Fights

This photo shows how scary it must have been for Dave Chappelle Tuesday night at the Hollywood Bowl, because the gun/knife that was thrust toward him looked like it could have fatal consequences.

The knife is affixed to the barrel of the gun, like a bayonet. As we reported, the gun was a replica but the knife is real ... real deadly if the attacker had actually used it when he jumped on stage and lunged at Dave, slamming him to the ground.

The big question ... how on earth did the 23-year-old assailant get the gun/knife past the metal detector? Our LAPD sources say there was one entrance area where the metal detector could be circumvented. That itself is a HUGE problem.

As you know, a bunch of people, including Jamie Foxx and Busta Rhymes, pounded on the guy ... who was injured and taken to the hospital. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

Dave continued his show and was uninjured, but he was clearly shaken up.

The moment Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage in front of thousands of fans was crazy as hell ... so says former NFL star Marcellus Wiley who tells TMZ Sports he was in the building for the whole thing!!

We spoke with the star of FS1's "Speak For Yourself" ... who wasn't the only celeb in attendance, and he told us the scary incident unfolded right in front of his own eyes.

"Yea, I was in the building man, and it was crazy to be there," Wiley said. "Lot of stars in the building, but the moment it occurred is crazy 'cause it was time to leave. Dave was leaving the stage and coming back for an encore."

Wiley says he was eagerly awaiting the musical act Chappelle was introducing, Black Star, when suddenly, a guy from the crowd rushed the stage and attacked the comedian.

"Now, I'm gonna say he missed his moment, too, because he missed that tackle," the ex-NFL star said. "As a former football player, he could have got a lot cleaner hit, but he's not a former linebacker. But, he tackled Dave, and then next thing you know, the dude gets up, takes off running thinking he Barry Sanders."

He continued ... "And boy, that's when security started working. About 50 people -- including Dave, Jamie Foxx -- you just saw everyone just bum rush this dude in the corner right in the back. It took about 3-5 minutes to finally get the dude out of there. It was a lot of elbows, a lot of stomping, and a lot of people who were upset at that moment."

Of course, we had to ask Marcellus if he initially believed the attack was fake ... a skit of sorts aimed at poking fun at Will Smith's attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.

"In the moment I was like, 'Yo, that's crazy,'" Wiley said. "Then I was like 'Yo, that's some Will Smith stuff.'" Wiley admits he thought Chappelle was making light of the Smith incident, but quickly realized that wasn't the case when he saw the beatdown the attacker was receiving.

Despite the chaotic scene, Marcellus told us the craziest part of the night wasn't even the guy getting hammered after the failed ambush attack.

The same guy who allegedly rushed Dave Chappelle on stage also used the comedian as the inspiration behind his own rap career ... naming a song after DC.

You heard that right ... Isaiah Lee, the 23-year-old allegedly responsible for the attack, is a self-proclaimed rapper by the name of NoName_Trapper. He actually has a song on his 2020 album titled, "Dave Chapelle' on Spotify.

The song's lyrics are puzzling, mostly repeating, "laugh at you n****s a joke."

Lee also has a decent social media following, with 32k followers, and only follows 80 people ... Dave being one of them. He posted a bizarre video of himself yesterday with a filter to give himself a bloody nose and devil horns.

As we reported, Lee rushed and tackled Dave while he was onstage at The Hollywood Bowl Tuesday night -- holding what we're told was a replica gun and knife.

Dave Chapelle took a hard hit and fell to the ground, before Dave's team stepped in and gave the guy a severe beatdown ... Jamie Foxx was also in the melee, and got some hits in too.

Those of you who wanna see Francis Ngannou box Tyson Fury -- the world's best heavyweight fighter -- ear muffs ... 'cause Dana White tells TMZ Sports it's just silly talk.

"Nobody is beating my door down for this fight. And I love Tyson Fury, I'm friends with Tyson. He's one of the greatest boxers of all time. One of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time going in against one of my MMA guys. We saw this movie before. We know how this story ends," the UFC president plainly told us.

There's been some discussion around Francis and Tyson boxing in the past ... but it really heated up once Ngannou went into the ring following Fury's brutal 6th round knockout of fellow British heavyweight star Dillian Whyte.

The champs in their respective sports exchanged some friendly talk ... and hinted they'd face each other in a hybrid boxing match (say MMA gloves, boxing rules).

The issue for Francis ... he's currently under contract with the UFC. So, in order to box Fury, Dana's got to give the fight his blessing.

And, of course, White's done it before ... allowing, and then promoting, Conor McGregor in his quest to defeat the undefeated legend, Floyd Mayweather.

