Fights

Tito Ortiz's win over Alberto Del Rio has been reinstated by a Texas athletic commission ... days after they took away the MMA legends victory and ruled the fight a no-contest.

45-year-old Ortiz DOMINATED 42-year-old Del Rio during their December 7th fight ... submitting the former wrestling star by rear-naked choke in the 1st round of the fight.

All was cool until earlier this week when the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation abruptly announced Ortiz's win had been stripped ... with no explanation why.

However, on Friday, the TDLR told TMZ Sports they reversed course ... after an investigation proved Ortiz didn't break any rules.

"A urine sample provided by Jacob 'Tito' Christopher Ortiz on Dec. 7, 2019, at the Combate Americas MMA event showed a potentially disqualifying substance that Ortiz claimed was prescribed by a physician. Pending the outcome of the TDLR inquiry into whether the substance was indeed prescribed by a physician, TDLR marked the fight results as 'No Contest.'"

"TDLR confirmed with the physician that the item was prescribed to Ortiz. TDLR has reinstated Ortiz’s victory in the Dec. 7 bout."

We know what you're thinking ... what's the drug in question? So far, those details have not been released but we'll have more here as the info becomes available.

Wayne Gretzky says fighting in the NHL might not be around much longer ... and tells TMZ Sports he can see a scenario where it's officially banned from the league.

"You've cleaned it out of minor hockey, junior hockey, college hockey," The Great One says. "It's not really part of our game anymore."

Of course, the issue of fighting in the sport is being brought up again after an AHL player was hospitalized after he took a haymaker to the face in an on-ice tilt earlier this week.

When we ran into Gretzky in NYC on Thursday ... he told us despite the terrifying scene, fights are still going to happen in hockey every now and then.

But, he added the league appears to be getting closer and closer to seeing the scraps become extinct.

"There's less and less fights every year," Gretzky says. "Kids grow up now and nobody fights. In the old days, they used to fight at 15, 18, 20, but now they all grow up and nobody fights."

When we asked Gretzky -- who rarely ever threw down in his 20-year NHL career -- if he could see the league inputting a rule prohibiting the knuckle chucking, he told us, "You never know."

By the way, we also asked Wayne for his thoughts on Zamboni-driver-turned-backup-goalie, David Ayres ... and The Great One had some funny comments on the amazing story!

Deontay Wilder is NOT firing the design team behind the 45-pound costume he wore at the Tyson Fury fight ... in fact, Wilder has already hit them up to work on his next outfit!!

It's a shocking move considering Wilder blamed the elaborate costume for playing a key role in his loss to Fury -- claiming the battery-powered, jewel-encrusted suit was so heavy, it zapped the energy from his legs before the fight even started!

Here's how Wilder broke it down after the fight ...

"I knew I didn’t have the legs because of my uniform. I was only able to put it on [for the first time] the night before, but I didn’t think it was going to be that heavy. It weighed 40, 40-some pounds with the helmet and all the batteries. I wanted my tribute to be great for Black History Month. I wanted it to be good and I guess I put that before anything."

But, if you expected Wilder to cut ties with the Los Angeles-based company behind the costume -- Cosmo’s Glamsquad -- THAT AIN'T HAPPENING!

Cosmo Lombino and Donato Crowley spoke with CBS42 and claimed it was Deontay who reached out to them after the fight to talk about his NEXT costume!

"Deontay Wilder called me at home last night," Crowley said ... "We had an extensive, honest conversation that put confusion and rumors to rest."

Cosmo said Deontay told him he considers the designers "family" and was "very clear that he looks forward to future collaborations."

And, after they talked things out ... "The subject of the call then turned to ‘Wilder v Fury III."

For the record, Wilder has worked with Cosmo for a BUNCH of his pre-fight costumes and has always been super happy with the results.

Guessing the next design meeting will be focused around style and HOW TO MAKE THE COSTUME WAY LESS HEAVY!!!

Scary moment on the ice ... a pro hockey player was knocked out cold during a fight Tuesday -- and had to be rushed to the hospital to make sure he was okay.

The scrap all went down in the American Hockey League (the NHL's developmental league) during a game between the Hershey Bears and the Charlotte Checkers in Pennsylvania.

Bears center Kale Kessy locked horns with Checkers D-man Derek Sheppard in the 2nd period -- and that's when things escalated QUICKLY.

You can see in video of the tilt ... the two dropped their sticks, their gloves and took off their helmets before trading a flurry of punches at center ice.

Both guys connected with some violent haymakers -- when, suddenly, 25-year-old Sheppard unloaded a right hand that caught 27-year-old Kessy flush in the face.

Kessy appeared to be knocked out before his body hit the ground ... and you can see immediate concern from Sheppard and the refs, who waved for medical attention.

