Fights

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje is tracking to be the biggest fight in UFC history ... bigger than any Conor McGregor fight ... so says Dana White.

We just spoke with the UFC honcho who tells us the data he's looked at shows massive interest in UFC 254 -- and he's expecting to break the 2.4 million PPV buys that Conor vs. Khabib did in 2018.

"Yeah, it's trending bigger than that right now," Dana says.

White says the data doesn't always hold up -- but right now, he's pretty confident.

For the record, 2.4 million buys at $65 a pop is $156 MILLION in PPV money alone ... so yeah, this is a big deal.

We also asked Dana about Khabib's comments to ESPN on Tuesday morning -- when the Dagestani said he's very interested in a fight with UFC legend Georges St-Pierre after he gets through Justin.

White says he's interested in exploring a possible deal -- but he's not making any promises.

"I'd be interested in talking about it. Just because that's what Khabib wants doesn't mean that fight can be made. I mean there's just so many things that have to come into play for that fight to happen."

As for Conor McGregor ... Dana tells us the contract to fight Dustin Poirier in January is NOT officially done at this point, but he's expecting it to happen soon.

"No, the deals not signed yet but in the history of dealing with Conor McGregor, Conor McGregor has never come out publicly and said 'I accept this fight' and not fought," White says ... "I expect the fight to go on."

Conor has said he wants the fight to take place at AT&T Stadium in Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones has said he's open to hosting a McGregor fight.

So, we asked Dana if there's a realistic chance that could happen.

White says the UFC has been trying to book a fight there for years but it just hasn't come to fruition -- and it definitely won't until Texas allows full capacity for fans.

"Glee" star Amber Riley says she nearly beat the crap out of a Trump supporter who blocked her car, and then spit on it ... before cooler heads prevailed.

The actress is pissed about what recently happened to her while on her way to a store. Amber says she was driving into the parking lot when an older white man in a MAGA hat jumped in front of her car and "takes his Trump hat off and uses it as some kind of badge as if I need to stop."

She says she blew it off at first, telling the guy to move it along but what really got her riled up was when he spit on her car. Amber fumed ... "In 2020, he saw a Black woman, decided he was gonna punk me and the mother f**ker spit on my car. I don't have words for this."

As for why she didn't shoot video of the altercation, Amber says she's not one of those people to take out her phone and record a racist to make him famous. You gotta see her alternate plan, 'cause it's awesome to hear it in her words.

Let's just say it involves beating his ass. Amber says, "If I would have found him in the store, I would have been in jail right now."

The actress mentioned she was FaceTiming Selena Gomez's kidney donor, Francia Raisa, when she herself was recently tormented by Trump supporters on the 405 freeway.

Amber says she doesn't care who anyone supports but, "I care about you keeping your hands to yourself, I care about you keeping your comments to yourself and I care about you keeping your bodily fluids to yourself."

"I think [Teofimo Lopez] is the future in the lightweight division and there’s a lot of great fights out there for him -- including our very own Ryan Garcia, which would be a massive, massive fight."

That's Oscar De La Hoya already trying to line up a fight between Teofimo Lopez and Ryan Garcia ... explaining it would be an instant classic that would be HUGE for the sport.

Oscar tells TMZ Sports he was incredibly impressed with Teo's victory this weekend over Vasyl Lomachenko -- a fighter many considered the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet.

"If you saw the fight, Lomachenko came in strong toward the end, but it was too late," Oscar says ... "Teofimo looked amazing. He stepped it up. He showed his true colors."

Of course, Oscar is one of the top promoters in boxing and reps Ryan Garcia -- one of the top young fighters in the game.

Garcia is 22. Teo is 23 ... and Oscar says a clash between these two young superstars seems inevitable and would be amazing!

"That’ll be like Fernando Vargas vs. De La Hoya all over again, bro … I mean that's a classic!"

Garcia is 20-0 with 17 knockouts -- though he's gearing up for a big fight in December against Luke Campbell, a guy who went the distance with Loma in 2019.

Garcia fights at lightweight -- and Lopez just became the unified lightweight world champion. So, the weight class wouldn't be an issue.