But, Dana doesn't believe the interest in Ngannou-Fury is anywhere near where it was for McGregor and Mayweather.

"The difference was the Conor-Floyd thing became bigger than -- everywhere I went people were talking about it. All the media was talking about it, fans wanted to see it."

FWIW, according to stats online, Conor and Floyd is the 2nd most bought pay-per-view fight ever ... with 4.2 million buys at $100 a pop.

Dana also mentioned Francis' last fight ... when he took on interim champ Ciryl Gane. Ngannou used more wrestling in that fight against Ciryl -- an incredibly athletic striker -- than ever before in his MMA career. It's also worth noting the UFC champ sustained a serious leg injury leading up to the bout.

As good as Gane is, Fury's boxing ability is so freakin' good it's hard to imagine an MMA fighter, even with otherworldly power like Francis, have the ability to land flush shots on Tyson ... a sentiment with which Dana agrees.

"100% and he just fought Ciryl Gane and wrestled him. Silly conversation."

😬😬😬😬😬😬😬

There's more.

We also talked to Dana about Tuesday's premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 30 (a show near and dear to  ... starring coaches Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña.

The UFC honcho talks about everything from Peña still believing she's the underdog to the Lioness, to Julianna's desire to fight on the same card as her buddy Jon Jones -- something Dana says isn't happening.

The guy who punched Tekashi 6ix9ine in a Miami nightclub says the rapper got exactly what was coming to him ... because the rapper was trying to "bully" him and his friends.

TMZ broke the story ... last week, Tekashi was punched in the back of the head -- a grazing shot, really -- as he was leaving Pilo's Tacos Tequila Garden. Tekashi told us he doesn't know the guy, and claimed there was no prior dispute.

The puncher -- who goes by ItzMrBHN on social media -- tells a different story ... he says he's run into 6ix9ine in the past, they've never liked each other and he's just tired of the artist bullying others.

He claims Tekashi was filming him and a group of friends last week, calling them the "n-word" and saying "p***y" while recording them ... which was evident in videos Tekashi himself posted on his IG stories.

As Tekashi was exiting the club, ItzMrBHN claims a security guard pushed him and stomped on his shoes ... and that set him off.

Floyd Mayweather may be retired from boxing professionally, but he isn't done making money ... in fact, "Money" says he plans to continue making bank into his 90s just like Warren Buffet.

The 45-year-old undefeated boxer posted a sweet video of his young grandson watching "grandpa" train. Floyd wrote the caption of his post to the young boy, and offered him some wise words.

"Grandson, I’m very thankful for your great Granddad teaching me the sweet science of boxing, to hit and not get hit. I believe in working smarter, not harder. I retired from the sport undefeated with all my accolades and on my own terms," Floyd wrote.

"Even in retirement, I’m still able to milk the game of boxing, continuing to make 8 figures or more. I will continue to do exhibition bouts making tons of money and people from all around the world will continue to pay because my hustle is just different."

FYI, Floyd's referring to his dad, Floyd Mayweather Sr., when he says "great Granddad"... a former fighter turned trainer who coached Floyd as he became the world's best and most popular boxer.

Then, Floyd made it clear ... just because he's done fighting professionally, that doesn't mean he's done making money.

"I will continue to do exhibition bouts making tons of money and people from all around the world will continue to pay because my hustle is just different. If Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and the Waltons continue making money in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, then I’m not retiring from making money and I’m younger than all of them."

Of course, Elon, Bill, Jeff, and Warren are 5 of the richest people in the world ... and are all at least 50 years old.

Here's a breakdown of age and money (according to Forbes).

Musk, 50, is the world's richest (known) man ... and has a current net worth of $251 billion.

Bezos, 58, is the third wealthiest person on Earth ... amassing a fortune worth nearly $148 billion.

Gates, 66, is right behind the Amazon founder (BG's 4th wealthiest) ... he's worth $130 billion.

Buffett, 91, is the oldest person Floyd named ... but the 6th wealthiest person hasn't slowed down. The "Wizard of Omaha" is still the Chairman and CEO of his massive holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. Warren is worth $117 billion.

Now, Floyd's wealthy (he once made over $300 million for 30 minutes of work -- see Conor McGregor fight), but not that wealthy, yet.

The man that was allegedly beat up by DaBaby and his crew was apparently throwing the N-word around during his confrontation with the group ... at least according to new video.

The North Carolina rapper posted the footage himself Saturday, which appears to show Gary Prager pacing back and forth on the grounds of the mansion where the alleged beating took place in December ... and sure enough, you hear him scream "n*****s" in a rage.