Kessy was down for around 10 minutes ... and according to witnesses, a LOT of blood could be seen on the ice before he was ultimately stretchered off and taken to the hospital.

Hershey team officials said just minutes after the fight, Kale "lost, but regained consciousness on the ice. He is alert, and in stable condition."

Bears coach Spencer Carbery said after the game Kessy was "doing better" ... but said docs were keeping his player in the hospital overnight for further evaluation.

Kessy is considered a team enforcer for Hershey ... reportedly the fight Tuesday was his sixth of the season. For Sheppard, meanwhile, it was reportedly his fifth scrap of the year.

As for the game, Kessy's Bears ended up finishing the Checkers, 6-1, after a lengthy post-fight delay.

Remember the guy who split Tyson Fury's face in half back in Sept. and came thiiiis close to upsetting the Gyspy King?

That fighter is Otto Wallin -- and he tells TMZ Sports he did a MUCH better job fighting Tyson Fury than Deontay Wilder and deserves a rematch before Wilder gets his 3rd crack.

"I'm the guy who landed the most punches on Fury, ever," Wallin tells us ... "I cut him. I gave him 2 cuts. One above the eye, one on the eyelid, and it was a grueling fight."

"He had to really dig deep to get the win in our fight. It was a good fight, good performance by me. Good performance by Fury."

Wallin is right -- he battered Fury so effectively, the ringside doctor almost stopped the fight because the gashes on Tyson's face were so big and bloody ... there was concern about longterm damage.

After they fought, Fury admitted he "couldn't see" out of his left eye for the majority of their fight.

In the end, the fight was decided by the judges and Fury won by unanimous decision -- resulting in Wallin's first-ever pro defeat.

Wallin believes he DESERVES a rematch simply because he came MUCH closer to defeating Fury than Wilder ... telling us, "It would be awesome to get another shot. And I think I can do better."

Wallin was a 10-1 underdog going into that fight -- but his performance was widely praised by boxing critics. He's set to fight Lucas Browne on March 28th and a dominant victory could put him back in the mix for a title shot.

Tyson Fury has finally returned home to England ... and turned the airport into a nightclub!!!

There were HUNDREDS of fans lined up to greet the 31-year-old heavyweight champ at Manchester Airport on Tuesday morning ... including a DJ who pumped music to the pumped-up crowd.

Fury LOVED IT -- and played along to the crowd as he continued to celebrate his victory over Deontay Wilder.

Tyson had a few marks on his face -- but overall, he looked pretty good ... much better than his last fight anyway (remember, they had to sew his face shut after that gnarly gash).

"Thank you, everybody, for coming to support me," Fury told the crowd ... "God bless!"

Meanwhile, Deontay Wilder has said he wants a 3rd crack at Fury and will exercise the rematch clause in his contract.

No word on when that will take place -- but whenever it happens, ya gotta think Wilder will cool it on the ring walkout costume next time around ... maybe get carried to the stage like Tyson!

Gigi Hadid has no problem standing up for her boyfriend, and she proved it in spectacular fashion early Sunday AM when she launched on Jake Paul.

Jake was at the Fury/Wilder fight Saturday night in Vegas and apparently ran into Zayn Malik. Apparently, Jake felt dissed because afterward he tweeted, "almost had to clap up zane from 1 direction because he is a little guy and has an attitude and basically told me to fuck off for no reason when I was being nice to him.... zane ik you’re reading this... stop being angry cause u came home alone to ur big ass hotel room hahaha."

And, Jake wasn't done ... "bro he literally started yelling and freaking the fuck out  “you wanna test me mate. lol I feel bad for childhood stars."

Gigi was more than ready to jump in ...  "Lol cause he doesn’t care to hang w you and your embarrassing crew of YouTube groupies ..? Home alone with his best friends like a respectful king cause he has me, sweetie. Unbothered by your irrelevant ugly ass. Go to bed."

Tyson Fury ... YOU NASTY!!!

The boxing star not only beat up Deontay Wilder in their heavyweight clash Saturday night -- he LICKED THE BLOOD off Wilder's neck during the fight!!

31-year-old Fury had dominated from the start -- teeing off on the Bronze Bomber (and likely busting his eardrum in the process) in their highly anticipated rematch.

Wilder was dripping blood all over the place -- and during the 6th round, Fury flicked out his tongue and began licking the blood off of Wilder's bloody neck!!!!

It was super gross -- and Fury loved it.

Wilder's corner ultimately threw in the towel in Round 7 -- it was clear Deontay just didn't have it Saturday night.

After the fight, Fury's crazy antics continued ... he grabbed the mic and sang Don McLean's "American Pie" while encouraging the Vegas crowd to sing along! The place went nuts!

