Fights

Tyron Woodley says his tattoo bet with Jake Paul is straight-up "childish" -- but he tells TMZ Sports he took it 'cause he says he knows he's going to KO the YouTuber!

Paul and Woodley made the deal earlier this month ... agreeing that whoever loses on Aug. 29 will have to tattoo the winner's name somewhere on their body.

The bet is wild ... if Jake wins, Tyron has to get "I Love Jake Paul." If Tyron wins, Jake has to get "I Love Tyron Woodley."

The former UFC champ tells us the agreement was stupid ... explaining Paul only did it 'cause it's "his way of downplaying and bringing me into his world".

"It’s kind of childish," Woodley says. "But, last time he tried [to bet me] to make it seem like I wasn’t confident."

So, Woodley says he shook hands with Paul on it this time ... telling us he just knows he's not going to lose.

"I’m just not finna just let you act like you run the show," Woodley tells us ... adding, "Yeah, I bet because I’m confident I’m going to win. I have no plan on getting an 'I Love Jake Paul' tattoo."

As for a prediction for fight night ... Woodley wouldn't give a round, but says the outcome is inevitable.

Frank Varey -- a boxing prodigy who had won multiple national titles -- died on Thursday at just 16 years old ... and the news devastated Tyson Fury, who called the fighter a "future world champ."

Varey was out swimming with friends in the River Dee in the UK on Thursday when he went missing ... and law enforcement says after hours of searching, they found his body in the water.

It's believed the young pugilist accidentally drowned.

The tragedy absolutely rocked the boxing world ... with Fury writing on his social media page, "RIP Frank. Was a future world champ."

Fury added, "may God be with your family."

Olympic gold medalist boxer Luke Campbell also sent his condolences, saying on Twitter, "RIP Frank Varey. Rest well champ, thoughts with all your friends and family."

While just a teenager, Varey had wildly impressed in his matches ... and in 2019, he fought for England in the European Junior Championships.

"England Boxing has been devastated to hear the news of Frank’s death, with our coaches, in particular, having got to know him very well during his boxing development," England Boxing CEO Gethin Jenkins said.

"He was a very talented boxer, multiple National Champion and a member of our England set-up and Talent Pathway, proudly representing his country in the 2019 Euros. Although young, he had clearly demonstrated much promise."

Jenkins continued, "He was also a very popular character with his fellow boxers and those who coached him, bringing a sense of fun to everything he did. He will leave a huge gap in people’s lives."

A shirtless MLB fan's face got demolished by several men in a wild brawl at the White Sox game Tuesday night ... and the insane fracas was all caught on video.

The melee went down at some point during the Sox's tilt with the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago ... when men let their fists fly in the stadium's left-field bleachers.

You can see in the footage ... the fight was violent -- with haymakers being thrown, and landed, repeatedly.

The man without a shirt took most of the damage ... eating flurries of punches from multiple people involved in the skirmish.

To the guy's credit, though, he had quite the chin ... 'cause he took everyone's best shot -- and still wanted more.

It seems at some point cooler heads prevailed ... 'cause when we reached out to cops over the incident, they told us no arrests were made.

As for the game, the Sox used a big 8th inning to railroad Minnesota, 9-5.

UFC's newest flyweight champ Brandon Moreno is hunting for his next big fight ... telling TMZ Sports he wants to take on the ex-bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt -- if the dude's willing to drop some pounds.

We caught up with the 27-year-old Mexican star fresh off last month's huge win over Deiveson Figueiredo ... and while "Deus Da Guerra" wants an immediate rematch, Moreno says he's got some work to do before getting the trilogy fight.

"I think he needs to fight against another guy because the last fight wasn't even close," Moreno tells us. "Domination from the first through the third round."

"I'm open to fight against him, but I think he needs to fight again with somebody," he added. "Not because I'm scared or something like that -- it's hard to get scared in this sport because a lot of brave people here in this sport -- but I think it's not my next fight."

So, if DF is out of the question, who's next??

Moreno loves the idea of scrapping with "No Love" -- the guy who held the bantamweight belt in 2016 -- saying it's exactly the type of opponent he's looking for.

"I'm interested in that fight because he's a huge name. He's a possibility."

Of course, Moreno and Figueiredo's first fight in 2020 ended in a draw ... and "The Assassin Baby" got the W last month via 3rd round submission, becoming the first Mexican-born UFC champ.

Daymond John is offering up financial advice to new UFC star Kris Moutinho ... after the crazy tough fighter admitted to TMZ Sports he has no clue what to do with his $75K bonus check.

The Shark Tank star and business mogul joined "TMZ Live" for his weekly "Follow The Money" segment ... and laid out exactly how Moutinho should allot the cash.

Pay your manager, start a corporation, write-off expenses, and open an account to save money are just a few of the tips John recommended Kris follow.

