MMA

UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic SMASHED Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 -- but you wouldn't know it by looking at his mug the day after the fight.

Stipe posted a thank-you video to his fans ... and the shiner he was rockin' after the scrap had grown into the size of a damn golf ball. His left ear looks like it got mangled, too.

Francis, meanwhile, barely had a scratch on him ... even though he got worked from bell to bell.

Doubt Stipe cares, though -- dude's the UFC heavyweight G.O.A.T. now.

Chael Sonnen strolled in to the TMZ newsroom ...

With a poem to make everyone look like buffoons.

No, not us, his Bellator competition ...

Who he says he'll knock out, what a shocking admission!

That's right, Chael says he'll put Rampage to sleep ...

Putting Jackson's lights out, leaving him in a heap.

Sonnen's not scared of the others either, you see ...

The heavyweights in his tourney are kinda crappy, says he.

Russia's Fedor couldn't win if Putin came through with a tank ...

And Roy Nelson's too fat, you can take that to the bank.

So when Chael sweeps the field and out-fights 'em all ...

Tyron Woodley says things got thiiiis close to REAL violence with Conor McGregor when the Irish superstar called him a "bitch" behind the scenes ... but Tyron set him straight real quick.

The UFC welterweight champ told the whole story on "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- explaining how things went from 0 to 100 real quick at UFC 205 in Nov. 2016 ... with Conor ultimately backing down.

There's a lot more ... Tyron calls B.S. on President Trump's physical exam numbers -- saying there's no way in hell POTUS is really 6'4", 239 lbs ... but he's got a plan to help him cut the fat.

Tyron's also weighing in on Logan Paul ... telling us if the YouTube star really deserves a 2nd chance after his suicide forest videos stunt.

WWE Raw women's champ Alexa Bliss ain't sweatin' Ronda Rousey -- in fact, she's got a message for the UFC legend ... "I'm not worried."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Ronda recently had dinner with Triple H and it seems like a deal to bring her to the WWE is imminent.

So, when we saw Bliss at LAX, we had to ask if she was scared Ronda would be coming for her belt.

"Please, I'm a fighting champion," Bliss said ... "I'm not worried about anybody taking my belt."

As for the rumors Rousey could make her debut in the first ever women's Royal Rumble match -- Alexa addresses those, too.

UFC champ Tyron Woodley recently told Joe Rogan he doesn't really like fighting, "I'm just good at it."

Yeah, that's not true. He LOVES it.

Especially when he's smashing dudes out of consciousness.

Woodley clarified his comments on "The Hollywood Beatdown" ... waxing poetically about why there's no better feeling in the world than knocking an opponent out cold.

Make sure to check the full ep. when it drops on Friday (subscribe to the TMZ Sports YouTube page) -- when Tyron talks about how his beef with Conor McGregor got very real.

Meantime, here's a video of Woodley doing what he does best ... destroying people.

UFC legend Anderson Silva says he's NOT the greatest MMA fighter of all time -- telling TMZ Sports that honor goes to Demetrious Johnson.

In his prime, Silva had 17 consecutive wins -- with 10 consecutive title defenses -- leading Dana White to call him the "Tom Brady of the UFC." The dude was a machine.

But, that was before Johnson went on his MMA run ... ripping off 13 consecutive victories over guys like Ray Borg, Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez.

DJ's the reigning flyweight champ -- and last year, broke Silva's record for most consecutive UFC title defenses.

What's worse than being brutally KO'd by a juiced-up Jon Jones??

For Daniel Cormier, you'd assume the answer would be "nothing" ... but the UFC light heavyweight champ told us dropping his fight at UFC 220 this weekend could be even more painful.

"As bad as July was, it can actually be worse if it happens again," Cormier told TMZ Sports.

"My motivation is not only competition, but to avoid feeling like I felt in July, and putting ... everybody that's close to me through the disappointment that we felt."

Daniel told us how he plans on getting the job done ... and says once he's finished with #1 contender Volkan Oezdemir, there will absolutely be a 3rd fight between him and Jones.

FYI, Jon's still waiting to find out how long he'll be sidelined.

UFC star Francis Ngannou says it's "bullsh*t" Stipe Miocic is complaining about not being promoted enough before UFC 220 ... and he's putting the heavyweight champ on notice.

"The UFC not gonna fight for him," Ngannou told TMZ Sports. "The fight day we gonna be 1-on-1 in the Octagon and we will see the truth."

FYI, Francis has taken the MMA world by storm -- BRUTALLY knocking out 5 dudes in his last 6 fights -- leading Stipe to believe the UFC wants Ngannou to take his belt.

Francis clearly thinks the champ's priorities are crap ... saying Miocic should be focused on not ending up like Alistair Overeem.

Amen.

Here's something you don't hear everyday -- a UFC Hall of Famer saying Conor McGregor's next fight should be in BOXING, not MMA!

