Fights

Ja Morant is downplaying reports that he and his friends got into an altercation with Indiana Pacers team members after a game last month ... saying the story is basically fake news.

The Memphis Grizzlies star spoke with the media on Tuesday -- the first time since The Athletic released a report claiming Morant's friends confronted "members of the Pacers traveling party" near the team's bus following a matchup at FedEx Forum on Jan. 29.

The report also stated someone in an SUV, which Morant was in, pointed a red laser at them ... and the Pacers team members believe it was attached to a gun.

The 23-year-old denied the allegations when he spoke with reporters at practice ... saying, "All that stuff pretty much false."

"It’s been proven. That’s all I got to say on it."

Morant emphasized how he doesn't care about the rumors going around ... and he won't entertain a report that's fishing for "likes and clicks."

"At this point in my life, I'm protecting my energy," Morant said. "Not responding to nobody else. Not entertaining nobody else."

The reporters attempted to get more from Morant on the situation ... but he refused.

He did provide one update from that game, though ... tweeting on Sunday that his friend, Davonte Pack, has been banned from home games after a verbal altercation with Pacers players.

Cardi B got roped into Offset and Quavo's fight backstage at the Grammys -- and part of her attempt to break it up was caught on video.

Entertainment Tonight obtained footage of Cardi shouting at 2 people -- her husband and his cousin/former rap pal, and you can clearly hear her screaming ... "Both of y'all's wrong! This is not right!!!"

She goes on to address someone specific in tense terms ... "No bitch, shut the f*** up 'cause you shouldn't have been talking." It's unclear who CB was referring to there.

Afterward, she came back and talked to an ET reporter ... who straight up asked her if she was back there settling some stuff. Cardi brushed it off, saying the only thing she settled was her outfit. Unfortunately for her and for Offset, the whole brouhaha was on camera.

This simply confirms what TMZ first reported ... a fight broke out backstage between Quavo and Offset, which multiple witnesses tell us was initiated by Quavo. Offset tried downplaying our story, tweeting out what seemed like a denial.

There's clearly still serious bad blood between Migos' rappers Quavo and Offset following the death of Takeoff ... and those emotions boiled over backstage at the Grammys into a physical fight.

Sources at the show tell us just before Quavo took the stage to perform his song "Without You" as a tribute to Takeoff during the "In Memoriam" segment of the show, he and Offset got into a physical fight and had to be pulled apart.

As for what led to it -- we're told The Grammys had asked Offset to be a part of the tribute, but Quavo refused to let him take part. We're told Quavo blocked Offset from joining him on stage ... leading to the melee.

Our Offset sources say it was Quavo who started the fight.

We should note -- Quavo and Takeoff were extremely close at the time of Takeoff's murder -- Offset was still hanging out with Takeoff separately, but the trio wasn't hanging out as a unit. Quavo's "Without You" was a song he specifically wrote for Takeoff.

Derrick Lewis is coming off two straight losses, and some have suggested he's on the verge of retirement ... but the Black Beast insists it's just the opposite -- for the first time in a while he loves fighting!

"I'm feeling good. Rejuvenated. I love the sport again. I love fighting once again. I love doing the training inside of it, once again. I'm feeling pretty good. Feeling confident and feeling ready. Feeling hungry like I used to be whenever I first started and I'm excited to see how it turns out Saturday night."

37-year-old Lewis, the #7 ranked heavyweight, will take on Sergey Spivak at UFC Fight Night from the UFC Apex on Saturday ... and Derrick has visions of working his way back to the top of the division.

Of course, the division is in a bit of flux after champion Francis Ngannou parted ways with Dana White's organization ... and Derrick believes he can still win the strap.

"The path [to the title has] always been there, but you know, I really just got to take my time, fight by fight. I can't really think that far ahead. I believe I still got a couple of fights to go and get back into that [title fight] talk. So, we just gonna take care of business Saturday and see where things go from there."

