Fights

"Kamaru can fight a can, a Monster can, a Coca-Cola bottle. It doesn't matter. He smashed everybody. Violated everybody. Nobody deserve nothing."

That's Kamaru Usman's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, answering the question ... who's next for the UFC welterweight champ??

The 34-year-old Usman has run thru almost all his competition at 170 lbs.

Colby Covington, TKO, 2019
Jorge Masvidal, Unanimous Decision, 2019
Gilbert Burns, TKO, 2021
Jorge Masvidal (again), KO, 2021

Ali did throw out a name -- a big name -- as a possible opponent for the Nigerian Nightmare.

Nate Diaz.

"At least Nate brings something to the table. The only thing Colby brings to the table is a broken jaw. He humiliated him."

Of course, Diaz is arguably the most beloved fighter in the UFC ... but he's lost his last 2 fights (including to Leon Edwards), so we asked Ali if Nate really deserved to fight for the belt.

"Masvidal didn't deserve it too. Masvidal, he brought something to the table. He brought entertainment, excitement. People believed Masvidal was one of the baddest dudes on the planet," Ali says.

"But, in reality, he was not. He got beat at his own game, knocked out cold. Slept. He was slept. No disrespect to nobody."

Abdelaziz says regardless of who it is ... Kamaru's opponents have no hope of beating him.

Rapper SAINt JHN was allegedly confronted Friday by Lil Uzi Vert ... and all hell broke loose when Vert allegedly flashed his gun.

Eyewitnesses tell TMZ ... SAINt JHN was at Dialog Cafe in West Hollywood at high noon when Lil Uzi Vert jumped out of a Cadillac Escalade and confronted JHN. We're told they got into a physical altercation.

But, it got real when, according to people at the scene, Lil Uzi Vert flashed the handle of his gun ... prompting bystanders to run ... fearing a shooting was about to go down.

It doesn't appear Uzi fired his weapon ... both he and SAINt JHN left the scene.

We're told L.A. County Sheriff's are on the scene and looking to speak with Uzi and SAINt.

As for whether SAINt JHN and Lil Uzi Vert have beef ... it's unclear, however, SAINt JHN was spotted back in March with Uzi's former GF, Brittany Byrd.

We reached out to reps for both camps ... and JHN's team was unaware of this. No word back from Uzi's rep.

"I most definitely can knock Logan Paul out, without a doubt."

That's "Suga" Rashad Evans throwing down the gauntlet ... challenging 26-year-old YouTube star turned pugilist Logan Paul to a BOXING match.

41-year-old Evans -- inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2019 -- hasn't fought since taking an L to Anthony Smith at UFC 225 in June 2018.

But, in case you forgot ... Suga's beat Rampage Jackson, Chael Sonnen (still undefeated), Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping and Tito Ortiz -- just to name a few.

Back to Logan ... rumors have been swirling that a fight between LP and Evans could be in the works -- and Rashad says he's 100% down to scrap.

"I don't know what [Logan's] looking for, for his next match. But, I'm gonna tell you right now what he needs. What he needs is a taste of 'Suga.'"

Of course, Paul is only a few weeks removed from his exhibition fight with 44-year-old Floyd Mayweather ... a bout that went the full 8 rounds.

Mayweather wasn't able to drop Logan -- who was about 50 lbs. heavier than Floyd -- something Evans says will NOT be the case if they fight.

The man who was punched in the face by Joe Schilling at a bar on Sunday is now planning to press charges against the MMA fighter ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The alleged victim, identified as 31-year-old Justin Balboa, has gone to police and will cooperate with prosecutors as he pursues a battery charge, his attorney, Robert Solomon, tells us.

"I cannot believe [Schilling] thought it was OK to just haul off and crack somebody twice like that," Solomon says. "[Schilling] is lucky we're not dealing with a manslaughter case."

In video of the incident, you can see Balboa got rocked in the head multiple times by Schilling on Sunday night at a bar in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

The footage showed Schilling -- who last fought professionally in 2019 for Bellator -- whaled on Balboa after the two had bumped into each other in a walkway near the bar area.

In police docs, cops say Balboa told them he had no idea why Schilling hit him.

Schilling, meanwhile, claims Balboa had been bothering him and others all night ... and says he only hit Balboa out of self-defense.