Fury praised Wilder as a great fighter and said he thinks Deontay will be champion again -- but for now, Tyson reminded everyone why he's the "Gypsy King."

Still, the tongue thing was super gross ... your highness.

Andre Ward retired as an undefeated 33-year-old fighter, and the future HOF'er tells us he misses fighting ... so, is there a comeback in the cards for the superstar boxer?

Hell no.

TMZ Sports talked to the now 35-year-old Ward -- who retired in 2017 with a 32-0 record -- about a return to the ring ... and for S.O.G. fans, this ain't good news.

"I hate to bust any bubbles. Do I miss it? Absolutely. Being around a fight week and you kinda get the smells, and the feels and the sights, of course you miss it."

Ward continued ... "Man, I'm a warrior. I been in this game since I was 9 years old, and you definitely have thoughts but they're fleeting. Then you remember all the pain, you remember the training camps, you remember getting hit in the face, you remember all of that stuff, then all the sudden the thoughts go away just like that."

Ward had a stellar career ... he was a multiple-time world champion across 2 weight classes with wins over fighters like Sergey Kovalev (twice).

But these days, Ward says ... "I'm content wearing the suit now, and I'm excited to watch these other guys compete."

The guys he's pumped to watch fight are Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury ... 'cause Ward's working the super-anticipated rematch Saturday night in Vegas.

Here's one of the craziest and most violent in-arena brawls EVER -- courtesy of some fans at Thursday night's L.A. Kings game.

The hometown squad was in a tight matchup with the Florida Panthers ... when one witness tells us he noticed a fight beginning to break out in the Staples Center lower bowl.

You can see in the video what happens next ... a scrap escalates into AN ALL-OUT BRAWL!!

The scene is insane ... there's a woman throwing a FLURRY of right hands to start -- and then things get even crazier.

A shirtless man runs into the scrum with a flying left haymaker ... and then for some reason, a fan dumps popcorn all over the action!!!

It's all followed up by some more punching, pushing and shoving ... before in-arena security is FINALLY able to break it up.

We reached out to our law enforcement sources ... and they tell us it appears no one was arrested ... and say Staples security usually handles this on their own by ejecting fans.

Cardi B is getting sued for allegedly assaulting, striking and spitting on a female security guard, but witnesses saw it differently and feel Cardi was the one wronged.

The woman, named Emani Ellis, filed the lawsuit against Cardi Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. According to the suit, Ellis was at work in Bev Hills on Feb. 24, 2018, when the encounter with Cardi happened.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Ellis alleges Cardi maliciously struck her in the head, face and body. Ellis, who says she's African-American, also claims Cardi spit on her and used profanities and racial slurs.

This all went down in a medical building, and eyewitnesses tell us Cardi had just left an appointment -- and the security guard approached Cardi trying to record video or take photos of her. We're told Cardi asked her to stop because she didn't want to be recorded in the doctor's office.

It's also worth noting ... Cardi had not revealed her pregnancy yet. The date of the incident indicates she would've been about 4 months pregnant with Kulture.

The witnesses tell us the security guard got upset and she and Cardi -- who didn't have security with her at the time -- did get into argument. We're told a building staffer ran out and got in between the guard and Cardi, and things never got physical, and there were no racial slurs.

According to the lawsuit, Cardi "then used her celebrity status to get [Ellis] fired from her job as a security guard." However, a rep for the medical building tells TMZ, Cardi's doctor and patient coordinator were the ones who got the guard fired because they both felt the guard had violated Cardi's privacy. The rep says Cardi gave them permission to release that information.

Deontay Wilder is considered by many the HARDEST PUNCHER of all time ... but Tyson Fury says that's BS, 'cause he's faced someone who hits harder.

TMZ Sports talked to 31-year-old Fury Thursday afternoon, days before his rematch with Wilder ... and we asked about the Bronze Bombers legendary power.

"I'm not so sure [Wilder's the hardest puncher ever], I'm not so sure. He hit me with his best shots, I got back up again. I think Wladimir Klitschko was a massive puncher. Probably a bigger puncher than Deontay Wilder."

W. Klitschko was a beast in the ring ... known for his great knockout power. Fury and Klitschko fought in October 2015 ... and Tyson won by unanimous decision. It was WK's first loss in a decade.

Wladimir finished his career 64-5 ... with 53 KO's.

As for 42-0-1 Wilder, he's got 41 wins by knockout ... KO'ing all but 2 of his opponents.

When Fury and Wilder fought last year, Deontay knocked Tyson down twice ... but Fury somehow managed to get back to his feet. The bout ended in a draw.

The 2 massive heavyweights settle their beef Saturday night in Vegas ... and Fury says it's gonna be him doing the knocking out.

