Fights

Boxer Albert Ochoa will be channeling his inner Michael Jackson when he steps into the ring this weekend ... 'cause he just copped some insane custom "Thriller" shoes to pay homage to the King of Pop!!

Ochoa -- who famously took Kylie Jenner to prom -- is set to fight TikTok star Xavier Long at Academy LA in Hollywood on Saturday ... and TMZ Sports has learned he plans to show out with his moves AND his shoes.

We're told the 23-year-old wanted personalized gear for the fifth fight of his career ... so he reached out to his close friend, artist Aztek Kustoms, with the idea of making kicks similar to the loafers on Jackson's feet in the iconic "Thriller" music video.

Aztek Kustoms -- who also made Rolly Romero's Frank Ocean boxing shoes -- says the kicks feature over 4,000 pearl-white rhinestones and black glitter paint ... and Ochoa is thrilled with the finished product.

Ochoa tells us "Thriller," which is his all-time favorite song, will be playing for his walkout to the ring.

"He's an icon, he's a legend," Ochoa told us. "For me to wear these shoes and to come out with that outfit and his music ... it's dope."

Boxing is something Ochoa is taking very seriously ... in fact, he says he's training with former boxing champ Joel Casamayor and former Olympian boxer Vicente Escobedo.

"It's a great team -- having a world champion and an Olympian and two people that were successful in their sport at the start of my career is a blessing," Ochoa said. "It's a dream come true."

Of course, many still doubt the reality star, like they did YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, but the 3-1 super welterweight tells us he's the real deal.

"I'm a real fighter," Ochoa said. "I put in the work and I've improved so much in this camp. I'm on my way to becoming a great star in this sport."

If Mark Zuckerberg really gets in the Octagon with Elon Musk, he'll have arguably the greatest fighter ever in his corner ... 'cause Jon Jones says he's down to train the Facebook billionaire!!

Bones took to Twitter Thursday night to offer his support to the 39-year-old Meta boss ... writing, "You already know I am Team Zuck ... Let me know if you need a training partner!"

As we previously reported, a fight between the two billionaires could actually happen ... with UFC honcho Dana White telling TMZ Sports both sides are serious about scrapping.

Of course, the weight difference between Elon and Zuck may pose a problem ... but Jones made it clear he'll be at the ready in case things move forward.

Jones' bond with Zuck goes back a few months -- in February, he commented on a video of Mark sparring with UFC champion Alex Volkanovski in the Metaverse ... saying the techy training looked like a blast.

Zuck wished him well ... replying, "Excited for your return!" ahead of Jones' first-round win over Ciryl Gane.

Now that one of the G.O.A.T.s is getting involved, the hype surrounding the potential fight is even greater.

Conversations continue between Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Dana White ... and while the billionaires are itchin' to get their hands on one another, there's is an issue preventing the fight from being made official -- Elon's weight advantage.

Our sources tell us the guys are still serious about fighting in an Octagon, and as the UFC president told us yesterday, he's absolutely down to put on the fight ... but, Zuckerberg's size disadvantage has become an issue.

In fighting, size matters, a lot. Elon is 6'1", and reportedly weighs between 185 and 200 lbs. As for the Facebook founder, he's just 5'7", and reportedly weighs around 155 lbs.

Significant differences ... Elon has a 6-inch height advantage, and somewhere around a 30 to 45 lb. weight advantage.

To put that into perspective, Zuck would be a lightweight in the UFC. Musk would be a middleweight or light heavyweight ... a 2-3 weight class difference.

Typically, exhibition fights ignore weight classes ... Floyd Mayweather has fought a much bigger Logan Paul, for example.

But, just because the fight could technically be made doesn't mean Mark isn't hesitant to give up a sizeable advantage to his foe.

On Thursday, White joined "TMZ Live" and revealed he'd actually been having conversations with both men, who Dana says are "absolutely dead serious" about fighting in an Octagon.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are "absolutely deadly serious" about fighting each other in a UFC Octagon and it would be the biggest fight in the history of the world, so says UFC Prez Dana White.

