Fights

AnEsonGib will NOT be fighting Austin McBroom on July 30 ... and now the entire Social Gloves event is in serious trouble.

Sources tell TMZ Sports a head injury is forcing Gib to back out of the bout at Crypto.com Arena ... after doctors refused to clear the YouTuber to step into the ring.

We're told McBroom is scrambling to find a new opponent ... but it's not looking good.

If he's unable to get a fighter, sources say the event is at risk of being scrapped ... which would be bad news for people wanting to see two NFL running backs try to knock each other out.

We broke the story -- Le'Veon Bell and Adrian Peterson are slated to face off in the ring next weekend ... as well as rapper Blueface and ex-NBAer Nick Young.

The first Social Gloves event last year also had its problems ... with multiple fighters claiming they weren't paid.

McBroom told us last month he learned from the experience (the fighters eventually got paid) ... and promised a flawless event this time around.

The sweet swings of Juan Soto and Julio Rodriguez were apparently not enough to cool down some hotheads in the stands at Monday night's Home Run Derby -- 'cause two fans got into a wild fight right in their seats!!

The scrap went down in the left field bleachers at Dodger Stadium, just after Soto had won the event -- and you can see in video shot by spectators, things got violent between two L.A. fans in a hurry.

Unclear what started the altercation -- but the footage shows the man in the Clayton Kershaw jersey unloaded some huge punches on the other guy's face.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the flurry of blows quickly turned into a wrestling match -- allowing others to intervene and break things up.

Once the action had stopped ... the man in the Kershaw jersey appeared to accuse the other guy of inciting it all, yelling at a different fan in the area, "He started it!"

Doesn't seem anyone was seriously injured ... which is great news -- considering there's still one more night left of All-Star festivities on Tuesday.

Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is literally the biggest fight you could make in all MMA, so says "Iron" Mike, who tells TMZ Sports that's the fight he -- and the people -- want!!

"If Conor's coming back anytime soon, I think me and Conor would make some fireworks and it's a fight that fans want to see. I think it's the biggest fight we can make in mixed martial arts right now and I try to say that as humble as possible but I think it's a huge fight," Chandler told Babcock when he joined the "TMZ Sports" TV show (weeknights on FS1).

Of course, the 36-year-old #5 ranked UFC lightweight is coming off a devastating knockout of Tony Ferguson ... who starched with a front kick at UFC 274 in May.

Conor, for his part, hasn't fought since July 2021 ... when he gruesomely broke his lower leg during the trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.

McGregor likely won't fight until the first half of 2023 ... but this isn't a situation where Mike is going to try and bait McGregor, who sustained an incredibly serious injury

"The guy snapped his leg. It wasn't a small injury, it required surgery, maybe multiple surgeries, a titanium rod going in, and all that stuff," Michael says.

He later continued ... "I'm not gonna throw stones at the guy. I mean the guy completely shattered his leg and it was literally just a year ago. Have people come back quicker than he's gonna come back? Yes, probably, but also we don't know the extent of Conor's injury."

And, Chandler believes the sport of MMA is better with, not without, Conor.

"The [UFC] and the lightweight division is better when Conor McGregor is a part of it but that being said, he needs to come back at the right time."

We also talked to Chandler about the just announced 155 lb. title fight featuring Charles Oliveira (#1 ranked) and Islam Makhachev (#4 ranked) at UFC 280 in October.

Mike gave us a winner (he says it'll be Charles -- whom he fought in 2021) ... and he explained why during the interview.

FYI, neither man has lost anytime recently. Islam's last L was in 2015 ... and Charles' was in 2017.

And, get this. Mike has another gig outside of the Octagon. He's the Chief Athletic Officer at Speede ... a fitness company crowdfunding (via Indiegogo) a product that's said to be a revolutionary home gym.

With Michael's help, the company has already received over $236K in funding. The original goal was to raise $15K.

It's official ... TMZ Sports has learned WWE legend Ric Flair is teaming up with his son-in-law, Andrade, to fight Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in his "last match" ever.

For months, there had been speculation about who'd join Flair inside the ring for arguably the biggest night of his career ... so it's fitting he chose his daughter Charlotte's husband, Andrade.

As for their opponents, Flair and Jarrett have history going back to their WCW, WWE, and eventually the TNA days. Ric and Lethal have a close relationship inside and outside the squared circle, as Jay has been training with the "Nature Boy" ahead of the big match.

Lethal has been one of the men responsible for helping Flair regain his in-ring confidence ... exchanging bumps with the 73-year-old Hall of Famer, who hasn't lost much of the mojo that made him one of the greatest entertainers in wrestling history.

