Fights

Nelson Thomas was not up to the challenge of a pissed-off husband -- cops say the MTV star got knocked out cold after chatting up a married woman in Las Vegas!!!

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Nelson -- who's starred on "The Challenge" for years -- says he met a woman at ARIA Resort & Casino and started talking to her at the valet area, and then ... WHAM!!! Next thing he knew, Nelson was being awakend by someone telling him he'd just been punched in the face and had his chain stolen.

Cops say they saw video backing up that account ... showing Nelson talking to the woman before the knockout punch put him on the ground -- and the assailant socked him one more time.

Nelson says he was "sucker-punched" and left with a broken nose so swollen he couldn't get treated by a doctor until the swelling went down.

On social media, Nelson claimed he was attacked because someone was trying to steal his $10,000 chain, but the woman's husband, Kevin Dixon, tells a different story.

According to the police report, Dixon copped to the punch ... and said Nelson was talking to his wife in an elevator -- but when he walked off, his wife stayed on and kept talking with Nelson.

He says he lost sight of her and was trying to text and call her, then found her at valet talking to Nelson. Cops say he admitted being jealous, mad and drunk -- a bad combo any night in Vegas.

Dixon was arrested for battery and grand larceny.

Nelson's on the mend, and it looks like his nose is fixed after finally getting treatment.

Frank Gore could be making a career for himself in the boxing ring -- 'cause the ex-NFL Pro Bowler tells TMZ Sports he's open to taking a boxing match against Jake Paul!!

The 38-year-old is fighting Deron Williams on the undercard of the YouTuber's highly-anticipated match against Tommy Fury ... and Jake previously told us he's down to take the winner of the battle of the NBA and NFL stars.

We spoke with Gore right before his press conference leading up to the Dec. 18 event ... and while he says he's focused on taking care of DW, he admits he's interested in taking a future fight against the Problem Child.

"I'm with it," Gore said. "I wanna win this Dec. 18 and if it's time to go that me and Jake Paul can get in there, I'm with it."

As for his current fight against Williams, Gore says he's been boxing since 2005, so he's got plenty of experience leading up to stepping in the ring.

"I do love the sport and I respect the guys who box, man, because it's totally different."

Khaos Williams -- rising UFC star -- says there's no (legit) controversy surrounding his UFC Fight Night KO win ... which some have argued was stopped early by the ref.

"I'm glad that he's alright, but he was asleep. It was a good stoppage. It was a good stoppage. Live to fight another day," Khaos tells TMZ Sports.

He added ... "Definitely wasn't no early stoppage."

27-year-old Williams floored Miguel Baeza in the 3rd round with a perfectly placed right hook to the chin, sending the fighter crumbling to the Octagon floor. Khaos jumped on top of Miguel, raining down a few heavy ground and pound shots before the fight was stopped.

Baeza immediately protested, and he wasn't the only one.

Even Henry Cejudo said the stoppage was early, writing on social media ... "These refs really have to get checked. If someone gets dropped it doesn't mean you call the fight off! Too many refs calling the fights early @danawhite"

FYI, Dana White said the stoppage was good.

As for what's next for the rising star, Khaos is now 13-2 (and controversy aside, just beat a guy who only has 2 career losses) ... and is looking to fight a ranked opponent.

And if/when he does, Williams tells us he'd LOVE for hip-hop star Meek Mill -- a guy he's admired for many years -- to be by his side as he walks in the Octagon.

DaBaby booted his baby mama from his house while she was trying to feed their infant child -- or at least he tried to -- before calling the cops in a nasty fight captured on video.

The rapper filmed part of some sort of altercation Sunday between himself and singer DaniLeigh -- whom he's been seeing on and off for the past handful of years ... and whom he now shares a daughter with, who was born in August.

Unclear what exactly led up to all this ... but at some point in the night, DB started filming DL trying to nurse the kid while in bed, and seemed to be aggravating to the new mother.

DaniLeigh told him to stop, and even tried putting a pillow up between them ... which DaBaby seems to swipe away so she can be in view of the camera. Eventually, DaniLeigh took over from her phone -- and it shows the cops had been called -- apparently at DB's behest.

DaniLeigh goes on an emotional rant -- saying she's getting kicked out of DaBaby's house in North Carolina ... noting she has nowhere to go, but that she'll figure it out.

