Fights

Kamaru Usman has ONLY lost 1 time in his historic MMA career ... and the only man to beat him, fighter Jose Caceres, says the Nigerian Nightmare can't, won't, lose to Colby Covington.

34-year-old Caceres faced Kamaru in 2013 ... beating the now champ via a rear-naked choke in the 1st round (it must be said -- this was Usman's 2nd pro fight).

Jose also happened to fight Covington ... losing to Colby, also in 2013, via unanimous decision.

But, even though he beat Usman and lost to Covington, Caceres says he knows who's gonna win when the men do battle again at UFC 268.

"That kid has the most chances of winning. I look at it like the human body. He's really developed like the anti-virus, the vaccine for Colby Covington. He kinda already knows how to beat him. He already experienced 5 rounds of him," Caceres says.

Of course, Kamaru and Colby fought in 2019 -- an amazing fight -- won by KU via 5th round TKO.

Now the men are about to scrap again ... and the question is, will Jose remain the only man to take down the Nigerian Nightmare??

UFC fans got some extra star power at the ceremonial face-off between Rose Namajunas and Zheng Weili … 'cause even Hollywood actress Halle Berry made sure to be in attendance to oversee the whole thing.

Berry -- an Academy Award winner -- stood in between the two fighters as they met face-to-face one final time before they throw down in the Octagon at UFC 268 … and judging from the looks of it, Halle was ready to get in on the action!!!

Of course, HB is in fighting shape -- she had been training for her new UFC flick "Bruised" … where she goes toe-to-toe with real-life fighter Valentina Shevchenko ... so it's not surprising she looks like she could actually scrap on Saturday’s card.

Berry looked pumped by the entire exchange ... as Joe Rogan announced both fighter’s names and weight.

Berry smiled as both fighters stared each other down intensely in front of the raucous crowd ... and for good measure, she even made sure to give a complimentary pat on the back to both women, flexing some of her muscles for the fans and photographers in the building.

Luckily, both fighters hit their strawweight mark ... meaning it's going down at MSG Saturday night.

The Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury fight just got a helluva lot more interesting -- ex-NBA star Deron Williams (yes, the dude who played for the Jazz) has been added to the undercard ... and he could be going up against none other than former NFL running back Frank Gore!!!

Williams -- the third overall pick to the Jazz in 2005 -- reportedly just signed on to follow in Nate Robinson's footsteps and make his boxing debut on December 18 in Tampa Bay.

While Williams doesn't have any fights under his belt, we're told he's actually nothing to scoff at -- Deron was a state champion on the mats in Texas. He won titles as an 8 and 12-year-old in 1993 and 1997.

UFC fighter Ryan Spann -- who trains with Williams at Fortis MMA -- said he even sparred with the guy and got his ass beat!!!

As for his opponent, Shams Charania says it could be Gore -- a 5-time Pro Bowler who played 16 years in the NFL.

Gore has put in some serious training off the field and has shown he's got some skills, so it could end up being quite the interesting matchup.

Zayn Malik's confrontation with Yolanda Hadid -- the one that ended with Zayn pleading no contest to 4 criminal charges -- was all about boundaries ... boundaries he says she violated.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Zayn was at Gigi's home Sept. 29, where he was staying because he wanted to be close to his daughter. Our sources say on that day Yolanda "barged" into the house, without calling beforehand or even knocking at the door.

We're told this was an ongoing source of conflict ... Zayn felt Yolanda was acting like the house was hers and ignoring his position as the boyfriend of Gigi and father of their little girl. Our sources say Zayn made his feelings known once she entered, but Yolanda wasn't having it.

We're told Zayn typically works nights on his music and sleeps for part of the day, and Yolanda regularly disrupted his life by coming over as if she owned the place.

There were other sources of tension as well ... notably, Yolanda was posting photos of the baby, which pissed off Zayn because he felt privacy was vital.

TMZ broke the story ... Zayn was charged with 4 counts of harassment for allegedly berating Yolanda and pushing her into a dresser -- something he denies. He was also charged with harassing Gigi, who was in Paris at the time of the incident. And, he was charged with harassing the security guard, whom Zayn allegedly challenged to a fight. Zayn pled no contest, received a small fine and was ordered to take anger management courses.

UCLA is vowing to take disciplinary action against Bruins defensive lineman Jay Toia ... after the 6'3", 325-pounder was captured on video threatening to slap a woman on an elevator last weekend.

The video made rounds earlier this week ... appearing to show the freshman approach an elevator on campus full of students he thought were from USC.

Toia -- donning a UCLA hoodie -- had to be held back by his friends as he goes on an expletive-filled rant threatening to hurt any USC student.

One girl tries to clear the air, saying "we go to Santa Barbara! Nobody's a Trojan! We go to USCB!"