Dana told Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" Thursday he's been talking and texting with Mark and Elon Wednesday night and into Thursday, and says both men want to square off in Vegas.

"Talked with Mark and Elon last night, both guys are absolutely dead serious about this," White said.

It all started on Wednesday when Musk responded to a report Zuck was going to launch his own version of Twitter, to which Elon responded, "I'm up for a cage match if he is lol."

The Facebook founder got wind of the tweet, and served up a message of his own, writing ... "Send me location." BTW ... that's code in the world of UFC for, he's really serious.

So, fight on?? People weren't exactly sure if the men were just messing around ... but alas, White says they're not.

As for how big the event could be -- Dana believes it would easily be the most-watched fight ever, saying "The biggest fight of all time was Floyd and Conor, I just think it triples that -- it triples what that did, there's no limit on what that thing can make."

Dana's confident both men are capable of handling themselves. Zuck has been in jiu-jitsu competitions recently, and Elon has done martial arts and told Dana he was involved in "plenty of fights growing up in South Africa."

DW says the cost for Pay-Per-View would be $100 a pop ... it's normally $80 for a UFC fight. Forget about what it would cost to watch it in the arena. Dana expects the fight would gross hundreds of millions of dollars, and the loot would go to charity.

Bottom line ... this is no joke. Mark and Elon are serious, and Dana is determined to make it happen.

You can watch the full interview on "TMZ Live" Thursday.

A billionaire brawl between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk?!?

The wild cage match might actually happen ... 'cause the Meta CEO just clapped back at the Twitter honcho's callout by saying he's totally down to fight!!

Musk recently pitched the fight idea in response to a report claiming Zuck's company is planning to rival Twitter with a new platform of its own ... to which he replied, "I'm up for a cage match if he is lol."

Whether or not he was kidding, the Facebook co-founder got wind of Musk's tweet ... and channeled his inner Khabib Nurmagomedov by saying, "Send me location."

The response, according to The Verge, was NOT a joke ... and he's 100% serious about duking it out.

Musk, 51, already seems to have a spot in mind for the potential fight ... tweeting "Vegas Octagon" late Wednesday night.

He also teased some of his skills ... adding, "I have this great move that I call 'The Walrus,' where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing."

Musk better pray the move works, 'cause Zuck, 39, started honing his craft back during the pandemic ... and he recently competed in a jiu-jitsu tournament, where he earned a gold and silver medal.

He also claims to have finished the famous "Murph Challenge" -- a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and an additional one-mile run (all while wearing a weighted vest) -- in under 40 minutes, which is quite an accomplishment.

Controversial former kickboxer/media personality Andrew Tate is down to have Elon's back, though ... 'cause he said he wants revenge for being blocked on all Meta platforms.

Somebody get Dana White on the phone ASAP.

Police are finally revealing more about their criminal investigation into Tyreek Hill ... saying in an incident report, obtained by TMZ Sports, that they launched their probe into the NFL star after he was accused of slapping a man during an altercation on a boat.

According to the Miami-Dade Police Department docs, the incident happened at around 6:45 PM on June 18 in a Miami marina ... after Hill and some of his apparent acquaintances had boarded a fishing charter vessel without the owner's permission.

Cops say when employees of the ship found Hill's group -- they tried to kick them off ... but a verbal argument broke out instead.

During the tiff, it's alleged Hill reached out and slapped one of the employees "on the back of the neck with an open hand" as members of the 29-year-old's group tried to usher him away from the area.

Cops say Hill then "charged towards" the employee -- but he was "restrained by several people within his group."

The Dolphins receiver then left the area, cops say.

According to the docs, Hill and his group had inquired about renting the boat earlier in the day prior to the confrontation with employees -- but did not go through with the purchase "due to the high" cost.

So far, no arrests have been made ... and no charges have been filed.

Neither Hill nor his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, have yet to publicly comment on the allegations.