Look, Teofimo has said he wants big fights -- and if Garcia gets through Campbell ... Garcia would be a very attractive opponent.

"I think both guys are skilled, amazing fighters. That will be a classic," Oscar says.

Meanwhile, Oscar is keeping busy by raising money for the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation, which contributes to schools and hospitals in East L.A.

A Halloween-themed amusement park became a hellish scene full of monsters ... engaged in an all-out brawl after a woman refused to get off a ride.

The chaos begins with a ride operator at one of the Halloween Town locations in Las Vegas telling a woman who's yelling at him she's gotta get off ... and he's not starting the ride until she does.

The woman -- wearing a blue shirt, sitting next to a child, and called Christina by friends -- doesn't budge, and instead lets expletives fly. It's unclear what actually led to her beef with the ride operator, but he holds strong ... telling everyone the woman's holding up the ride because she's "acting like a damn animal."

Her response arguably ventures into racist territory when she says he looks like an animal, and then she calls security on him as he's trying to get everyone off the ride -- and then tempers flared.

It escalates quickly, and soon there's a scuffle involving several women, a few men, and multiple carnival employees who can't seem to get it under control. It's wild, it's ugly and, yes ... there were plenty of kids there to view the carnage.

Just your classic family trip to the pumpkin patch ... in a horror movie, anyway.

Boxing star Otto Wallin says if Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III ain't happening, he'll step in and rematch the Gypsy King ... 'cause he already whooped him once!!

The HIGHLY anticipated trilogy fight was *supposed* to go down this year, but Fury says Wilder keeps changing the date ... so TF's moving on.

But fear not, Fury fanatics -- 29-year-old Wallin says he's been training like a maniac ... and he tells TMZ Sports he's more than ready.

"He doesn't have to look any further," Wallin tells us. "To be fair, look at our fight and then look at his other fights."

"You can see that I did a much better job than anybody has, and I landed more punches than (Wladimir) Klitschko and Wilder even together."

Remember, Fury-Wilder I was a draw ... but Tyson dominated Deontay in their February 2020 rematch -- TKO the Bronze Bomber in the 7th round.

Wallin actually believes his September 2019 fight with Tyson should've been stopped after he badly cut Fury's eye early in the fight.

"I deserve a rematch. Especially for the cuts. I should have been the winner that night."

Wallin says he thinks Fury would be down for the rematch ... but believes Tyson's people might stop the fight from going down 'cause they know Wallin can win.

As for whether Otto would be ready to rock in December -- the initial date for Fury vs. Wilder III -- that ain't a problem ... 'cause he was already hoping to fight before 2021!

She beats some ass. She shakes some ass. And, Hollywood is taking notice.

MMA rising star Valerie Loureda says her career has exploded over the past few months due to a combination of violence and sex appeal ... and she's loving every second of it.

Loureda blew up on social media back in August by obliterating Tara Graff at Bellator 243, which earned her a multi-fight contract with Bellator. She's now 3-0 as a pro, with 2 knockouts.

Loureda celebrated her new contract with a twerk video that also went viral ... and her popularity has been skyrocketing ever since.

Now, Loureda says Hollywood has come calling -- with talent agents knocking down her door and TV producers offering up a reality show.

22-year-old Loureda says she's flattered by the interest -- and wants to get involved in entertainment at some point -- but for now, her focus is on fighting.

"Several talent agents have reached out to me to try to get me to enter entertainment, and film different things, and honestly I love all of that and that’s my goal at the end of my career," Valerie tells us.

"But, right now, I'm really focused on fighting and winning fights comes first. But, yeah for sure, that’s a dream for me."

The big question ... when is Valerie getting back in the cage?

Loureda says she's currently recovering from an eye injury -- but she's hoping to fight again in 2020. Bellator is still working on an opponent.

In the meantime, Valerie continues to be a hit on social media. Here's one reason why ...

Joaquin Buckley's incredible spinning back kick KO has made it to the White House -- President Trump was so impressed, he called Dana White to rave about it!

