guys look NOTHING like future Super Bowl champs.

Still, 10 Super Bowl appearances in 20 years with 6 NFL titles ... oh, and they're 10-3 this season, heading to the playoffs AGAIN! Calm down, Beantown!!!!!

Meanwhile, Tom's already claimed the team is focusing on next week's game against Cincinnati ... so, sorry, Andy Dalton.

If Floyd Mayweather is serious about boxing a UFC fighter, Max Holloway says he's ALL THE WAY DOWN!!

The reigning UFC Featherweight champ has a solid stand up striking game -- and sources tell us that's exactly what Floyd is looking for in his UFC opponent.

So, when Max rolled through the TMZ Sports office ... we asked if that was something he would seriously consider.

"I want a Money Belt! Why not?!"

He added, "I would love to do that. He's one of the best guys to ever do it. And, to share the boxing ring with him, it would be a checklist for sure."

Holloway says he's already in INSANE shape -- and 12 rounds in a boxing ring would be "easy work" since he's already a cardio machine!

But, even if the Mayweather fight doesn't work out, Max says he's still interested in taking a boxing match ... especially with Dana White gunning to launch Zuffa Boxing in 2020.

Max says he's always wanted to box -- and brags that he's got a pretty solid Philly Shell ... but first, his focus is on beating Alexander Volkanovski on Dec. 14 at UFC 245.

Brother Nature sure seemed ready to fight -- at least that's how the moments leading up to his dual-threat beatdown appear to have unfolded on surveillance footage.

TMZ got a hold of surveillance video taken at the Miami-based sandwich shop where BN was later pummeled twice over ... once in the parking lot, and again inside the restaurant. In this new footage, you can see Brother Nature initially confronting his two attackers.

As we reported ... Brother Nature was allegedly upset that he couldn't be served at his table, and tried griping about it to the shop's staff. We're told he then got in the face of one of his attackers -- who was supposedly filming him -- and you can see that interaction here.

Brother Nature is asked to leave by someone who works there, but not before some words are exchanged between him and these 2 guys who were also more than willing to brawl.

Fast-forward to the parking lot stomp-out ... which then spilled back into the eatery, where we're told BN stormed back in and allegedly socked somebody. It appears you can see that here in the surveillance video as well ... Brother Nature comes in and rushes the slimmer dude, seemingly trying to hit him, before his buddy scurries over and they team up.

The rest is pretty much history -- Brother Nature got walloped by the two dudes ... and by the time cops showed up, everybody had gone their separate ways.

Alistair Overeem is cracking jokes about it Sunday, but he couldn't even crack a smile after a sudden and bloody ending to his UFC fight, where his lip was nearly knocked clean off.

Overeem went down late in the 5th and final round of his UFC on ESPN 7 heavyweight match with Jairzinho Rozenstruik -- he was winning handily, really ... until then.

You gotta see the video of the shot Jairzinho uncorked right to Alistair's upper lip -- it's almost like his face exploded.

He managed to get back up, and attempt to grin, but the referee called the fight with just a few seconds left in the round. The attempted grin didn't work either, due to the horrific damage to Overeem's face.

A few hours later, Overeem joked on Twitter about his lip not looking too sexy.

If nothing else, the heavyweights made history -- Jairzinho's KO is the latest ever in a UFC heavyweight division fight.

Floyd Mayweather vs. a UFC star is nothing more than a "circus fight" -- according to pro boxer Andre Berto who says he's ready to step up if Floyd wants a REAL challenge in 2020.

Of course, Berto -- a former welterweight champ -- fought Floyd back in 2017 ... just a few months after Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao.

Berto lost the fight ... but tells TMZ Sports he knows what he did wrong and things would go MUCH differently if they fought a second time.

"It was hard to catch him the first time," Berto says ... noting he would "let his hands go" a lot more in the rematch.

As we previously reported, Floyd is looking for TWO boxing matches in 2020 -- one against a pro boxer and another against a UFC star.

Berto thinks Floyd is too afraid to take on a legit contender -- explaining, "I doubt he's gonna come in and fight any of these other hungry champions out there."

"He might come back for one of these circus acts."

Mike Tyson is the only man to ever knock out Larry Holmes ... still, the boxing legend tells TMZ Sports "Iron Mike" ain't the toughest fighter he fought.

Holmes was a beast in the ring who scrapped with Tyson, Holyfield, Spinks and just about every other dominant heavyweight of his era. So, when we saw him in NYC, we asked if Mike was the hardest guy he ever faced.

His answer ... nope.

