Fights

Cancel Saturday's main event and give Joaquin Buckley the W ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned viral D.U.S.T. self-defense star, Commander Dale Brown is cornering the UFC star at Fight Night.

And, let's be honest ... he ain't losin' with Commander Brown by his side.

The soon-to-be 14-4 MMA fighter recently hit up Brown -- known for his awesome/viral self-defense videos -- and actually traveled to his Detroit Urban Surviving Training school last month to learn some moves.

FYI, Brown's popularity exploded after Odell Beckham Jr. paid tribute to him during the NFL season ... mimicking one of the commander's moves after scoring a touchdown.

Cleary, it went well ... and when Buckley had an open spot Octagon-side for his fight against Abdul Razak Alhassan, he asked Brown.

"He thought of me as soon as they needed another cornerman," Dale told us when we spoke to him on Thursday.

"Super excited and honored to be chosen by a respected talented pro-MMA fighter that was so impressed by my urban survival tactical training system after he tested it that he wanted me on his team as the first 'survival tactics cornerman.'"

Brown tells us he got his license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission last week ... and is anxious for Buckley to show off some exclusive D.U.S.T moves.

"There are going to be surprise tactics never seen before used in the MMA UFC Octagon," Brown says.

"This collaboration is going to be totally unexpected and these new Detroit survival tactics will be just as unexpected."

That's scary ... Buckley is already electrifying in the cage. In fact, he became an overnight sensation after he executed one of the best head kick KOs ever.

Watch Buckley fight Alhassan -- with Commander Brown looking on -- Saturday afternoon on UFC Fight Night.

DaBaby is dealing with more fallout from his bowling alley beatdown of his baby mama's brother ... because now he's facing a lawsuit.

DaniLeigh's brother, Brandon Bills, is suing the rapper over their recent fight at a SoCal bowling alley.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Brandon claims he walked by DaBaby in the bowling alley when DaBaby suddenly attacked him, leaving him with severe injury and pain.

Brandon claims he didn't fight back ... and says DaBaby's assault resulted in physical and psychological damage, plus medical bills and sustained disability.

As we reported, the brawl was caught on camera ... with the fight spilling into bowling lanes. Law enforcement says they're now investigating DaBaby for assault with a deadly weapon, because Brandon was kicked in the head while on the ground.

DaBaby's already claimed it was self-defense ... and he's been banned from the bowling alley, Corbin Bowl, in Topanga, CA.

DaniLeigh's bro is suing DaBaby for assault, battery, emotional distress and negligence.

Ryan Garcia -- one of the best young boxing talents in the world -- is opening up on his serious mental health struggles ... admitting at one point, he felt like killing himself.

"When I was deep in it, I didn't think I was gonna live," Garcia said in an interview with Dan Canobbio on "Inside Boxing Live." "I was so depressive and I went to bad habits. I started drinking, and I never drink, ever."

He continued ... "But I was getting drunk all the time. I wanted to kill myself at one point."

Remember, the 23-year-old undefeated boxing star withdrew from his scheduled bout against Javier Fortuna last April ... expressing he needed a break to focus on his "mental health and well-being."

Ryan's last professional fight was January 2021 against Luke Campbell ... when he defeated him via knockout in the seventh round.

Garcia knew he needed a break when his thoughts were so scattered that his mind felt paralyzed at the time. The champ said he couldn't even begin to describe the torment he was experiencing.

"It was so bad, so intense, that I thought maybe I just rather not be here,'" Garcia said. "I didn’t understand what was going on. I needed professional help."

Ryan said he knows his depression stemmed from mismanaging stress -- like taking on too many things at once ... and not having the right support system in place around him.

Thankfully, RG received the help he needed ... and said he's feeling great.

Garcia returns to the ring April 9 ... where he will fight Emmanuel Tagoe.

Moniece Slaughter is being ordered to stay the hell away from some folks who claim the "Love & Hip Hop" star attacked them at Cardi B's birthday party.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... two partygoers just got permanent restraining orders against Moniece.

As we reported ... Moniece was accused of going on the offensive at the birthday bash for Cardi back in October, allegedly throwing punches and drinks.

Moniece's accusers beelined it to court, claiming she was using her celebrity to harass them and smear their names with false allegations, and a judge signed off on a temporary restraining order.

Now, the restraining order has been granted for 2 years ... and it requires Moniece to keep at least 100 yards away from her alleged victims and bars her from contacting or harassing them.

Akon's ex, Tricia Ana, is nursing a serious injury after brawling at a Hollywood Hills bash, and when the dust settled she was bloodied and missing her bling ... TMZ has learned.

