Fights

Khabib Nurmagomedov wrestles bears, mauls human beings and is by all rights the scariest fighter on the planet.

But the 145-pound UFC champ, Max Holloway, ain't even a little intimidated -- telling TMZ Sports he'd be happy to move up a weight class to throw down with the Russian monster.

"That’s the kind of guy you want to fight to cement your legacy," Max said. "If you wanna be the best you gotta beat the best."

Even Tyron Woodley -- the UFC 170-pound champ -- doesn't want anything to do with Khabib ... so props to Max for being a badass.

Move over, Floyd Mayweather ... Oscar De La Hoya says he's the guy to partner with Dana White to book "the biggest fights" in boxing -- if the UFC prez will give him a damn call!

You've probably heard -- Dana says he's gonna promote boxing in 2018 ... and told us he's meeting with the sport's more powerful people (including Floyd) to make it happen.

But one guy he hasn't hit up is Oscar -- and De La Hoya doesn't seem too happy about it.

"It's surprising he wants to get into boxing and hasn't gotten a hold of the biggest promoter in the sport," DLH told TMZ Sports out in L.A., where he was promoting his Casa Mexico tequila.

But Oscar -- who we shot earlier this week -- says he's still open to doing business ... unless White wants to play hardball.

"It's gonna be very hard to try and do what he did with the UFC because there's a little company by the name of Golden Boy Promotions is in the way."

Jerry Rice's daughter, Jada, claims her NFL player ex-boyfriend, Jeremy Liggins, choked her during an argument at an Indiana hotel last month ... but he denies the accusation, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to the police report, Rice, 21, and Liggins -- a 24-year-old DT who was on the Colts at the time -- got into a verbal fight early in the morning on December 16 after a night of clubbing. Rice was upset about other women approaching Liggins throughout the night.

Rice claims she confronted Liggins around 2 AM and the argument turned physical ... with him shoving her. Rice says she then grabbed his gold chain, destroying it in the process.

In fear for her safety, Rice says she fled to the bathroom ... but Liggins followed, breaking down the door before grabbing her by her hair and dragging her into the bedroom.

Ronda Rousey may be an all-time great inside the Octagon -- but WWE superstar Enzo Amore says it's gonna be a painful transition for her if and when she steps into the ring.

"She's in for a rude awakening," Enzo told TMZ Sports.

"You ever been put through a table, slammed on concrete? It's a different ball game."

Don't get it twisted -- Enzo respects the hell outta Ronda ... and even told us she's got the tools to be a kick-ass pro wrestler.

That said, when we told him about Rousey's private meeting with Triple H -- a sign that a deal might be close -- he wanted to make it clear that crossing over to wrestling is no joke.

He ain't lying ...

The guy who attacked Harvey Weinstein lied when he said Weinstein was belligerent when he asked for a photo ... and audio obtained by TMZ proves it.

TMZ broke the story, Weinstein was eating dinner at a Scottsdale, Arizona restaurant when a guy named Steve walked up to him, asked for a photo and was turned down. As both Weinstein and Steve left the restaurant Steve slapped him twice.

Steve told us when he first saw Weinstein and asked for a selfie the fallen movie mogul was extremely rude. A restaurant manager told us Weinstein was actually "sweet" to the guy but politely said he would rather not take a pic during his meal.

Harvey Weinstein was on the receiving end of 2 backhanded slaps to the face ... that's what the newly-obtained video shows.

TMZ broke the story ... Weinstein was dining Tuesday night at Elements restaurant in Scottsdale when a guy named Steve approached him and asked for a photo. Steve tells TMZ Weinstein was belligerent and said no, while a restaurant manager says Weinstein was "sweet" and politely declined.

Steve and Weinstein shook hands and sat down, but this video shows what happened when they were both leaving the restaurant around 9 PM. Although the restaurant manager says Steve's hands never landed on Weinstein's face, you clearly see and hear Steve make contact twice, as he calls Weinstein "a piece of s***."

Steve told us he'd had "quite a bit to drink," and instructed his friend to record video as he walked up to Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein was attacked Tuesday night at a restaurant ... TMZ has learned.