Remember, "Suga" Sean O'Malley peppered Kris with 230 significant strikes during their UFC 264 matchup ... but WOULD NOT QUIT. Moutinho ultimately lost, but Dana White gave him the $75K Fight of the Night bonus ... money KM admitted he had no idea to manage.

And, get this, Daymond -- who's an extremely busy guy -- actually offered to work with Kris one-on-one ... and help Moutinho get his finances together.

"This young man is gonna be getting a lot of checks. He's my new favorite, and if he wants to call me, I'm gonna help him put that money in the right place, stay protected, and grow that money," Daymond says.

"And, I have a lot of good friends who would love to help him financially and show him what to do, cause he was smart enough to know he did not know what to do with that type of money, and many of us need to act like that when we get money."

Gilbert Burns wants to be UFC champion and he's willing to fight Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal -- 2 of the baddest dudes in the welterweight division -- all in order to earn a rematch with 170 lb.-king, Kamaru Usman.

TMZ Sports talked to 34-year-old Burns fresh off a convincing, unanimous decision win over Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson at UFC 264 ... and "Durinho" is open to scrapping with any of the high-ranked welterweights.

"I want the one that will get me a clear way to the title. If that’s Leon Edwards, that’s the one I want. If I need two more fights, give me Masvidal now then give me Leon Edwards later."

Remember, Burns and Usman -- who used to be training partners in Florida -- fought in February 2021 ... and Usman won via 3rd round TKO.

At the end of the day, who Gilbert fights first ain't all that important ... 'cause he says he ultimately wants smoke with all the best guys in the division.

"Every top opponent I want to face. I still have a dream battle against Colby [Covington]. I still want a rematch with Kamaru. I want to beat Masvidal. I want to beat Nate Diaz. I want to beat Leon Edwards. I want to beat every single guy, especially a tough one in that division."

FYI, Burns is the #2 ranked welterweight. Edwards is #3 and Masvidal -- who's coming off a loss to Usman -- is ranked 7th ... but is one of the UFC's biggest stars.

Miesha Tate says her UFC return isn't about money or fame ... it's about regaining her championship belt, and showing her kids women can be good moms and kick ass!!

TMZ Sports talked to 34-year-old Tate -- who hasn't been in the Octagon under the bright lights of the UFC since November 2016 ... when she lost to Raquel Pennington.

FYI, that happened to be UFC 205 -- the Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez card -- one of the fights that made The Notorious a global superstar.

1,708 days later, Tate is taking on 44-year-old Marion Reneau as the co-main event at UFC Fight Night ... and we asked the UFC star what she wanted to accomplish this 2nd time around.

"This is not just a cash grab, it’s not just a fight. I want to be a champion again."

In fact, Tate -- who beat Holly Holm for the bantamweight title in 2016 -- tells us the layoff actually made her a BETTER fighter.

"Much better. I’m not gonna lie, much better. But, I have to prove that, so just let me glow up and then I can prove it to you guys."

And, Miesha says the comeback isn't only about her ... it's also about showing her kids that women can be great moms AND also have a badass and super-successful career.

"I love my kids more than anything, but at the same time, I want to show them that just because you become a mother, you know mothers get lost a lot of times in our world. It’s ok for the dad to do and be, but the mom just kinda just be the mom," Tate says.

Boxing fans are going to have to wait 3 more months to see Tyson Fury fight Deontay Wilder again ... the tilt has now officially been moved to October in the wake of a big COVID outbreak in Fury's camp.

The announcement came out Thursday ... with officials saying the fight has now been postponed from July 24 to Oct. 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

"I wanted nothing more than to smash the 'Big Dosser' on July 24, but I guess the beating will have to wait," said Fury, who, along with several members of his team, tested positive for COVID earlier this month.

"Make no mistake, I will be back and better than ever. We will fight Oct. 9, and I will knock him spark out!"

The two boxers fought to a draw in their first matchup in December 2018 ... but Fury handled Wilder soundly in their second matchup in February 2020.

You'll recall, Tyson was set to move on from Wilder and face Anthony Joshua this summer ... but Wilder won a big decision in court to make sure this fight happened before that one.

Wilder's manager, Shelly Finkel, said the Bronze Bomber is fine waiting a few more weeks to get another shot at Tyson ... explaining, "This is what we went to arbitration for."

Conor McGregor was released from a Los Angeles hospital ... just days after surgeons used a rod, plate and screws to fix The Notorious' broken leg.

TMZ Sports talked to Dana White ... who updated us on McGregor's status.

"I think they just released him right now from the hospital about 10, 15 minutes ago."

Remember, Conor cracked his tibia AND fibula during the last 10 seconds of the 1st round of his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.

We broke the story ... McGregor underwent successful 3.5-hour surgery at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon.

Doctors surgically placed an intramedullary rod in the tibia ... and attached a plate and screws to the fibula.