"I think the judges can do a good job, and will do a good job. But, I'm going out there anyway to knock him out," Tyson says.

What was supposed to be a display of sportsmanship turned into an all-out BRAWL at a college basketball game in Texas ... when things got violent in the post-game handshake line!

Prairie View A&M had just defeated the Jackson State Tigers in a home game in Waller County -- but things had been chippy between the teams during regulation.

Things finally exploded in the handshake line when Jackson State's Dontelius Ross took exception with PV's Darius Williams ... who appeared to have bumped Ross during the handshakes.

Ross was PISSED and immediately tried running after Williams, but his teammates and a police officer used all of their might to hold him back.

But it didn't end there ... another fight broke out on the opposite side of the court involving other players and, again, officials raced on to the court to break it up.

It doesn't appear anyone was injured in the fracas -- but you can bet there will repercussions ... most likely suspensions to come soon.

Crazy night.

H.S. hockey players in Illinois turned themselves into human missiles over the weekend, launching their bodies at each other in a wild brawl ... and footage of the fight is insane.

Evanston's varsity squad was facing off with Lake Forest on Saturday at a local college rink in the Chicago area ... when a fight broke out and escalated IN A HURRY.

You can see in the video ... there's pushing and shoving. At one point, a Lake Forest player LAUNCHED himself into an Evanston player ... who crashed head first into the boards.

Later in the fight, ANOTHER Lake Forest player did the same thing ... violently throwing his body at the pile and sending two Evanston players crashing to the ice.

In another angle of the scrap ... you can see the massive magnitude of the brawl -- with haymakers, wrestling and pulling going down all over the rink.

Eventually, order was restored ... but it's unclear if any injuries were suffered. It's also unclear what started the melee. We reached out to reps from both programs, but so far, no word back yet.

In a bulletin post on Evanston's website Tuesday ... an official wrote, "Dear All - please do not share photos or videos from last weekend's game."

Hayden Panettiere's boyfriend's been hauled off to jail again for allegedly putting hands on her -- this time in Wyoming ... on Valentine's Day.

The ex-"Nashville" star's BF, Brian Hickerson, was arrested around 2:30 AM on Valentine's Day, after the couple had a fight and he struck her "with a closed fist on the right side of her face" ... according to cops.

The Teton County Sheriff's Office was notified of a disturbance at a private residence in Jackson. The caller said an intoxicated male was locked out of the home because he punched his girlfriend in the face.

When deputies arrived, they found Brian in the driveway, and according to docs obtained by TMZ ... he allegedly told them Hayden was in the house "saying he beat the f*** out of me." Cops say he avoided answering if he had punched Hayden, but claimed he hired a private chef to stick around so he "wouldn't be accused of bulls**t."

Cops talked to the chef on the phone, and he said he left a little after 1 AM -- but claims he witnessed the couple arguing earlier in the night.

According to the docs, Hayden told cops she and Brian were in their bedroom when he started throwing her around and punched her. Cops say her face was red and swollen, and she also had a scrape and swelling on her left hand -- which she believed came from Hickerson's watch during the altercation.

The deputies heard enough to book Hickerson for domestic battery. He was also hit with a second charge of interfering with a police officer for allegedly refusing to identify himself.

When we last spoke with Hayden in November, she told us everything was well between Brian and her -- intimating they'd moved past his felony domestic violence arrest earlier in 2019.

We broke the story ... the couple allegedly got into an altercation at their L.A. home that left red marks on Hayden's body, and police arrested Brian for it. However, the case was later dismissed for not being able to secure a "material witness" -- AKA, Hayden.

Hickerson was also involved in a domestic incident in late 2018 ... with his father. Hayden was there for that one too. She's been dating Brian for about a year and a half.

Ryan Garcia was still TURNT ALL THE WAY UP at his victory party following his KO of Francisco Fonseca ... telling the crowd, "How about that f**king left hook?!"

Just hours after the 21-year-old boxing superstar put together another highlight-reel performance, Garcia and his crew celebrated at a house party in Orange County.

Garcia -- who barely broke a sweat -- grabbed the mic and thanked everybody in the crowd for supporting him in his meteoric rise to boxing stardom ... saying, "This is a team effort."

He also talked about the crazy work ethic that helped him become the WBC silver lightweight champ -- saying, he busts his ass "every f**king day!"

Garcia is 20-0 with 17 knockouts ... and his last 2 fights have lasted a grand total of 2 minutes and 58 seconds!

So, what's next for Garcia? His promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, says he's already reserved the Staples Center for a fight with former world champion Jorge Linares.

After that ... Garcia has said he wants everyone from Gervonta "Tank" Davis to Devin Haney.