Fights

Rajon Rondo has settled a lawsuit in Los Angeles, according to court filings ... stemming from a 2020 incident where the NBA star was accused of assaulting a woman in a parking lot.

In docs obtained by TMZ Sports, the attorney for the plaintiff, Toktam Jorshari -- who sued Rondo for assault and battery -- filed a notice in an L.A. court, indicating the parties had reached a settlement.

Now, a judge must dismiss the case ... which should be a formality.

We broke the story ... Jorshari sued Rondo after claiming she was injured during an altercation with the hooper and his GF outside an apartment complex in July 2020.

In the suit, Jorshari alleged the former Clippers PG was upset about how close her car was parked to his pricey, $300k Rolls-Royce ... which she says led to Rondo's GF attacking her.

TMZ Sports obtained video of the incident (which didn't have audio) ... and Rondo appears to nudge the woman with his elbow, causing Jorshari to confront his GF.

Jorshari claimed she suffered injuries from the confrontation ... after being punched in the face and head multiple times by Rondo's GF

At the time, Jorshari's attorneys said of the incident ... "no man should ever put their hands on a woman."

"Especially an NBA basketball player with superior height and strength. The video speaks for itself," they continued.

Cory Sandhagen says simply defeating Yadong Song isn't enough ... the #4 ranked fighter tells TMZ Sports he's gunning to destroy his opponent this weekend in grand fashion.

We talked to the 30-year-old star UFC fighter ... who admitted he wanted a higher-ranked opponent for Saturday's fight, but since he didn't get one, he must put on a spectacular performance.

"I just gotta beat these guys and I gotta beat them impressively and I gotta show that I'm one of the best guys in the world," Cory told us.

He continued ... "Against a guy like Song, I don't really feel like winning will be just enough for myself. I need to go out and dismantle Song and make him look like he doesn't really belong. That's gonna be the goal."

FYI, 24-year-old Song is ranked 10th in the UFC's Bantamweight division. Yadong is 8-1-1 since entering the promotion.

And, if Cory finds himself up a few rounds Saturday night ... don't look for him to coast.

"I think that that's a pretty bad mindset in a sport where it can end like this (snaps finger)."

Sandhagen is coming off two consecutive losses for the first time in his career. Cory lost to former champ T.J. Dillashaw in July 2021 at UFC Fight Night. Then, he was defeated by Petr Yan -- also a former champ -- at UFC 267 in October 2021.

Even though he lost to the absolute highest level of competition, Cory takes no solace. To him, a loss is a loss.

"I really don't give myself that excuse. All the losses feel the same. They felt the same when I was an amateur and they feel the same now as a professional even against the best guys. Nah man, the burn still burns the same."

Three losses aren't an option for Sandhagen ... who says he couldn't handle it.

"There's a little bit of an extra motivator there because I definitely hate losing and I don't know that my soul can take another hit. I don't know if it can take another third loss in a row and my pride and my ego, I don't think it can do that either."

Odell Beckham Jr. got on the phone and delivered a hell of a pump-up speech to Canelo Alvarez before his fight against Gennady "GGG" Golovkin ... telling the star boxer to straight up "kick his ass!"

The convo happened via FaceTime on Friday -- the day before the Canelo-GGG trilogy fight will go down -- and OBJ was super hyped to hop on the horn with the fighter.

The NFL star told Canelo he's actually the reason he in fell in love with boxing.

"Big fan of you!" OBJ said on the phone. "You made me like boxing."

"Let's go ahead, let's kick his ass," the Rams wideout added. "Let's show him one, two and the third one is all you."

Canelo appreciated the love ... and promised to deliver a victory "for you, my friend."

The two sports giants have never met each other -- but Odell told Canelo he was hoping to catch up with him in person soon.

The Canelo-GGG tilt, meanwhile, is slated to happen at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on Saturday when Alvarez will be defending several belts -- including the WBA Super title.

This will be the third time the two have fought -- back in 2017, their bout ended in a draw, and in 2018, Alvarez won by majority decision.

Alvarez is the favorite to win this weekend -- both at the sportsbooks ... and, clearly, in Odell's heart!

Kofi Kingston is in awe at how fast Logan Paul has transitioned into a WWE Superstar ... telling TMZ Sports the YouTuber's skills in the squared circle are unreal!

We recently caught up with Kofi -- a 14x WWE tag team champ -- out at LAX, and he told us Paul's star power, coupled with his ability to pick up the craft quickly, makes him a perfect fit for WWE.

"To me, it just makes sense," Kingston said. "When you think about how popular Logan Paul is and even his entire story. His come-up and what he's been able to do in the world of boxing and entertainment in general, it would only make sense for us to be hand in glove."