An eyewitness tells TMZ ... the 'Love & Hip Hop' star was partying with a bunch of folks last weekend and, as you can see in the video, not all of 'em were friends. We're told that Tricia, wearing white, got into a heated argument with the woman in a denim jacket ... but it quickly turned into hand-to-hand combat.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... things escalated inside the house before the fight spilled outside with both women exchanging blow after blow.

At one point in the video, you can see Tricia's necklace on the ground ... and moments later it's gone. It appears a guy in white and green pants grabbed it during all the chaos.

We're told the icy jewelry is worth more than $15k!!!

Our sources say a third person got involved when the fight continued outside, and that's when Tricia was sliced across the face. She was taken to a hospital where she got about 20 stitches ... and law enforcement was alerted.

We're told cops are investigating the brawl, but no arrests have been made yet.

TMZ obtained new footage of the Kodak Black shooting that shows the lead-up to the gunfire and what appears to be the weapon.

You see Kodak standing with Gunna and Lil Baby, posing for photos and casually chatting with one another early Saturday morning outside Justin Bieber's after-party at The Nice Guy.

You see Gunna walk behind Kodak and whispers something in his ear. Kodak turns his head and nods and says something back.

Gunna walks away and gets in his SUV and closes the door. At that point, someone yells, "Oh S***. What?!?" As the camera swings around you see several people, including Kodak, race toward someone.

We froze the video so you could see what appears to be a gun.

At that point, Kodak swings at someone, and then gunshots ring out. Kodak turns and stumbles backward.

4 people, including Kodak, were hit by bullets, but everyone is expected to be OK. Kodak was hit in the leg, taken to the hospital and listed in stable condition.

The shooter is still at large.

Nate Diaz, one of the most badass and beloved fighters in MMA history, tells TMZ Sports he wants to fight Dustin Poirier ASAP -- in what'll be his last fight ever -- before retiring from MMA.

We talked to the 36-year-old superstar from Stockton at Shaq's Fun House party in L.A. Friday night ... and asked Nate, who has 1 fight left on his UFC contract, who he wants to be his final opponent.

"I would like to fight Dustin Poirier. Like now. Like I've been trying to. If there's any mix-up it's him, and them, and the game," Diaz said.

"I want the fight now. What's up Dana White? Let's get this retirement fight cracking so I can get out of this fight game. I'm done with it."

It's bittersweet for Nate fans ... and he's got millions of 'em. A fight with Dustin would be big ... especially since Diaz says it'll be the last of his future Hall of Fame career.

A career where Nate's beaten everyone from Conor McGregor to Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone ... all while being one of the most real dudes in sports.

We asked Nate ... how would the fight with DP go down?

"He ain't doing s*** to me. I'll tell ya that much," Nate said.

Bottom line -- Diaz has made it clear he wants to fight Dustin. Now, the ball's in Poirier's court.

As for Nate's future ... even though he won't be fighting, he'll still be around. He's got a successful clothing label, Represent, and his protege, undefeated Nick Maximov is one of the UFC's best prospects.

UFC 271 goes down tomorrow night ... but Joe Rogan won't be behind the mic, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

We're told the world's most famous podcaster has a scheduling conflict leaving him unable to work the fights. Michael Bisping is taking Rogan's place for Saturday's event ... which airs on ESPN+ PPV.

Of course, the JRE host has been under fire for weeks ... starting with supposed "misinformation" spread through his immensely popular podcast. Then, last weekend a compilation video of Joe using the n-word from several years back spread across the Internet.

Rogan apologized ... but also described the situation as a "political hit job."

After the news broke, there was speculation ESPN and/or the UFC pulled Rogan.

However, our ESPN sources tell us that's not true. They say they have nothing to do with the lineup of commentators. As for the UFC, Joe is generally beloved by the company ... and we're told they did NOT pull him.

Bottom line, our sources are telling us Joe had a scheduling conflict ... and it was his decision to miss the fights.

The card's main event features a fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker ... from the Toyota Center in Houston, TX.

New Orleans Saints legend Willie Roaf is clearly disappointed with Alvin Kamara's arrest ... telling TMZ Sports the star running back just "can't do that, man."

The Hall of Famer said outside of a Super Bowl party at Academy in L.A. on Wednesday that even though the facts might not all be out surrounding the case at the moment, he's still pretty sure Kamara could've handled himself differently in Las Vegas last weekend.

"Whatever the situation was at the elevator -- you can't do that," Roaf said. "You can't do that, man."

"You just have to watch your environment. Probably some drinks involved, but, you know, you just can't do that."