DB's caption reads, "On today's episode of 'Let's Make DaBaby Look Like a Bad Person'" ... going on to accuse Prager of being a "PROUD white supremacist" ... adding that he (Prager) was "lying to TMZ & LAPD. Not knowing that he's caught on camera."

Later it reads, "These are the type of people y'all validate & let assassinate DaBaby's character." DaBaby also says Prager spat in his face, but the vid doesn't seem to show that.

For starters, nobody lied to us about this story -- DaBaby has, in fact, been charged with felony battery as it relates to this case ... so his beef is actually with Prager and law enforcement officials. DaBaby will have a chance to confront Prager's claims in court.

As for the guy screaming out the slur ... yeah, that's bad. It's unclear if him saying this occurred before or after the alleged assault -- but we suppose it doesn't really matter ... no excuse for invoking racism in any event.

DaBaby apparently thinks this will help make him look better in the public's eye -- but he seems to have bigger issues beyond just this one event, if we're being honest.

There were 2 fights connected to the boxing showdown between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano Saturday night -- the fight in the ring, and the fight between their supporters, Jake Paul and Conor McGregor.

Katie beat Serrano in a split decision at Madison Square Garden. Conor -- true to form -- who's in Katie's corner, zeroed in on Jake on social media, comparing him to deceased BBC personality Jimmy Savile ... a man who was suspected of sexual abuse.

McGregor wrote, "Who the f*** is this jackass in the pink Jimmy Savile glasses?"

Now what a shock, we say jokingly, Jake responded ... "I'm the one who has done more for fighters than you ever have; the one who has won five fights in the past two years while you have lost five."

Jake wasn't done ... "The one who isn’t owned by Dana White, the one who made the fight you just watched happen, the one who got your hero Katie Taylor paid, that’s who."

McGregor's comeback ... a pic of Savile sporting pink glasses similar to the ones Jake wore at the Garden.

The 2 have been trash talking for months now, and ya gotta think a fight would line both their pockets with millions and millions of bucks. Problem for Conor -- Jake is 6'1" and 210 lbs, while Conor's 5'8", and now weighs about 175 lbs.

A youth softball umpire in Mississippi claims an irate parent assaulted her, allegedly punching her in the face, all 'cause the mom didn't like the way she was calling the game ... and now the parent has been arrested for assault.

Ump, Kristi Moore, tells TMZ Sports the alleged incident went down Saturday, April 9 ... when she was umpiring a 12 and under softball game between MVP and Southern Select in Laurel, MS.

Moore says the mother of a child on MVP named Kiara Thomas allegedly began yelling profanities at her, saying, "I will slap the f*** outta you bitch," as Kristi was calling the game.

Kristi tells us Thomas was asked to leave the field, but refused to, and told her she'd be waiting to confront her after the game was over.

And, according to Moore, the mom kept her word. The ump claims Thomas walked up to her and punched her square in the eye, causing a black eye, cuts and scratches under Kristi's eye.

Moore says she didn't immediately go to the hospital, but did seek medical attention the next day ... when she went to see a doctor for severe bruising she says she sustained during the altercation.

Thankfully for Kristi, she says a staff member at the softball field jotted down the license plate of the vehicle Thomas was driving after she left the field following the alleged attack.

And, according to police docs we obtained, 32-year-old Thomas was apprehended by authorities after they initiated a traffic stop ... and arrested for simple assault.

Moore bonded out the same night she was locked up, per the Laurel PD incident report.

The longtime ump also says the USFA softball organization has banned Thomas and the team, MVP, from the league.

USFA has not directly confirmed the banning of MVP and Thomas.

As for Moore ... she tells us she's rescheduled her upcoming games in order to take a much-needed break, saying she isn't mentally ready to call games.

DaBaby is facing criminal charges for a beatdown a man claims he suffered for trying to stop the rapper's entourage from shooting a music video on his property.

The rapper has been charged with felony battery by the L.A. County District Attorney's Office ... over an incident from early December last year ... which allegedly left a guy, Gary Pragar, with serious injuries.

There's another man named Thankgod Awute who's being charged as well. Prosecutors claim he was DaBaby's cohort in crime ... they hit him with felony robbery.

Pragar filed a lawsuit in February, claiming he was attacked for enforcing basic property rental rules at his place.

DaBaby and his team rented a massive pad that Pragar manages in L.A. ... and Pragar says he was told it was going to be a vacation place for DB and his pals. Pragar says he made clear ... there was a guest limit -- no more than 12 -- which he claims DaBaby's management team agreed to in a rental agreement.