As Flair prepares to take one final strut down the aisle as a performer, he recently told Mojo and Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show he was medically cleared by his doctor, so he isn't all that concerned about his health failing during the match.

Flair -- who has a pacemaker and takes blood thinners after nearly dying several years back -- says he won't take his medication the day of the big match.

As for what to expect in the squared circle, Naitch told us while he'll never be the exact same competitor he was in his heyday, he's still got more than enough to go out there and put on a great performance.

"I'll never run at 100% again. But, I'll be running at 80, 85%," Ric told us in late May.

The spectacle of Flair -- a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion -- wrestling at this stage in his life has garnered the admiration and respect of his contemporaries like Booker T, who lauded the "dirtiest player in the game" for having the desire to perform in his 70s.

"What Ric Flair is doing, he's doing that because he loves this business, man," Booker T recently told us.

"Ric Flair told me a long time ago that he would never retire. That's that guy, man."

Lil Durk says he’s taking a break from social media, but that’s not why the Chicago rapper is trending -- that's all about a wild casino brawl, where some folks think Durk got slept!

The viral footage shows a man with blonde dreadlocks KO’d. There's no doubt the guy goes down, but the ID has definitely been in question.

Well, turns out it’s neither Durk, nor his doppelganger, Perkio who caught the viral haymaker.

The man on the receiving end of the bruising is actually a self-proclaimed Houston venture capitalist by the name of James Lett IV, who, by the looks of things is enjoying his newfound fame -- posting his face to prove the punch left no dents, and bragging about his increased social traffic.

Judging from the OG poster’s timestamp, the fight appears to have gone down over 4th of July weekend inside a Florida casino -- but it got hot online following announcements from both Durk and Perkio.

Durk announced an Instagram and Twitter hiatus Monday just as the video began to trend … which only fueled rumors it was him.

Durk gave a shout-out to his fallen brothers King Von and D-Thang and also reiterated the same timeout speech to his Twitter legion.

It appears he’s just focusing on making his next hit, and not ducking comments about the fight video.

A massive fight broke out at a basketball game over the weekend ... when a referee was attacked by several people -- including a player -- after appearing to throw a punch at a coach during a heated in-game altercation.

The violent incident happened during the Hardwood Classic X RecruitLook Summer Finale in Kansas City ... after a coach appeared to lose it over a technical foul call.

In the video, the coach -- wearing blue shorts and a grey shirt -- gets in the ref's face after hearing the whistle ... and it's clear he's beyond frustrated with the call.

The ref then seemingly tried to create distance by putting his arm out, but the guy wasn't having any of it ... appearing to push his hand out of the way.

The referee then threw a right hook -- although it's unclear whether it actually landed -- and immediately started backpedaling as a mob of people ran on the court and started chasing after him.

That's when the brawl broke out ... with the ref getting jumped by what appeared to be other coaches, spectators, and even a player, who attempted to kick the official while he was down on the ground.

Unclear if anyone was hurt in the incident ... but after the parties were separated, the official stumbled away, falling at one point, and needed to be helped off the court by several individuals.

The man claiming to be the ref posted about the incident on social media ... saying, "I had just called a tech right before the camera came to me. That's why he was pushing up on me like that."

"F*** another tech at that point. He had to catch one."

He added ... "And yeah, that coach was just looking for a reason to start something, he couldn't take the ass whooping like a man."

We've reached out to law enforcement and the teams involved in the incident ... so far, no word back.

Better get to your seats early for the Nick Young vs. Blueface boxing match later this month ... 'cause Swaggy P tells TMZ Sports the fight is going to be over in a matter of seconds!!

The ex-Lakers star made the prediction to us out in L.A. earlier this week ... saying it'll only take him about 15 ticks to knock out the "Thotiana" rapper.

Nick said he's confident for a myriad of reasons ... but explained he believes Blueface's lifestyle is ultimately why he'll dump the 25-year-old in Round 1.

"He's a rapper," the former hooper said. "They've got to be in the studio all night. You've got to drink, you've got to smoke. We don't do that type of stuff."

Blueface, meanwhile, was just as confident that he'd beat Young when we spoke to him out in L.A. this week -- telling us he has plans to actually toy with the 37-year-old in the fight to make him "look bad."

As for post-fight plans, Blueface says he's going to box further after the Young tilt, telling us he's already got a match planned for late August.

Young, meanwhile, says if the money's right ... he'll continue boxing -- adding, "I'm just going on a knock-a-motha-f***as-out tour."