Willie McGinest has been sued yet again ... this time, a man is alleging the ex-NFL star and three other people beat the hell out of him during a dispute over weights at a gym two years ago.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, the altercation happened back on June 21, 2021 ... inside of a 24 Hour Fitness in Long Beach, Calif.

The plaintiff, Andrew Cortez, claims he was using the bench press ... when someone walked up and took one of his plates.

Cortez says he told the person he was not done with the weight ... but he claims McGinest, the former New England Patriots pass rusher, overheard the exchange and said "the f*** you mean?"

According to the lawsuit, McGinest then socked Cortez in the face with a closed fist.

Cortez alleges three other men then jumped in ... and, along with McGinest, proceeded to strike him in the head and back "30 to 40 times."

According to the suit, 24 Hour Fitness personnel eventually separated the parties -- though Cortez claims he was left bloodied and injured.

Cortez says he's been suffering from emotional distress since the attack ... and is still reeling from the wounds he sustained.

He's asking for unspecified damages in his suit.

Tyreek Hill is under police investigation, TMZ Sports has confirmed ... after the NFL star was accused of getting physical with somebody in Miami on Sunday.

Cops confirmed the probe to us on Tuesday ... though they did not disclose further details of the case, only saying they were investigating an alleged assault/battery involving the Dolphins player.

According to Local 10 News, however, the alleged incident happened at Haulover Marina after Hill got into a dispute with an employee of a charter company at the popular South Florida boating spot.

The outlet reported Tuesday the 29-year-old receiver was accused of putting his hands on the employee at some point during the altercation.

Hill has been seen on social media on boats multiple times this week ... on Father's Day, he shared a snap of him while out on the water on his IG story -- and on Tuesday, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, showed the two were at sea fishing near a shark.

But, neither Hill nor Rosenhaus have publicly commented on the police probe.

Hill has been the subject of police investigations before -- most notably, back in 2019, he was named in a child abuse report ... though he was never charged with a crime in that case.

Hill has become arguably the best wideout in the NFL ... last season -- his first with Miami -- he tallied 1,710 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs.

UFC star Jared Cannonier is turning over a new leaf -- literally -- telling TMZ Sports he's quit smoking weed for his upcoming main event fight with Marvin Vettori.

We talked to the 39-year-old "Killa Gorilla" just days before his UFC Fight Night scrap, going down Saturday night in Las Vegas, when Jared revealed the change in his lifestyle.

"For this camp I have abstained from smoking marijuana, so the clarity is there," Cannonier told us, explaining ... "More mental clarity for me. There is a physical aspect to it. You are putting foreign substances into you [body], especially your lungs."

And, because it's potentially a 25-minute scrap, Jared wants to be ready in the event he doesn't get an early stoppage.

"This is a 5-round fight, so I want to be able to push the pace for 5 hard rounds, make it 5 hard rounds for him, but just another 5 rounds for me," Cannonier told us.

"I want to push the pace, be powerful throughout the whole thing, if it goes 5 rounds. That's a big if, 'cause I plan on putting it on him start to finish. I don't see him lasting long. Mentally,  physically, I feel like I'm in a much better place than I was in my last camp, so I'm ready to go!"

The fight has title implications, too. JC is ranked 4, while Marvin is the 3rd ranked middleweight.

Alex Periera is ranked 1, but is moving up the light heavyweight, so he's out of the mix at 185 pounds. Robert Whittaker (who is fighting Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 next month) is ranked 2nd. Israel Adesanya is the reigning champ.

With a win, Cannonier believes this puts him "right at the doorstep" of a title fight.

We also talked to 29-year-old Vettori, who, you guessed it, isn't exactly on the same page when it comes to how he sees the fight going.

"Me being young, and me being hungrier, the more the fight goes on, the more [Jared's] gonna struggle. And, I might catch him early, too. I heard he wants to come out like crazy, I welcome that. Please, bring it, 'cause damn sure you're not gonna get me out of there!"

