Fights

Sylvester Stallone says Conor McGregor would be FOOLISH to say no to a Jake Paul fight ... telling TMZ Sports the money would be INSANE!!

We talked to Stallone -- a HUGE boxing fan -- outside Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills ... and asked the 'Rocky' star whether McGregor should take the bait and fight the YouTuber turned boxing star.

"Are you kidding. With the kind of money that's going around, he'd be foolish not to. Think about it."

Of course, Conor and Jake have been verbally sparring on social media and in the media ... but when McGregor was recently asked about fighting JP, he didn't exactly say no.

"I don’t see so, but never say never," Conor said. "If they’re gonna keep competing and what not, who f***in' knows? But dingbats, the 2 of 'em."

For his part, Jake offered CM $50 million for a fight earlier this year.

But, assuming they did fight ... Conor is a former 2-division UFC champion, and Jake is relatively new to the sport (3-0) -- so, does Paul have a real shot at beating The Notorious??

"Oh yeah," Stallone says ... "[Jake's] got range, and he's got youth. And, he's not easy to knockout."

Turns out Lamar Odom ain't a one-and-done fighter ... 'cause the ex-NBA star is stepping back in the squared circle.

Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman tells TMZ Sports the 41-year-old ex-Laker signed a new contract on Friday ... and will be fighting on October 10.

Of course, 6'10" Odom beat the brakes off Aaron Carter last month ... stopping the childhood pop sensation in the 2nd round.

Feldman tells us they're still looking for Lamar's opponent ... and are hoping a big celeb will step up and accept the challenge.

Odom previously told us boxing has been therapeutic for him ... helping him get back in tip-top shape following his near-death experience at The Bunny Ranch in Nevada.

LO isn't the only star fighting on the 10th... we're told former boxing stars Riddick Bowe (no opponent yet) and Paulie Malignaggi (he's fighting social media star Corey B) are also on the card.

Bowe was a huge deal back in the day ... earning the undisputed heavyweight title in 1992.

Stephen Thompson's beaten Jorge Masvidal and a bunch of other killers in the Octagon, but hasn't fought for a title in over 4 years ... a wait that "Wonderboy" says will soon be coming to an end.

Very, very soon.

TMZ Sports talked to the 38-year-old, #4 ranked UFC welterweight just days before he fights 34-year-old Gilbert Burns at UFC 264 ... and asked if a dub will earn him a title shot.

"I think so. I mean, fighting a guy and beating a guy who just fought for the title. He's the number 2 ranked guy in the division, are you kidding me?! I think that would be great!"

Of course, Burns lost to champion Kamaru Usman back in February ... via a 3rd round TKO.

Wonderboy says he accepts he's at the tail end of his career ... and feels like this is his last chance to become UFC champ.

"I'm 38 years old, I got a small window to kinda do what I wanna do with this and I do it because I love to fight, man."

Wonderboy says he's had big wins -- and some bad losses -- and feels like he doesn't have anything to lose in the Octagon.

"I've been knocked out, I've lost. it's not that bad, bro! It's really not. I can just go out there and fight now, you know, to the best of my ability."

Dana White says former President Donald Trump won't be able to hide from the spotlight at UFC 264, because he'll be right next to the Octagon ... where fans can loudly cheer and jeer him.

The UFC honcho joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to pump up Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier's third fight ... and, in the process, he settled a debate about where Trump will sit Saturday night in Vegas.

It's the first major sporting event Trump's attending since leaving the White House -- and with all that's happened since he lost the election, it's a good bet (even in Vegas) the ex-prez will hear plenty of boos.

Dana, a longtime Trump supporter, says his pal isn't one to shy away from any heckling.

As Dana tells us ... Trump "don't care, he's not that guy, he's not hiding in a box somewhere, that's not his style." Instead, he says Trump will sit right behind him.

No doubt he'll be flanked on all sides by Secret Service, and Dana says agents have been sweeping T-Mobile Arena for a few days now to ensure Trump's safety.

Presidential sideshows aside ... the fight itself should be awesome. McGregor and Poirier have been talking tons of smack leading up to Saturday's showdown, and Dana even took a knee to the ribs during Thursday's press conference.

Don't let the age difference fool ya -- Manny Pacquiao tells TMZ Sports he's feeling great before going up against Errol Spence next month ... and he's showing us just how shredded he is!!!

Of course, 42-year-old "PacMan" is still one of the best boxers in the world ... and he's out to prove he's not slowing down anytime soon when he takes the ring against the 31-year-old champ on August 21.