Toia still goes off ... yelling, "you a f***ing Trojan n****! I'll slap a b****, too! I'll slap a b****!"

Worth noting -- the 4-star recruit signed with the Trojans back in Dec. 2020 ... before transferring to UCLA this June. He was the 21st ranked defensive tackle in his class and had offers from Arizona, Cal, Michigan, Nebraska and more.

UCLA's athletic director, Martin Jarmond, and football head coach, Chip Kelly, released a statement saying they saw the clip and Toia will be disciplined.

"We're aware of a recent video in which a student-athlete made disparaging remarks. This was inappropriate and not in line with our values and expectations."

"As such, we are taking disciplinary action and working with campus partners to assist with educations for the student."

Toia already lost an NIL deal with college apparel company Campus Mogul due to the video ... but has been practicing with the team all week.

Colin Mochrie turned a videotape into a weapon ... using it to rain blows on a fan's head in a curbside autograph session gone haywire ... and we have it all on video.

The bizarre incident unfolded Monday afternoon in Bev Hills, where the "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" star was approached by an autograph hound ... but the incident looks like it could be part of a sketch. It's possible that's what it is, but cameras are not in place to catch it.

Ya gotta see for yourself ... Colin looks like he's being asked to sign the VHS tape and the fan appears to reach for Colin's head, and that's when they start to wrestle and CM uses the tape to smack the guy in the noggin.

The autograph seeker has a camera in hand during the incident and appears to run off after getting bopped on the head, leaving the VHS tape with Colin.

We reached out to Colin's camp ... so far, no word back.

Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev could be coming to an Octagon near you very soon ... 'cause Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's down to make the fight, and plans to talk to the Stockton fighter.

After 27-year-old Chimaev put on another DOMINATING performance, toying with, and then submitting Jingliang Li in the first round at UFC 267, "Borz" called out Nate, saying, “Let’s see who is the real gangster,”

We talked to White Monday afternoon and asked him if the UFC was interested in hashing out a deal for the mega-fight.

"100%," White says ... "We're gonna talk to Nate about it."

36-year-old Diaz -- one of the UFC's biggest stars -- last fought in June ... losing in a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards.

Despite taking the L, Nate nearly stopped the top 5 contender in the 5th round, before running out of time.

As far as the undefeated Chimaev (10-0), he's been nothing short of incredible in his 4 fights in the UFC.

"This guy is like nothing anybody has ever seen. When you think about it he's got more UFC wins than he's been hit inside the Octagon. Insane!"

We also talked to Dana about some of the other standouts from 267 ... including Islam Makhachev (who's next?) and Petr Yan (can any bantamweight beat him?).

Former Vine star and all-around influencer Hayes Grier will NOT be prosecuted for allegedly beating the crap out of a guy and jacking his phone.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors in North Carolina dismissed the case against Hayes, citing insufficient evidence.

In the docs, prosecutors from the Mecklenberg County District Attorney's Office say Hayes and the alleged victim were both intoxicated during the brawl and the only independent witness was going to testify that the alleged victim asked Hayes to fight.

Prosecutors also say they can't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt because they couldn't determine the aggressor in the fight. That also goes for Hayes' influencer pal, Luke Foushee, who was also arrested and hit with 2 felonies. Both of those charges are dropped, too.

TMZ broke the story ... Hayes and Foushee were arrested back in July and charged with felony conspiracy and assault causing serious bodily injury. Hayes also got hit with a common law robbery charge.

As for the robbery charge against Hayes, prosecutors say the property was returned to the alleged victim, so prosecutors didn't think they had enough evidence to prove robbery.

Cops said the alleged victim suffered a broken left orbital bone (eyeball socket), bruised ribs, brain damage, loss of hearing and bleeding from the back of the head in the beatdown.

Shakur Stevenson says he has no problem fighting Teofimo Lopez or Devin Haney down the road -- but his dream matchup would be a scrap with Gervonta 'Tank' Davis.

And, that's no disrespect to Teo and Devin ... the 24-year-old telling TMZ Sports, they're great at what they do.

"Teo is a great boxer-puncher," Stevenson says, "Devin is a great boxer, He's not that big of a puncher but he got really good boxing skills."

"At the end of the day, all of them guys are good fights for me later down the line."

Awesome news for boxing fans.

But, if Stevenson had to just pick one, it'd be Davis ... saying he and Tank are the best in their weight class, like Terrence Crawford and Errol Spence at welterweight.

"I feel like me and him in the ring one day would make the best versus the best," Stevenson said, "like how Bud and Errol is like 'elite versus elite' on like a whole new level of talent."

"At the end of the day, that's mainly who I would think that would be one of the best fights."

"It's like respect to Tank. I give respect to Tank because I feel like he's skillful and he's like an exciting fighter. He's a big puncher, aggressive and I respect his game."

