Fights

Jon Jones hasn't yet gotten his feet wet in the UFC's heavyweight division, but he's already eyeing the weight class top dogs ... telling TMZ Sports he wants Stipe Miocic after he fights Ciryl Gane next month.

Jones told us he feels a tilt with the former champ could help "solidify my legacy" ... adding that if he wants to be known as one of the fight game's G.O.A.T.s -- he's got to beat the best to do it.

"People consider him the greatest heavyweight of all time," Jones said of Miocic. "The opportunity to compete against such a man, I'd be honored."

"The opportunity to beat such a guy would be truly something special."

Of course, 35-year-old Jones has to get through Gane first in order to get that opportunity -- and he tells us it won't be an easy task.

The 26-1 fighter called Gane "one of the best talents the UFC has ever seen."

"I got a huge, huge order ahead of me," Jones said.

If Jones does get through Gane at UFC 285 on March 4, though ... Miocic sure seems down to get in the Octagon with him.

The 40-year-old tweeted right after the Gane vs. Jones matchup was initially revealed last month "I got winner in July."

Struggling to figure out who to bet on between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia? Canelo Alvarez might be able to help sway you -- telling TMZ Sports he thinks Tank wins the super fight later this year.

The guys are expected to throw hands on April 15 -- that is, if the two can finally settle their differences in heated contract negotiations -- and when we got Alvarez out at the Super Bowl last weekend ... we had to ask, who ya got?

The Mexican boxing champ told us he expects Davis -- saying simply the 28-0 fighter has "got more experience."

Don't get it twisted, though ... he's still expecting a good effort from the 23-0 Garcia.

"It's gonna be a good fight," he said.

Tank has been more active in the ring and recently secured a TKO win over Hector Garcia in Washington D.C. last month. Meanwhile, Ryan hasn't taken a fight since July 2022.

But, of course, some might think Canelo is biased in his opinion because of a beef he had with Ryan when the young fighter left his camp back in February 2022.

Canelo, though, said that's just not the case.

The heroic Florida woman who bravely fought off an alleged sexual predator during her workout is keeping her head up, and not allowing the violent incident to derail her lifestyle ... even in the gym.

Nashali Alma joined "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about the terrifying moment she had to fight off the guy in the gym of her Tampa apartment complex.

She says he was a good 6 inches taller than her, but as we've seen in the video ... Nashali gave him all he could handle. She told us exactly what she did to fend him off.

She says she has gotten an outpouring of love and support in the last few days, since cops released the surveillance footage of the January incident -- and it all has her feeling really good.

As we reported, Nashali was working out in her gym when Xavier Thomas-Jones came to the door and she let him in, thinking he forgot his key.

Minutes later, he charged at her, but the nursing school student wound up giving him a major beatdown ... before eventually breaking free.

Xavier was arrested the next day and charged with sexual battery and kidnapping.

UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling wants into the exclusive champ-champ club ... telling us he plans to fight Henry Cejudo in May, and then wishes to go up a weight class to fight champion Alex Volkanovski!

First things first, 33-year-old Aljo, the #7 ranked UFC pound-for-pound fighter, has 36-year-old Triple C in his sights.

"We're slated for May 6, that's what we're thinking right now," Sterling told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1), despite admitting he likely won't be totally healthy after tearing his bicep last year.

But, Aljamain says if he decides to fight, there are no excuses.

"If I make the decision to sign on the dotted line, I'm signing on the dotted line and we're gonna fight no matter what it is at the time. I don't give a s**t about that. Henry has some stuff he's dealing with. I have some stuff I'm dealing with. All fighters have stuff they're dealing with. It's just whose the better man that night."

After the Sterling-Cejudo fight, assuming Aljo's victorious, that's when things could really get interesting ... because he believes he'll have earned an opportunity to move up a weight class, and fight

"I fought a lot of the best guys," Aljo says, making his case for a title shot at featherweight. He continued ... "How much do I have to do to say 'Ok, this guy finally deserves an opportunity to go up and see what he can do at 145.' I'm getting older. I'm on an 8-fight win streak right now and I want to test myself and take the opportunity."

Of course, Volkanovski -- the featherweight champ (145 lbs.) -- lost an incredibly close fight to lightweight champ (155 lbs.) Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 ... in his bid to join the double champ club.

As for how a fight with Volk would look ... Aljamain Tweeted last year, saying he believed he could take down and submit Alex, and while it's a 7-month-old message, his opinion hasn't changed all that much.

"There's a couple of factors. That was at 155. So he had a little more weight. Maybe not as depleted as he would be at [145]. I would be coming up to 45, not being as depleted as much as I am at 35."

And, that's why Sterling likes his chances.

FYI, only four fighters in the UFC's history have ever held two belts simultaneously: Conor Mcgregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Cejudo.

We also talked to Aljo about his side hustle ... making music. Sterling just released a track titled "Go Dumb", featuring his brother Troy, who raps under the name Troy Grindz.

