Fights

Robert Whittaker expected to fight Khamzat Chimaev in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but will instead face Ikram Aliskerov after Borz was forced out of the scrap with an illness that hospitalized him. So, much easier fight, right?!

Not so fast ... according to 33-year-old Whittaker himself!

"I am thankful for [Aliskerov] to step up to the plate to fight, and a lot of fans probably don't know how dangerous this guy is. And, in a lot of ways, this guy is more dangerous than Chimaev was, especially mentality-wise, because he has nothing to lose and only everything to gain," Robert told TMZ Sports earlier this week.

A Chicago man says he defended himself in a move straight out of "Tom and Jerry" ... chasing off a guy who allegedly broke into his house with a classic cartoon weapon.

Jason Williams -- a resident of the city's Logan Square neighborhood -- says a security app alerted him to the alleged intruder's presence while on his way home from work Thursday ... and he sprung into action.

When he arrived at his house, Jason explains he grabbed the first weapon he could find ... which ended up being a frying pan -- and right after, he says the unwelcome guest came down the stairs ... and a confrontation ensued.

Amazon's customer service rating just went up in many people's books, 'cause one of their drivers fought off a man who was allegedly trying to steal his co-worker's van.

New video's making the rounds on social media, which shows an Amazon employee -- a female with the company uniform on -- attempting to break up a fight between another Amazon driver (a dude) and some random man in the middle of the road out in NY.

This all went down Sunday ... and the NYPD says this brawl kicked off with the man in black attempting to jack the Amazon van of this woman -- who was stuck in traffic while on the job.

Ryan Garcia has learned his fate -- the boxing superstar has agreed to a one-year ban from the sport as part of a settlement with the New York State Athletic Commission ... and his huge win over Devin Haney is now officially a "no contest."

The org. confirmed the agreement to TMZ Sports on Thursday ... saying Garcia's legal team worked with the NYSAC to reach the solution to his performance-enhancing drug investigation.

Along with the ban, 25-1 Garcia will cough up his $1.1 million purse from the fight ... as well as a $10k fine.

A man is suing Lil Uzi Vert, Floyd Mayweather and several of the boxing legend's Money Team employees, claiming they contributed to an ass-kicking he took last summer -- but Uzi says he had nothing to do with it.

The man's name is Abdullah Ali, and according to the lawsuit he filed Thursday in New York ... members of Mayweather's TMT team and Lil Uzi roughed him up on June 27, 2023 after he had simply tried to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a Mayweather-owned trailer while it was parked near an NYC hotel.

Ali's celebrity attorneys, Matthew Blit and Michael Rose, tell TMZ Sports ... Ali had crossed a street for a better view, and began filming when a Rolls-Royce was unloaded from the trailer.

Fight off, party on!

Conor McGregor showed up in public for the first time since his big UFC 303 comeback fight was called off over an undisclosed injury -- and the UFC superstar looked no worse for wear.

35-year-old McGregor attended a movie premiere at his bar, The Black Forge Inn, in Dublin on Tuesday where they screened actor John Connors' new film, "The Black Guelph."

Justin Timberlake's got a UFC superstar ready to fight for his freedom ... with Conor McGregor throwing his support behind the singer following his DWI arrest.

Notorious reacted to the "Selfish" crooner's legal troubles roughly 24 hours after the news broke on Tuesday ... and he's certainly not turning his back on Timberlake over the matter.

"Free JT," McGregor said on Wednesday ... sharing a pic of the musician's mug shot for good measure.

Conor McGregor is NOT currently receiving treatment for substance abuse, despite Chael Sonnen suggesting otherwise ... 'cause a rep for the UFC superstar tells TMZ Sports he's not in rehab.

The American Gangster dropped the bombshell allegation on his "Good Guy/Bad Guy" show with Daniel Cormier on Monday ... calling BS on Conor's claim that an injury forced him to back out of his fight against Michael Chandler.