Weinstein was at Elements restaurant at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort in Scottsdale, eating dinner with his sober coach when 2 men sat at a table next to them.

One of the men -- Steve -- tells TMZ he walked up to Weinstein and told him he loved his movies and would like to take a photo with him. Steve says Weinstein became belligerent and told him to buzz off. The manager of the restaurant says Weinstein was not belligerent -- she says to the contrary he was "very sweet about it" and said, "I'd rather not take a picture right now." The manager says the two shook hands and Steve went back to his table.

At around 9 PM, Weinstein and his sober coach got up to leave at the same time Steve and his dinner companion were leaving. Steve tells TMZ he had "quite a bit to drink," told his friend to fire up his cell phone and shoot video of what was about to happen.

Steve says he walked up to Weinstein and said, "You're such a piece of s*** for what you did to these women," and then punched him in the face twice. He says Weinstein stumbled backward and almost fell.

A restaurant manager says neither attempted punch connected, and the guy was drunk and out of control.

Newsflash for Rich the Kid's road manager -- urine big trouble ... but he probably knows that already because he got busted at LAX after a bathroom-related incident on the flight.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... the rapper allegedly got up to use the bathroom moments after his American Airlines flight touched down Tuesday in L.A., but before it reached the gate.

We're told flight attendants told Rich he needed to sit back down while they were taxiing, but he refused and then his road manager got involved. He allegedly got into an argument with flight attendants and threatened, "I will cut your head off."

Police met both men at the gate, and RtK posted video of the interaction, claiming he'd been racially profiled. Rich was not arrested, but his road manager was booked for misdemeanor criminal threats.

American Airlines denies any racial profiling went down.

The Dave Chappelle fan who caught a beating, allegedly at the hands of Donnell Rawlings, will not get the justice he initially sought ... and it's his own fault.

Sources familiar with the case tell us ... prosecutors were trying to build a prosecutable case against Donnell for the incident that went down last August after Chappelle's show. The fan -- Thurston Greer -- claims all he did was ask Dave for a selfie and the comedian said no, so Greer went outside and began going off on Facebook Live when Donnell beat his ass.

Dave and Donnell say the guy tried to take pics in the bathroom and persisted outside the hotel. Donnell says he didn't touch the guy. Watch the video and judge for yourself.

We're told law enforcement was collecting evidence, but the case has now hit a brick wall ... Greer has gone MIA and is no longer returning calls from the police and seems unwilling to cooperate.

Under these circumstances -- especially since there are multiple witnesses who tell a different story than Greer -- it's all, but case closed.

Meghan Markle's not the only one in her family planning a wedding -- but her half-brother's might be on hold after his fiancee got busted for assaulting him.

Darlene Blount was arrested in Oregon Sunday night -- just before midnight, actually -- after what cops describe as a booze-fueled altercation. Blount was booked for 4th degree assault about 4 hours into 2018. Happy new year!

Darlene is engaged to Thomas Markle, Meghan's half-brother. They have the same father, but don't appear to be close anymore. Thomas told the Daily Mail -- which first reported the arrest -- he hasn't seen Meghan since 2011 when she moved to take her role in "Suits."

Tyron Woodley says UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov scares the living hell outta him ... and he ain't too happy his TMZ co-host's trying to play matchmaker with 'em.

On this week's episode of "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- the UFC welterweight champ reveals his very real fear of Khabib ... who absolutely mauled Edson Barboza at UFC 219.

So once Tyron found out we asked Khabib about a potential throw-down, his reaction was pretty much what you'd expect.

"Why you gonna stick this maniac on me?! Don't try to throw me in there with a dude who's fighting bears!!!"

That's not a joke. A young Khabib REALLY WRESTLED BEARS.

Also on the Beatdown, Woodley reveals a huge NFL star he's bringing to the big screen ... and explains why Logan Paul should get smacked.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was an emotional wreck after accidentally kicking UFC star Cody Garbrandt in the mouth during an MMA training session ... so says Urijah Faber, who was there!