"This is something I always wanted to do, my brother's been the musician of the family, he's always been very, very good lyrically," Sterling says ... but in a competitive industry, his bro's had trouble gaining traction.

Enter Troy's famous brother.

"It's been hard for him to promote himself, but it's something I always wanted to do, but fighting kind of called my name first. I think I was a better fighter than I was a rapper. I always wanted to make a song with him, so this was a cool opportunity now that I had some downtime," Aljo says.

We asked Aljamain if this was a one-time thing, or if he may make more music.

Like him or don't, it's undeniable that Jake Paul can strike ... but if the Problem Child truly wants to brush up on his wrestling skills and take an MMA fight, there's a U.S. wrestling legend who tells us he's happy to train the 27-year-old star -- Bo Nickal!

Nickal is a 3x NCAA Division I wrestling champion (184 lbs. x 2, 197 lbs.) who earned a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series last year. On Wednesday, TMZ Sports was talking to the 27-year-old, who just signed a deal with Jake's media company, Betr (more on that soon), when we asked if he planned to train with JP.

"Oh yeah. 100 percent. I'm super excited to train with [Jake]. Not only to be able to help him out a little bit on the MMA grappling side, but also just to learn from him," Bo said, adding, "He's got a ton of experience boxing and it'd be awesome just to be able to get together and work together."

Of course, Paul, 6-0 as a boxer, recently signed a deal with PFL ... and called out Nate Diaz. Jake, a solid wrestler in high school, proposed a two-fight deal with the MMA star from Stockton ... one MMA fight and one boxing match.

As for the partnership with Paul's Betr, Bo says he and Jake have a few things up their sleeves ... including a 'UFC Embedded'-style show that'll follow Nickal as he prepares for his first proper UFC fight.

Speaking of, Bo, 3-0 in MMA, just learned when he'll be making his first non-Contender Series appearance ... and it's on a big card, UFC 285, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane. Jones hasn't been in the Octagon since beating Dominick Reyes in February 2020, over three years ago.

Nickal will face MMA veteran, Jamie Pickett at middleweight (185 lbs.) in the first fight on the main card.

Bo has visions of winning a UFC title, but isn't looking past his first fight ... a scrap he intends to end with a knockout or submission, and early on in the fight.

"I think first and foremost, I plan on just focusing on one fight at a time. Taking care of business this next fight, putting on a spectacular performance. I'd like to get a first-round finish. I'm expecting to finish this guy, regardless."

"Getting a finish in my UFC debut is really most prominently on my mind."

To say Bo's pumped about the Pickett fight may be an understatement ... he's ready to go!

An already emotional scene was ramped up after a man inside the courtroom lunged at Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron during the monster's sentencing hearing.

Barbara Massey, who lost her sister, Katherine, during the attack in May 2022 which left 10 dead, addressed the shooter directly Wednesday inside an Erie County Courthouse. Massey exclaimed, "My sister Katherine Massey was a great person, Kat didn't hurt anybody ... You don't know a damn thing about Black people, we're human, we like our kids to go to good schools, we love our kids. We never go in neighborhoods and take people out."

At that point, a man dressed in grey who was standing next to Barbara pushed her aside and lunged at Gendron, only to be restrained by several officers protecting the murderer.

As the incident happened, you can hear several people in the crowd become emotional ... and both Gendron and the man who lunged at him were escorted out.

Gendron, who is white, killed 10 Black people and wounded several others during a mass shooting at a Buffalo-area grocery store.

Gendron live streamed his brutal attack, carrying out the killings with an automatic weapon inscribed with racist words and phrases -- including the N-word and "Here's your reparations."

He's expected to be sentenced to life in prison -- pleading guilty to charges including domestic terrorism motivated by hate and murder.

The hearing resumed after a brief pause to settle the courtroom.

A woman accused of murdering her lover and dismembering his corpse attacked her attorney in a Wisconsin courtroom ... and it was all caught on video.

Taylor Schabusiness was calmly sitting in shackles alongside her attorney Quinn Jolly during a competency hearing in Green Bay on Tuesday when things quickly took a turn for the worse.

It started with Jolly asking the court for an extension to give an expert witness time to assess Schabusiness' competency to stand trial. The judge agreed, and then pushed her trial back to May 15 from its original date of March 6.

Schabusiness clearly wasn't feeling the decision and took all of her rage out on Jolly.

Check out this wild footage showing Schabusiness lunging at Jolly and elbowing him in the head as he tried to fend her off. A sheriff deputy sprang into action, tackling Schabusiness and wrestling with her on the ground.

The deputy, along with two other cops, finally restrained Schabusiness and propped her up against a door. After making sure Schabusiness wasn't injured, the deputies led her out of the courtroom.

Schabusiness was charged with murdering Shad Thyrion during sex while she was high on meth in 2022. She allegedly strangled Thyrion with a chain and sliced off his head and penis with a serrated knife. She also reportedly told cops that she had fun looking for his organs scattered about the crime scene.