The two hosts were discussing how both Conor and Michael have a history of promoting alcohol products ... and while Chael didn't mention the former champ-champ's name directly, it's clear that's who he was talking about.

Jake Paul has a new opponent for July 20 -- Mike Tyson is out, and Mike Perry is in.

TMZ Sports has confirmed the Bare Knuckle FC star is stepping up to face off against El Gallo next month ... which was initially supposed to be the blockbuster fight with the boxing legend before it was postponed due to the recent ulcer flareup Tyson suffered on a flight.

We're told the bout will now take place at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida ... and will air on DAZN Pay-Per-View.

Chrisean Rock getting arrested last week has already ended with her getting sentenced -- and she's gonna be doing some jail time ... not to mention having to answer to Oklahoma.

According to court records, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Chrisean was sentenced to 12 months probation and 30 days in jail as a result of the altercation that happened at Tamar Braxton's show in November ... when she was alleged to have attacked backup dancer James Wright.

As it turns out, there was an open warrant pertaining to that ... and now, she'll be behind bars for a bit -- although, she is getting 5 days of credit for time served.

Michael Chandler just finished his last training sesh in preparation for this hugely anticipated UFC 303 main event vs. Conor McGregor ... when Iron Mike says the dreaded phone call came in -- fight's off.

38-year-old Chandler, who has largely been quiet since Dana White announced the news late last week, is opening up about the cancelation.

"Thinking about what has transpired over the last couple of days. Obviously, you guys saw it all. Got the rug pulled out from underneath me at the last possible moment," Chandler told fans while on a nature hike.

It was a rough day to be a White Sox supporter on Sunday ... 'cause as the MLB team got smacked by the Diamondbacks -- one of their fans got leveled during a fight in a festival pit too.

The crazy scrap happened at SeatGeek Stadium in Illinois during Summer Smash -- a three-day show headlined by Travis Scott, Playboi Carti and Chief Keef.

In video from the scene, you can see a young Sox fan in a grey Chicago jersey got into a tiff with a man in a pink shirt who had been situated on another side of a barricade.

Power slap star Sheena Bathory says she's gotten mixed reactions from some of her fans over her new BBL ... but she tells TMZ Sports she's happy with her new look -- despite what haters are saying online.

The 32-year-old got the butt work done in Florida on June 5 ... and when we spoke with her days after her big cosmetic surgery this week -- she said she's loving what she's seeing so far.

Bathory told us, though, that while she's received support and well wishes from many of her fans ... some have criticized her -- saying she looked fine previously.

Most boxing fans are PUMPED for Jake Paul and Mike Tyson's November fight. But, there's a group of critics who've attacked The Problem Child for fighting a mid-50s Iron Mike.

We asked 27-year-old Paul what he'd say to the detractors.

"Tell Mike Tyson that. Because he does not give a s*** what anyone thinks," Paul told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show this week (airs nightly on FS1).

Same s***, different day -- that's star boxer David Benavidez's motto heading into his big bout Saturday night ... 'cause the boxer tells us he plans to kick Oleksandr Gvozdyk's ass, just like he did when they sparred a few years back.

Benavidez (28-0) and Gvozdyk (20-1) are one of the two Prime Video PPV main events this weekend at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas ... with the winner taking the WBC interim light heavyweight title.

Benavidez -- who moved up weight classes (to 175 lbs.) to fight Gvozdyk -- feels confident the victory will be his ... and he isn't the least bit threatened by the Ukrainian fighter.

A violent road rage fight at LAX caused some serious collateral damage ... in the form of an elderly woman getting knocked out cold ... and it's all on video.

Brutal footage shows the moment from late last month -- when an old lady minding her beeswax got slammed to the ground by two men fighting in the streets just outside of a terminal at the airport ... and they continue tussling as she lies motionless on the pavement.

Watch ... a man, who cops say is 38-year-old Jasan Givens Sr., is seen chasing down a shirtless man on the sidewalk ... with Givens tackling the dude and bowling over the lady.