Fights

Chris Rock can, and should, joke about whoever he wants -- especially after being slapped by Will Smith -- even if some feel it's at Jada Pinkett Smith's expense ... according to 2 fellow comics.

We talked to Bill Bellamy and Jeff Dye Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and both defended CR's right to joke about the sitch, even if he did so somewhat mercilessly during his latest Netflix special ... which is now drawing the ire of some Black women.

Candace McDuffie, a senior writer for The Root, went so far as to suggest Chris actually had the slap coming to him after years of jokes she feels targeted Black women.

That's not how Bill and Jeff feel about it, though ... they're squarely on Chris' side, with BB telling us the dude used his own platform and creativity to address it as best he could, without violence.

Plus, there's the financial benefit -- Netflix paid a boatload for his "Selective Outrage" special.

But, even on the issue of whether Chris has it out for Jada and/or Black women ... Bill says he doesn't believe that to be the case. He says Chris takes shots at everyone, and sometimes certain groups might catch a stray.

It's nothing personal, just the business of being funny ... that's Bill's perspective anyway.

Now, Jeff -- who's hosting our new game show, "Who the Bleep Is That?" -- was a bit more forceful in his repudiation of suggesting Chris deserved what he got ... saying such a notion is insane, and disavowing the idea of anything or anyone being off-limits in comedy.

Fans and MMA "experts" may believe Stipe Miocic has no chance against Jon Jones, but the man Bones Jones called the greatest UFC heavyweight ever says he's motivated by the underdog status, and has zero doubts he going defeat JJ!

40-year-old Miocic joined Babcock and Mojo on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) where we asked him, you vs. Jon aside ... give us your scouting report of Jones, the heavyweight.

"He won, good for him. That's about it."

So, yeah ... color Stipe unimpressed with the heavier version of Jones.

"I don't really have much to say because it wasn't that long of a fight," Miocic added.

Of course, Jon only needed 2 minutes and 4 seconds to choke out Ciryl Gane, one of the most dangerous men in the world at UFC 285, winning the heavyweight title Stipe held for years.

The fight between Jon and Stipe is likely to go down in July, and Jones is already around a -370 favorite (put up $370 to profit $100). Add to that all the MMA fans who have said Miocic doesn't stand a chance in the Octagon with Jon. We asked SM if he was motivated by the doubters.

"Hell yeah it does [motivate me]. I love being the underdog, I love being told something not gonna happen because I'm the guy that puts a big dagger in that."

It seems some people may have forgotten what Miocic has accomplished in the Octagon. Stipe previously beat Daniel Cormier, twice. He also defeated Francis Nagannou, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, and others.

Speaking of Cormier, his rivalry with Jones was one of the best (and realest) in UFC history. We asked Stipe if he's considered bringing D.C. into camp to help him train. Miocic didn't say no, but it's clear this is just another fight for the firefighter from Ohio.

"No, no, I mean maybe, I don't know. Right now, just gonna keep getting better and grinding away and make myself the best I can be."

As for retirement, we asked Stipe if the Jones bout could be the last of his illustrious Hall of Fame career.

"I don't know. We'll see. I think about retiring after every fight since my first one. We'll see. Right now just gonna keep getting better, getting stronger, make myself finally tuned ready for that fight in July."

Cannot! Wait! 👊

Jeff Ross says Chris Rock is walking away with the 'W' in the Will Smith Oscars slap saga -- and he commends his friend doing so without using his hands, just a silver tongue.

We got the comedian Monday in L.A. after he'd flown back from Chris' live special in Baltimore ... and he said the whole event was just as epic as it looked and sounded on TV.

Jeff, the famed roast master, says Chris got the better of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith in the end ... and he's pretty high on how Chris handled it, even if it did take a year to address. However, he points out the special touched on a lot more than just the Smiths ... and he was impressed by its overall message.

He did have a fave bit, BTW ... the one about Beyonce and Jay-Z, which he says might be the joke of the year. We can't do it justice here -- you gotta see the special -- but it's basically about Bey being so hot she could get Jay no matter what her job was. Not so much for him, though.

A young fan was pissed after AEW star MJF (Maxwell Jacob Friedman) threw a drink in his face at AEW's "Revolution" event, and now the promotion is trying to make things right.

It all went down Sunday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco ... MJF was fighting Bryan Danielson in a 60-minute iron match when he went after a kid in the crowd.

MJF -- widely considered one of the best heels in the business -- walked up to a woman who was standing up for the match, took her drink, then threw it in the kid's face.

The incident drew the ire of the crowd ... you could see and hear fans booing in the clip, and AEW announcer, Tazz, even said on air, "went a little too far there."

After the event, reporters asked the AEW world champion why he threw the drink at the kid, and he said ..."The kid looked thirsty. What's the second question?"