As for what changed to make Lewis fall in love with MMA again, he says he just realized he was better than how he performed as of late.

43-year-old Michael Bisping's still got it!

The retired, former UFC Middleweight champion, turned Power Slap commentator, joined the 'TMZ Sports' TV show on Wednesday to talk about his new gig ... when we asked Michael, if, for research purposes, he ever doled out a slap.

Turns out, oh yes, he has! Bisping told us the story of the time when competitor Jesse Nutting asked for a slap ... and a slap he got.

"The guy involved, he says to me, 'give me a little slap, Bisping,'" Michael explained, adding, "I did not give him a proper slap, but I gave him just a little mess around. Anyways, he was scheduled for the last slap contest of the day, if you will."

So, Bisping slapped Nutting and went about his business calling the fights.

"We're commentating on the fights and we're waiting for the last one to come out. And, then we're waiting and we're waiting and he doesn't show up. Then the producer comes in and tells me, 'Mike, apparently, the guy that you slapped, afterward, he started feeling all fuzzyheaded and blurry and he said that he can't compete.'"

"'The doctor looked at him and said that he's totally fine.' But, I don't believe this. Controversy follows me wherever I go."

Jesse didn't fight, and Bisping was worried he screwed up the event.

"Dana and all the partners put a lot of money into this. A lot of organization. Our commentator, that idiot Bisping is backstage slapping the fighters and we can't continue. I thought, 'Oh, My God, I'm going to get fired for sure.' Classic me strikes again. I will be slapping nobody. Punching nobody. I'm just going to sit there. Do my job. And, try to be as boring as possible."

We also talked to one of the Power Slap breakout stars, Michael "Slap Jesus" Smith ... about how the former MMA fighter turned into a slap fighter.

"I had my first MMA fight a couple years ago, and I started looking for more fights on Facebook groups and came across a post from one of the producers," Smith said. "I looked it up, seen it was from The Ultimate Fighter people ... and said, 'Let's go!'"

Smith says he loves the slap-fighting experience ... adding, "It's right up my alley!"

A 60-year-old man died following a wild brawl at a middle school basketball game in Vermont on Tuesday night ... and now, cops say they're investigating it all.

The fight broke out at the Alburgh Community Education Center in Alburgh ... during a hoops game that involved seventh and eighth-grade boys from Alburgh and St. Albans middle schools.

Video that was shot from the alleged scene shows several adults rushed onto the court -- kicking and punching each other -- all while the kids looked on from the sidelines.

It's unclear what sparked the melee ... Vermont State Police said in a statement Wednesday that when officers showed up to the scene just before 7 PM, the fracas had ended and several people involved in the tiff had already left the school.

Cops say Russell Giroux was injured during the fight, but elected to drive home. Giroux ended up stopping his car and calling first responders, and was transported to a nearby hospital. Tragically, he was pronounced dead at the medical facility. His body, cops say, will undergo an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of his death.

The VSP says it's now investigating the circumstances surrounding it all -- though no arrests have been made yet. They're asking anyone with information to come forward or call the Detective's Office at the St. Albans Barracks at 802-524-5993.

Both schools released statements Wednesday on the incident ... calling it all heartbreaking.

"All of us in the Maple Run Community are shocked and saddened by last night’s death of Russell Giroux after a physical altercation during a basketball game at the Alburgh Community Education Center," Alburgh M.S. officials said.

"We extend our condolences and sympathies to his family and friends. Since our students observed the altercation, we are working in the next days to support our students and families in dealing with the consequences of the altercation and Mr. Giroux's death."

Floyd Mayweather returns to the ring in less than 4 weeks, and that means it's time for the 50-0 legend to sharpen his tools ... so TBE linked up with social media influencer Jarvis, threw on a pair of gloves, and punched him in the face for a few rounds!

Mayweather is taking on 35-year-old fighter Aaron "The Joker" Chalmers on February 25 at the famed O2 Arena in London ... his 6th exhibition fight.