During their weeklong stay ... Pragar says he became aware there were way more than 12 people at the property at any given time and complained to DaBaby's team ... getting assured, falsely he says, that they wouldn't be there for long.

Eventually, on Dec. 2, he says he paid a visit himself and realized they were shooting a music video there with an entire film crew and a ton of other people around -- upwards of 40, he says -- and Pragar tried to shut the whole thing down by talking to DaBaby.

That's when he claims he was attacked by someone in DB's crew, part of which was caught on video. He says DB ordered the guy off of Pragar, but then allegedly sucker-punched him in the face, knocking out his tooth ... this, per the lawsuit.

Sounds like Pragar went to the authorities after this, and now they're coming down hard on DB and co. Tough few weeks for DaBaby -- this is just the latest incident for him in a string of seemingly nonstop hiccups.

X-Pac tells TMZ Sports there's no way in hell he'd step inside the ring to fight WWE Smackdown women's champion, Charlotte Flair ... saying, "She'd f***ing kill me."

We spoke with the WWE Hall of Famer about Charlotte, daughter of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, this week ... and asked him if the "Nature Girl" should compete against men on a regular basis.

"You know, I'm open-minded about all that," Pac said. "I mean, obviously, I come from an older school of thought, so it's weird for some of us older cats to see that, but I think we should be open to that, man."

"Plus, she's incredible. She's an alpha female if there ever was one."

Intergender wrestling, commonly referred to as mixed wrestling, is not uncommon in WWE. Women wrestle men all the time in tag-team matches, but as far as 1-on-1s, they very rarely happen.

Pac tells us, though, if there's any woman capable of holding her own in singles matches with men, it's the champ, Charlotte.

"You see it in movies," the former DX member said. "Women are strong now, they beat the s*** out of dudes these days."

Pac, who started his wrestling career in the late '80s, admits that some of the guys he came up with in the industry might not support Charlotte fighting men full-time ... but he's "all for it."

"I know some of my friends might not dig it," the 49-year-old told us. "But, I'm all for it."

As for if he'd get in the ring with her ... the KING of the "Bronco Buster" returned to the squared circle a few months ago and looked damn impressive -- but he said don't expect to see him fight Charlotte any time soon.

Rob Font will absolutely take the fight, but the UFC contender tells TMZ Sports he doesn't believe a win over Chito Vera on Saturday will propel him to a title shot ... he thinks he still has work to do.

We talked to the 34-year-old, #5 ranked bantamweight as he began to cut weight earlier this week (Note: Font ended up missing weight, and will lose 20% of his purse) for his fight with Vera at UFC Fight Night -- and we asked if he believed a win sets him up for title shot against Aljamain Sterling.

"It's a great opportunity to get back out there, get some exposure, get another main event. I appreciate that. But, it's not like I go out there and put this guy away, 'I'm getting a title shot,'" Font says.

"But, that's cool, too. I'm coming off a loss. I'm not in denial. Like 'Oh yeah, I deserve a title.' That's why I'm saying one or two away. My main focus is obviously Chito."

It's not the typical response.

In fact, we also talked to Chito ... and although the 29-year-old is ranked a few spots lower than RF at #8, when we asked if a win would put him within one fight of the belt, Vera says the dub over Font could catapult him into the Octagon with Sterling.

"Or, I can fight straight for the belt. You never know what's gonna happen."

Chito continued ... "Winning is everything. You go in there and put on a good performance, you probably get what you wish for."

And, Vera's logic isn't crazy ... "I get in there, put on a great performance, go through him and I become number 5 by next week. And, we go from there. Once you're in the top 5 you're a title contender."

The UFC's bantamweight division is competitive. Aljo just defeated #1 contender, Petr Yan, at UFC 273 a few weeks ago. T.J. Dillashaw, former champion, recovering from ligament injuries he had fixed last summer, is ranked #2. The legend Jose Aldo, #3. Cory Sandhagen, #4. Then Font at 5# ... followed by Merab Dvalishvili, Dominick Cruz, and Marlon at #8.

No easy fights in the top 10 ... but both these men are badasses.

Chito's beaten Sean O'Malley (we know, "still undefeated") and Frankie Edgar. Meanwhile, Font's racked-up wins over Cody Garbrandt, Sergio Pettis and Marlon Moraes.

Check out the clips ... there's more talk about the actual fight.

Even Shakur Stevenson -- one of the most talented boxers in the world -- is admittedly surprised he's a big favorite over undefeated opponent, Oscar Valdez, straight-up telling TMZ Sports he doesn't get it.

"I actually don't understand it. I'm thinking like the odds are gonna be closer. I was willing to go put my whole fight check up for this fight, but you gotta give him the respect he deserves ... but I don't think the fans are," Stevenson says.