"If he's a smart guy he should keep on boxing -- that's what I would do," Bas Rutten told TMZ Sports.

Don't get it twisted -- Bas says he wants to see Conor come back and defend his UFC lightweight belt ... but at the same time, thinks it'd be crazy for McGregor to leave Manny Pacquiao/Floyd Mayweather money on the table.

FYI, McGregor told us he wants an MMA fight next ... but would he really turn down another HUGE payday??

You're gonna see Ronda Rousey in the ring sooner rather than later -- so says Tyron Woodley, who's got a strong hunch when the UFC megastar's making her WWE debut.

Tyron broke down why the timing's perfect for Rousey to cross over to pro wrestling in this week's episode of "The Hollywood Beatdown" ... days after TMZ Sports spotted her out with Triple H.

As for the when ... the welterweight champ says it'll be at one of WWE's biggest annual events, which is only weeks away -- and explains why Ronda's "kicking some ass" right out the gates.

Also on the 'Beatdown,' Tyron says Oprah's got his vote for president ... and lays out how we can officially settle the O.J. Simpson/Khloe Kardashian biological father debate.

Khabib Nurmagomedov wrestles bears, mauls human beings and is by all rights the scariest fighter on the planet.

But the 145-pound UFC champ, Max Holloway, ain't even a little intimidated -- telling TMZ Sports he'd be happy to move up a weight class to throw down with the Russian monster.

"That’s the kind of guy you want to fight to cement your legacy," Max said. "If you wanna be the best you gotta beat the best."

Even Tyron Woodley -- the UFC 170-pound champ -- doesn't want anything to do with Khabib ... so props to Max for being a badass.

UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens just hit Conor McGregor with the trash-talkin' KO of the century -- saying he's ready to turn up the heat with the Irishman's "hot" mom!!

You remember how the beef began -- after Jeremy called out Conor at a news conference for UFC 205, Conor whipped around and famously said, "Who da fook is dat guy?!"

About a year later, Stephens shot back ... with a little help from Mama McGregor.

And now, Jeremy's taking it all the way.

"Maybe his dad can pick us up with the cab he used to drive and then take me and his mom out on a date," he told the guys on TMZ Sports (full interview airs tonight on FS1).

Ronda Rousey may be an all-time great inside the Octagon -- but WWE superstar Enzo Amore says it's gonna be a painful transition for her if and when she steps into the ring.

"She's in for a rude awakening," Enzo told TMZ Sports.

"You ever been put through a table, slammed on concrete? It's a different ball game."

Don't get it twisted -- Enzo respects the hell outta Ronda ... and even told us she's got the tools to be a kick-ass pro wrestler.

That said, when we told him about Rousey's private meeting with Triple H -- a sign that a deal might be close -- he wanted to make it clear that crossing over to wrestling is no joke.

He ain't lying ...

Ronda Rousey had a VERY interesting dinner date Tuesday night -- Triple H ... and it seems like the two sides are one step closer to hammering out a deal to get Ronda in the WWE.

Triple H snuck out of Republique restaurant in L.A. first. Ronda followed with her agent in tow and was in a pretty great mood.

She wouldn't spill the beans on whether a deal was done -- but interesting that Triple H would come to L.A. at the same time the "WWE SmackDown Live" was going down in Alabama.

One WWE source tells us it's unusual for Triple H to miss a TV event -- he's usually on hand for everything ... so, you know if he's gonna fly out west, it's not just for a good meal!

Tyron Woodley says UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov scares the living hell outta him ... and he ain't too happy his TMZ co-host's trying to play matchmaker with 'em.

On this week's episode of "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- the UFC welterweight champ reveals his very real fear of Khabib ... who absolutely mauled Edson Barboza at UFC 219.

So once Tyron found out we asked Khabib about a potential throw-down, his reaction was pretty much what you'd expect.

"Why you gonna stick this maniac on me?! Don't try to throw me in there with a dude who's fighting bears!!!"

That's not a joke. A young Khabib REALLY WRESTLED BEARS.

Also on the Beatdown, Woodley reveals a huge NFL star he's bringing to the big screen ... and explains why Logan Paul should get smacked.

Cris Cyborg says she's 100% down to annihilate Amanda Nunes when the time is right ... but tells TMZ Sports it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

Earlier today, UFC honcho Dana White said Amanda is itching to scrap with Cris ... adding that it's "the fight to make."

But when we spoke with Cyborg, she pumped the brakes on the super fight -- "I want beat her, I want kick her ass, but I need to focus on my division."

Cyborg (the champ at 145 lbs.) told us she wants to fight the "best girls" who've been climbing the ladder at featherweight ... and Amanda (the champ at 135 lbs.) has been fighting at bantamweight her entire UFC career.

So, Nunes can get it ... but not right now.

Cyborg also told us whether or not she forgives the photog who called her a "dude," and if she's satisfied with the UFC's punishment.