Fights

Who will Conor McGregor fight when he returns to the Octagon after snapping his leg against Dustin Poirier???

Well, Max Holloway tells TMZ Sports it very well could be him ... 'cause he's on a "short list" to fight The Notorious.

We talked to Holloway -- the 29-year-old, #1 ranked featherweight contender -- just days before he's set to battle #3 ranked Yair Rodriguez ... in what in all likelihood will be a ridiculously awesome fight.

Question is, Blessed technically (it was controversial) lost to Alex Volkanovski twice ... so a win might not necessarily set him up for another crack at the current champ.

So, what's next? Here's what Max told us.

"I got 5 titles wins. 5 title fight wins. I want that 6 title fight win. And, if it can be Alex, then so be it. But, at the end of the day, UFC discussed with us a bunch of things, a bunch of possibilities. I got a win over the 155 champ in their division."

Then Holloway dropped this bit of news sure to get MMA fans juiced.

"I'm on a short list for Conor McGregor. Always on a short list for that fight. I'm the best boxer in the UFC."

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time the men have shared the cage. Back in August 2013, Holloway -- only 21-years-old at the time -- lost a unanimous decision to McGregor.

Fast forward ... Max is considered by most the greatest 145 lb. MMA fighter of all-time, and is coming off a historically dominating win over Calvin Kattar.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Conor has lost 3 of his last 4 fights (Khabib L, "Cowboy" Cerrone W, Poirier L, Poirier L), and suffered a devastating leg injury against Dustin on July 10.

McGregor is likely to return to the cage in 2022 ... and Max, who's super focused on Rodriguez, knows it'll be huuuge fight.

"I think Conor, he's always talking about Nate [Diaz], always talking about Dustin [Poirier] now. But if you go call Hunter [Campbell] at the UFC, one of the guys here, and ask him who is the guy gonna sell pay-per-views at 45 or 55," Max said.

Holloway even has a venue in mind for the superfight.

Adam "Pacman" Jones will be back behind bars again ... TMZ Sports has learned he's just been sentenced to jail for his role in a huge bar fight earlier this year.

As we previously reported, the former NFL star was at Clutch OTR in Cincinnati, Ohio on Feb. 15 ... when law enforcement claims the dude snapped on venue staffers.

Authorities say Jones got into a wild brawl with the establishment's employees -- claiming the ex-football player knocked out a bouncer during the fracas.

We obtained video of part of the fight ... and you can see it was complete chaos -- with barstools being thrown and people crashing to the ground left and right.

Jones -- who at the time claimed he was just acting in self-defense and "did what I needed to do" -- was arrested and later hit with two misdemeanor assault charges over it all.

Officials tell us, though, the 38-year-old closed out the case this week.

Jones pleaded no contest to the two charges -- and was sentenced to 180 days in jail ... but 150 of those days are suspended, meaning Jones will only have to go behind bars for 30 total days if he keeps his nose clean.

We're told he's slated to report to jail on Nov. 29.

Jones was also sentenced to nine months of probation -- with a judge ordering him to follow a 9 p.m. curfew as well as abstain from drinking alcohol. Jones was also hit with a $100 fine.

Of course, this is not the first time Jones has been sentenced to jail recently ... you'll recall, back in 2019, he was ordered to spend 10 days behind bars for his role in a meltdown at a casino.

Dan Bilzerian claims someone jacked his luxury timepiece right off his wrist during the Canelo Alvarez boxing match in Las Vegas ... and now the cops are involved.

The playboy poker player tells TMZ ... he was wearing a Richard Mille watch, valued between $950k and $1 million, to the Canelo fight and at some point, he noticed it went missing from his wrist.

Dan says he was taking a bunch of photos with fans as he walked toward the ring, and thinks someone may have slipped it off his wrist in the scrum because the carbon fiber watch is very lightweight and doesn't have a lock on the clasp.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police took a larceny report and cops will investigate.

Dan says he filed the police report right after the fight Saturday night, and now he's offering a $50,000 reward for any folks who can provide information leading to the watch's return.

DB tells us he didn't have the watch insured and the fight venue wasn't able to pull any surveillance footage from the fighter walkout area, which is where he believes the watch was taken.

