Fights

Here's the Donald Trump entrance you did NOT see on TV ... with the former POTUS arriving at the arena for Conor McGregor's UFC 264 fight -- and getting a huge ovation from the packed crowd.

TMZ Sports obtained video of DT arriving at T-Mobile Arena midway through the main card ... and being greeted by his longtime friend, UFC prez Dana White.

As Trump and White begin walking towards the arena floor, Donald sees Jorge Masvidal ... and the 2 men exchanged a bro hug.

Remember, Masvidal campaigned for Trump during the 2020 election cycle ... and they clearly have a pretty tight friendship.

When Trump finally emerged from the tunnel and was spotted by the 20K+ crowd -- there were some jeers -- but the response sounds overwhelmingly positive.

Last week, Dana told us that Trump would NOT be sitting in a luxury box ... he'd be right behind the UFC honcho, Octagon side.

However, the ESPN cameras didn't show Trump ... even though they showed a bunch of other A-list celebs (Kourtney Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Dave Chappelle and more) who were in the house.

Of course, internet conspiracy theorists have been having a field day ... speculating why Trump wasn't shown during the broadcast.

Bottom line ... #45 was there, and seemed to get a whole lotta love from the UFC crowd.

Could a Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier rematch actually happen?? Diamond tells TMZ Sports ... "anything is possible."

We talked to the 32-year-old UFC star as he was leaving T-Mobile Arena following his trilogy fight victory over McGregor ... and we asked if Dustin was interested in a 4th fight.

"Anything is possible. I just have to get with my family, and see what's next."

Of course, Conor -- who underwent a successful 3.5-hour surgery yesterday to repair his broken leg -- is facing a long and arduous rehab process... and that must happen before a 4th fight is made.

Speaking of Conor's injury... we also asked Poirier if he felt bad for McGregor.

"You never wanna see someone injured like that. The recovery is gonna be hard and losing."

But Conor is adamant his fighting career is nowhere near done ... he says he will be back -- and sooner rather than later.

Does Dana White have interest in a 4th fight? 'Cause without the UFC honcho on board, it ain't happening.

White was asked about the possibility of a rematch Saturday night ... and Dana certainly didn't say no.

"Dustin Poirier will fight for the title and when Conor is healed and ready to go, we'll do the rematch."

The man who was violently hit in the face by MMA fighter Joe Schilling in a June bar fight was covered in blood shortly after the barrage of punches -- new police video shows.

In the clip, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see spatters of blood all over 31-year-old Justin Balboa on June 27 as he tried to explain to officers what had just happened to him at a local bar in Florida.

Video shows Balboa (whose face was blurred by cops in the video) telling cops that a man -- later ID'd as Schilling, the former Bellator fighter -- knocked him out cold "for no reason."

"We were all having a good time and this guy just cracked me," said Balboa. "And, then he chased me. He chased me down, bro. Like chased me down. Beat my ass, bro. He wanted to kill me. For no reason. 'Cause he hates me."

Balboa described Schilling to cops as "at least" 6-foot-5 ... and weighing about "f***ing 270" pounds.

Later in the clip, as officers and medical personnel checked out Balboa's face ... they all said he DEFINITELY needed stitches to repair his busted lip.

Balboa has since filed a civil lawsuit against Schilling and the bar ... with his attorney, Robert Solomon, telling TMZ Sports Balboa is also cooperating with prosecutors and wants them to bring a battery charge against Schilling.

A police officer from upstate NY is on leave after he punched a woman he was arresting right in the throat -- knocking her flat on the ground ... and it's all on video.

The DeWitt Police Dept. released body cam footage -- which they spliced together -- showing what led up to the scuffle inside an East Syracuse Walmart on July 4 ... where the cops were dispatched on reports of women fighting inside, and allegedly using pepper spray.

When the cop in question showed -- who has since been ID'd as Rory Spain -- he tried separating the quarreling parties ... and ended up restraining the lady he ultimately punched, Tyreana Edmonds, with handcuffs. As he attempted to lead her away, things escalated.

In the video, you see Edmonds apparently try and bite Officer Spain's arm ... after which, he cocks his arm back, with his fist balled up, and unloads on the front of her neck. The punch lands, and Edmonds is tossed back ... falling hard to the ground after absorbing the blow.

You can hear people around who are filming react in outrage ... and when they approach, Officer Spain tells them to get back. He and his fellow officers arrested her and others involved in the prior altercation ... and they all face multiple charges over this.

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.