Up first, AnEsonGib ... next up, KSI and Jake Paul?!

Austin McBroom tells TMZ Sports that's his exact plan ... saying after he makes quick work of Gib in their celeb boxing match later this month, he wants fights with KSI and Paul.

McBroom said ideally, KSI -- who's fighting YouTuber Alex Wassabi in a celeb boxing match of his own next month -- would be first up at the end of this year.

After that, McBroom, a former college basketball player turned YouTuber turned boxer, says he wouldn't mind a scrap with Paul.

"I'm more excited about KSI," McBroom told us out in L.A. this week while promoting his Gib fight. "Obviously, the winner of KSI [and I], maybe Jake will take that into consideration."

McBroom, though, knows he has to get through Gib first to make any of that happen -- and he made it clear, he expects that victory to go down with ease.

"I think I'm going to knock him out, or it's going to be a complete stop," McBroom said. "He's going to get hurt."

McBroom is 1-0 in his celeb boxing matches so far -- you'll recall, he pummeled Bryce Hall in a June 2021 event. Gib, meanwhile, is 3-1 in his celeb boxing matches, with his lone loss coming to Paul.

The two will fight on July 30 -- on the same card as Adrian Peterson, Le'Veon Bell, Nick Young and Blueface.

Brian Ortega says his bout against Yair Rodriguez is putting Mexico on the map at UFC Fight Night ... telling TMZ Sports it will be one of the biggest Mexican events the promotion has ever seen.

T-City is going up against his friend, El Pantera, in New York on Saturday ... and he tells us it's going to be a monumental night.

"This is one of the biggest first Mexican on Mexican fights to ever, ever be on UFC," Ortega tells us.

"For the first time in a long time, if not one of the first times ever, us Mexicans are on the map. Mexico's on the map."

"So, to be that Mexican and he's the other one, it's an honor, it's a f***ing privilege, and I can't wait to give the world a show."

Ortega (15-2) is coming off a hard-fought loss to Alexander Volkanovski ... and he says like with every fight, he's going to come out with a better and smarter version of himself against Yair.

Several New York fans clearly didn't care that they were rooting for the same team at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night -- 'cause they got in a massive brawl with each other, and the wild fight was all captured on video.

A spectator near the action began filming the scene just before the scuffle broke out in the middle of the Yanks vs. Reds game ... and the footage shows a man in a striped NY jersey appearing to trash talk an Aaron Judge fan who had been sitting behind him.

The video shows the man then slapped the AJ supporter after they exchanged words -- and then all hell broke loose.

You can see in the clip, a man in a Gerrit Cole shirt started throwing punches -- while the Judge fan fired back with some right hands of his own.

Another fan in a Judge jersey, meanwhile, also appeared to be punched in the face in the fracas.

Eventually, security guards stepped in and broke it all up ... escorting the fans from the area.

The NYPD tells TMZ Sports three of the men in the video were ultimately issued criminal court summonses for their roles in the fight.

Ryan Garcia is ready to squash the beef with Canelo Alvarez ... saying he wants to bury the hatchet with the boxing superstar -- even offering front-row tickets to his fight in L.A. as an olive branch.

The fall-out from the former buddies happened earlier this year when Garcia parted ways with his trainer Eddy Reynoso ... who also happens to train Canelo.

Garcia claimed he wasn't getting the proper attention from the team ... so he split. The fallout ... tension with Alvarez. And since, the men have had a frosty relationship ... with Canelo even questioning Ryan's work ethic, saying he's "wasting a lot of time and wasting his talent."

But, after a bunch of back and forth, Garcia says he wants to move on, telling Inside Fighting the quarrel between them is a "hypothetical beef".

"I would definitely love to make amends with people, forgive people," Garcia said on Wednesday.

"I believe in forgiveness and I'm just the type of person to forgive really quick and I don't want that negativity or bad blood with anybody."'

To prove Ryan isn't just talking ... he's inviting Alvarez to his July 16 fight against Javier Fortuna at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.

"I'll get him tickets," the 22-0 boxer said, "He can get it himself but if he personally asks me, I would give him tickets. First row. Love him to be there."

And, Alvarez won't be the only star there (if he shows). Garcia says LeBron James, Aaron Donald, and Draymond Green will all be making an appearance.

"Only winners come to my fight."

Former Denver Broncos defensive back Brendan Langley is breathing easier today ... his airport assault case has been dismissed, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to a court official, the case was dropped on Wednesday.

Langley's attorney, Halim Dhanidina, tells us the reasoning is because officials determined Langley "used force that was reasonably necessary" during the now-famous May altercation at Newark Liberty International Airport.