Jake Paul says his DMs are getting bombarded with verbal jabs from the Gypsy King himself, telling us Tommy's heavyweight champ brother Tyson is already talkin' smack ahead of their fight.

The Problem Child joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) shortly after Tommy posted footage training with his big bro ... and Jake gave us his first impression of the video.

Long story short ... Jake says Tommy should lay off the junk food, and quit trying to fight like Tyson.

Speaking of ... Jake says he and Tyson have been going back and forth on social media, privately messaging each other a whole bunch of trash talk.

In fact, Jake shares one of the voice messages with TMZ Sports ... and it's hilarious.

"Jakey Boy, he's gonna annihilate you, Jakey!!!!" Tyson is heard telling Jake.

But, don't get it twisted, Jake is a HUGE Tyson fan, telling us he's got nothing but respect for the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

"You can't hate the guy. Like Tyson, I love ... I love Tyson. I love that he's involved. Great entertainer. Unfortunately, I have to end his brother's career."

Of course, this is arguably Jake's hardest test to date ... facing an up-and-coming, undefeated fighter (7-0).

4-0 Paul previously beat YouTuber AnEson Gib, ex-NBA star Nate Robinson, MMA star and Olympian Ben Askren, and most recently, future UFC Hall of Famer Tyron Woodley.

There's more ... we also talked to Jake about Deron Williams potentially fighting Frank Gore on his undercard.

We also asked Paul about Canelo Alvarez and Kamaru Usman -- 2 guys who won big Saturday night -- that Jake has a history with ... and could possibly fight in the future (hey, don't put it past the guy).

Who's the greatest Mexican boxer of all time?? It ain't Julio Cesar Chavez or Oscar De La Hoya ... boxing star Ryan Garcia tells TMZ Sports it's "without a doubt" Canelo Alvarez.

We talked to the 23-year-old, undefeated Garcia on the way out of the Canelo fight ... and we asked the Mexican American fighter whether 31-year-old Alvarez (57-1-2) should now be considered the best Mexican fighter of all time.

"Oh yeah, without a doubt. He's the best," Ryan says.

If you know boxing, you know Mexico has been the birthplace of some of the greatest pugilists to ever lace up a pair of gloves.

Cesar Chavez was a multiple-time world champion across several weight classes ... including super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, and lightweight. He was considered the world's top pound-for-pound boxer in the early '90s.

Julio -- who fought 115 professional fights (107-6-2) -- defended his title 27 times, a record. He beat Héctor Camacho and Roger Mayweather, just to name a few.

De La Hoya -- an Olympic gold medalist -- won 11 titles across 6 weight classes ... and beat guys like Héctor Camacho, Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga, Pernell Whitaker, and Arturo Gatti.

FYI, Oscar and Julio actually fought each other twice ... with De La Hoya winning both. Though, their first fight in 1996 was stopped largely due to a gash that reopened up (he originally got the cut in training camp) above Chavez's left eye.

The fighters rematched in 1998 ... and Oscar won via 8th round TKO.

As for Canelo, he's only lost 1 fight in his career -- to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 -- as a 23-year-old fighter.

So, we asked Garcia if today's version of Alvarez would beat Floyd.

"Most definitely. [Canelo's] focus, he's got everything on lock. He knows what to do now. He knows how to approach a fighter who keeps moving, and that's what he did today [against Caleb Plant]."

We also ran into Elie Seckbach from EsNews ... and asked him whether Alvarez had a chance to go down as the greatest boxer of all time (watch out Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson & Floyd).

Back to Ryan. We couldn't let the 21-0 fighter -- who recently underwent surgery for a hand injury -- go without getting a health update ... asking the lightweight contender when we'd see him back in the ring.

A Tennessee Titans fan was hurled down several rows of stairs during a wild brawl at the Rams game Sunday night ... and the violent scene was all captured on video.

The fight broke out at some point during Tennessee's win over the Rams at SoFi Stadium ... when a Titans supporter appeared to get into it with L.A. fans in the stands.

It's unclear what started the altercation ... but you can see in the footage, after mixing it up with several men, the guy in the Titans jersey was punched in the face.

Another fan, meanwhile, then grabbed the guy by the head and threw him down the steps, face first.