"I was scared for my life," Schilling added.

In the docs, officers say a witness told them it appeared the confrontation all went down because Balboa "had possibly made an improper remark" about Schilling's significant other.

Solomon, though, tells us he believes his client did nothing to deserve the punches ... saying, "The video clearly shows another story."

"The reality of it is is this guy took this way too far," Solomon said of Schilling.

Solomon also says he'll be filing a civil lawsuit against Schilling later this week ... adding that his client suffered a head injury and facial wounds in the altercation.

The Stanley Cup Final looked more like a horror movie Monday night -- at least for a few minutes -- 'cause one player's head was left a bloody mess after a violent scrap.

Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher was the man who unfortunately suffered the wound late in the third period of Montreal's first game with Tampa Bay ... and it was pretty gnarly.

The Habs player crashed the Lightning net to try to clean up a possible rebound ... and several Tampa Bay players took so much exception to the skate-in, they fought him.

Blake Coleman ripped Gallagher's helmet off ... and then Mikhail Sergachev slammed Gallagher so hard to the ice, his head took a nasty shot.

Photos from the game show Gallagher was bleeding profusely ... and it was so bad, the 29-year-old eventually skated off and did not return to the contest.

Seems Gallagher's going to be just fine for Game 2 ... but, he had to deal with a little more sting while in the locker room getting treatment, 'cause the Canadiens were ultimately blown out, 5-1.

UFC fighter Justin Jaynes bet his entire $25K fight purse on himself and LOST ... so, instant regret, right??

Nope ... 31-year-old JJ tells TMZ Sports he'd do it all over again -- and that's exactly what he wants to do.

"I really don’t have any regrets man. I live a high risk, high reward kind of lifestyle."

Of course, Justin famously gambled his fight check ... and ended up losing a 3-round split decision to 34-year-old Charles Rosa at UFC Vegas 30.

And now, he wants that cash back -- and he's willing to fight Rosa again.

"F*** it, let’s run it back, double or nothing," Jaynes says.

"I need to get my money back anyways man. It’s just one of those things, like I said I trained very, very, very hard. It was my motivation, there was a lot on the line going into this fight."

Even with the hit to his bank account (which sucked) ... Justin says he can still support his family -- and that's what really matters.

"It didn’t feel great, but it’s not going to put me in a position to where I can’t take care of myself," Jaynes says.

MMA fighter Joe Schilling -- who last fought professionally in 2019 for Bellator -- knocked out a man at a bar with a vicious combo of punches ... and the violent incident was all caught on video.

It's unclear when and where the barrage went down -- we're working on it -- but Schilling confirmed on his social media page Monday he was the puncher.

In his post, Schilling claimed he acted simply out of self defense ... writing he believed the whole situation was "life threatening" for him.

The footage from the scene, meanwhile, is intense ... you can see in the clip, when a man in a shirt and tie appeared to inadvertently block Schilling on his way through a walkway at the bar -- things got heated.

Schilling seemed to move the man out of the way ... and when the man appeared to say something in response, the 37-year-old fighter turned around.

Seconds later, Schilling can be seen in the footage unloading at least four punches on the guy's face ... sending him crashing to the ground.

Schilling seemed to comment on the situation further in his Instagram stories later Monday morning ... writing, "If you think I'm going to be the guy to calm everything down you got me f***ed up."

He added, "I'm here for the show."

It's unclear if law enforcement was involved.

We've reached out to Schilling for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

"I truly believe today Kayla Harrison is the baddest woman in any room. No disrespect to nobody."

That's undefeated PFL star Kayla Harrison's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, making it clear ... the 2x Olympic gold medalist is a better fighter than every other woman on planet Earth.

But ... but, what about Amanda Nunes??

Abdelaziz says Kayla "looks up to Amanda very much" ... but he's confident Harrison could handle the consensus greatest female MMA fighter ever -- and it's a fight he wants to set up.

"Listen, if somebody writes the check for 8 figures, we can make this fight happen tomorrow."

How about Olympic gold medalist and boxing champ turned 1-0 MMA fighter, Claressa Shields?

"It’s kind of disrespectful when people bring Claressa Shields in the same sentence as Kayla," Ali says.

Abdelaziz says Shields is an amazing boxer ... "probably a future Hall of Famer" -- but she'd stand no chance against Kayla in the cage.