As for what happens after a win over Jared, Marvin tells us he isn't sweating the future.

"I always felt it inside, I always knew a trilogy with Adesanya is gonna happen. So, I'm not even stressing about it. My whole focus is to go out and look amazing in front of Cannonier and the rest will fall into place."

Tekashi 6ix9ine has officially moved on from the grimy street raps that both powered his early career and got him into trouble.

The rainbow-haired rapper surprise-dropped his third studio album Friday titled "Leyenda Viva," which translates to "Living Legend" in English.

The project is predominately in Spanish across its 11 tracks (save for the occasional "suck my d***") and features Latin Grammy-winning superstar Lenier on 7 of them.

6ix9ine abandons the drill sound in favor of tropical-tinged vibes with a twist of reggaeton ... much closer to his Mexican/Puerto Rican roots than ever before.

The new wave of music marks 6ix9ine's first full-length release in nearly 3 years ... and since he suffered a brutal beatdown inside a Miami L.A. Fitness gym in March.

Forget Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, Fury vs. Wilder and Davis vs. Garcia ... Terence "Bud" Crawford tells TMZ Sports his fight with Errol Spence is a bigger one than all of them!!!

"It is the biggest fight of the year," the 35-year-old said out in New York City on Wednesday ... before adding that it could be "the biggest fight in the last 10-plus years!"

Crawford might actually not be wrong ... even though Floyd Mayweather, Tyson Fury and Gervonta Davis have had some huge, headlining bouts since 2013 -- both Crawford and Spence have been must-see fighters for boxing fans all over the globe for the last few years.

The two are undefeated, have rare knockout power -- and are still considered to be in their primes.

And, Crawford tells us there's no way the match will let anyone down ... promising fight fans there will be "fireworks" in the ring when they get after each other next month.

As for who's going to come out victorious ... Bud insisted he's got it in the bag.

"I'm going to win this fight," he told us. "And I'm already the best fighter in the world!"

Conor McGregor and his fiancée, Dee Devlin, are adding to their family -- the UFC superstar just announced the couple is expecting their fourth child together!!

The former champ champ shared the big update on "LIVE With Kelly And Mark" Wednesday ... and he says they couldn't be more excited for the new baby.

34-year-old McGregor was talking about raising his three other kids -- Conor Jr. (6), Croia Mairead (4) and Rian (2) -- when he spilled the beans on the growing family.

"We've also got another on the way ... so there's a lot going on," Conor said with a big smile.

Conor says the family still has a few more weeks before finding out about the baby's gender ... and it's clear he can't wait to get the news.

Conor and Dee have been together for about 15 years ... and were engaged in 2020.

If the baby ends up following in daddy's footsteps, they'll have a sparring partner nearby ... 'cause Conor says Junior is already starting to perfect his moves!!

Big Lex called 911 after getting beat up by Joseline Hernandez -- but she wasn't seeking medical attention ... she was seeking justice, demanding for cops to arrest the perpetrator.

TMZ has obtained the dispatch audio capturing BL's emergency call Sunday night -- this after she'd taken a brutal beating at the hands of Joseline backstage during Floyd Mayweather's exhibition fight -- and it sounds like she had one thing in mind ... pressing charges.

Take a listen for yourself ... you hear Lex talking to the operator, who's asking her all the standard questions -- and she sounds relatively calm, cool and collected about it all.

She gives all the proper info, but when the dispatcher asks if she needs medical personnel for any injuries -- Lex actually says no. Instead, she says she just needs cops on hand ... 'cause she says she only wants to file a police report -- obviously in hopes of an arrest.

Lex says she's waiting at a nearby gas station and is standing by to give officers all the pertinent details. Clearly, she gave them what they needed to ultimately throw on handcuffs.

As we reported ... Joseline was hauled off to jail and booked on battery and trespassing charges. Her mug shot certainly makes it seem like she'd been through one wild night.