While the Titans fan was down, a Rams fan was punched in the face and appeared to be knocked out too.

He was later stepped on by a different L.A. supporter.

Several of the combatants then fled. It's unclear if any arrests were made or if anybody was injured in the melee.

G-Eazy just struck a deal in the NYC case where he's accused of brawling in a bar ... and he's going to avoid time behind bars.

The rapper appeared in a courtroom in New York City Monday, pleading guilty to disorderly conduct -- lower than his original charge of misdemeanor assault -- and was assigned to a diversion program ... according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

We're told G-Eazy must complete 3 Manhattan Justice Opportunities sessions ... which are an alternative to incarceration and basically involve meetings with social workers and case managers designed to put people back on a positive path.

TMZ broke the story ... G-Eazy was arrested back in September after he and his crew were accused of getting violent with another group of guys at the Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel.

G-Eazy was eventually charged with misdemeanor assault, and ordered to steer clear of the alleged victims. We're told the protective order will remain in place.

Boxing star Rolando Romero -- accused of sexually assaulting multiple women -- is breaking his silence on the disturbing allegations, telling TMZ Sports the claims against him are straight BS, and he will clear his name.

We ran into the 26-year-old, 14-1 boxer leaving the MGM Grand in Las Vegas after Canelo Alvarez knocked out Caleb Plant ... and we asked him to address the allegations.

"If my lawyers not here, I'm not allowed to talk about that, but let's just say it like this, that's some bulls**t. Simple as that," Romero told us.

Rolando later added ... "I am innocent."

Of course, Rolly was scheduled to fight rival Gervonta "Tank" Davis on December 5 ... but was pulled from the Showtime PPV fight after the allegations came to light.

Romero was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women ... including a 24-year-old woman at his Las Vegas apartment in 2019.

He has not been charged criminally in any of the cases.

We also asked Romero if he still wishes to box Tank ... and again, he makes it clear he wants to scrap with Davis ASAP.

"No s**t I wanna fight [Tank]. I can see why none of his f***ing opponents say anything, because the second I say anything miraculously I'm not there anymore."

It was just a few weeks ago, after Wilder-Fury III, that we again got Rolly leaving the arena ... and he predicted a first-round knockout.

If Logan Paul and Mike Tyson eventually fight in a celeb boxing match ... the YouTube star says he'd win -- exclaiming this weekend, "I would f***ing beat Mike Tyson."

The former heavyweight champ has been rumored to be a possibility for Paul's next big boxing match ... and Logan made it clear to media members Saturday that he'd beat the fighting legend if they met in the ring.

"He's too old," Paul said of Tyson ... "He's aging. Father time takes a toll on everyone."

If you're wondering, Paul is 26 while Tyson is 55 -- and Paul seems to believe that age gap would give him a chance.

"I got the reflexes of a cat," Logan said. "Like a young, quick feline, brother."

Paul hasn't fought since he went 8 rounds with Floyd Mayweather back in June ... but he says that bout is the reason he'd have confidence going into a Tyson fight.

"We saw with Floyd, dude," Paul explained. "There's no f***ing reason that I should have been able to last -- not just last, Floyd's on my highlight reel dog. There's no reason that should be possible."

Miles Teller may see some justice after all -- the guy who allegedly clocked him in a bathroom has officially been charged with assault.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Russell Nielsen got hit with one count of 3rd-degree assault in the County of Maui. Prosecutors say he intentionally, knowingly or recklessly caused bodily injury to Miles.

Now, MT didn't look too roughed up or bothered in the immediate aftermath of the tussle earlier this year -- but it looks like he did bring home a shiner from it, which was clearly visible in photos of him once he touched down in L.A. again. So, yeah ... it would appear prosecutors feel Nielsen left enough of a mark to move forward here.

TMZ broke the story ... Miles says he was confronted by two guys in the bathroom of a restaurant while out dining with his wife, Keleigh, which then allegedly escalated into violence. Miles initially made it out like he'd been cornered and jumped by complete strangers ... as did Keleigh.

Of course, since then ... some of the pieces have fallen into place over what exactly happened and why. We've heard from people familiar with the matter Nielsen knows the Tellers through his own wife, who owns a wedding planning company -- and who apparently worked on Miles and Keleigh's ceremony at one point or another in 2019.

