Fights

Two months after he went to battle with Khamzat Chimaev, Gilbert Burns is ready to return to the Octagon ... and he knows who he wants to face -- Jorge Masvidal!

TMZ Sports talked to 35-year-old Burns -- who lost a (somewhat controversial) unanimous decision to Borz at UFC 273 on April 9 -- and Gilbert says he's dying to get back in the cage.

"It's been too much [time] already. I kind of start itching a little bit to be back in there and then we kind of see the possibilities and I think Jorge Masvidal is one of the possibilities and he's already shown a lot of interest and I got nothing but respect for the guy but its competitive feeling."

Burns says a scrap with Masvidal just makes sense ... he's ranked and very popular.

"I think Jorge Masvidal, he's a big name, he's the name that I'm looking forward to and I think we'll put on a show. UFC is interested, he's interested, I am. I think he got a little injury so we wait for him to get a little bit more recovery and we'll move forward."

Jorge's definitely interested, too.

In fact, when Durinho recently Tweeted a photo of Masvidal, Jorge responded with "Sounds good to me. Let's see."

We asked Burns how the fight with Gamebred -- who's on a three-fight losing streak would look ... and let's just say he's pretty confident he'll get the win.

"I'm gonna finish it. I don't care -- whatever it takes."

"I like that feeling that I had in the last fight like man, the guy's tough, the guy's coming to finish, the guy has all the hype and I think Masvidal kind of gonna bring a little bit of the same," GB says, adding, "That's the fight that I want, you know, a guy that I know is a BMF guy, coming hungry."

Masvidal is coming off three consecutive losses -- albeit against the top two ranked fighters in the division.

Colby Covington beat Jorge at UFC 272 in March 2022. Kamaru Usman twice defeated Masvidal ... at UFC 251 (July 2020) and UFC 261 (April 2021).

Despite the recent losses, JM has some great wins. He's beaten Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, and Darren Till, amongst many more.

Get this ... Burns, a jiujitsu black belt, says he's willing to agree to no takedowns in the fight ... so, strictly stand up, which is Masvidal's strength.

In closing, we asked Gilbert if he had a message for Jorge.

"Florida makes a lot of sense. I live here, he lives here. I do believe we can sell out any arena here and it's gonna be a show bro. I signed the dotted line. No takedowns. We gonna go to war."

Cats are a lot more scrappy and resourceful than we humans ever thought -- and the evidence is right here ... a whiskered warrior that wouldn't let a coyote get the best of it!

Check out this insane video of a house cat being chased around a beach house deck in Surfside Beach, TX -- where it's about to be torn to pieces by a wild canine that made its way onto the property ... which belongs to a guy named Tony Gray.

In his original post, he writes ... "Someone almost lost a cat." Keyword there is almost -- because this kitty put up one hell of a fight to survive. And, in the end, it won.

Watch how the feline outsmarts its opponent. It uses a foldable chair to its advantage and successfully evades the critter. After a lot of back and forth -- and some close calls -- the tabby goes all Sly Stallone on a nearby wooden beam ... hanging on for dear life.

It seems the cat might've ended up with a few bite marks here and there ... but it lived to fight another day, as the coyote trots away. Garfield here wasn't taking any chances though.

Blac Chyna's already heated before she even steps into a boxing ring tonight ... thanks to the well-timed Kardashian-related jab fired off by her opponent, Alysia Magen.

The Celebrity Boxing combatants, who are fighting in a Saturday night PPV event, came face-to-face for the traditional weigh-in and trash talk moment. They didn't disappoint.

Chyna flexed for cameras as she stepped on the scale, and definitely looks like she's been training hard.

First, Chyna grabbed the mic and told Alysia, "I seen your little rap. It was trash" ... referring to an IG post Alysia made to hype the fight.

Chyna's right. It was trash. However, props to social media influencer Alysia for hitting BC with the best comeback possible.

She said, "Hey, I'm not Kim Kardashian. I'm going to knock you both out!" Chyna lunged at her, but a bunch of people stepped in to break it up.

For the record: Chyna weighed in at 140 lbs. ... one more than Alysia.

Alysia was taking a shot at Chyna and her trainer, Tamara Frapasella-Fortune ... who beat Kim in a 2010 charity boxing match.