"In reality, you know, it’s 187. It’s a murder. You know, it’s a fact. If Kayla fought the boxer, that wouldn’t even make sense. Claressa fighting in MMA, it’s not going to last probably 60 seconds."

Kayla's manager also brought up Ronda Rousey ... Kayla's former roommate and Judo teammate.

"[Kayla's] everything that Ronda Rousey was supposed to be. She’s Ronda Rousey 6.0. You know what I’m saying?" Abdelaziz says.

"I never boxed. I'm a gang member, so I just fight a lot."

That's hip-hop star turned bare-knuckle boxer (yes, you read that right) talking about why he decided to take a real-deal fight -- NO gloves -- later this summer.

Blueface joined "TMZ Live" and made the blockbuster announcement ... revealing he will make his BKFC debut on July 23.

FYI, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is the most popular bare-knuckle fighting org ... with people like Paige VanZant and Paulie Malignaggi mixing it up in their cage.

It's unclear who Blueface will take on ... but he says it'll likely be another celeb.

"I'm pretty sure it's either gonna be some type of YouTube or TikTok-er or something of that nature," Blueface says.

And, even though the "Thotiana" star doesn't have a traditional boxing background ... don't think he isn't taking the fight seriously.

"I've only been eating grilled and baked stuff lately. Yeah, I'm on a diet and everything. I ain't been smoking, drinking, nothing."

Of course, celebrities and social media stars fighting (Jake & Logan Paul, Bryce Hall, etc.) has become all the rage lately ... something Blueface believes he helped start.

"I don't know if you guys seen but me and YK Osiris was actually boxing in the backyard for fun, kicks and giggles, and that's really how all of this celebrity boxing came about, in my opinion."

You can't see him, but you WILL see John Cena back in the squared circle once again ... with the WWE Superstar confirming he's DEFINITELY making a wrestling comeback!!!

44-year-old Cena hasn't been in the ring since WrestleMania 36 last year ... when he lost to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.

But, the WWE legend hasn't hung up his spandex just yet -- Cena revealed he's 100% coming back to Vince McMahon's organization in the future.

"Those rumors are true," Cena said on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon.

So, when's he making his highly anticipated return?? THE TIME IS NOW!!!!

Just kidding.

"I'll definitely be back to the WWE, I just don't know when," Cena told Fallon.

When pressed about his cryptic Instagram post of the WWE logo back in May, Cena said he was just feeling "pretty nostalgic" and wasn't trying to announce a big comeback.

"Some people took it as I was returning immediately, which that's not the case. I haven't had my last match and I can't wait to have my next match."

Cena's name has been thrown around as a possible guest for SummerSlam in August ... and Triple H recently told TMZ Sports he felt like the huge event could act as a "pretty big carrot" to get him to take a break from Hollywood.

But, as Cena points out, his movie contracts ain't exactly letting him go get beat up on the weekends while filming massive blockbuster flicks.

It's not just the Dodgers team getting beat down in San Diego ... a Dodgers fan got smacked around too!

Check out this video of a Dodgers fan in enemy territory during the team's road trip to San Diego.

Unclear why the guy in the Clayton Kershaw jersey was so mad -- but he approached a group of Padres fans at Petco Park on Tuesday night looking for a fight and yeah, he got what he wanted.

The problem for the Dodgers fan ... he ain't exactly Francis Ngannou.

He threw some punches but nothing really connected and within seconds, he was being wrestled into the bleachers while the Padres fans proceeded to beat his ass.

Eventually, some other Padres fans and a dude in a Yankees jersey pulled the Dodgers fan away ... while a bunch of fans shouted, "Beat L.A."

Law enforcement tells us no arrests were made.

But, to make matters worse for the Dodgers fan, L.A. lost the game 3 to 2.

Jake Paul says he's deadly serious about becoming a champion boxer -- and believes he's destined for a showdown with Canelo Alvarez.

Now, don't expect that to happen in the next few months ... Jake knows he's got serious work to do before he's ready to try and step in the ring with the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

But, Paul says he's taking the sport seriously, training hard -- and believes he's on a trajectory to be "the most disruptive boxer in the history of the sport."

Of course, before he fights Canelo ... Paul needs to get through former UFC champ Tyron Woodley when they throw down on August 28.