After the surgery, Conor made a video message addressing his fans, saying, "Everything went perfect. I'm feeling tremendous" ... adding after 6 weeks on crutches "we begin to build back."

Count the UFC prez as a believer ... 'cause Dana told us he expects McGregor to return to the Octagon.

"He'll be back in a year."

As for Conor's immediate plans ... White says the UFC superstar will spend some time recovering in SoCal.

"He'll be in L.A. for a little while. I don't know if he's gonna fly home, or what he's gonna do."

FYI, today is Conor's 33rd birthday ... and being released from the hospital ain't too bad a present.

Dana White says it was a "massive f*** up" by the UFC for NOT showing former President Donald Trump during the Conor McGregor fight card.

The UFC prez tells TMZ Sports the flub was a mix of his production team dropping the ball, a technical issue, and the unpredictability of live television.

The way Dana explains it ... there was a plan in place to show Trump sitting near the Octagon. Cameras were supposed to pan from some big-name celebrities to the former Prez ... but things didn't go according to script.

“We were getting ready to show him right between the co-main and main events, I think you remember that we showed OBJ. We showed OBJ, then it was supposed to go to David Spade, 2 Chainz, and then the president, and we had some kinda glitch in the truck. Then the Conor fight ended up ending in the 2nd round so we never got a chance."

White continued ... "Let me tell you what, massive f*** up by my production team, but ya know, it’s live TV and these things happen.”

We obtained video of DT arriving at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas midway through the main card ... and you see Trump being greeted by Dana and getting a nice ovation from the packed crowd.

But, Trump was never seen on the broadcast ... leading some to speculate there was something nefarious going on with the ESPN broadcast.

Dana says that's NOT the case ... telling us any former president deserves to be shown on TV, regardless of political affiliation.

Logan Paul wants a rematch with Floyd Mayweather ... and the YouTuber turned boxer says he's sure Money's gettin' his ass knocked out this time around.

TMZ Sports talked to Logan at a media event for his bro Jake's upcoming boxing match with former UFC champ Tyron Woodley ... and when we asked Logan if his bro would ever fight Floyd, LP said it's him who wants the fight.

"Let me ask you what you would rather see, Jake Paul versus Floyd, or me versus Floyd again?" Logan said. "Because, let me tell you something, if I fight Floyd again, I promise I’ll knock him out. Promise."

Remember, Logan and Floyd fought an exhibition fight June 6 in Miami ... and the fight went the full 8 rounds. No winner was declared.

This time ... Logan suggests they fight more rounds -- and he says that won't bode well for Mayweather.

"I got it figured out. I got it. End of the 8th round, he’s breathing heavy, I’m coming alive. It’s gonna be a 10-12 round fight. We run it back, and this time I finish him."

Now ... will this happen? Even Logan says probably not.

"I don’t think it’s gonna happen. This is all just hypothetical bulls***."

Kris Moutinho ate 230 significant strikes, but won over MMA fans across the world with his unreal toughness ... and for it got a $75K bonus -- life changing money for the UFC fighter.

TMZ Sports talked to 28-year-old Moutinho -- whose UFC 264 scrap with "Suga" Sean O'Malley was stopped with only 27 seconds left in the 3rd and final round -- about his Fight of the Night bonus ... and how the windfall of cash will change his life.

"I’m extremely happy, man. It’s another step to taking care of my family and putting money into the right avenues to be able to take care of my family, and never have to work another job and just do this again. Do this. The thing I love for the rest of my life," Moutinho says.

In fact, Kris says he's never gotten so much money before ... and admitted he doesn't know how to manage the nearly 6-figure sum -- or what to do with it.

"I gotta figure out what I even got to do with it. I’m not like, I’m not built like this bro. I don’t know what all this is. What, how to pay taxes on this, and how to do that. I’m just trying not to end up broke cause of it, you know what I mean?"

So, the bank account is right ... but how does Moutinho feel physically after taking such a beating??

"Great" ... and what else would you expect from Kris?

"I feel great man, I feel great. Pride’s a little sore from losing, man, because a loss is still a loss. I don’t care how great everybody says the fight is. Man, I still lost, and it still hurts. That’s the only thing. The face, it doesn’t really bother me. I can take pain, I can take blunt force, or I wouldn’t do this, you know?"

And Moutinho -- who has a 9-5 record as a pro -- wants everyone to know his UFC career won't just be one-and-done ... and he would even be down for a rematch with Suga down the road.

"There’s no person I’m afraid of on this earth. It doesn’t matter what [O'Malley] did to me. Punches are so miniscule to the amount of pain I’m willing to endure in my life. This is nothing to me."

Kris continued ... "The only thing I fear on this planet is God, and Sean O’Malley isn’t him. Sean O’Malley isn’t him. It is what it is. He beat me. He beat me up a little bit. Hey next time I’m gonna, for my next fight I’m going to improve. I’m going to fix all these little flaws and you’re gonna see a different person when I step in that cage."

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.