If (and hopefully when🤞) this matchup happens, Stevenson says he would have to be on point every second of the fight ... and, so would Tank.

"I can't make no mistakes. Same with him! I feel like he can't allow me to take control of the fight because I can take control of a fight real easy."

"Once I take control of a fight and once I take off, it's like how do you get back in the fight? You can't get back in once you down six, seven rounds because it's too late now."

Stevenson just did that to boxer Jamel Herring -- a former champion -- with a 10th round TKO on Oct. 23, becoming the new WBO junior lightweight champion.

41-year-old Glover Teixeira is fighting for the UFC light heavyweight title Saturday night ... and the MMA star tells TMZ Sports he ain't even thinking about laying down his gloves, insisting he feels better than ever.

Teixeira -- who hasn't lost a fight in over 3 years (Corey Anderson) -- says he's totally changed his lifestyle around ... and is in the best shape ever, physically and mentally, heading into his UFC 267 fight with Jan Blachowicz.

We asked Glover for his secrets.

"Focus. Discipline. Today I live completely different that I did a few years back," the #1 contender tells us.

"Food, meditation, mindset. Recovery. Little things like an ice bath, all those things to recover, train with quality. It's a big change, man."

It's not the first time GT has fought for the title. He lost to Jon Jones at UFC 172 way back in 2014.

Glover says he always believed he'd make it back to the title fight ... but admits "he didn't think it was gonna take this long."

But, he's back, and if Teixeira can get the dub, he'd become the 2nd oldest UFC champ ever ... behind only Randy Couture, who incredibly was heavyweight champ at 45 years old.

Speaking of 45 ... we asked Glover if he wants to be fighting past his 45th birthday.

"I do. Yeah. Because I love this."

We also talked to the current champ ... and Jan made it clear he isn't taking Glover lightly, regardless of his age.

Cory Sandhagen is a man with a plan ... laying out his blueprint to TMZ Sports, saying he plans to get some revenge after his title fight with Petr Yan by beating T.J. Dillashaw and Aljamain Sterling.

"I have a loss to Sterling and I have a loss to Dillashaw recently. I think it would make a beautiful storyline for me to get the title this way and then get to scrap those 2 L's off my record. Almost rematch those guys right away," 29-year-old Sandhagen says.

#3 ranked Sandhagen is fighting #1 ranked Yan at UFC 267 Saturday night ... and the interim bantamweight title is on the line.

The winner will likely face Aljo -- the champion -- to unify the title.

And, that's exactly what Cory wants ... 'cause he lost to the champ in 2020 via a 1st round submission.

As far as T.J. ... Sandhagen lost by a razor-thin decision to the former champion back in July. But, T.J. was seriously banged up in the fight, and needed surgery.

So, Sandhagen vs. Yan was born. But, is the winner of this fight the actual champion??

Cory says yes.

"I think I see Petr Yan as probably the best guy in the division, so to me, yeah it'd mean beating the best guy in the division and becoming the champ."

After that, CS wants to immediately avenge the 2 losses ... starting with Sterling, a loss that's been annoying the hell out of Cory.

"The Sterling one definitely irks me a little more. With Dillashaw, at least I got to beat him up, ya know?"

Sandhagen continued ... "The decision didn't go my way or whatever, but T.J. definitely walked out of the cage way more beat up than I walked out of the cage. So, a little bit easier of a pill to swallow or whatever, but the Sterling one irks me bad."

"It just couldn't go any worse."

Mark your calendars ... Jake Paul and Tommy Fury will officially take the ring in December -- with the YouTube superstar announcing the fight date Friday.

"Pucker up Timmy, it’s time to kiss ur last name and ur family’s boxing legacy goodbye," Jake said on Twitter minutes ago.

The epic showdown is set to happen at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay ... and Jake is vowing to hang out with some local celebs after coming away with the win.

"DEC 18th Im changing this wankers name to Tommy Fumbles and celebrating with Tom Brady."

Of course, Jake has previously claimed Tommy will have to legally change his name if he loses ... which he's told us he's not sweating at all, 'cause Fury is guaranteeing to put Paul into retirement.

Jake is 4-0 with wins over Nate Robinson, Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley ... but this is his first fight against a boxer.

Fury -- heavyweight champ Tyson's lil' bro -- is 7-0.

After months and months of going back and forth, it's finally happening ... and we legitimately cannot wait.

Zayn Malik said Thursday his dispute with Yolanda Hadid was a "private matter," but we've learned it actually became a public matter, as in Zayn was charged with crimes against Gigi and Yolanda Hadid and ended up copping a plea.