Meanwhile, AEW exec Tony Khan felt differently ... Khan condemned the champ's behavior and said he spent some time apologizing to the youngster.

“We had a serious conversation and I mean that," Khan said. "It’s not to be taken lightly. The young man, Titus, was a real pro about it. We’ll see Titus here again at AEW."

"I believe Titus is actually coming to Sacramento. I was just with him, and he was a real champ about it. The champion didn’t act like a champion there, but I think Titus was great."

An XFL game looked more like a WWE match on Sunday -- at least for a few moments -- when several players from both teams got into a wild brawl ... and someone's helmet was tossed nearly 20 yards.

The crazy scene happened at the end of the Battlehawks vs. Defenders game in D.C. ... when St. Louis players appeared to be pissed over the way their quarterback, A.J. McCarron, was taken to the ground following a sack.

You can see in broadcast video of the game -- multiple players began piling onto each other ... before all hell broke loose.

Around 20 players shoved and pushed each other near the 15-yard line -- and at one point, a Defenders' white helmet was ripped off and thrown sky-high into the air.

"This is really unfortunate," one of the game's announcers said. "This isn't what the game's about."

The skirmish lasted roughly 30 seconds ... before, thankfully, everyone was separated.

Mercedes Mone is putting the wrestling world on NOTICE ... telling TMZ Sports she'll fight any wrestler, anywhere, anytime -- saying, "I turn down to nobody."

We spoke to Mercedes -- formerly known as Sasha Banks in the WWE -- after she captured the IWGP championship in her New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) debut last month ... and she was hyped about performing in front of her family and friends.

"It was a moment I'm always going to remember," Mone said. "It's probably my second favorite moment of my career thus far and that's saying a lot because I've done so much in professional wrestling."

Mercedes said competing in front of a sold-out crowd at the San Jose Civic Center in California -- close to where she grew up -- was special ... adding working with her opponent, Kairi, who she defeated to become champ, was an incredible experience.

Mone told us now that she's the IWGP champ, she's got big plans. In addition to showing off her gold on red carpets, she also called out Japanese pro wrestler AZM ahead of her scheduled appearance at Sakura Genesis in Tokyo on April 8.

"I wanna see who's ready for Mercedes Mone," the champ said. "I'm always here for the check. I'm always here for the bag and whoever has the biggest bag is where I'm gonna go."

Could an epic showdown between the Pauls and Furys happen at WrestleMania 39?! The Miz says he's totally for it ... telling TMZ Sports Logan, Jake, Tommy and Tyson are all welcome at the huge event this year.

Miz will be hosting both nights of the WWE's annual spectacle being held at SoFi Stadium in April ... and he says he's leaning into the theme "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood" -- telling fans to expect surprises throughout the weekend.

"You never know what's going to happen at WrestleMania," Miz told TMZ Sports. "Especially at SoFi Stadium. Los Angeles. We want to make some splashes. Make some noise."

When we brought up the possibility of seeing Logan tag team with Jake against the Furys on the heels of the younger bros' recent boxing match ... he welcomes the idea.

It would make complete sense -- after all, three of the four guys have history with WWE ... with Jake and Tyson participating in previous events, and Logan already being a Superstar.

Miz told us preparing to host WrestleMania is drastically different than when he's gearing up to fight inside the squared circle ... and called the opportunity a "dream come true."

The tradition of hosting WM isn't new ... Miz will join The Rock, Hulk Hogan (twice), Alexa Bliss, Rob Gronkowski, The New Day, and Titus O'Neil as superstars who've hosted.

Miz -- who's familiar with hosting thanks to his own show "MizTV" -- says he knows there's pressure to keep the crowd involved, but he's looking forward to the challenge.

Ultimately, Miz said his job is to make sure the show is "upbeat" and "fun" ... and encouraged fans to tune in on April 1 and 2 as WWE tries to create "buzz-worthy" moments.

Jake Gyllenhaal has transformed himself into a chiseled mass of pure muscle for his new role as an MMA fighter in the remake of the 1989 classic film, "Road House."

Check out this video showing the 42-year-old actor shooting a scene for the movie at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday.

Taking on the reimagined role of Patrick Swayze's John Dalton, named Elwood in the new film, Jake dashed onto the stage for a weigh-in, tipping the scales at 184 pounds for his middleweight fight against champion Jack Harris, played by ex-MMA star Jay Hieron.

After showing off his incredible physique to the crowd, Jake stepped off the scale and shook the hand of UFC President Dana White, who was standing nearby.

Hieron then jumped on the scale and faced off with Jake as both men talked smack to each other. Jake then slapped Hieron across the face, prompting a shoving match as White stepped in to break it up.