As we reported, Kamara was arrested on Sunday after he allegedly beat up a man outside of an elevator at a Vegas hotel on Saturday.

In the police report, cops say Kamara was seen on video punching the man several times.

Roaf explained he doesn't necessarily think Kamara should be suspended over the alleged incident ... but he did add, "I know he needs to learn from this."

Dana White shared some graphic photos of Kamaru Usman's open hand surgery on Monday -- and, WARNING, you better be done with breakfast before clicking on the pics!!

Usman had to head under the knife after he jacked up his hand in a sparring sesh just weeks before he beat Colby Covington at UFC 268 in November -- and the procedure was clearly no cakewalk.

You can see in the photos that White shared -- docs had to open up the top of Usman's right hand with some beefy utensils to repair the damage.

The before and after pics are gruesome -- they show docs cutting into the hand to fix it all up.

Despite the gnarly nature of the injury, White expressed optimism for a quick recovery -- saying in the caption that he'd see Usman "soon."

As for Kamaru, he posted a video from the hospital bed Monday ... clearly showing he ain't going to let the operation hold him back too much.

No official word on when the Nigerian Nightmare will return to action ... but his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told us recently he'd like to see the fighter take on Leon Edwards next.

Tyga just got some more good news in his domestic violence case ... we've learned he will NOT be hit with any criminal charges, as long as he stays out of trouble.

Tyga's case has been set for a hearing with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, where he'll sit down with prosecutors to talk about how to better handle domestic disputes in the future.

That's the educational part of this ... the other caveat is Tyga's got to keep his close nose clean, legally speaking, for the next year. If he doesn't, prosecutors could end up filing misdemeanor charges in the case -- so, they're still dangling that carrot.

TMZ broke the story ... Tyga was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in October after his ex-girlfriend, Camaryn Swanson, accused him of putting his hands on her when they got in an argument at the rapper's home.

Tyga turned himself in to police and his bail was set at $50k.

The allegations haven't stopped Tyga from spending time with Camaryn -- as we previously reported, the exes are easing back into hanging out again.

"Khamzat is fighting all these little ass guys, but I'd like to fight him next."

That's rising star Nick Maximov talking to TMZ Sports at Planet Hollywood in Vegas hours after his UFC Fight Night win, calling out one of the most feared guys in the UFC ... undefeated 27-year-old, Chechen-born fighter Khamzat Chimaev.

But, it's not just Borz who's never lost ... 'cause Maximov, a Nate Diaz protégé, is a perfect 8-0, and has fought some super tough prospects -- something Nick says Chimaev has NOT done.

"Why are people scared? He hasn't shown anything to be scared about, cause he hasn't fought any wrestlers. He's a wrestler that hasn't fought any wrestlers. So, I'm like, 'what the f**k, fight me then!'"

Speaking of tough fights ... Nick was the co-main event on Saturday, and defeated Puna Soriano by split decision.

"It's my second UFC fight, I'm the co-main event. Second UFC fight, I'm fighting all these top prospects with either zero losses or 1 loss. I'm like, 'why am I fighting all these hard-ass guys?' No one else is doing that. Not Paddy Pimblett. Not Sean O'Malley."

But, Maximov continues to win ... and believes he will be champion inside a year.

We asked ... can you beat Adesanya?

"Easily. I think I can take anyone in the top 5," Maximov says.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is 29-0. BJ Penn is 16-14.

But, it's NOT the undefeated fighter from Dagestan who is the greatest MMA fighter to ever step in a cage, according to 38-year-old former UFC champ Benson Henderson, who tells TMZ Sports Penn is the G.O.A.T.!

"That's easy, hands down BJ. Not even close. You don't even gotta say his full name, just one word. BJ, and you know who it is. The greatest lightweight all-time, without a doubt, hands down BJ Penn."

Of course, BJ and Khabib -- both now retired -- had very different careers.

Penn started his pro career at the highest level ... in the UFC. He fought everyone from Matt Serra (win, 2002), Matt Hughes (win, 2004), Renzo Gracie (win, 2004), Georges St. Pierre (loss, 2006), Diego Sanchez (win, 2009) and Nick Diaz (loss, 2011). BJ had a rough end to his career ... losing his last 7 fights.

As for Nurmagomedov ... he never lost a single fight. But, Khabib didn't come to the UFC until 2012. However, when he got there ... he literally and figurately kicked everyone's ass.

The Eagle's last 6 fights, all dubs, came against Michael Johnson (2016), Edson Barboza (2017), Al Iaquinta (2018), Conor McGregor (2018), Dustin Poirier (2019) and Justin Gaethje (2020). After the scrap with Justin, Nurmagomdeov walked away from the sport.