Kofi praised Paul -- who alongside The Miz, wrestled his first match against Rey and Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 38 -- saying, "he has a bright future ahead of him."

"To see what he did in the ring is very impressive," Kofi said.

"Especially as a performer who has seen a lot of people and has gone through the whole learning process, he shouldn't be that good, that quickly."

Kingston -- 1/3 of the "The New Day" -- said he takes Logan's word when he says pro wrestling is harder than boxing  ... adding it's a "true art."

"Well, I've never been a professional boxer, but it's awesome to hear him say that and kind of put respect on the grind that is WWE."

Kingston also said Big E's injury -- where he was dropped on his neck by Ridge Holland following a botched move -- reminds him how scary it is being a WWE performer.

"With E's situation and him breaking his neck ... you're reminded of just how dangerous what we do is," Kofi said. "It only takes one second for everything to go awry."

Tyron Woodley's ready to give the people what they want ... a fight between the future UFC Hall of Famer and YouTube star-turned-boxer, KSI!

Some backstory -- KSI blasted out a poll to his 8 million Twitter followers, asking a simple question ... would you like to see me fight T-Wood, Dillon Danis, Slim, or Dr. Mike in January?

And, the winner (at the time we're writing), with 264,446 votes or 36% of the followers polled ... Tyron Woodley. So, we asked the MMA star if he was interested in the fight.

"KSI, I like that he's energetic, he's all into it, he's all over the place but he's gonna get f****d up playing around me. My new slogan is 'don't get f****d up by having me f****d up' and he's had me f****d up for a long time talking shit about my name."

40-year-old Woodley then sent a message directly to the 29-year-old YouTuber.

"KSI, I know you watching because you watch everything I do. You probably was a fan of me like everybody else. If you're watching this, you wanna be a fighter, you want the respect, get the full training camp to yourself as you requested."

"I'll get the full training camp. January, we can get it cracking. We can get it cracking in White Castle. We can get it cracking in U.K. We can get it cracking in Vegas."

As for the fighter's resumes ... Woodley, of course, is one of the best MMA fighters of all time.

But, KSI isn't a scrub. He recently fought twice in one night ... albeit against overmatched opponents. He knocked out Swarmz and 2-5 pro boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda at the O2 Arena in London.

Woodley also broke down some of what he was dealing with behind the scenes leading up to the second Jake Paul fight, and he expressed interest in a scrap with Tommy Fury.

Bottom line ... Tyron is anything but retired, and he's ready to dole out an ass whoopin'!

A high school football coach was shot after breaking up a fight at the school's campus this week ... and the terrifying incident was all caught on video.

The Vallejo Police Department says the shooting happened in front of Vallejo H.S. in Northern California after classes had ended at around 3:45 PM on Tuesday.

Officials say several students were fighting with some "unknown males" ... but the brawl was broken up by Joe Pastrana, the defensive coordinator on the school's football team.

Cops say after the parties were separated, some of the people involved got into a car and started shooting backward while speeding off. Unfortunately, according to cops, one of the bullets struck Pastrana.

A bystander captured the whole thing on camera ... showing everyone running for cover when several gunshots rang out.

"The motive and circumstances involving this incident remain under investigation," authorities said in a statement this week.

Head coach Mike Wilson III told the Times-Herald the team found out about Pastrana while suiting up for practice and they took "the news very hard."

"When we found out what happened all practices were canceled," Wilson said. "When it was safe we told everyone to go home."

Wilson said Pastrana is in stable condition at a local hospital.

VP Police Chief Shawny Williams praised Pastrana for his heroism ... saying, "This is a very courageous staff member that potentially saved another child’s life or multiple people’s lives."

A Polish MMA fighter violently attacked a YouTuber in the middle of an interview Tuesday -- sucker punching the guy square in the jaw -- and the wild scene was all captured on video.

The brutal blow went down just seconds after internet personality Sadek had begun answering questions from journalist Monica Laskowska.

While the man was in the middle of a response, Amadeusz “Ferrari” Roslik -- a professional MMA fighter -- walked up to the two, and then blasted Sadek right in the face.

The punch knocked Sadek to the ground -- causing him to bleed from his mouth. Miraculously, the guy was somehow able to get up and finish the interview.

According to multiple reports, Roslik had been upset with Sadek over comments he had made about the fighter and his family.

Roslik -- who's slated to fight on Saturday against Pawel "Scarface" Bomba -- isn't facing any legal ramifications as of now, MMANews reported on Thursday.

As for Sadek, it's unclear if he suffered any serious injuries from the punch -- though he appeared to tell Laskowska afterward that he was OK, and finished the interview.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Roslik has lost his temper during a press event -- back in March, while in the middle of an interview, he threw multiple punches at his opponent after being slapped. Roslik appeared to knock the man unconscious in the fracas -- before stomping on his head area.