"My toughest opponent was Kenny Norton. I fought Mike Tyson, I was kinda over the hill a little bit. I had retired then I came back and fight Mike Tyson. I really wasn't in that good of shape."

"If I could do it all over again, I'd take more time and do it right."

FYI, Holmes -- 69-6 as a professional -- was 39 years old when he was dropped 3 times and KO'd by Tyson in the 4th round of their January 1988 fight.

In his 75 pro fights ... it's the only time Holmes was knocked out.

As for his 1978 fight with Norton ... it was a 15 round war that Holmes won by split decision -- earning him the WBC heavyweight title.

We also hit Holmes with a question about the ultimate dream fight -- Muhammad Ali vs. Mike Tyson -- in their primes ... and asked who'd win.

"Mike Tyson would get beat up 'cause he's a face fighter. He comes in down low, and Muhammad Ali is a jabber," Holmes says ... "He'd get that jab in there just like he did with Joe Frazier. So, Mike Tyson would have to get around that jab, and he'd have a lot of problems getting around that jab."

Brother Nature -- the IG influencer famous for vids with wild animals -- had someone wild out on him early Saturday morning ... punching, kicking and stomping him into a daze.

The beatdown happened in a Miami sandwich shop shortly before 6 AM, and it was all captured on video. It's still unclear what prompted the attack, but Brother Nature ended up down on his knees while the assailant teed off on his head.

The crazy part is there were several bystanders in the restaurant who refused to intervene -- even after Brother Nature was clearly down and out of it. Finally, one guy -- possibly a restaurant staffer -- stepped in and tried to break it up.

However, the unknown attacker continued dousing BN with water or soda ... and the viciousness continued outside in the parking lot. Video shows the attacker stomping on Brother Nature's head.

A video, apparently shot moments before the fight, shows Brother Nature -- whose real name is Kelvin Pena -- attempting to order food while at least one other patron is mocking him.

TMZ has confirmed Miami PD got a call around 5:45 AM for a disturbance at the restaurant, and officers responded, but no one was arrested -- everyone involved had already left.

Brother Nature has 2.7 million Instagram followers, and was featured in the Netflix documentary, "Inst@famous."

UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal is calling 2020 "The Year of the Lottery" -- telling TMZ Sports he's actively trying to line up fights with Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.

"2019 was cool," Masvidal says ... "But, if you like violence, 2020 will be a very powerful year. We’ve got a lot of options. I've got a lot of lottery tickets in my hand."

Masvidal -- who demolished Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz in 2019 -- says his goal is to fight Conor in April or May ... and then take a boxing match with Floyd in November.

As we previously reported, Mayweather has a handshake deal with UFC president Dana White to box an MMA fighter in 2020 and we're told he's eyeing fighters with top stand-up striking talent.

Masvidal obviously has those skills and firmly believes he's the frontrunner for that fight.

"I can box my ass off," Masvidal says ... "Not saying I’m a better boxer than Mayweather, but man, I’m gonna be in there with bad intentions trying to hurt him."

The last UFC fighter to take on Floyd was Conor McGregor who famously gassed around the 8th round with the ref ultimately stopping the fight in Round 10.

"I'm a well-conditioned athlete that’s not gonna fade," Masvidal says ... "I'm not gonna fade in the 8th or 9th round. I’m gonna be there for the whole night."

Jorge -- who's calling the big Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron fight for Combate Americas on Saturday -- also had a message for Floyd ...

"If you’re looking for a fight, I’m right here. If you’re looking for an easy paycheck, go back to Japan and beat up those little guys."

Masvidal says he understands why Floyd would be interested in someone like Khabib Nurmagomedov ... it's easy money for Floyd ... but if he REALLY wants a challenge, he'll sign the contract with Jorge.

The video is great ... Jorge knows Floyd is obviously much more experienced than him in the boxing ring, but he truly believes he can get the best of Mayweather and spells out his case on camera.

Think about it ... if Jorge's plans come to fruition, he can make LIFE-CHANGING money in 2020.

The Conor fight alone is big money ... and a Floyd fight could earn him more around $100 MIL.

22-year-old boxer Evan Holyfield's favorite fighter is NOT his legendary father, Evander Holyfield ... it's Filipino star Manny Pacquiao.

Yes ... NOT his dad a.k.a. George Foreman/Mike Tyson (twice) slayin' Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield.

TMZ Sports talked to the younger Holyfield -- who's dominated his first 2 professional fights -- and asked, who's your favorite boxer?