We caught up with Pacquiao during a workout sesh in L.A. on Friday ... giving a large crowd a show by putting his quick hands on display and getting in a bit of stretching.

Pac even gave us some 1-on-1 time as well ... opening up on all his preparations for the big fight.

"I'm still good, I'm doing fine," Pacquiao tells us while sipping on his NXT LVL Hydrogen water. "Ready for a fight."

Naturally, with Pac being in his 40s and still crushing it, we had to ask who would retire first -- Pacquiao or his good friend Tom Brady ... and his answer is awesome!!!

Conor McGregor vs. Charles Oliveira, coming soon to a UFC card ... 'cause the UFC lightweight champ says "The Notorious" will KO Dustin Poirier this weekend -- and then fight "do Bronx."

TMZ Sports caught up with 31-year-old Oliveira in Las Vegas -- only days before the highly anticipated McGregor-Poirier trilogy fight -- and we asked ... who ya got??

Here's our conversation with the champ and his translator.

Who are you picking for this fight? Who do you think is gonna win it?
Conor.

The champ is picking Conor?
Yeah, Conor Mcgregor.

By KO, submission?
By knockout.

You’re next fight, you want it to be Conor?
Yes, Conor McGregor.

This is important 'cause Dana White recently said the winner of the main event at UFC 264 will face Charles ... so he's got a lot of skin in the game.

Of course, McGregor beat Poirier when they fought in 2014 ... and DP KO'd Conor in the January 2021 rematch.

Mr. Nice Guy is officially dead and gone -- Conor McGregor just UNLEASHED an epic amount of smack talk on Dustin Poirier at their UFC 264 press conference just minutes ago ... vowing to absolutely wreck the guy as soon as they enter the Octagon on Saturday.

Of course, Conor was unusually kind to "Diamond" before their fight back in January ... showing serious respect for Poirier and acting the complete opposite of his wild self.

But, yeah, Thursday night was WAY different.

"I'm gonna go drill his head, put holes into it and take it off his shoulders," Conor said. "That's the goal here! He's done here! This is it for him! This is the end of the road."

Both guys went at each other from the jump by getting in each other's faces -- with Conor grabbing Poirier's signature hot sauce off the table and throwing it off the stage.

Conor was later asked straight-up if he has respect for Dustin ... and he didn't hold back.

"I don't give a f*** about him to be honest," McGregor said. "I don't give a rat's ass about him. He's Buster Douglas is what he is, and that's the way he's gonna go down."

"He's gonna be known for that. It was a fluke win and I'm gonna correct it on Saturday night."

As for Dustin, he had a different tone -- "I don't hate anybody up here. I'm at a different place mentally, man. Respect to him and everything he's done."

TMZ Sports got in a few questions with Conor as well ... asking when he believes he'll be a billionaire ... and ya gotta hear what he has to say.

There's a lot of history between the guys -- Conor got the win their first go-round in 2014 ... with Poirier getting the win in January.

"I was very overconfident going into [Usman] fight. I just believed, I’m going to beat this guy, and there’s nothing he can do to stop me."

That's 34-year-old UFC star Gilbert Burns admitting he thought he was gonna roll over welterweight champ Kamaru Usman when they fought in February.

That didn't happen ... and Burns was ultimately stopped via TKO in the 3rd round -- a defeat that crushed him emotionally.

"As soon as we put on those little, small gloves everyone is danger," Burns tells TMZ Sports.

"You gotta respect that, and I think I was very overconfident, and I paid the price. So, learned so much. The journey is still very alive, first step is going to be July 10th."

Of course, July 10 is UFC 264 ... the date Burns returns to the Octagon against #4 ranked fight Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson.

"Now I’m on my way back. I’m hungry as ever. I think I’m a little more mature, more disciplined."

Does 1 win get him back in title contention -- and set him up for a rematch with Usman?

Surprisingly, Burns says probably not ... he has more work to do.

"I couldn’t care about them 2 dingbats."

Conor McGregor is days away from one of the biggest fights of his career, but the UFC superstar's still getting grilled about Jake and Logan Paul ... saying he has no intention of ever fighting the YouTubers-turned-boxers.

... but he's not counting it out for good!!!

"The Notorious" -- who's seeking revenge against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on Saturday -- was asked if he'd ever step in the ring with the two bros this week ... and his answer is very interesting.

"I don’t see so, but never say never," Conor said. "If they’re gonna keep competing and what not, who f***in' knows? But dingbats, the 2 of 'em."

In other words -- SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE!!!!

Remember, Jake has incessantly gone after McGregor for months ... offering $50 million to make the fight happen, even releasing a wild video claiming the superstar and Dana White are scared to set it up.