Jake tells TMZ Sports ... he would like to add another MMA legend to the fight card that night -- Anderson Silva.

Paul says he was incredibly impressed with the 46-year-old's performance against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ... and would love to see him face off against Roy Jones Jr.

We're told Paul's camp has reached out to both fighters in the hopes of getting them to agree to fight on his undercard. We'll see what happens there.

And, get this ... we're told if those guys agree to a fight, Paul would considering fighting the winner at a future event.

Jake has taken the combat sports world by storm -- he's 3-0 as a pro with knockout victories over MMA star Ben Askren and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.

Jake says the plan is to continue to take on "more serious opponents" and earn respect as a legitimate boxer. A victory over a respected fighter like Woodley would be huge for him.

As for Canelo, he just broke his last opponent's face -- and possibly ended the guy's career.

So, yeah ... he's not one to be taken lightly.

Suns and Clippers fans got into a VIOLENT altercation during the first game of the two teams' playoff series Sunday ... and the insane fight was all caught on video.

The wild action appeared to go down in the bowels of Phoenix Suns Arena in Arizona ... when two Clippers fans got into a screaming match with a bunch of Suns supporters.

You can see in footage filmed by a bystander ... the two L.A. fans -- rockin' Kawhi Leonard jerseys -- yelled for several seconds before they let their hands fly.

One of the Clippers fans threw a big punch at a Suns fan -- before he was eventually taken down to the ground.

And then, all hell broke loose.

More than half a dozen people were involved in the fracas ... with haymakers being thrown and landed left and right.

It's unclear if there were any injuries or any arrests made ... we've reached out to police, but so far, no word back yet.

Of course, this is the second big fight the Suns have seen this month ... you'll recall, it was less than 2 weeks ago when the "Suns In 4" guy wrecked a Denver Nuggets supporter during the team's previous playoff series.

As for Sunday's Game 1 ... like their supporters in fights, the Suns won easily -- beating the Clips, 120-114.

AEW star Max Caster ain't a one-hit wonder ... 'cause the pro wrestler just dropped another insane TMZ Sports-inspired rap verse -- and it's pretty damn good!!

In case you missed the biggest stories of the week, Platinum Max has got you covered -- from the "Suns In 4" guy to Chris Paul getting COVID-19 to the sticky situation going on in the MLB.

Caster -- half of AEW's "The Acclaimed" tag team -- goes on for a minute straight ... even throwing in a line about the Carmelo Anthony and La La divorce.

Anderson Silva is taking his talents to the boxing ring ... and the ex-UFC champ says after his fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. this weekend -- he's totally open to fighting the Paul bros!!

TMZ Sports talked to the 46-year-old MMA G.O.A.T. just days before he fights former middleweight champion, 35-year-old Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the squared circle.

FYI, Chavez Jr. -- the son of legendary Mexican fighter, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. -- has a professional boxing record of 52-5-1 with 1 no contest. He's shared the ring with Canelo Alvarez and Danny Jacobs.

But, if you thought this was a 1-and-done event, you're wrong ... 'cause Spider says he's down to take on all comers -- INCLUDING the Paul bros.

"In the future, everything's possible. The Paul brothers, I respect both. There are good boys," Silva says.

Of course, there are fight game purists who hate the idea of a legit legend like Anderson fighting a YouTuber ... but Silva says things have changed.

"Everything's changing in the world. People like to see the big shows, entertaining shows."

It's finally happening -- Oscar De La Hoya is making his highly anticipated return to the boxing ring in September ... and he's going up against MMA star Vitor Belfort in an exhibition match!!

Of course, 48-year-old ODLH announced his return back in March ... saying he was ready to take a fight on July 3.

The date was pushed back a few months as Oscar searched for an opponent ... and now he's finally got one -- the 44-year-old former UFC champion!!

We all know what Oscar can do in the ring -- he won belts in six divisions and was one of the biggest superstars in the sport before retiring in 2008.

Belfort on the other hand, has one boxing match under his belt -- a quick TKO over Josemario Neves in 2006.

The Triller event is set to go down on September 11 with Las Vegas as the target location. The venue and undercard are set to be announced at a later date, according to reports.

Oscar's been teasing a comeback for years -- he even said he wanted to fight UFC honcho Dana White at one point -- training nonstop to get back in fighting shape.