"Manny Pacquiao. I love Manny Pacquiao. Besides my dad, of course. I'm gonna take some stuff from him, but Manny Pacquiao. I watch that man before I go to sleep, I watch that man when I wake up, when I get bored."

"Manny Pacquiao's my guy. I watched all his movies. I stole so much stuff from Manny Pacquiao, it's ridiculous."

Suffice it to say, Evan likes Manny ... and is super pumped about the prospect of having some face time with his hero in the future.

"I haven't had a chance to meet Manny yet, but I'm sure if I was ever to meet Manny, I don't know what I would do."

"I don't fan out when it comes to celebrities because my dads had me around a lot of them, but someone like him, ain't no telling what would happen."

Jerry Jones dropped a "BS" bomb during a live radio interview -- and was DROPPED from the air -- after chewing out the hosts over Cowboys questions.

The Dallas Cowboys owner appeared on 105.3 The Fan for his weekly radio call -- but it was clear from the jump he was in a BAAAAD mood following the loss to the Chicago Bears.

The hosts asked Jones if he was embarrassed about the loss -- to which he shot back, "Get your damn act together!"

"We're going to have a good visit this morning, but settle down just a little bit."

As the hosts continued to ask questions, Jones warned them -- "I don't like your attitude to come in. I've been traveling all night and I don't have the patience to jack with you today."

Both sides settled down and talked about the Cowboys problems -- from the kicking game to the defense -- and at one point, Jerry used an expletive ON THE AIR!

The show dropped Jones from the air -- and explained that they panicked when he used the curse word. They had tried to just drop the audio, but they accidentally hung up on him instead.

"Thursday Night Football" sucked for the Cowboys ... on the field and in the stands.

While the Chicago Bears players put a beating on Dak Prescott and company, the Bears fans were lumping up a bunch of Cowboys fans in the bowels of Soldier Field.

Check out the footage obtained by Barstool Sports, showing a group of Bears fans going all Mike Tyson on a couple of guys in Cowboys jerseys at some point during the game.

It doesn't appear anyone was seriously injured -- we're working on finding out if anyone was arrested.

Of course, the actual game went terribly for Jerry Jones and his Cowboys ... Dallas lost 31 to 24 ... but the game wasn't as close as the final score makes it seem.

Despite the ass-kicking, Jerry Jones insists he'll stick with Jason Garrett as the Cowboys head coach until the season is over.

Oh, and somehow the 6-7 Cowboys are still in 1st place in the NFC East and have a real shot at the playoffs. The Eagles are 5-7.

Dana White says the fight deal he made with Floyd Mayweather was entirely constructed and sealed at the Clippers game last month ...and says they're targeting a Sept. 2020 fight date.

"He and I did a deal right there in our seats on the court," the UFC honcho told Rich Eisen ... "We shook hands and we have a deal."

White didn't reveal any details about Floyd's potential opponent -- but later told Jim Rome he's hoping to sit down with Floyd's business partner, Al Haymon, in March to get a fight booked for Sept.

As TMZ Sports previously reported, Mayweather is actually trying to book TWO comeback fights in 2020 ... both boxing matches.

Sources close to Floyd tell us ... he wants to fight a respected pro boxer (we're told he's seriously considering Manny Pacquiao) plus another match with a UFC fighter.

Floyd has previously called out Khabib Nurmagomedov, but it's unclear if that's his intended target on the UFC side of things.

UFC star Brian Ortega says he suffered a partially torn ACL in his knee during training and has pulled out from his Dec. 21 fight against Chan Sung Jung, aka the Korean Zombie.

"I tore my ACL in training and I won't be fighting in Korea," Ortega just revealed.

"Thankfully it was only a partial tear so I'm already rehabbing it and the plan is to be back to 100% in 2-3 months."

Ortega says he strongly considered fighting through the pain because he didn't want to let anyone down -- but ultimately doctors advised him to call the whole thing off.

"I didn't want to let down the fans, the Zombie and the UFC so I strongly considered pushing through it and fighting anyways, but according to the doctors, the risk of a full rupture in the fight was high and that would put me out for up to a year."

"Sorry guys I gotta take care of this right now, but I'll make it up to all of you 2020 I promise."

Ortega hasn't fought at all in 2019 after a violent clash with Max Holloway in Dec. 2018.

The 28-year-old fan favorite is still considered one of the top contenders in the featherweight division -- currently ranked #2 behind Alexander Volkanovski and the champ, Max Holloway.

We're big fans of Ortega at TMZ Sports, where he regularly comes into our office and chokes out various staff members!