"Well, not the fans but the betting odds and the people and all that, I don't think they giving him a fair shake which I understand 'cause it's me but at the end of the day, I don't understand it either."

But, don't mistake Shakur's honesty for a lack of confidence in his ability ... he's just keeping it a buck, saying what educated fans know -- Valdez has hands.

FYI, 31-year-old Valdez, who has been working with Canelo Alvarez, has never lost a professional fight ... he's 30-0 with 23 knockouts.

Stevenson is younger ... just 24 years old, and is also undefeated at 24-0 with 9 KO's.

Despite the career accolades, Oscar is a sizeable underdog ... especially for a champion. In fact, many sportsbooks require you to lay down (-)$800 simply to win $100. Believe Valdez will win (like Canelo)? You'll only have to risk $100 to win (+)$500.

Obviously, Shakur's not overlooking Valdez ... and when we asked him if it was the toughest fight of his career, Stevenson was inclined to agree.

"On paper. On paper when they look at the records and what Valdez has done in the sport of boxing already, it looks like it's the hardest fight of my career but we never know until we get into the ring."

"Stylistically, it might be one of the easiest fights or it may be the hardest fight at the end of the day. You never know until you get in the ring."

Amanda Bynes is in a potentially dangerous environment, with growing concern among friends and family over her fiance's inability to control his temper ... they worry the relationship could end in violence.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us ... people close to Amanda have witnessed Paul Michael's anger firsthand, saying he flies off the handle way too much.

Our sources say Paul has a history of outbursts, including an incident a couple weeks back when he allegedly vandalized his mom's house. We're told Wednesday night's fight between Amanda and Paul escalated because of his temper. She called police to express concerns for her safety, and then he called.

As you know, Amanda's parents recently agreed the actress should be freed from her conservatorship. We're told her parents still stand by their decision, as Amanda continues to do well on her own, but the concern is now over Paul.

TMZ broke the story ... cops were called to Amanda's home early Thursday morning after a dispute. Neither was arrested, but Amanda went to social media and claimed Paul was watching "Mom and Son" porn and doing crack. She later walked those allegations back.

WOWWW!!!

WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley fell over the ring and landed on his head after the rope collapsed during his match with Drew McIntyre ... and the video is insane.

The frightening moment went down during WWE's Thursday night live event in England ... when Bobby and Drew were going at it in the middle of the ring -- and then disaster struck.

McIntyre reversed a power slam that Bobby was attempting ... then pushed Lashley into the ropes as a part of his counter move.

Lashley then bounced off the ropes and tried to clothesline Drew, but the savvy veteran avoided it ... sending Lashley flying to the other side of the ring, where he fell over the rope.

As the momentum of Bobby's weight hits the top rope, it suddenly collapsed ... sending the 273-pound athlete flying.

At one point, Lashley's body appeared to fold up as if he was an accordion ... with the former WWE champ presumably landing on his head and neck.

No doubt a scary sight for McIntyre, who was in disbelief at what happened ... as was much of the WWE universe in attendance at the show.

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen a wrestler take a bad fall in his match. Big E -- whose real name is Ettore Owen -- suffered a broken neck after Ridge Holland botched a belly-to-belly suplex on him outside the ring.

Fortunately for E, his recovery is going well ... and the big guy is in good spirits.

Amanda Bynes and her fiance both called the police early Thursday morning in an incident that unraveled to her eventually accusing him of doing crack cocaine on social media ... LAPD sources tell TMZ.

Police arrived at Amanda's home at 2:30 AM after Paul Michael told the dispatcher he and Amanda were embroiled in a verbal dispute. Paul told cops Amanda had been taking his Adderall and was out of control. He said she kicked him out of the house, but he stayed until cops came. Sources close to the couple say Amanda had also called the cops, out of fear for her own safety.

Amanda went on Instagram early Thursday and said, "Paul told me that he stopped taking his medications. I looked at his phone and he was looking at mom-and-son porn. He vandalized his mom’s home. He broke all of her pictures and put salmon under her bed".

She wasn't done ... “His behavior’s alarming, and I’m afraid of what he’ll do.”

She ended by saying she allegedly “found Paul’s stash of crack cocaine. He’s been using for the past six months,” she claimed. “He needs serious help. I kicked him out of my house.”

We reached out to Bynes' lawyer, but so far no response.

As for Michael ... he went on Insta as well, saying he didn't know “what the f–k she’s talking about.”

They seemed to be getting along earlier in the day, but obviously, something happened that triggered both of them.

Amanda's 9-year-long conservatorship ended last month.