Our sources told us Russ was confronting Miles over money he believed they still owed for wedding planning -- some $60k worth ... and after some talking, allegedly took a swing.

We've gotten video of Russell and his wedding planner wife in other heated situations with folks in the past -- and there, too, he appeared to fly off the handle with his boo egging him on.

Blueface is a wanted man -- there's a warrant out for his arrest, related to the on-camera beatdown of a nightclub bouncer ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us felony arrest warrants were recently issued for Blueface and 2 other men who allegedly carried out the brutal attack of the bouncer, back in September in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.

We're told Blueface and his pals have each been hit with 2 felony charges ... one for assault, and another for robbery. Our sources say the robbery charge stems from an accusation that one of the men took a chain from the bouncer.

TMZ broke the story ... video captured the brutal incident, which appears to show Blueface and 3 other men stomping, kicking and punching the doorman.

The man had to be taken to a hospital by ambulance, and needed stitches.

We obtained photos of his alleged injuries -- the guy looked to have been beaten pretty badly -- and we knew the police had taken a battery report after the incident.

Now cops will be on the lookout to arrest Blueface and co. ... if they don't surrender on their own.

Canelo Alvarez says this fight is different than his previous 59 ... 'cause he's got legit bad blood with Caleb Plant, and he tells TMZ Sports he's gunning to really hurt his undefeated opponent.

We talked to the 31-year-old top pound-for-pound fighter in the world just days before his fight against the 29-year-old, 21-0 boxer ... and asked him if he had anger or animosity towards Plant after the men got into it at a recent media event.

“Yes, for sure it's more personal for me. But, I'm gonna use that in my favor. I'm gonna put all my skills, my experience to win this fight in a good way.”

We asked ... do you want to hurt him more after what went down?

"Yes, I'm gonna enjoy that,” Canelo responded.

We also asked how Alvarez predicted the fight would turn out.

"What I see is that it's gonna be difficult the first few rounds, then I'm gonna start doing my fight like always."

In case you missed it, Canelo and Caleb literally came to blows at a Beverly Hills promotional event in September ... with Alvarez opening up a substantial cut on Plants' face.

So yeah, the beef's real for Alvarez.

We also talked to Plant ... and we asked him a similar question.

Caleb tried to downplay the incident ... but eventually admitted he might want to put Canelo down just a bit more after the scrap in L.A.

Canelo Alvarez vs. Kamaru Usman is the boxing match combat sports fans will NOT be seeing ... 'cause the world's top pound for pound pugilist tells TMZ Sports he just ain't interested in the fight.

"I don't see. It doesn't make sense for me. I want to make history in boxing, and I don't see anything right there," Canelo says.

Of course, 34-year-old Usman made news this week when he said he was interested in boxing 31-year-old Alvarez down the line ... something his manager Ali Abdelaziz has previously told us. Kamaru also talked to Joe Rogan about the possible fight last year.

"I think that's something that [would be] the biggest ever in history," Usman said of a fight with Canelo at UFC 268 media day.

"That's what I'm looking to do. That's something that scares me. That's something that gets me up in the morning. That's something that I might risk leaving my daughter for another 12 weeks for."

FYI, both men will be in action this Saturday night. Usman is rematching Colby Covington at UFC 268 (there first fight was legendary) ... and Alvarez is fighting undefeated boxer Caleb Plant. Alvarez and Plant literally came to blows at a media event a few weeks ago.

Now, this isn't Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather ... in that there isn't any trash talk or bad blood between the two top fighters.

In fact, the Nigerian Nightmare was very complimentary of the Mexican champ.

"He's a master of his craft," Usman said.

"[Canelo's] used to these boxers. He's used to the boxing speed and the boxing movements and things like that. We're different. Sometimes different can be good. What's wrong with giving him a different look? Of course, it's a tall tree to climb, but we saw what happened the last time I was the underdog."

As for the legacy that Alvarez is building ... we asked him if he believed he could do enough to one day go down as the greatest boxer of all-time.

"I don't know, we'll see. We'll look at my number, and we'll see."

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.