We said ... a lot of people believe the Eagle is the GOAT.

Benson's response?

"Out of those 29 and 0 Khabib fought, go look up the records of the 29 people he beat and then go look at the records of guys BJ beat. Go look at the records the guys BJ lost to. Go look at where they fought."

No hesitation there ... for his money, Penn is the best.

And, speaking of money ... we also asked Benson -- a Bellator free agent -- about his future career plans. Does he plan to retire? Fight for another organization like Khabib's Eagle FC?

A man has been tracked down and arrested in connection to the SoFi Stadium parking lot fight that left a man hospitalized in a medically induced coma, officials say.

Inglewood mayor James Butts Jr. announced the new development on Thursday ... saying a Montebello man was traced to his home using surveillance footage that started in the SoFi lot.

Butts claims the footage shows 40-year-old Daniel Luna allegedly pushing a man in a Rams jersey from behind. The man who was pushed then retaliated, the mayor says -- shoving Luna and punching him in the face.

Butts says Luna fell to the ground ... and that's where he remained until he was found by a stadium employee.

As we previously reported, officials were criticized for seemingly dragging their feet in sharing the news about the attack ... with some believing it was to prevent a PR nightmare prior to the Super Bowl.

SoFi Stadium released a statement on the beatdown ... saying, "We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna's friends and family during this difficult time."

"We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation.''

The 49ers also released a statement ... saying, "What happened to Daniel Luna is reprehensible and we strongly condemn all violence."

"We know local authorities are conducting a full investigation and we're here to support them however we can."

"Our thoughts and prayers go to Mr. Luna, his family, friends, and the medical team providing him care.''

The identity of the person -- and the charges they were booked on -- are not yet clear.

Scary moment during a WWE NXT UK match Thursday ... Blair Davenport suffered a gnarly leg injury after she jumped off the top rope and landed on the ground awkwardly.

Davenport was competing against fellow wrestling star Meiko Satomura in a Japanese Street Fight for the NXT UK Women's Championship ... when disaster struck.

During the match, Blair climbed to the top of a ring post, jumped, and then slammed her feet onto the back of Meiko, who was outstretched on the apron.

But, when Davenport hit the ground just after that, you can see in video, her ankle and knee crumpled below her body.

Davenport was hurt so badly, she screamed in pain. The ref then immediately ended the match.

"This is really hard to see," one announcer said. "When any competitor gets hurt, regardless of how physical this match was, it's tough to watch."

Satomura -- the reigning champ -- looked concerned the entire time while Davenport received assistance from the medical staff.

Blair posted an update on her Twitter account following the match ... showing a picture of her on crutches and in a walking boot.

"Whoops😬 BRB ✌" she said.

"Women weaken legs" ... unless you're Chad Johnson, who says he literally had sex THREE TO FIVE TIMES the night of his boxing match at Hard Rock Stadium, and then stepped in the ring with a professional fighter!

Seriously. And he looked pretty damn good during the fight.

The 44-year-old 6x Pro Bowler sat down for Brandon Marshall's "I Am Athlete" show ... and admitted to the guys he did it multiple times right before his June 2021 bout against pro fighter, Brian Maxwell.

"We did three times, maybe four to five times in three-minute intervals," Chad said, as Brandon sat and listened in disbelief.

Chad says he had pent-up nervousness after arriving at the venue ... and that's when he turned to everybody's favorite relation technique.

Knockin' boots.

Of course, many athletes -- especially boxers -- abstain from sex for days, weeks, or even months leading up to their fights ... as many people believe it severely hampers athletic performance. Sex right before a fight is unheard of.

"Matter of fact, I had to be at the stadium at Hard Rock," Chad said. "I think I fought at 8 o'clock. I needed to get that out of my system to relax me."

#85 went on ... "And it put me in a sense of, a state of calmness going into war. That's fighting. I'm out of my element stepping in a ring with someone that fights for a living."

And from the sound of it ... Chad thinks it helped him in the ring.

"Getting that up out of me was the best thing to do for me," Johnson said, prompting an amused Brandon (who's been boxing for years) to make sure he heard Chad right, asking ...  "You had sex the day of the fight?"

Marshall joked Chad tasted canvass in the fourth round (Maxwell dropped him with a vicious right hook) due to exhaustion from the pre-fight activities.

"That's why your ass got tired in four rounds."

The full interview Monday on IAA's YouTube channel ... where Brandon, Chad, and the rest of the guys chop it up about life as a professional athlete -- from women, money, and entourages to eating habits and working out.