"We are grateful for the Court’s decision which puts an end to this ordeal that began nearly two months ago when Mr. Langley was assaulted then wrongfully arrested and charged for exercising his rights under the law," said Dhanidina, who works for Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP.

As we reported, Langley was initially arrested and charged with simple assault after he socked a United Airlines employee during a May 19 argument at the airport's ticket counter.

Langley -- who hit the guy so many times, he forced him to bleed -- said afterward through his attorney that he was simply defending himself. Langley's rep told us that the United employee had harassed the former NFL player, called him names, and got physical first.

Langley, a Broncos third-round draft pick in 2017, had just signed on to play wide receiver for the Calgary Stampeders, who initially decided to suspend him indefinitely over the fight. No word yet if they're now reinstating him following Wednesday's decision in court.

Fake Drake will get his wish to fight in the Celebrity Boxing arena ... just not against the man to whom he owes his livelihood.

Damon Feldman of Celeb Boxing tells TMZ Hip Hop that Lamar Odom -- AKA ex-NBA champ, husband to Khloé Kardashian -- has agreed to square off against Frake ... and this one feels a little personal.

Lamar dropped a prefight video while rocking a Nipsey Hussle shirt ... and he seemed pissed Fake Drake was trying to drag the real deal into the ring. So L.O. promised to help his friend and lay out the impersonator once and for all.

Not to be outdone, Fake Drake shot a training vid of his pugilistic skills -- although he's mainly ducking punches.

He's gonna need some serious evasive techniques -- Lamar stands at 6'10, won championships with Kobe Bryant annnd has already beat up J Lo's ex-husband and knocked out Aaron Carter in Celeb Boxing matches so ... good luck Fake Drake.

While they're still deciding between Atlantic City or Miami, we're told the fight is definitely on for October 15.

A surfer beat the crap out of a younger bodyboarder after they crashed into each other while riding the same wave ... and the brutal attack is all on video.

The dustup happened at a popular surf spot in Gold Coast, Australia ... where punches started flying after a wipeout.

The surfer was the clear aggressor, swimming over to the bodyboarder and landing several blows to the face.

Other folks in the water race over to get the surfer away from the bodyboarder ... with at least one onlooker telling the surfer his target was half his age and only a kid.

The surfer seems frustrated, throwing up his hands as the video ends ... and it seems he was set off by colliding with the bodyboarder inside a nice barrel.

Le'Veon Bell's football career is over -- at least for now -- the NFL star says he won't play this season ... and it's all 'cause he wants to now focus on his boxing career.

The running back made the announcement just minutes ago at a promotional event for his upcoming fight with Adrian Peterson -- revealing he's going to try to take this year to begin his formal transition from football player to full-time fighter.

"Last year, I almost sat out the whole year to try to focus on boxing, because I kind of knew that's what I wanted to transition to," Bell said.

"This year, I know I'm not going to be playing this year because I want to focus on boxing."

Bell -- who played eight total games last season for the Baltimore Ravens and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- has been slowly making the move into the fight world, incorporating mitts into his workouts routinely.

But, at 30 years old, most thought he'd still try to extend his NFL career.

Bell, though, made it known he believes he can carve out a real niche in boxing -- and he said he's hoping a win over Peterson during their match later this month kick starts all of that.

"This is my introduction to kind of showing what I've been doing," Bell said, "and how I've been going about myself."

Jake Paul wants Hasim Rahman Jr. to put more than his boxing career on the line when they face off in the ring ... calling on the champ's son to agree to take on a hilariously embarrassing Instagram handle if he loses.

The two fighters went at it in their official press conference for the August 6 bout at Madison Square Garden ... and in true Problem Child fashion, Jake wanted to make a bet with Rahman Jr.

When HRJ refused to make a monetary agreement, Paul got creative.

"When I beat you, you have to change your Instagram name to 'ILetMyDadDown,'" Paul said Tuesday ... adding he already scooped up the handle just in case.

BTW -- we looked it up, and it appears Jake is a man of his word.

Rahman Jr. shot down the offer, saying he wasn't going to entertain Jake's charade ... but it's clear he wants the guy to cave in and take the bet.

Of course, Jake is known for making friendly/humiliating deals with his opponents -- Tyron Woodley got "I Love Jake Paul" tatted on his middle finger after losing to the YouTube superstar in 2021, although it has pretty much faded away by now.

Paul was also planning to make a $1 million bet with Tyson Fury for his fight against Tommy ... before the fight got scrapped.