Anyway, after Chyna lost the $100 million defamation trial against the whole Kardashian family ... Alysia knows how to hit her where it hurts. At least outside the ring.

Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is one big step closer to becoming a reality ... 'cause "Iron" Mike tells TMZ Sports he'd absolutely love to fight the Irish superstar.

"Obviously, there's a lot of big fights that Conor could take. A lot of big names, and I'd love to be the other guy on the other side of the Octagon when that cage door closes, and then go out there and make something special," Chandler says.

Of course, earlier this week, Dana White told us he "really likes" the idea of pitting CM and MC against each other when Conor returns to fighting.

Chandler, 36-years-old, is the #5 UFC lightweight ... and is coming off a devastating knockout of future Hall of Famer Tony Ferguson.

33-year-old Conor, he hasn't fought since July ... when he gruesomely snapped his leg while fighting Dustin Poirier.

It's a fight that Chandler has wanted for some time ... but don't expect a whole lot of trash talk coming from the former Bellator champ -- Michael has a lot of respect for McGregor.

"We may never see another talent, another combat sport like Conor McGregor, and not just until when I retire, we're talking about the next couple of decades."

And, Michael isn't looking for an easy fight with Conor ... he wants him at his absolute best.

"I want him at his biggest, his baddest, his best, and his most dangerous."

As for the weight class where the fight would take place ... Chandler's open to moving up from 155 pounds, where both fighters now fight.

"Looking at him, he's looking big, he's looking beefy, he's looking strong, he's looking fast as he always is at 180 pounds, so let's do it at 170. If not, I can always make 155," Michael tells us.

Before we hung up with Mike, we asked him if he had a message for Conor. Here's what he said.

"Number one, I want the opportunity to compete against you. There's no ill-will. There's a ton of respect. The sport of mixed martial arts is a better place when Conor McGregor is a part of it and when you can put yourself in a position to be his opponent, to be his dance partner in the build-up, the lead up, the hype and then the actual contest, its a dream come true for mixed martial artist."

Blueface will be looking to break face on July 30 -- the rapper is slated to fight ex-NBA player Nick Young in a boxing match.

TMZ Sports has confirmed ... the "Thotiana" MC and NBA champ are going to face off in the ring at Crypto.com Arena as part of the Social Gloves event starring YouTubers Austin McBroom and AnEsonGib.

Blueface has a bit of history in the ring -- he beat up on TikToker Kane Trujillo in July 2021 ... and ended up having to throw hands that same night after a fan attacked him in the ring.

Young is less experienced ... but he's never shied away from calling people out for a fight in the past. He's previously voiced interest in boxing Logan Paul, Gilbert Arenas and Chad Ochocinco.

We broke the story -- ex-NFL star Le'Veon Bell is also slated to take a fight on the same card ... although his opponent has not been announced.

A Tampa Bay Lightning fan was sucker-punched in the jaw following an argument at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night ... and the blow was so violent, it knocked the man out cold.

The incident happened at around 10:50 PM, some minutes after the Rangers had lost to the Lightning at the famous venue.

According to the NYPD, a witness says the two men in the video were involved in a verbal dispute ... before the man in the red shirt reared back and threw his fist at the Lightning fan's face.

In the footage, captured by a bystander, you can see the punch landed flush -- and knocked the Tampa Bay supporter out cold.

Cops say a witness told them the puncher then attempted to flee the scene. When a witness tried to stop him, the suspect allegedly punched the witness in the face too.

Eventually, police arrived on the scene and arrested the puncher, who they ID'ed as 29-year-old James Anastasio. Cops say he was booked on multiple charges of assault, disorderly conduct and harassment.

The Lightning fan who was KO'd, meanwhile, reportedly woke up several minutes following the punch ... and is in stable condition.

Great news for WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes -- the wrestler went under the knife to fix his torn pectoral ... and he's officially on the road to recovery.

Cody's wife, Brandi, shared the news on Twitter Thursday night ... revealing the 36-year old's injury was about as bad as it could get, but everything went well and he's looking forward to getting better.

"The doctor just repaired Cody's pectoral tendon which was torn completely off the bone," Brandi wrote. "Successful surgery. He is on the road to recovery now."

Rhodes reportedly went to see Dr. James Andrews, a renowned surgeon who specializes in dealing with wrestlers and athletes who injure themselves over the years.