Zayn was charged with 4 criminal offenses of harassment and, although one official doc says he pled guilty to one, court officials tell us he actually pled no contest.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Zayn was at Gigi and Zayn's Pennsylvania home on Sept. 29 and got into a nuclear argument. He allegedly called Yolanda a "f***ing Dutch slut," ordered her to "stay away from [my] f***ing daughter." He said this, although it's hard to know why, "the f***ing sperm that came out of [my] f***ing c***."

He then allegedly "shoved her [Yolanda] into a dresser causing mental anguish and physical pain." Zayn denies any physical contact.

As for the charge that he harassed Gigi, according to court docs, he screamed at her, "strap on some f***ing balls and defend your partner against your f***ing mother in my house." Sources with direct knowledge tell us Gigi was actually in Paris, but Zayn allegedly said this to her on a phone call during the incident.

There was a security guard on hand, and according to the docs, Zayn screamed, "Get the f*** out of my f***ing house, copper." The docs say Zayn tried to fight the guard.

Zayn pled no contest Wednesday to harassment and was fined, but with conditions. He's on 90 days probation for each count, totaling 360 days. He also must complete an anger management class and a domestic violence program. He must have no contact with Yolanda or the security guard.

Assuming all conditions are satisfied after 6 months, the judge could terminate probation.

As we reported, Zayn and Gigi broke up around the time of the incident. They share a 1-year-old daughter together.

We broke it all down in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast.

Dana White has entered the Jake Paul vs. Claressa Shields beef ... eviscerating the YouTube superstar for calling the boxer/MMA fighter a "loser" ... saying, "I hope he runs into her somewhere and she knocks him the f*** out."

Jake recently called out "T-Rex" after her first loss as a pro fighter with PFL earlier this week ... saying, "Claressa Shields is a loser. In MMA, and even more so with her prima donna attitude."

Dana -- who hates the Paul bros. with a burning passion -- got wind of Jake's comments ... and he didn't hold back.

"Jake Paul calls Claressa Shields a loser? Claressa Shields is nothing but a winner who actually fought real people in her weight class, in her own age, in her own sport and then goes over to MMA and tries to win a world title," he told MMA Fighting. "That's not a loser, that's a winner."

There's more -- "When are you gonna start fighting somebody your own f***ng age, your own weight, that actually fights in your own f***ing sport that you're claiming you're in? Shut the f*** up, you goofball. For you to call Claressa Shields a loser is f***ing unbelievable!!"

Dana also showered Shields with praise ... adding, "Nothing but respect for Claressa Shields."

"To be looked at as the best female boxer, right, and to come over here and start training and start to do this, not easy. Nothing but respect for her."

Yolanda Hadid claims Zayn Malik struck her last week and she's seriously considering filing a police report, sources with direct knowledge tell us.

Our sources say Yolanda says it happened at some point last week. We don't have the details of what she claims triggered the alleged assault, but we're told Yolanda stands by her account. She claims Zayn "struck" her.

Zayn just posted that he's a private person and did not want this to become public, but, "in an effort to protect that space for [my daughter] I agreed to not contest claims arising from an argument I had with a family member of my partner's who entered our home while my partner was away several weeks ago. This was and still should be a private matter but it seems for now there is divisiveness and despite my efforts to restore us to a peaceful family environment that will allow for me to co-parent my daughter in a manner in which she deserves, this has been 'leaked' to the press."

Yolanda was out and about Thursday morning in the SoHo district of New York City.

As you know, Zayn is dating Gigi Hadid and the couple have a 1-year-old daughter together.

As far as we know, there's never been an issue between Yolanda and Zayn.

Our sources say Yolanda's inclination is to file a police report, but we checked and so far there's nothing on file.

Logan Paul got in a physical altercation with a man outside an L.A. hotspot late Wednesday night ... slapping a heckler upside the head after he called the YouTube superstar a "p***y."

26-year-old Logan was waiting outside Nightingale in WeHo when a bunch of autograph seekers came up to him and started asking about his rumored fight with Mike Tyson.

When LP ignored the questions, one man called him out and said, "Are you a p***y, or what??" ... before trying to walk away.

That's when Logan aggressively approached the man ... getting in his face and shoving him before smacking him in the head.

The crowd is audibly shocked ... with several people gasping and saying, "Oh s***."

Logan's friend and "Impaulsive" podcast co-host Mike Majlak jumped into action ... pushing and shoving the heckler backwards before security came in and bear-hugged the guy away.

Majlak urged Logan to go into the club, but both guys were able to calm down and even joke with each other as Paul waited for valet to bring his Polaroid camera from his car.

Of course, Logan has been facing off against much bigger and more talented competition recently ... going 8 rounds with Floyd Mayweather back in June.

What's bizarre -- Logan maintained a smile throughout the whole incident ... but it's clear the altercation was pretty tense.

Logan eventually gets reunited with his beloved camera and heads into the club ... but accidentally drops it on his way in.