Of course, Floyd retired from fighting professionally in 2017 ... but has crisscrossed the world, putting on exhibitions from Dubai to Japan. Mayweather last fought KSI's brother, Deji, in November 2022.

In an effort to prepare for his latest fight against the 5-2 MMA fighter, Money grabbed one of his influencer friends, Jarvis (formerly known as FaZe Jarvis) ... and the men sparred a few rounds.

Mayweather, arguably the greatest boxer ever, got the best of Jarvis ... and the after-sparring photo is all the proof you need.

As for the upcoming bout, we're told Mayweather has struck a deal with The Zeus Network ... who will exclusively stream the fight.

Floyd sent us a statement, and it was short, sweet and ominous.

"I'm coming to London to give The Joker some Royal pain."

Michigan State cornerback Khary Crump just caught a big break in his tunnel assault case -- the player was sentenced to probation after agreeing to a plea deal ... and will not spend any time behind bars.

Crump was one of 7 MSU players who faced legal trouble after the post-game altercation with a Michigan player in October ... and was charged with one felony count of assault by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office.

Crump was the only MSU player hit with a felony ... but earlier this month, he pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery and disorderly person jostling.

Crump was sentenced to 12 months probation and 80 hours of community service ... and his charges can be wiped from his record if he completes the requirements of his sentence.

"That was all I could really hear, I was crying in my heart," Crump told reporters. "It felt beautiful. I'm just looking forward to finishing my term and getting back on the field."

"I just want to get past probation, put this behind me and get back to the initial plan," the 21-year-old defensive back added.

The Big Ten conference announced in November that Crump is suspended for the first eight games of next season and the other 6 players were hit with four-game suspensions.

Logan Paul returned to the WWE for the first time since he tore his MCL against Universal Champion Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel -- and the Youtuber-turned-boxer-turned-pro wrestler stole the show in his Royal Rumble debut.

Logan -- who's been out of action since November -- entered his first-ever Royal Rumble match as the second-to-last entrant (#29) ... and immediately made his impact felt.

The Maverick had one of the best spots in the match ... when he collided with WWE superstar and high-flyer Ricochet in a jaw-dropping moment, sending over 51,000 fans into a frenzy at the Alamodome in Texas.

Logan and Ricochet -- positioned on the top rope opposite one another -- launched their bodies at each other ... and collided mid-air in the middle of the ring.

The spot in the match was sick -- and the WWE universe showed their appreciation for the high-risk stunt, cheering both men for pulling off the maneuver.

Ricochet has a flair for flying off the top rope ... but the encounter between him and Logan was remarkable, considering the last time WWE fans saw Paul inside the squared circle was over two months ago.

Another incredible moment during the Rumble match came when Cody Rhodes, son of WWE legend Dusty Rhodes, returned to the ring after being sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle injury since June.

Cody was the last person to enter the Rumble match ... and eliminated Logan, who tossed Seth Rollins, a prohibited favorite to win the contest, over the top rope.

Francis Ngannou says he's been in contact with Tyson Fury's camp, and while the Gypsy King's next boxing match will likely be against fellow heavyweight champ, Oleksandr Usyk, the former UFC champ says they could fight mid-year!

"I've talked to somebody. Some of [Fury's] advisors, but they're working on a fight with Usyk in April. So, until then, he will not be free, but I'm trying to see if we can have an agreement before that fight," Ngannou told TMZ Sports from Cameroon.

"That will also give me some time to prepare for a boxing fight. I have no problem with that timeline. I hope will be sometime in June, July, which is doable. Let's see. I think it's too early to make a conclusion. It's too early to say anything about it but it's definitely something that we're looking into."

Of course, Fury and Ngannou haven't been shy about expressing their desire to box -- under somewhat amended rules (think boxing with a hint of MMA) -- and the combat sports stars even came face-to-face in the ring last year after Fury beat boxing star Dillian Whyte.