Buckley's insane takedown of Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Night 179 has exploded after being hailed by many as the greatest knockout in MMA history.

In fact, Kanye West used the KO footage as the backdrop for his new song, "NAH NAH NAH" ... which has already been viewed by millions of people.

When we spoke with Buckley, he was STOKED to get love from Yeezus -- suggesting they could collaborate on a project together down the line ... even though Joaquin doesn't rap!

"Hey, I can learn how [to rap] though! I can write it down real quick. I can come up with a couple of things!!"

As for President Trump, Joaquin says he got a call from UFC president Dana White after the KO telling him his good friend POTUS personally called him up to tell him how impressed he was with the epic finish.

And yeah, Joaquin says he's flattered by the compliment from the Commander In Chief.

"He's the world leader at the end of the day. If anything, that's good to have a person like that on your side."

And get this, 26-year-old Buckley is still NOT a full-time MMA fighter -- he has a job at Walgreen's ... though he admits he might have to cut back his hours to focus on fighting now!

"I'm still employed by Walgreens. I gotta talk to my boss right now because I was supposed to head back on Monday!"

Buckley says he loves the Walgreen's job, but his fighting career is exploding right now and he knows he'll have to commit full-time in order to compete at the highest level.

The good news ... Buckley says his boss and co-workers are 100% supportive.

"They're just happy for me. I told 'em where I come from, they know my background, they know my story -- and just to see where I'm at now, everybody's proud of me."

Buckley is 11-3 as a pro and is now scheduled to take on Jordan Wright at UFC 255 next month!

Don't mess with city bus drivers ... they're fed up, and a mouthy, unruly passenger learned that the hard way when he got a fist to the face.

This video of the bare-knuckle boxing match shows the driver, who's wearing a face mask, telling the passenger to back up behind the yellow line. The passenger's apparently pissed about the driver threatening to kick him off the bus ... though we don't know why.

After a few moments of yelling back and forth and tension building ... the driver momentarily turns his back, the passenger shoves him and then it was on! Both men started swinging, but the driver landed several blows ... at least one to the guy's face because he was bleeding badly, and went down to the ground.

As if he got a standing 8 count, the passenger got back on his feet, but clearly didn't want any more smoke. The driver picked up a phone, we're guessing to call cops.

It's unclear when or where this all went down but the video's going viral. We're trying to find out if any arrests were made, but the takeaway here is ... don't test public bus drivers.

Drake's legal team is calling BS on injuries a man claims he suffered in a beatdown, because as they put it ... the guy wasn't too depressed or injured to appear on a reality TV show.

As you might recall, Bennett Sipes claimed he suffered a concussion, back injury, physical injury and depression after a March 2018 fight at Delilah nightclub with Drake, Odell Beckham and others. Sipes filed a lawsuit over the fight, but Drake's attorneys filed docs pointing out Sipes not only appeared on "Love Island" recently ... they also claim he attended music festivals and did backflips off rope swings while on vacay in Mexico.

As they say in the docs, obtained by TMZ, Sipes "appeared anything but depressed."

The legal docs include a declaration from Sipes' ex-GF, Sommer Ray Beaty, saying he started working with her after the brawl. She claims he carried her camera equipment without difficulty. She also claims Sipes seemed fine after his visible injuries healed -- and they traveled together to Mexico, Maryland, Colorado, England, France, Italy and Japan. She claims they also attended Coachella, Stagecoach and Rolling Loud Festival.

Drake's team also says Sipes deleted a bunch of text messages with Beaty ... which they say is a big no-no while the lawsuit was pending. They suspect the messages could have shed some light on Sipes' alleged injuries or the incident itself.

TMZ broke the story ... Sipes sued Drake, OBJ and Kourtney Kardashian's ex, Younes Bendjima, back in January 2019 claiming Younes attacked him along with members of Drake and OBJ's entourage. Sipes' ex said in her declaration both Drake and OBJ were standing at the back of the group and "appeared to simply be observing what was happening and following the group out of curiosity. Neither of them seemed to be instructing others or encouraging others to do anything at all."