Of course, this whole incident was caught on camera ... and you can clearly see Joseline raining blows on Big Lex, while also having her in a headlock. The violent altercation ended up leaving Lex partially unclothed ... and it took a little while before they were separated.

Conor McGregor tuned in to Floyd Mayweather's exhibition fight vs. John Gotti III, but the UFC superstar "wasn't that impressed" with the boxing legend, saying he "enjoyed the brawl afterward more" than the actual bout!

TMZ Sports caught up with 34-year-old McGregor Wednesday morning in NYC ... when we asked Conor for his thoughts on Mayweather vs. Gotti III.

"I wasn’t that impressed, to be honest with you, wasn't impressed," Conor said.

The former double champ added ... "I don’t know where [Floyd's] at. There’s no meaning behind it. He’s just here and there. There’s no meaning behind the bouts. There’s nothing to it. I enjoyed the brawl afterward more than I did the actual bout."

Of course, Floyd retired from fighting professionally in 2017, leaving with a perfect 50-0 record. Since, he's taken several exhibition bouts, fighting everyone from Logan Paul to the Gotti, grandson of one of the most infamous mobsters ever.

The Gotti fight lasted 6 rounds before referee Kenny Bayless disqualified John for repeatedly grabbing Floyd ... and that's when the real action started, with a melee ensuing in the ring and in several other places at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, FL.

Conor expressed support for John after the fight, tweeting ... "I back the Gotti's. The war is on."

Mayweather clearly intends to return to the ring, and Conor has an opponent in mind. Himself, in a rematch of their 2017 super fight.

"We'll have a go if he wants!"

Floyd Mayweather, despite being attacked in the ring by John Gotti III after their fight, was still able to share a cool moment with his longtime business partner, with both men receiving a custom Juneteenth belt in a back hallway of the venue.

The ceremony was originally supposed to go down inside the ring, but the subsequential brawl made that impossible. Still, the 50-0 legend, along with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, presented CEO Jas Mathur with the World Boxing Council Championship Freedom Belt.

Mayweather also received the commemorative strap.

The belt, the WBC says, celebrates "the remarkable achievements and visionary leadership demonstrated by Mr. Mathur and Limitless X for their contributions to the sporting and business community."

“Thank you to Mauricio and the WBC for creating and presenting me and my partners with this unique freedom belt to commemorate Juneteenth,” Floyd told us.

"The WBC has always led by example. I am honored to receive the belt along with Robert Smith, who is the largest civil rights activist in our history, and Jas Mathur my dear friend and partner."

Mayweather's friend, billionaire philanthropist Robert Smith, also received the Freedom Belt at a dinner Saturday night in South Florida.

Mathur, who has worked alongside Floyd for years, was touched by the gift, writing, "It is truly an honor to receive this championship belt from the World Boxing Council."

Of course, Mayweather and Gotti III fought in an 8-round exhibition fight on Sunday ... which erupted into chaos after the grandson of the legendary mobster attacked Floyd after the ref stopped the fight.

The Miami Heat may have lost the NBA Finals, but there's at least some good news for the organization -- Conor McGregor says Burnie the mascot is A-OK after getting his bell rung at the hands of the UFC superstar!

"The mascot is good. It was a skit, and all is well," the 34-year-old former champ said Tuesday in NYC.

"I spent a lot of time with him afterward, we talked it out, everything is great. It was all part of the show!"

Remember, McGregor participated in what was supposed to be a fun, friendly routine with Burnie during game 4 of the Finals in Miami on Friday, when things took a turn for the worse for the furry creature.

Conor was promoting his Tidl Sport recovery spray ... when Burnie -- wearing oversized boxing gloves -- squared up with McGregor.

That was all The Notorious needed to see ... and he smashed Burnie with one of his vicious patented left hooks. The mascot went down to the ground before McGregor hit him with a brutal ground-and-pound strike to the head.

Unfortunately, Conor hits hard, as the guy in the Burnie costume found out, resulting in a reported trip to the hospital.

But, by Conor's account, he escaped serious injury and is okay.