Conor -- who loves making money -- has kept his options open about fighting Jake in the past ... and you'd think there's gotta be a reason for that.

Steph Curry stared death in the eye once again -- with the NBA superstar finally getting his sparring rematch against Canelo Alvarez ... and shock, shock -- it ended in a big, fat L!!

Remember, Curry first faced off against the boxing champ a year ago -- when he playfully squared up with Alvarez at the celeb American Century Championship tournament in Lake Tahoe.

33-year-old Curry narrowly escaped catastrophe in their initial encounter, and the dude never got over it ... 'cause when he peeped Canelo at the Edgewood Tahoe resort on Wednesday, it was ON!!

The 2 tangoed for about 10 seconds, with Curry throwing a quick jab before getting caught with the 30-year-old's fast counter ... and just like that, rematch OVER!!!

"I tried the champ Canelo again," Curry said afterward. "It didn't go well again!"

But, Chef Curry had a few takeaways to go home with this time around ... saying, "Footwork was solid though just saying. #stayinmyweightclass."

Curry was definitely moving compared to last year's match where he looked stiff and didn't throw any punches .. so, definitely an improvement.

Let's see if a Curry-Alvarez trilogy happens next year .. 'cause third times a charm, right?

Carnell Davis -- a freshman wide receiver on the Rutgers football team -- was reportedly knocked out by a violent punch in a street fight ... and the whole incident was apparently caught on video.

It's unclear where and when the altercation took place ... but The Press of Atlantic City reports the 6-foot-1, 175-pound wideout is the shirtless man wearing blue shorts in the footage that was posted on social media this week.

In the clip, you can see the man purported to be Davis, get into a tiff with another shirtless male in a red hat apparently over comments about Davis' mother.

The man in the blue shorts can be heard on the footage saying, "you were just talking about you were going to f*** my mom" -- before the two squared up to fight.

Eventually, the man in the red hat tagged the other male in the chin with a right hook ... sending him crashing to the ground.

It's unknown if Davis suffered any severe injuries ... a spokesperson for the Rutgers football team issued a short statement to The Press of Atlantic City, only saying the freshman is currently at home "recovering."

"Our main concern is Carnell’s health and well-being," the spokesperson said. "He is home with his family and continues to make progress in his recovery."

"We look forward to getting him back on campus soon."

We've reached out to both Rutgers and law enforcement for further comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Davis -- who played his senior season of H.S. football at Eau Gallie in Florida in 2020 -- signed on to play for Rutgers in Dec. 2020 and enrolled in the school just weeks later.

He was a touted H.S. recruit -- piling up offers from 24 schools, including Auburn, before landing with the Scarlet Knights.

A POTUS, a Biebs and a Kardashian walk into a fight -- that's what's going down at UFC 264 in Vegas this weekend ... with a massive list of celebs set to watch Conor McGregor face-off against Dustin Poirier!!!

Our UFC sources confirm ... former President Donald Trump is among huge names slated to hit up T-Mobile Arena on Saturday for the fight ... including Justin Bieber, Megan Fox, and Machine Gun Kelly.

Impressive, right?!? There's more -- Travis Barker, Kourtney Kardashian, Odell Beckham, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Durant and others will tune in for Conor's first fight in Vegas since January 2020, as first reported by TSN.

Of course, Dana and Trump go way back -- in UFC's early days, Trump offered White his casinos to host fights ... and the UFC honcho went on to throw his support behind #45 during his 2016 presidential campaign.

On top of that, Trump and Conor have had nothing but positive words for each other in the past ... with McGregor calling him a "phenomenal president."

The celebs in attendance are in for a highly anticipated treat -- remember, Conor handled Dustin back in 2014 ... but Poirier got his revenge earlier this year.

Belal Muhammad says he has unfinished business with Leon Edwards ... and wants to scrap only months after a (very) gross eye poke forced their fight to be stopped early.

TMZ Sports asked the 32-year-old who he wanted next after his unanimous decision victory over MMA legend Demian Maia ... and the #9 ranked UFC welterweight called out a dude he knows very well.

Leon Edwards ... the 29-year-old, #3 ranked welterweight.

"[Leon and I] literally had one round! Nothing happened in that round. There's 4 more rounds to that fight and you saw the Nate Diaz fight, dude got almost knocked out in the 5th round," Belal says.

Rewind about 100 days ... Belal and Leon's UFC Fight Night main event fight was ruled a no contest after just 5 minutes -- when Edwards accidentally jammed his finger in Muhammad's eye, scratching his cornea.