Francis believes fans want the fight ... even more so than the long-anticipated Fury vs. Anthony Joshua matchup.

"We've been talking about this fight the past two years. I think at this point, the people are waiting for this fight and talking about this fight more than the Joshua fight," Ngannou said while noting Fury-Joshua is still a huge draw.

Brandon Moreno says he's had his last fight with Deiveson Figueiredo and is moving on with his career and life ... but the 125 lb. champ tells TMZ Sports he has absolutely no bad blood with his rival, though he's not sure the feeling's mutual.

We talked to Moreno just days after he defeated the 35-year-old former champion ... and we asked Brandon if he could see himself actually becoming friends with Deiveson.

"Yes, of course. I never feel nothing bad against him. The bad blood was a little bit because he was talking a lot of s**t about me in some interviews."

Moreno continued ... "After the fight, for example, I went with him and tried to shake hands. He didn't. I have a lot of respect for him. At the end, he was trying to sell the fight to get something for his family and I respect that because it's the same with me. I'm just doing this for my family."

We also asked Moreno if he foresaw a 5th fight between him and Figgy.

"Hopefully, no. I'm done. It was nice and we built something huge together. Even for the people, they don't want to see another between us. The smart people understand why we made four fights together, but for sure they don't want to see the fifth one."

"I need to pass the page. I need to rest my body and my mind. But, at the same time, I want to be active and I want to start to put more statements in this division and I want to keep building my legacy."

There's much more.

We also asked Moreno if believed he was the best/most accomplished flyweight in UFC history (obvious contenders are Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo), when he plans to get back in the Octagon, and who he wants to fight.

A woman is accusing Conor McGregor of kicking and punching her while aboard his yacht in Ibiza last year ... but the UFC superstar is adamant the incident never happened.

According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin in Spain, the woman claims the altercation went down after a night of clubbing to celebrate McGregor's birthday in July 2022.

The woman -- who reportedly grew up in the same Dublin neighborhood as Conor -- claims once the party made its way to McGregor's yacht, he started to insult her appearance before kicking her in the midsection and punching her ... even threatening to drown her.

According to the outlet, the woman told Irish police she "feared for her life" ... and was forced to flee the scene by jumping off the boat.

The 34-year-old's spokesperson, Karen Kessler, released a statement on the allegations ... saying, "Mr. McGregor is steadfast in his denial of all the accusations made by a guest on his boat."

The woman reportedly did not identify McGregor when making a statement to Spain's Civil Guard ... but filed a complaint with Irish police days later.

Mike McCarthy issued an apology on Sunday night -- but it wasn't for his team's poor play ... rather, the Dallas Cowboys head coach had to say sorry to a cameraman after he pushed the guy's lens away following his team's loss to the Niners.

The incident happened just seconds after the Dallas vs. S.F. playoff game had ended ... when photojournalist Noah Bullard was attempting to get a shot of the 59-year-old leaving the field.

In Bullard's video, you can see McCarthy clearly didn't want to be filmed ... and put his hand on the camera to get it away from him. A photo of the incident seemed to show McCarthy used some force when touching the lens, too.

But Bullard insisted on social media on Monday that it wasn't that bad ... writing in a tweet, "I can see how the photo appeared like he pushed me but it was more of a hand to the lens."

Bullard said he and McCarthy ended up talking things over following the incident ... and said the Cowboys' head man ultimately told him he was sorry during their chat.

The Cowboys didn't show much fight on Sunday night -- but their fans sure as hell did ... getting into wild brawls at a playoff watch party at AT&T Stadium.

One of the bigger scraps at the event happened following Dallas' lifeless 19-12 loss to the 49ers ... when a fan in a CeeDee Lamb jersey slammed a man in Ezekiel Elliott gear straight to the ground.

Fists immediately began flying between the two ... with both guys landing huge blows on each other's faces.