Cardi B said "okurrrr" to a plea deal in her strip club beatdown case ... and it's a pretty sweet one that keeps her outta jail.

Cardi agreed to plead guilty to 3rd-degree assault and reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors, and her punishment is 15 days of community service.

She showed up to court Thursday -- all decked out in white -- to accept the 11th hour plea deal. Jury selection was set to begin Friday and the trial would have started on Monday, but that's off the table now.

As we reported, Cardi was accused of ordering an attack on 2 strip club bartenders -- Jade and Baddie Gi -- in August 2018. She allegedly thought Jade had slept with her man, Offset.

Cardi was arrested and booked a few months later for her alleged role in the strip club fight.

As part of the plea, there's also an order of protection that requires Cardi to stay away from the women for 3 years.

After her taking the plea deal, Cardi told us ... "Part of growing up and maturing is being accountable for your actions. As a mother, it's a practice that I am trying to instill in my children, but the example starts with me. I've made some bad decisions in my past that I am not afraid to face and own up to."

The mom who told her daughter to attack her opponent during a youth basketball game last year has been forced to cough up more than $9,000 in restitution to the teen victim ... after agreeing to enter a diversion program, TMZ Sports has learned.

Back in November, Tira Hunt was heard on video telling her daughter -- whose father is ex-NBA player Corey Benjamin -- to go after a rival player following an on-court collision in Garden Grove, CA.

The victim's mother went to cops over the violent incident ... and in December, Hunt was hit with two misdemeanor counts -- contributing to the delinquency of a minor and battery.

Hunt was facing up to one year in jail if convicted ... but on Wednesday, an Orange County Superior Court judge approved a diversion program that has a laundry list of conditions.

Among Hunt's requirements include the $9k payment, written apologies to the victim, her parents and the two basketball teams involved, and anger management classes before returning to basketball games. On top of that, Hunt has been forced to stay away from the victim.

Benjamin apologized for his daughter's actions following the incident ... saying that was not how he raised her.

Daniel Rodriguez has a message for the fans and "experts" (and even Dana White) who've said Li Jingliang was robbed at UFC 279 ... I won the fight!!

"It was a close fight," 35-year-old D-Rod told TMZ Sports just two days after securing the dub, adding ... "At the end of the day, I give Li the first round, and I took the 2nd and 3rd [round], in my opinion. I landed more strikes, I pushed the pace the whole fight."

Of course, Rodriguez, the #14 ranked UFC welterweight, fought Li following a last-minute opponent change (he was originally supposed to fight Kevin Holland) ... and the scrap was super close.

D-Rod -- who hasn't lost since 2020, and is 7-1 in the UFC -- was awarded the split decision win.

During his post-event presser, White told the media he believed Jingliang was the rightful winner.

But, Rodriguez disagrees ... and wholeheartedly feels if the decision went the other way, there would've been outrage from the people.

"If they would've gave the fight to Li, there would've been even more people saying I got robbed, or s*** like that," D-Rod says.

Despite earning the victory and now being a top 15 fighter who's becoming more popular in the sport by the day, Daniel believes he didn't fight his best fight.

Jake Paul isn't duking it out with Anderson Silva 'til next month, but he's already got his eyes on his next opponent after Spider ... telling TMZ Sports he wants to "slap the Stockton out of" Nate Diaz!!

37-year-old Diaz hinted at making the switch to boxing after his big win over Tony Ferguson on Saturday ... which certainly got Jake's attention, considering Nate's UFC contract has ended.

We spoke with Paul at his news conference on Monday ... and asked if going up against the California native was a real possibility after his Oct. 29 bout.

"100%, 100%," Jake said. "I'll slap the Stockton out of him."

Paul says he's not looking past Silva, though ... adding he's a "crazy tough opponent" who he respects a ton.

Jake has been super complimentary of Diaz as well ... tweeting out praise for him over the weekend.

"Nate Diaz is a muthuf***in legend and would have slapped the s*** out of Khamzat [Chimaev]."

There are other guys Jake name-drops ... and they all sound like pretty good matchups.

Jermall Charlo just scored a big win in his assault case ... prosecutors tell TMZ Sports they're dropping the felony charge against the star boxer.

According to court documents, Charlo was accused of roughing up a family member during a Sept. 5, 2021 incident in Fort Bend County, Texas. He was eventually arrested over it all back in February, and charged with felony assault.

But a spokesperson for the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office tells us they filed a motion to dismiss the case on Monday "based on the reason that we cannot prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt."

"Evidence developed in a way that did not support the charge to conclusion," the spokesperson said.

Charlo's attorney said in a statement Monday the 32-year-old was "very happy" with the decision.