According to her lawyer, Schabusiness has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated for mental health issues since the 7th grade.

Gervonta Davis needed a wheelchair to get around at the Super Bowl on Sunday after recently suffering an ankle injury ... but the star boxer tells TMZ Sports he expects to be healthy for his huge upcoming fight.

Unclear when the 28-year-old was injured and how significant the ailment is -- but Davis said when leaving the Big Game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. that he's "all right."

He added of the injury, "S*** happen all the time. S*** be happening."

The timing obviously isn't great for Davis. He's in talks for a super-fight with rival Ryan Garcia, and the two have reportedly agreed to an April 15 date for the much-anticipated bout. If the agreement is ultimately signed, it'd mean Tank would have only two months to get healthy in time for the scrap.

Francis Ngannou needs a new promoter after parting ways with Dana White and the UFC ... and Jake Paul could be his guy, 'cause the Problem Child tells us he's talked to The Predator about signing with Most Valuable Promotions!

26-year-old Paul joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... where MB asked if he'd talked with 36-year-old Ngannou, and it turns out he has.

"We have talked," Jake said, "The Most Valuable Promotions team, we talked to Francis, and we think we can do a great job for him. We share the same vision on a lot of things. Hopefully, Francis sees this as well but regardless, we're always gonna be there to support him."

Paul went on to say he's "working on something" in MMA, before adding, "Francis is a great guy and I think there's a lot of opportunities for us together."

Aside from being a 6-0 boxer himself, Jake runs MVP ... where he's signed undisputed champion Amanda Serrano, arguably the baddest female boxer in the world. With Paul's guidance, Serrano was part of the biggest female boxing match in history when she took on fellow champ and star, Katie Taylor.

Jake also signed 19-year-old, 8-0 boxer Ashton Sylve in 2022 ... who Paul calls the "next big star," as well as 12-0 female boxer, Shadasia Green.

Paul has a huge fight coming up on February 26 in Saudi Arabia, against his bitter rival, 23-year-old undefeated boxer Tommy Fury, and Jake says he's added to his repertoire, and he's ready to show he's better than ever.

"[Training camp was] good, man, it's really really good. I've reached new levels, implemented new skills into this camp, and I'm excited to put those on display against a professional boxer from a legendary bloodline and a legendary family."

Of course, heavyweight champ Tyson Fury is the half-brother of Tommy.

Paul and Fury were previously supposed to fight on two occasions, but Tommy pulled out (first for an injury, second for travel issues). Earlier this week, Fury failed to show up for a promotional media event, which frankly pissed Jake off.

"It's typical Tommy behavior. It's unfortunate because he's really just harming the event, harming the fans, and it's unprofessional, and I'm a bit sick of dealing with him on the business side of things," Paul said.

"But two weeks from now no one's ever gonna have to hear his name again."

For what it's worth, Jake says he believes Tommy will show up for the fight this time around, telling us ... "He's going to be there."

Paul also broke down 8-0 Fury, and was even (somewhat) complementary.

"He's a good fighter. He's fast. He has good range, good combinations, all of these things. But he doesn't have power. He doesn't have what it takes to stop me from coming at him and defeating him."

Tommy seems to see things differently and told us earlier this week he was going to send Jake home in an ambulance.

But, Paul says Fury's "emulating his brother", but with one distinction ... "[Tyson] actually does it and backs it up."

"I'm [Tommy's] first real opponent and it's gonna be a rude, rude awakening for him when he gets in the ring, under those lights, and someone like me is coming at him, punching him up and down nonstop. He's not gonna like this sport."

As for who he wants to fight after Fury (there's no rematch clause per Jake), Paul has a few ideas.

A Stars fan was socked in the face by a huge haymaker at Dallas' game on Wednesday night ... with the massive punch coming after the guy said the n-word.

The altercation went down just a few seats from the American Airlines Center ice ... when a man in a Jamie Benn jersey stopped watching the Stars vs. Wild tilt -- and began jawing with another fan behind him.

No word on why their beef initially began -- but the dude in the green No. 14 uni was clearly furious. At one point, he challenged the other fan to a fight ... saying, "How 'bout you step down here and I'll box your ass."

The guy in the black polo didn't respond -- and that's when the Benn fan, who's white, muttered the n-word.

"All right then," he could be heard saying. "Stay the f*** up there. Dumbass n****."

Almost immediately after the word left his mouth, the fan in the black shirt, who's also white, threw a right hand that landed flush. It actually appeared to briefly knock the Benn fan unconscious.

The two scuffled for a few moments following the blow -- before another woman raced in and threw a bevy of punches of her own.

Eventually, other fans stepped in before the altercation became even more violent.

It's unclear how the situation was resolved -- we've reached out to cops to see if any arrests were made, but no word back yet.

As for the game, the Stars were clearly unbothered by the ruckus in the crowd -- they were able to cruise to a 4-1 victory over Minnesota.

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."