Sipes had alleged Drake made a "throat slash" gesture and that's what triggered his crew to beat Sipes to a pulp. But, Sipes' ex contradicts that ... claiming she did not see any "throat slash" gesture "nor did I observe Drake encourage anything at all."

Conor McGregor's wish is evidently Jerry Jones' command ... the Cowboys owner says he's now "very open" to hosting the Notorious' next fight at his palace in Dallas!

"I'm a real admirer of his," Jerry said of McGregor on 105.3 "The Fan" on Friday. "He's one of the neatest individuals I think I've met. Period."

Conor said Wednesday he's accepted a UFC fight with Dustin Poirier for Jan. 23 ... and in his announcement, McGregor said he wanted the scrap to take place at AT&T Stadium.

And, when Jerry was asked about the possibility of making that happen ... the 78-year-old said he was more than down to try to make it work.

"[Conor] is special," Jerry said. "It would be quite a day for AT&T Stadium to have him."

Of course, the UFC has yet to officially cross the T's and dot the I's on the fight ... so selecting a location for the possible tilt is still a ways away.

But, if a deal is eventually made ... it could pave the way for thousands of fans to watch the fight in person.

Jerry's been operating Cowboys home games with roughly 25,000 people in attendance all season.

As for how Jones knows Conor so well ... you'll recall, he played host to the fighter at a Dallas game back in 2018 -- and everyone LOVED the guy there!!

So, do we officially have a fight AND a location now???

Boxing star Teofimo Lopez says his feud with Vasyl Lomachenko is real and nasty -- and he'll have "bad intentions" when they step in the ring this weekend.

"This is just how I feel man, this definitely is personal to me -- it's a whole different mindset for me," Lopez tells TMZ Sports.

Lopez (15-0) vs. Loma (14-1) is one of the biggest fights of the year -- two superstars clashing at the height of their powers Saturday at The Bubble at the MGM Grand in Vegas.

23-year-old Lopez is the IBF lightweight champ. 32-year-old Loma is the WBC, WBA and WBO lightweight champ. All of the belts are on the line this weekend.

Lopez knows he's the betting underdog but tells us he likes it that way and advises anyone who knows anything about boxing to bet the house on him.

"If you know boxing, bet on Teofimo to win -- you making money, everybody goes home happy."

The beef between the two camps goes back years -- lots of trash talk -- and Lopez says he's been itching to settle things with violence.

"You can see it in my eyes, I don’t fear you -- and I don’t have no type of respect towards you … just be ready for a fight."

Lopez even took a shot at Loma for the quality of the opponents he's faced recently ... saying he hasn't taken on a real challenger in years.

"I don’t think you’ve had a real fight in a long time -- so let's see what you can do."

Uhhhhh -- heads up, Roy Jones Jr. ...

Mike Tyson is getting ABSOLUTELY JACKED for his November comeback fight with RJJ ... he revealed his new bod in another training video -- and the boxing legend looks ridiculous!!

The clip ain't long ... but in the few seconds where you see Tyson shirtless -- you can tell the guy has done nothing but prepare for his Nov. 28 bout with Jones Jr.

He's got abs. He's got biceps. He's got pecs. And, he looks as ferocious as ever!

The vid caught the attention of a bunch of famous people ... The Rock liked the clip and UFC superstar Tyron Woodley even reposted it to his social media page.

It all begs the question ... is Jones Jr. absolutely sure he wants to go through with this fight???

In addition to getting his body back in fighting shape, 54-year-old Tyson has also repeatedly posted videos showing he's still got knockout power too!

Justin Gaethje says he knows his upcoming fight with UFC champ  Khabib Nurmagomedov can change his life forever -- and to steal a line from Hamilton, he's not throwing away his shot.

"The stakes are huge," Gaethje tells TMZ Sports ... "This is life-changing for me. I go out there and get a dub?! This is life-changing."

And, for all of the critics who think he'll get smoked by the undefeated Dagestani, Justin offered up this message ...

"I am prepared and you can bet your bottom dollar I will not go out like no bitch!"