At one point, several other fans jumped in ... kicking and punching the Elliott fan -- before, thankfully, the fracas was broken up.

In a different part of the stadium, though, another squabble broke out as the Cowboys' game was winding down ... with multiple people pushing each other and attempting to strike one another with punches.

You can see in the clip, security workers did their best to break things up ... as fans continued to try to get after each other.

No word yet on if any arrests were made, we've reached out to cops -- but so far, we've yet to hear back.

Chrisean Rock got into a physical altercation shortly after announcing she was pregnant with Blueface's child -- this while trying to get to her alleged soon-to-be baby daddy.

TMZ has obtained video that was taken early Saturday morning in Chatsworth, near Blueface's home. We're told this fight you see here on camera followed what eyewitnesses claim was a bum rush attempt by Chrisean on Blue ... dropping in on him at his house.

You see, we're told Blueface was throwing a party at his crib to ring in his 26th birthday (Friday) ... and that Chrisean crashed the shindig in an effort to pull him away.

What you see here is what we're told happened shortly thereafter ... it seems Blueface was trying to get away in his own vehicle -- with a gaggle of people following him, including Chrisean -- and it all erupted in a massive brawl on the street down the block from his pad.

In the clip, you see Chrisean -- wearing the same pink track suit from earlier in the day -- getting Blueface to herself on one side of a car (presumably hers). We're told she was trying to get him inside to leave with her. Instead, she threw hands with 2 ladies on the scene.

Chrisean finds a way to her feet -- and in the end, eyewitnesses tell us she and Blue left in different vehicles. Unclear if they met up somewhere after, or went their separate ways.

Of course, this is disturbing on many levels. For one, it's another instance of violence between Blueface, Chrisean and/or people in their orbit. More sad, though, is the fact that Chrisean says she's got a bun in the oven -- so this is super dangerous in that regard.

Remember, Blueface has denied the kid is his ... and also said he and Chrisean were done. It seems she might've wanted to patch things up -- which doesn't seem to have ended well.

Boxing star Austin Trout is fighting UFC legend Diego Sanchez in a bare-knuckle boxing match next month -- one of multiple BKFC fights the former champ plans to take -- while still pursuing another title in the squared circle.

TMZ Sports talked to 37-year-old Trout, the former WBA light middleweight title holder, ahead of his February 17 bare-knuckle fight with 41-year-old Sanchez ... and asked him if this was something he planned to do more than once.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still very much trying to pursue a world title in the boxing world. But, there's no reason I can't be a champion in both. I hope it can be a lasting relationship because I like what they're doing in the BKFC," Austin told us.

Trout has a professional boxing record of 36-5-1 ... while fighting some of the best fighters in the world, including Canelo Alvarez, who Austin took on the full 12 rounds with back in 2013.

Of course, Diego is a UFC Hall of Famer who beat everyone from Nick Diaz to Clay Guida ... over his illustrious career.

Naturally, you'd think Trout, a world-class boxer, would have the advantage over a guy whose best weapon was wrestling -- and that may be true -- but it's not how Trout is approaching the fight.

"I'm not gonna think that way. I have to make sure I prepare for the best Diego can give me, and if he makes it an ugly fight, real rough and tough, it's gonna be a long night for me," Austin said.

"So, not only do I have to be able to neutralize that, but I also need to be able to whoop his ass if he decides to come inside and square up with me. We gotta make him pay in every aspect."

We also talked to Diego and asked him how he planned to hang with an elite boxer.

"BKFC is not boxing. For all those people out there hating on me saying, 'Oh, what's BKFC thinking? Diego in there with Austin Trout?'"

"C'mon guys, boxing is different. MMA is different. BKFC is definitely different. Austin has been picking his own opponents for the past couple of years. I was fighting nothing but beasts at the end of my UFC career."

Despite the strong words, it's clear Diego and Austin, who have known each other for years, have absolutely no bad blood between them.