Who's the greatest UFC fighter ever?? It's one of the most hotly contested debates amongst MMA fans, and now Dana White's weighing in!

Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones are the names most often thrown out there (there's also Demetrious Johnson, Amanda Nunes, and a few others) ... and each one can surely stake their claim as the best.

But, with Jones about to return to the Octagon (first time in 1,121 days) against a bonafide beast in Ciryl Gane (11-1 pro record), and going up to heavyweight from the light heavyweight division which he dominated for a decade, Dana told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) earlier in the week that Bones is one win away from being the 🐐.

"There will be no arguments over who the G.O.A.T. is if he beats Ciryl Gane on Saturday," White said.

As for the other fighters ... they're all inactive in the UFC.

Silva is the former middleweight champion. He defeated everyone from Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin and so many more. He held the UFC title for longer than anyone in the history of the promotion ... 2,457 days, defending his belt successfully 10 times.

GSP, a former 2x welterweight and 1x middleweight champ, had a professional record of 26-2, only losing to Matt Serra (2007) and Matt Hughes (2004). St-Pierre beat the likes of Michael Bisping, Johnny Hendricks, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy, B.J. Penn and just about every other fighter of his generation.

Khabib is the only of the fighters in the G.O.A.T. conversation to go undefeated, retiring with a 29-0 record. Nurmagomedov defeated Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Edson Barboza, Michael Johnson, Rafael dos Anjos and Conor McGregor.

There's much more with Dana ... we talked to the UFC honcho about everything from Valentina Shevchenko's resume, to 3x NCAA wrestling champ Bo Nickal's UFC debut.

Paddy Pimblett's beef with Jake Paul is still very much a thing ... and, uh, so much for not kickin' a guy when he's down!

The UFC star recently spoke to TMZ Sports, and let's just say he wasn't impressed with The Problem Child's performance during his 8-round, split decision loss to Tommy Fury last Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

"It seems to me like Tommy Fury was boxing bad against his last few opponents on purpose, know what I mean? Or Jake Paul's just a terrible boxer, even more worse than I thought. I was giving him more credit than I thought he deserved," Pimblett told us.

Of course, one judge scored the fight 75-74 (4 rounds apiece, but Jake had a 10-8 round in the 8th), while the other two had it 76-73 (6 rounds to 2 for Tommy).

"Tommy won anyway and I thought it wasn't a split decision, either. I thought it was a unanimous decision. He won most rounds."

Now, the 28-year-old speaking out against Paul isn't new -- remember, the two stars went back and forth last year after Pimblett suggested his fight against Anderson Silva was fixed.

Jake even offered Paddy $1 million if the UFC fighter could beat him in a 5-round sparring session. That hasn't happened, yet ... so we asked Pimblett if he's still down to do it.

"Yeah, if he wants to," Pimblett said. "I don't give a f***. I'll spar with anyone."

In the meantime, Pimblett's getting into the fitness business, releasing a workout supplement, Paddy “The Baddy” Everything Ultimate Pre-Workout with ABE that's only sold at The Vitamin Shoppe ... and he's stoked.

"It's my lil' boost of coffee in the morning to wake me up and make me get up and actually get out and see the day," Pimblett said.

A college basketball player was socked in the face by a vicious punch during a dispute in a game on Thursday night ... and the wild skirmish was all captured on video.

It happened at the Ford Center in Indiana ... when Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and UT-Martin were squaring off in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

In the broadcast video of the game, you can see UT Martin big man Rifen Miguel rushed into the paint in an apparent attempt to grab a rebound late in the first half of the contest ... but slammed into the back of SIUE forward DeeJuan Pruitt in the process.

Pruitt clearly didn't like the contact, and immediately raced to get into Miguel's face to let him know about it.

Miguel then leaned on Pruitt as he made his way back down the court -- when, suddenly, Pruitt rocked him in his jaw with a huge right hand.

Miguel turned to go after Pruitt ... but both benches cleared, and players, coaches and officials intervened before things escalated further.

Miguel was noticeably shaken up after the altercation ... needing to be held up by his teammates.

Both dudes, meanwhile, were eventually ejected from the contest.

Jon Jones spent his entire career in the light heavyweight division, but, not anymore ... the UFC legend is now a heavyweight, and we're seeing JJ's physique for the first time!

35-year-old Jones posed for promotional photos on March 1 ahead of his UFC 285 fight with 32-year-old former interim champ Ciryl Gane ... and you can clearly see 6'4" Jon packed on some serious size.

Jones systematically bulked up, adding muscle over the last 2+ years. When his fight with Alexander Gustafsson was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame last fall, Jon told the crowd he weighed 255 lbs.