Justin and Khabib -- two friends who share the same manager, Ali Abdelaziz -- are scheduled to throw down for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 254 on Oct. 24 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Wanna hear Justin's fight plan?

"I'm gonna go out there and I'm gonna try and break his face, I promise you."

That simple.

We asked Justin what he believes will be the biggest challenge in the fight -- and his response was interesting.

"Right now, this man is gonna be very hard to beat. With the passing of his father -- for people like us that is a driving motivating factor. He's going to be 100% motivated but I do believe ... that I can beat him."

Justin says he knows he has to punish Khabib early and often -- explaining, "If he takes 8 clean shots I truly believe that he will understand that he doesn't want to take this damage."

Justin says the UFC is flying his parents out for the fight -- and when he wins the belt, they'll be the first people he seeks out to celebrate with.

"When I win, I'm gonna go find them and give them a huge hug because we f*cking did it!"

We also asked Gaethje about Conor McGregor -- and if he still wants to fight the Irishman after all of the back and forth over the years.

"When I get this belt, the target will be on my back and I will have no need to call anybody out," Gaethje says.

Lil Yachty ruined a man's chances to watch a Juice WRLD tribute when the rapper and his boys beat the crap out of him ... according to a new lawsuit.

Jimmy Quivac is suing Yachty claiming he and his crew pummeled him as he was heading inside the Rolling Loud Festival last December to watch a tribute to the late Juice WRLD.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Jimmy claims he was walking alone and heading into the L.A. Coliseum when he noticed Yachty and a large crowd standing near the entrance. As he tried weaving through the crowd, Jimmy claims someone yelled at him for bumping into them, and then all hell broke loose ... and Yachty allegedly punched him in the melee.

Jimmy claims Yachty's crew joined in on the action ... striking, stomping and kicking him while he was on the ground. When the dust settled, he says he suffered injuries to his wrist, hand and arm.

He's suing for assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

TMZ broke the story ... the alleged incident was caught on video. You can see in the video Yachty's part of a group that appears to be attacking a man, who eventually is seen getting up and running away. Yachty, at the time, claimed he and his friends were leaving the festival, and the guy in the video, Jimmy, had shoved him for no reason. Yachty said he and his friends confronted the guy and asked what his beef was with them.

Conor McGregor is back!!

The Irish superstar claims he IS fighting Dustin Poirier on January 23 ... and he says he wants the mega event to go down at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

The Notorious made the announcement on Twitter, writing ... "I accept, Jan 23rd is on!"

McGregor continued ... "My goal is to see this fight take place in Cowboy stadium. Proper Style! Jerry Jones is a friend and the stadium can hold our crowd. I will be ready for Texas and Texas will be ready for my fans!"

FYI, the UFC has not confirmed the news.

Remember, last week Conor expressed interest in fighting the 31-year-old, #2 ranked UFC Lightweight ... but with 1 very important caveat.

The fight had to be in 2020 ... which presented a problem 'cause it's already mid-October and most of the UFC's cards are already set.

Our UFC sources told us Dana White was willing to make the fight ... but it'd have to go down in January -- and it seems that's exactly what's going to happen.

Conor and Dustin have history ... the 2 men fought at UFC 178 in 2014. McGregor knocked out Poirier in the 1st round.

But, Dustin isn't the only guy Conor wants to put his hands on ... 'cause The Notorious says after Poirier, "Then Manny [Pacquiao]"

UFC fighter Edmen Shahbazyan says the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has a California connection -- with several of his Armenian friends in Glendale flying back to fight in the war.

... and he's praying they all make it out alive.

FYI, Glendale reportedly has the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia. It's also where Edmen lives and trains.

The 22-year-old prodigy -- who's 11-1 as an MMA pro -- points out the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has already claimed many lives. According to reports, between 300 and 500 people have been killed over the past month.

"I'm just praying every day for the best for my Armenian soldiers," Shahbazyan says.

"A lot of young kids, a lot of young soldiers are dying, younger than me. They're like 18, 19 years old! They're going to war and they're not coming back."

Shahbazyan says he's been participating in protests and demonstrations in Glendale -- hoping the world will support his people and help to achieve peace.