Cody initially suffered a slight tear of his pec just days before his scheduled match with Seth Rollins at the "Hell in a Cell" Pay-Per-View.

However, he would suffer a full tear of the muscle -- which spread from his chest to his entire right arm -- while weight training, leaving his status for the event in question.

Rhodes gutted it out and competed -- defeating Rollins inside the relentless structure -- but he paid the price for it, as Seth continually targeted the injured area throughout the match ... as well as the following night on "Monday Night Raw."

WWE Superstars with Rhodes' same injury are typically sidelined anywhere from 3 to 5 months ... but Cody -- son of Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes -- is hoping to return before that timeframe.

Here's a peek into the mind of Dana White ... we asked the UFC president if Conor McGregor could fight Jorge Masvidal when he returns to the Octagon, and while DW didn't seem into that fight, there is an opponent he likes for The Notorious.

"I really like Chandler vs. Conor after Chandler's last fight. There's plenty of fights to make. I don't know if that's the one. We'll see what the landscape looks like when Conor gets back."

Of course, Chandler's last fight was at UFC 274 last month ... when Iron Mike knocked out Tony Ferguson with a front kick 17 seconds into the 2nd round. It was one of the most brutal KOs ever.

Conor hasn't fought since UFC 264 in July 2021 ... when he gruesomely broke his leg while fighting Dustin Poirier.

"I'm just saying after his last [Octagon] interview, his last fight, Conor's ranked number 8. [Michael's] ranked number 5. It makes a lot of sense right now," Dana said.

As for a timeline for McGregor's return, Dana says he's getting closer, day by day.

"I think he's getting better. He's starting to ramp up his training, and I'm hoping the end of this year, early next year."

We also talked to the UFC boss (and future UFC Hall of Famer, Valentina Shevchenko) about UFC 275 ... where Valentina is fighting 19-1 Taila Santos in the co-main event.

Shevchenko hasn't lost in 5.5 years ... and Dana says she's arguably the greatest female fighter of all time.

If Valentina wins (she's a huge favorite), White says he's open to making Shevchenko-Nunes 3 (that loss in 2017 was to Amanda).

As for the main event ... 42-year-old light heavyweight champ Glover Teixeira is fighting 29-year-old rising star Jiri Prochazka.

The card also features a rematch of a fight many people believe to be the greatest women's MMA scrap ever ... Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Weili Zhang.

Their first fight was March 2020 ... a knockdown, drag-out, 5-round war which Weili ultimately won by split decision.

But, many fans felt Joanna should've been the victor.

That was the last time Jedrzejczyk stepped foot in the Octagon.

Oscar De La Hoya isn't just campaigning for a Ryan Garcia-Gervonta Davis fight ... he said this week he also wants to launch a campaign for himself -- to be the next mayor of Las Vegas!

The former boxing champ was answering a series of questions from fans on Inside Boxing Live With Dan Canobbio this week ... when one of the listeners wanted to know if he was planning on running for President in 2024.

Remember, De La Hoya told us in 2018 that he was seriously considering running against Donald Trump in the 2020 election. That, obviously, didn't happen ... but De La Hoya told the questioner on the show one in '24 won't either.

"No," ODLH said with a laugh. "No more presidential run."

But, the 49-year-old did reveal he's planning on running for another government position -- mayor of Sin City.

"There might be some opportunities in Vegas to run for mayor," De La Hoya said. "Imagine that?"

De La Hoya revealed he's building a home in Vegas -- so the move, which he seemed pretty serious about, would make sense for him.

"It’ll be interesting to see if I can make a run for mayor in Las Vegas," he said.

Of course, Vegas is where some of the biggest boxing matches happen -- which is perfect for ODLH and his Golden Boy Promotions.

Canobbio pointed that out ... saying, "Make that fight -- Ryan Garcia vs. Tank Davis. You're the Mayor. You can pull strings. Gives you even more power."

WWE star Cody Rhodes just showed off more of his gnarly pec injury ... and somehow, it looks even worse than it did when he wrestled Seth Rollins inside a "Hell in a Cell" match over the weekend.

In the photo Rhodes posted of the injury Wednesday morning, you can see the bruising from the torn muscle in his chest now extends all the way from his sternum down to his wrist.