It's unclear how much he tips the scales at now, but Jon previously stated he was aiming to weigh 270 lbs. heading into fight week, before cutting a few pounds to make the heavyweight limit of 265 lbs.

FYI, Jones weighed 204 lbs. for his last fight against Dominick Reyes ... which he won by unanimous decision.

Of course, Jones is the greatest LHW (205 lb.) fighter to ever step foot in an MMA cage ... but, there's a reason weight classes exist. Size matters, despite what you've heard.

As for his opponent, Gane is a bonafide heavyweight. He's 6'5", and weighed 247 lbs. for his last fight against Tai Tuivasa.

Alvin Kamara just pled not guilty to two criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the beatdown of a man outside of a Las Vegas nightclub last year.

The New Orleans Saints superstar appeared in a Vegas courtroom on Thursday morning with his attorneys to enter the plea.

He wore all black, and said very few words during the hearing.

A trial date for the 27-year-old was tentatively set for July 31 -- right around the time the Saints will kick off their 2023 training camp.

Kamara's co-defendants in the case -- which includes Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chris Lammons -- also pled not guilty to the charges at the hearing.

Prosecutors have charged Kamara with one gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit battery and one felony count of battery with substantial bodily harm after they say he attacked a man inside The Cromwell Hotel and Casino in February 2022.

According to a lawsuit filed by the alleged victim, Darnell Greene, the altercation happened after he and Kamara got into an argument over the use of an elevator outside of the hotel's popular Drai's Nightclub.

Video of the incident, obtained by TMZ Sports, appears to show Kamara throwing multiple blows at Greene ... while others kicked and punched the man as well.

Kamara was initially arrested over it all after the 2022 Pro Bowl game. He went on to play the entire 2022 season, starting 13 games and rushing for 897 yards.

Willie McGinest is now facing serious time behind bars for his role in a December restaurant beatdown ... TMZ Sports has learned the ex-NFL star has just been charged with two felonies.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed the charges this week ... hitting the New England Patriots legend with one count of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury.

Each charge carries up to four years in prison.

McGinest's arraignment in the case has been set for April.

We broke the story, McGinest was initially arrested in the case back in late December ... after video showed him and several others beating the hell out of a man on Dec. 9 at Delilah in West Hollywood.

The footage appears to show McGinest socking the guy in the face ... before later picking up a bottle and smashing it into the man's head.

McGinest eventually apologized for his role in the brawl -- calling everything a "lapse in judgment and behavior."

"To my family, community, friends and youth I mentor," the 51-year-old said, "please know I feel horrible for my actions and take full responsibility."

Travis Scott is the suspect in a police investigation into an alleged assault at a NYC nightclub ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us around 3 AM Wednesday the rapper got into it with someone at Nebula, a club on 41st Street. We're told Scott allegedly punched that person and damaged property -- possibly a cell phone.

At this time, cops want to talk to Travis and his reps, but the official report is for an assault and criminal mischief.

As for why he was in town, it appears Don Toliver had a show in NYC Tuesday night, bringing out Travis -- much to the delight of fans.

Travis is set to headline Rolling Loud California in Los Angeles Saturday night ... unclear if that appearance will be impacted at all because of the investigation.

We've reached out to Travis' team ... so far, no word back.

New troubling allegations surrounding the alleged pickup basketball brawl between Ja Morant and a teenage boy in July ... with the young hooper claiming the Memphis Grizzlies superstar flashed a gun at him during the altercation.

TMZ Sports broke the story in January -- Morant is accused of punching a 17-year-old boy after getting in an argument during a game at Ja's residence in Tennessee ... which resulted in a lawsuit filed in September.

According to the docs, the boy claimed he "accidentally" hit Ja in the face after throwing the ball in his direction ... and the All-Star guard retaliated by hitting him with a closed fist and knocking him to the ground.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that not only did the teen accuse Morant of punching him at least 12 times, resulting in a "large knot" on his head ... but the 23-year-old also went into his house and returned with a gun in his waistband -- with his hand on the weapon.

The boy told detectives Ja's dad, Tee, then yelled at him ... telling him to go back inside.

When Morant was questioned about the incident, police mentioned the boy's claims of exposing a weapon, but did not explicitly ask if he had a gun. The outlet notes Morant and his attorneys did not deny the claim.

As for the altercation, Morant told detectives he did, in fact, hit the teen ... but claimed it was out of self-defense after he was hit with the ball. In his eyes, "The ball was the first swing to me."

As we previously reported, Morant filed a police report of his own a few weeks later ... claiming the teen threatened to "come back and light this place up like fireworks" and he feared for his safety.

Police investigated the allegations for several weeks ... before they submitted the case to the district attorney's office on Oct. 4. Less than a month later, cops say the D.A. declined prosecution, citing a lack of evidence.