For DaBaby's part, he tried explaining what was up in a lengthy statement on IG ... which was mostly rambling. But, the gist (from what we can gather) is that he's claiming he's the victim here -- and that DaniLeigh was beating on him and chasing him, like something out of "Fatal Attraction." He says he started filming her for his own protection.

DL was a little more coherent in her own remarks ... saying she's been living with DaBaby since having their kid a few months ago -- and that he randomly asked her to scram last night ... for what she perceives was him wanting to bang another chick.

Sorry, Tyron Woodley -- that "I love Jake Paul" tattoo was all for naught ... 'cause Jake Paul tells TMZ Sports he's officially slamming the door on giving the former UFC champ a rematch.

Of course, Woodley held up his end of a tattoo bet he made with Paul after losing the Aug. 29 bout ... getting the phrase etched on the side of his middle finger nearly a month later, but clearly, Jake thought he was too slow to getting it done.

Paul -- who's fighting Tommy Fury on Dec. 18 -- says there's no need for Woodley to wait around in hopes of getting another shot at the YouTube superstar after he's done with TNT ... and has a pretty good reason why.

"I don't think people really wanna see Tyron vs Jake Paul again," Jake tells us. "He had his chance."

As for his upcoming fight, Paul admits the 7-0 brother of Tyson Fury is his toughest opponent to date ... but he's expecting the same outcome from his first 4 fights.

"Definitely the toughest guy, but I'm coming for his head," Jake added. "He has a lot a lot to deal with and he chose the wrong time to fight me because I'm not playing around this time."

The daughter of ex-NBA player Corey Benjamin was involved in another on-court fight just weeks before her viral sucker punch ... new video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows.

The violent altercation went down in mid-September in Del Amo, Calif. -- just two months before she sucker punched a girl during a youth basketball game near Anaheim last weekend.

In the footage, you can see the teenager was jockeying with another girl to try to gain position inside the key ... when she suddenly snapped.

Video shows Benjamin's daughter threw several punches at the girl -- before sprinting toward another girl on the court and throwing even more haymakers.

We're told officials later hit her with an indefinite ban from the venue over the altercation.

You'll recall, Benjamin's daughter was hit with a similar punishment following her actions during a game this past Saturday.

In that incident, the girl laid out her opponent after she felt she was fouled on a jump shot. The mother of the teenager who was punched tells us she has filed a criminal report against Benjamin's daughter over it all.

Benjamin has issued an apology over his daughter's actions, telling NBC L.A. this week, "As a father, I'm shocked and disappointed at my daughter's behavior as this is not a reflection of the values and standards that my family holds. Nor does it exemplify the values, character and spirit of sportsmanship that the game of basketball requires."

Yair Rodriguez is literally willing to risk it all in his fight against UFC star Max Holloway ... telling TMZ Sports he's ready to die in the Octagon -- seriously.

"You gotta understand this sport is so dangerous and things can happen. You gotta accept that before you go in there," the 29-year-old, #3 ranked fighter says.

"El Pantera" is fighting the #1 ranked contender at UFC Fight Night Saturday night in Vegas ... and the winner will likely face champion Alex Volkanovski.

And, Yair knows how dangerous the sport can potentially be ... and he's okay with that.

"I just accept that it can happen," Rodriguez says.

"I'm fine with my family before the fight. I tell everybody that I love them. I try to get everything ready if anything happens. Hopefully, nothing like that happens to me or any of my co-workers."

As far as the fight ... Max vs. Yair -- who are both electric in the cage -- has the potential to be an awesome fight. Rodriguez even believes it could actually be better than Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler's UFC 268 scrap.

"I know we had pretty good fights last weekend, and I'm sure people excepting a show, so I'm expecting to bring fireworks Saturday."

Whether or not it tops Justin and Michael ... fans are all but guaranteed a kick-ass bout when these men step in the Octagon.

UFC fighter Marlon "Chito" Vera isn't mincing his words, telling TMZ Sports he can "beat any-f***ing-body" ... and that very much includes interim champ, Petr Yan.

28-year-old Vera is coming off a 3rd round knockout win over UFC great Frankie Edgar at UFC 268 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Chito is ranked 11th in the bantamweight division.