Muhammad says Edwards had an opportunity to get himself a title shot when he fought Diaz at UFC 263.

"For a guy like [Leon], you had a chance to earn your title shot against Nate Diaz, steal his fans, but you blew it because you played it a little bit safe, you didn't go for the finish."

Of course, Edwards won via unanimous decision ... but was close to being finished by the Stockton superstar during the final minute of the fight.

We asked Belal what he'd say to Leon if he were watching the interview.

Not every boxing superstar hates Logan and Jake Paul ... 'cause heavyweight champion Tyson Fury tells TMZ Sports the two brothers have been AWESOME for the sport!!!

Remember, Canelo Alvarez felt the exact opposite when he spoke to us about the YouTubers-turned-fighters back in December 2020 ... saying they were being "disrespectful" to boxing.

But, the Gypsy King couldn't be more kind about Logan and Jake ... saying, "I've been pretty impressed with the Pauls -- both of them -- to be fair, they've been a good breath of fresh air to the boxing scene."

"Fantastic, guys. Well done if you're watching."

After all, both brothers have been able to put on a show -- Logan just went 8 rounds with Floyd freakin' Mayweather ... and Jake most recently KO'd former UFC star Ben Askren.

Very kind words coming from the 30-0-1 fighter, but don't get it twisted -- Fury thinks his little brother, Tommy will completely wreck Jake if they ever get in the ring together.

"I think Tommy knocks him out cold. I think [Jake's] a decent fighter for sure. But, I know Tommy's a dynamite puncher."

Tommy has been going back and forth with Jake for months ... and even told us back in April he thinks Paul is a "massive p***y."

Jake's busy prepping for his fight with Tyron Woodley ... but it's clear Tyson wants his brother to get a piece next.

Rashad Evans knows what it's like to be locked in a cage with Jon Jones ... and that's why Suga says Bones will continue his legacy of DOMINANCE when he fights a heavyweight.

Of course, Jones relinquished his UFC light heavyweight title last summer ... and decided to bulk up and move to the heavyweight division.

TMZ Sports talked to Evans -- a UFC Hall of Famer -- about Jon's transition to the bigger weight class.

"Jon Jones is a phenomenal athlete, he's a phenomenal fighter, and his IQ inside the Octagon can't be surpassed by anybody. So, I expect him to carry that to the heavyweight division," Rashad says.

When it comes to this topic, there's no one better to talk to. Rashad fought at LHW and HW, and lost a 5 round unanimous decision to JJ in 2012.

Now, don't get it twisted ... Evans says there will be some differences that could present Jones with minor issues in the cage.

"The things that I may think may give him some problems, the fact that these guys are big and they do hit harder, but for the most part I mean this is the great Jon Jones. Jon Jones can make an adjustment to anything."

Of course, Jon and the UFC haven't been able to work out a deal to make the Jones vs. Francis Ngannou super fight ... a fight that could be one of the biggest in the history of the organization.

A spa in Los Angeles became the site of brutality this weekend after protests took place against a trans person ... who allegedly revealed themselves to women in the female section.

Several people took to the streets of Koreatown Saturday for what you may consider anti-trans demonstrations ... which were met by counter-protesters, with both groups clashing in violent ways -- much of which was filmed and circulated online and made for crazy video.

Some of the counter-protesters were likened to "Antifa" -- with a handful of them dressed head-to-toe in all black, while also covering their faces -- but it's hard to sort out who's with who. All we know is that the counter-protesters were NOT having the anti-trans sentiments.

In addition to accosting/provoking some of the protesters, they also reportedly tore up signage that they apparently considered bigoted and discriminatory. On the flip side ... some of the anti-trans demonstrators also allegedly threatened and/or committed violence themselves.

One person claims they had a Wi Spa protester pull a gun on them ... and posted video of a man who appears to take a firearm out of a backpack, and then tuck it into his waistband. When asked what it's for, he's heard on camera saying ... "Something to shoot you with."

The chaos all stems from a now-viral video from last week that shows a woman confronting the Wi Spa staff over what she claimed was a man who was sitting naked in the women's side of the spa ... allegedly exposing his penis and genitals to adults and children alike.

The Wi Spa staff seems to be fine with it ... explaining to her that they respect trans people's rights -- and that, apparently, includes letting 'em go to the part of the facility they feel most comfortable in. That didn't sit well with this woman -- who essentially said she felt violated.

She gets into with other patrons ... some of whom tell her to pipe down and to have some respect, but she stands her ground -- repeatedly saying the trans person had a "d***."