It's pretty gruesome ... especially considering Rhodes also revealed on Tuesday night that it started out as simply a small bruise.

As we reported, Rhodes initially sustained the injury during weight training ... but was able to still wrestle Rollins on Sunday regardless.

In the match, Rhodes withstood multiple strikes to the injury, and eventually beat Rollins.

On Monday, around 24 hours after getting in the ring with Rollins, he was "attacked" by the superstar again on "Monday Night Raw", which put even more stress on the ailment.

Oscar De La Hoya says he's ready to make Gervonta Davis an even richer man than he already is -- by blessing Tank with the biggest check of his career -- and all he's gotta do is fight Ryan Garcia.

TMZ Sports talked to Ryan's longtime promoter about Tank after Davis' contract with friend and promoter Floyd Mayweather reportedly expired ... and we asked Oscar about the possibility of working with Gervonta.

"Tank, I know you had your last fight with Floyd Mayweather, and I respect Floyd Mayweather, and think he did a tremendous job with your career. But, I'm ready to offer you a multi, multi, multi, multi million-dollar offer to fight Ryan Garcia."

FYI, that's four multi's if you're keeping track at home.

What exactly does that mean? We asked ODLH how much money he believes the fight's worth to Tank.

"It'll be the biggest purse that Tank Davis has ever made," Oscar responded.

It's interesting ... Oscar doesn't make the play to sign Davis flat out, but rather promotes what would be a MASSIVE fight.

27-year-old Tank (27-0, 25 KOs) vs. 23-year-old Ryan (22-0, 18 KOs) is a fight that boxing fans have wanted to see for a long time.

De La Hoya even says he's ready to split TV and other revenue with Gervonta's partners ... all in an effort to book the bout.

"Let's make this fight happen. Everybody makes a shitload of money, and we give the fight fans what they want to see."

But, before a fight with Tank, KingRy -- a southern Cali native -- will take on Javier Fortuna at Crypto.com Arena (fka Staples Center).

Oscar, who has a statue outside the building, says he expects the crowd to be chock full of celebs.

YouTuber and boxer Austin McBroom is looking for redemption when he puts on his next boxing event at Crypto.com Arena in July ... enlisting Pro Bowl running back Le'Veon Bell and a former Lakers star to fight on the card.

TMZ Sports spoke with the social media superstar ahead his July 30 fight -- a professional bout against AnEsonGib -- and he's dropping some major hints on the huge names involved.

Among those names include the former Steelers star, some high profile musicians and even a popular ex-NBA hooper ... but aside from Bell, McBroom was tight-lipped on revealing who exactly he was talking about.

Of course, McBroom's Social Gloves' first attempt at the boxing game -- the Battle of the Platforms -- resulted in lawsuits and fighters claiming they didn't get paid ... but the 30-year-old says he's learned his lesson and is ready to put on a hiccup-free show.

"This time around, we're working with people who have been doing this for a while. We have a new team, new streaming partner, everything is new," McBroom tells us. "Guys that are really experienced and I've been very blessed and fortunate to have another shot at this."

"Everything in the past is behind us -- no lawsuits, fighters are paid and we're ready to do this thing the right way and put on a show how it was supposed to be put on the first time around."

McBroom is hellbent on making this a great experience for everyone involved this time around -- hoping to sell out the arena and sell around 300,000 Pay-Per-Views.

As for his own fight, McBroom says he's expecting to make light work out of Gib ... which he hopes will pave the way for a fight against Logan Paul's old opponent, KSI.

Terrifying moment involving a professional boxer in South Africa ... the previously unbeaten fighter became disoriented and started punching air, as if he saw a fighter that didn't exist.

Video of the incident hit social media on Sunday ... showing Simiso Buthelezi fighting Siphesihle Mntungwa for the WBF African lightweight title. In the 10th round of the fight, Simiso was easily winning, when something went very wrong.

A few seconds into the final round, Mntungwa falls through the ropes. When he gets up, the ref tells the men to continue fighting.

However, Buthelezi turns to the referee, and squares up to him, as if he is the opponent. Seeing this happening, the ref shuffles to the side.

Buthelezi then advances to the corner of the ring and starts throwing punches at the air ... as if he were fighting an invisible opponent.