Speaking of the rankings ... Vera has big beef with his place on the list. He beat the #8 fighter, but only jumped up 2 spots.

"Whoever makes the rankings are a bunch of morons. They don't know s***. They're just as bad as the judges," Marlon tells us.

All the way at the top of those rankings are champ Aljamain Sterling and interim champ Yan.

28-year-old Yan beat contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 ... and looked all but unbeatable.

But, Chito says he's absolutely certain he can beat the 16-2 fighter (and 1 of those losses is a DQ loss to Aljo for an illegal knee).

"We both walk people down. We both go forward. We both throw heat, and we both have a pretty good gas tank," Chito said of how he matches up against Petr.

He continued ... "If the UFC gives me that opportunity, I'm gonna come in hard. I'm gonna come ready. And I will say what I always say, I don't come in there just to barely win. I come in there to finish because I know I can do that. I would love to get that fight."

We asked ... can you beat Yan?

"100%. I don't have to fake any quote or anything, I know 100% I can beat him. I can beat any-f***ing-body."

Yan and Sterling will all but certainly fight sometime over the next few months to unify the belts ... and Vera will need at least another dub (he wants someone top 5) before he's in the title picture.

Wonder what a face looks like after getting punched 86 times by Justin Gaethje?! Look no further ... 'cause TMZ Sports has obtained video and photos of UFC badass Michael Chandler after his epic scrap with JG.

Chandler tells us he received 4 stitches inside his lip, 12 stitches above his right eye, and 6 stitches above his left eye ... for a grand total of 22, done by a doc at an NYC hospital.

If you missed the fight (what were you thinking?) ... it was absolutely insane. 32-year-old Gaethje -- the #1 ranked lightweight contender -- went at it for 25 straight minutes with 35-year-old Chandler, the #4 ranked 155 pounder.

Justin won the fight by unanimous decision ... but it was the fans who truly won -- 'cause both guys were beat the hell up.

Gaethje landed 116 total significant strikes ... while Chandler pieced up JG with 103 significant strikes.

Michael and Justin were both transported to the hospital after the UFC 268 fight.

Still think ya wanna be a fighter?!

A teenage girl was leveled by a sucker punch in the middle of a basketball game Sunday ... and the violent swing was all captured on video.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the incident went down during a youth basketball game in Garden Grove, Calif. -- after a 15-year-old had bumped into a girl following her jump shot.

In footage of the play, you can see as both girls got back to their feet after the collision -- someone from the crowd appeared to yell, "You better hit her."

That's when the girl in the all-black uniform swung a massive left haymaker that connected with the other girl's throat and face area.

Immediately, the girl crashed to the floor in pain ... and we're told the game was stopped and then eventually canceled over the incident.

The punch victim's mother tells us the girl was injured on the play -- and is suffering from the after-effects so much, she still has yet to return to school.

The girl's mom also tells us she went to cops over it all ... though it's unclear if a criminal investigation is underway.

NBA star Nikola Jokic could be facing a lengthy suspension ... after he injured Markieff Morris on Monday night with a violent cheap shot.

The play all went down at the end of the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' game against the Heat ... when Jokic felt he was fouled by Morris while dribbling the ball up the court in a 111-94 game.

In video of the incident, you can see right after Morris threw his body into Jokic's -- the 6-foot-11, 284-pound center charged at Morris' back and hurled an elbow that caused the Heat player to crash to the ground.

Immediately, players and coaches got into a scrum -- and at one point, Miami star Jimmy Butler appeared to challenge somebody on the Nuggets to a fight at center court.

Eventually, everybody was separated and Jokic was ejected ... but Morris appeared to be really hurt on the play.

In fact, a stretcher was brought out for the 32-year-old, but fortunately, he was able to walk off the court.

The Heat announced Morris was dealing with a neck injury as a result of the foul -- and his status going forward is unclear.

For his part, Jokic -- whose Nuggets went on to win 113-96 -- called the play "stupid" and said he shouldn't have reacted the way he did.

NBA fine, and possibly suspension, coming for Jokic in 3 ... 2 ...

A woman claiming to have dated Dalvin Cook throughout the past 3 years says the NFL star beat the hell out of her in Nov. 2020 ... leaving her a scratched, bruised and bloody mess.