"Nine witnesses came forward to say Charlo never hit his 21-year-old nephew," said Charlo's lawyer, Kent Schaffer. "Jermall is very happy. He can concentrate on preparing for his next fight now that this distraction has been removed."

Another Charlo -- Jermall's twin brother, Jermell Charlo -- is still facing legal troubles related to the case, however.

Prosecutors tell us Jermell -- who was hit with a misdemeanor charge after he was accused of telling the alleged Jermall victim during the incident, "I will kill you with my bare hands" -- is still facing a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat.

Several Dallas Cowboys fans ganged up on a man during their game against the Buccaneers on Sunday night -- repeatedly punching the guy in the head before throwing him to the ground.

The wild altercation happened at some point during the Cowboys' loss to Tampa Bay at AT&T Stadium ... when several people wearing Dallas jerseys began heaving haymakers at a man wearing a black and yellow shirt.

It's unclear what started the brawl -- but video from the scene shows at least four people, including one woman, whaled on the guy before security stepped in to halt the action.

We've reached out to police to see if any arrests were made, but so far, no word back yet.

Fighting was seemingly commonplace at NFL games during the league's opening weekend -- because in the Falcons vs. Saints contest in Atlanta, one New Orleans fan threw a flurry of punches at a guy's face in the concourse.

The series of swings all appeared to land flush -- and it eventually led to a huge fracas in one of the corridors at the stadium. It's unclear here, too, if anyone was arrested over the commotion.

Meanwhile, in the Raiders vs. Chargers game, a fight got so out of hand, a woman was actually socked in the face.

NFL officials have yet to publicly comment on all the violence in the stands at games.

Ugly scene at the Chargers vs. Raiders game on Sunday -- several fans got into a wild brawl  ... and things got so violent during the altercation, one woman ended up being punched in the face twice by a man.

The fracas broke out inside of a concourse at SoFi Stadium during the AFC West showdown ... when a man wearing a black shirt approached several people in Raiders jerseys and started swinging.

The man hit multiple people with the strikes ... dropping one guy -- and then seemingly KO'ing another.

That's when a woman -- who was wearing a No. 24 Raiders jersey -- tried to intervene.

In footage shot by a bystander, you can see she attempted to swipe at the man and then grab him to break it all up. But, the guy threw two left hands at her face -- and both blows appeared to connect.

The man then went on to punch a shirtless fan a few more times, before the clip ended.

Gilbert Burns tells TMZ Sports he and Jorge Masvidal have verbally agreed to a fight ... and the only question is whether it'll go down December in Vegas or January in Brazil!

36-year-old Burns joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV Show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... when we asked him whether rumors of a Masvidal fight were accurate.

"I spoke with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby [two weeks ago] and they said that's a fight that they want, you know, and I said, 'For sure, there's no plan B.'"

"We wanna do you and Masvidal," Gilbert says Shelby told him.

Burns, who last fought in April against Khamzat Chimaev (it was a very close fight -- Chimaev was awarded the decision), says the bout will in all likelihood happen at the end of 2022, or the beginning of 2023.

"[UFC] just gonna figure out Pay-Per-View in December or Pay-Per-View in January, but the fight is verbally accepted from him, from me, so I'm just waiting to confirm if it's gonna be December 10th in Vegas or if he has the balls to go to Brazil, UFC Rio, January 21st."

"I don't think he will show up in Brazil but we'll see. I'm just waiting for the UFC and for Jorge to accept. C'mon Jorge! Let's do it!"

Of course, Durinho is from Rio de Janeiro.

37-year-old Masvidal last fought in March ... a decision loss to Colby Covington. Before that fight, Jorge fought then-champ Kamaru Usman twice.

Gilbert says he plans to follow up with the UFC after 279 this weekend, and he's ready to fight no matter where the location, but ... he really hopes it'll be in his home country.

Adrian Peterson and Le'Veon Bell came face-to-face for the final time ahead of their highly anticipated boxing match on Saturday ... and they look ready to brawl!!

Peterson and Bell, two current/former(?) NFL running backs, both weighed in for the Social Gloves 2 event in Los Angeles ... and locked eyes with one another before they go to war in the ring.

AP -- who was known for his bruising style as a running back -- displayed a great physique ... weighing in at 218 pounds according to the scale.

Bell -- who was more known for his shiftiness coming out of the backfield -- hit the scale and appeared to be in awesome shape for a guy who ran for over 6,500 yards in his career.

LB weighed in at 204 pounds on the scale ... so he's conceding a 14-pound weight difference to Peterson when the two collide on Saturday.

But, the video of both future Hall of Fame running backs sparring this week has boxing fans encouraged that both men will deliver a good, solid fight.