It all went down back in November -- when JCVD flew up to NorCal to give some leg striking lessons to the fighters at Team Alpha Male.

Faber says Van Damme accidentally kicked Cody in the teeth -- and Cody was PISSED. Van Damme "dropped down and got real emotional" and desperately tried to apologize to the former champ.

Faber explains how the two guys eventually smoothed things over -- and the whole interview will be featured Thursday night on the "TMZ Sports" TV show on FS1.

Don't miss it!

Gabi Garcia says she's got a damn good reason for missing weight in Japan ... she literally could've killed herself if she kept droppin' sweat.

"I decide not cut weight because I feeling like I almost died," said Gabi -- who insists she did NOT miss weight by 27 pounds, but rather 17.

The Brazilian MMA star told TMZ Sports about the scary events leading up to her weigh-in debacle ... saying her vision went dark once she started shedding pounds, which told her it was time to call it quits.

In a social media post, Garcia also said she suffered from gnarly headaches and bloody noses anytime she trained.

Still, Gabi feels terrible for having to scrap her fight with Shinobu Kandori ... and told us she's gonna learn from this and come back stronger.

"I accept this fight. It's my fault."

The daughter of former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke allegedly yelled at a woman, "Hurry up, Jew" ... and then bashed her son with a purse.

She was arrested ... and there's video of the crazy aftermath.

The woman who wound up in cuffs is 29-year-old Jacqueline Kent Cooke -- her dad owned the NFL team from '61 to '97. He also owned the Lakers from '65 to '79. The family is rich as hell.

Fast-forward to New Year's Eve when Cooke allegedly got pissed off while waiting for her coat at Caravaggio restaurant in Manhattan ... and yelled at the 77-year-old woman in front of her, "Hurry up, Jew. I got places to be."

The situation escalated and the woman's son -- 52-year-old Matthew Haberkorn told the NY Daily News he followed Cooke and her boyfriend outside to confront them about the comments.

That's when Cooke allegedly struck Haberkorn with her glass purse -- causing 2 lacerations on his head.

The video begins right after the alleged purse strike ... you can hear Matthew say, "She just f*cking hit me!"

Cooke responds, "You called me a f*cking bitch. You called me a c*nt."

Matthew fired back, "You called me a f*cking Jew.”

Cooke then tries to tackle him to the ground. She fails. Cooke's boyfriend yells out, "What are you doing? You're throwing a woman on the floor."

Matthew responds, "I didn't f*cking touch her."

Rah Ali tried to exact vengeance against her archenemy and reality TV foe, Sky, in a sneak attack at Diddy's New Year's Eve "Black Excellence" party ... but Sky quickly caught on.

TMZ has obtained video of a fight between VH1's 'Love & Hip Hop' star and "Black Ink Crew" bruiser Sunday night at Diddy's crib in Miami, as the 2 met up on the black carpet.

You see Rah says "hi" to Sky, and then acts like she's going in for a hug ... before grabbing the back of Sky's head in an aggressive manner. Sky immediately starts hitting back, and the pair falls into Diddy's Ciroc backdrop before being broken up.

This ain't the first time the 2 reality stars came to blows -- they went at it in 2016 after getting into an Instagram beef about eyelash endorsements ... yep.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley had a messed up New Year's Eve -- he and his wife were escorted out of a bar during an NYE scuffle ... with Todd reportedly injuring his hip in the process.

The Pittsburgh Police Dept. have confirmed cops were called to the Tequila Cowboy restaurant just after midnight "for a minor scuffle involving Haley's wife."

"The scuffle was quickly ended. Todd Haley was not involved nor injured. Todd and Christine Haley were escorted out. No injuries. No charges."

But the drama continued OUTSIDE the bar, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport who says Todd was shoved to the ground in a 2nd altercation.

The Pittsburgh Steelers confirmed Todd was injured -- but expect him to return to work this week.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Haley's not the first Steelers coach to be involved in a bar fight -- last January, Joey Porter was arrested outside of a Pittsburgh bar after getting into it with a bouncer. He eventually pled guilty to disorderly conduct.