But, the Minnesota Vikings running back is adamant he's actually the victim ... and the woman is now attempting to extort him.

U.S. Army veteran Gracelyn Trimble spelled out the troubling accusations in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports ... saying she met Cook on a beach in Florida in 2018 and began dating the football player a short time later.

Trimble, though, says in the docs that in March 2020 ... the relationship took a turn for the worse.

Trimble claims Cook had gotten her pregnant, but she suffered a miscarriage -- and while in the hospital dealing with it all, she says Cook was cheating on her.

Trimble says that led to a "physically violent argument" between the two, where she claims Cook pushed her -- resulting in their break-up.

But, Trimble says less than 3 months later, they rekindled their romance and started living together in Florida ... and also shared space in Minnesota, where Cook was living during the Vikings' season.

Trimble, though, says in mid-November, the two got into an argument at the Mall of America, and when they returned home, Cook punched her and threw her to the ground.

Because of Cook's alleged history of violence, Trimble says she stored mace in his garage.

Shortly after the altercation, Trimble says she then learned Cook was again cheating on her ... so she decided to confront him, gather her things and end the relationship.

On Nov. 19, 2020, Trimble claims in the docs she entered Cook's home through the garage, grabbed the mace and headed inside to pack up her belongings.

Inside the home, Trimble claims she asked Cook for help packing up her belongings -- but he got mad, "grabbed her arm, and slung her whole body over the couch, slamming her face into the coffee table and causing her lower forehead and the bridge of her nose to bust open and start gushing blood."

Trimble claims she then attempted to defend herself by macing Cook, but he overpowered her, and the mace primarily got in her eyes.

After briefly going outside, Trimble says she went upstairs and attempted to take a shower in order to wash the mace out of her eyes -- but she claims she was again confronted by Cook ... saying the NFL star picked her up and slammed her on the floor. She claims she hit the corner of a bed in the room, which caused a deep gash on her arm.

Trimble claims Cook then pinned her to the ground and told her she was "going to die." She then claims Cook punched and choked her and then grabbed a gun and pointed it at her head "all while yelling death threats."

Trimble says in the docs Cook eventually put the gun down, but kept her pinned to the ground.

The woman says Cook let her up -- and she was able to get into the shower to try to wash the blood off of her. But, she says their violent altercation continued after she finished in the bathroom.

Trimble says she went downstairs where she and Cook began to argue again -- before she claims Dalvin began beating her with a broomstick.

"Despite having been a soldier in active combat," the documents read, "where she had missiles and bullets fired at her, Trimble feared for her life like she had never before."

Trimble claims the beating continued as she attempted to crawl away from Cook to get help, but she says Cook would not let her go.

Trimble claims despite begging Cook to call police or an ambulance, he held her against her will for hours -- before eventually taking her to the airport.

After returning to Florida, Trimble says she didn't initially go to the hospital because she wanted to protect Cook ... but on Nov. 25, she claims she realized her injuries were severe, so she went to the emergency room.

While there, she says she told doctors she was in an ATV accident ... and they diagnosed her with a concussion and "several deep cuts and bruising."

Trimble claims Cook profusely apologized after the incident, but they did not see each other for about a month until a death in Cook's family -- which she claims brought the couple back together.

But, Trimble says the relationship eventually broke down again -- and they called things off.

Cook's attorney, however, claimed in a statement to TMZ Sports on Tuesday that he's actually the victim ... and said shortly after the two began dating, she "became emotionally abusive, physically aggressive and confrontational, and repeatedly attempted to provoke" him.

Cook accused Trimble of damaging his car, assaulting him and attempting to "stop him from seeing other women" throughout their relationship.

We also talked to Dalvin's agent, Zac Hiller, who told us regarding the Nov. 19, 2020 incident that "[Trimble] showed up at [Dalvin's] house, illegally entered, punched him in the face, maced him, armed herself with a gun, and held him and his 2 house guests hostage."

Cook and his attorney claim they actually have video from the incident that they say shows she was the aggressor.

Cook's attorney added that any injuries Trimble suffered during the altercation were "the result of Sgt. Trimble's own unlawful conduct."

"We are confident a full disclosure of the facts will show Mr. Cook did nothing wrong," Cook's attorney said.

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).