The ref did a great job, sensing something was wrong ... and immediately ended the fight.

Buthelezi was taken to a local hospital where he is reportedly in stable condition.

As for why he had the reaction he did ... that's currently unclear.

Most importantly ... get well soon, Simiso.

Adrien Broner is putting all his fake supporters on notice ... callin' them out for going MIA on him -- and vowing to be a champion again soon enough.

The 32-year-old welterweight made the guarantee in a lengthy post on his social media page Monday morning ... saying he's been "working my ass off alone" the past two and a half months in order to start the journey back to the top.

In the post, Broner -- who's slated to return to the ring on July 23 -- called out everyone who used to be in his corner while he was a rising star in the sport ... saying he's fine with training alone now, as long as everyone keeps "the same energy when I’m back CHAMPION!!!!!!!"

"I see a lot of people left me and think I won’t be champion again," Broner said. "Now it’s just me @coachmikestafford and @vithecutman and I wanna keep it this way ain’t no hard feelings to nobody."

"Some of the closest people switched up on me and I’m fine with they decision," Broner added, "cause I know I'm a hustla I started this S*** alone and I’m go finish this s*** alone."

Broner will take on Omar Figueroa (28-2-1) in Chicago in the July matchup ... and it's slated to be his first fight since his controversial win against Jovanie Santiago in February 2021.

Broner has had a rocky road since the victory -- he was famously arrested in October.

Cody Rhodes is built different ... the son of WWE Hall of Famer, Dusty, defeated Seth Rollins in a "Hell in a Cell" match after tearing his pectoral muscle earlier in the day.

WWE announced the news on its "Hell in a Cell" kickoff show ... saying Cody had his right pectoral tendon "completely torn off the bone while weight training."

Still, the 36-year-old wrestling star proceeded to fight Seth ... inside, arguably, the most dangerous match in WWE history.

As the match was about to start, Rhodes took off his robe ... showing off the gruesome injury.

Fans were astonished at how bad Rhodes' injury appeared -- his pec was severely discolored and jarring to the eyes -- but that didn't stop Rollins from laughing at the injury and targeting the area during the match.

Cody even took a kendo stick right on the pec ... leaving him writhing in pain (maybe part of the show, maybe not).

Regardless, fans were super appreciative of Rhodes ... and gave him a standing ovation for the tenacity and resiliency after delivering 3 Cross Rhodes finishers to secure the victory.

Jon Jones' first fight at heavyweight should NOT be for an interim title ... UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik adamantly tells TMZ Sports 'cause it just ain't fair!

We asked 34-year-old, 6'3", 255 lb. fighter -- ranked 8th in the division -- about the possibility 34-year-old Bones Jones gets a crack at an interim belt ... a fight that would be his first in the division.

"I'm hearing people calling for an interim title. What is fair, what is unfair, who is gonna fight for it?" Jairzinho asked.

"And, then I heard names like Stipe [Miocic] and Jon Jones. I still think that's unfair to put them in an interim fight instead of real fighters who are keeping the division up and running."

Of course, Jones hasn't fought since beating Dominick Reyes in February 2020. Jon's plan was to move up a weight class and fight champion Francis Ngannou, but the parties couldn't agree on money.

Instead, Ngannou fought and beat former training partner Ciryl Gane. Unfortunately, Francis hurt his leg in the lead up to the fight (and 5 rounds with Gane didn't help), and now needs surgery on his leg.

Often, a UFC interim belt is created when a champ is injured for an extended period.

Dana White was asked in March whether Jon could lock down a fight with Stipe for the title, and the UFC honcho responded ... "I haven’t thought about it at all, but yeah, it sounds like something we would do.”

FYI, Stipe hasn't fought since losing to Francis in March 2021.

We also asked Rozenstruik -- who has only 3 career professional losses -- about his clash with #7 ranked contender, Alexander Volkov, at UFC Fight Night Saturday night. Jairzinho has some advice ... don't blink.

"I definitely think it's a first-round, second-round fight. I definitely think it's a first-round, second-round fight."

Rozenstruik also talked about the prospect of him fighting Jones ... though, he doesn't believe it makes sense for Jon due to Jairzinho's awesome power.

And, down the line, JR, who lost to Ngannou just 20 seconds into their UFC 249 fight, would like to make things right with the Predator.