MMA

Kanye West took us all for a crazy ride ... and brilliantly created that bizarre media firestorm as part of a diabolical plot to promote his new album -- so says Tyron Woodley.

The UFC champ had always been skeptical about Kanye's outbursts -- including the one during "TMZ Live" -- and had been adamant Yeezy was putting on an erratic front to grab headlines.

And after listening to Kanye's new album ... Tyron says he is CERTAIN he's right -- because he thinks it is the work of a pure genius.

Woodley spells the whole thing out in this week's "The Hollywood Beatdown With Tyron Woodley" -- where he also blasts hecklers and finally addresses UFC contender Colby Covington ... threatening to beat his ass.

Mike "The Truth" Jackson says he's already got his victory party planned if he beats CM Punk at UFC 225 this weekend ... FOOD AND HOT CHICKS!

"I'm knocking him out, man," Jackson tells TMZ Sports ... "I'm knocking him out."

Jackson knows Punk will be the fan favorite when they step in the Octagon since it's all going down in Punk's hometown of Chicago ... but Mike says all the fans in the world can't save CM.

"These people can't fight for him. He can't tag them in."

Afterward, Jackson says he ain't about to hit the clubs -- he wants some delicious Chicago-style pizza to go along with his W.

Bad news for Conor McGregor ... Floyd Mayweather's changed his mind about an MMA fight -- telling TMZ Sports he's way too busy to take a fight in the Octagon any time soon.

"I'm not thinking about fighting right now," Floyd told us while shopping with his crew in Beverly Hills.

Remember, Floyd was flirting with the idea of taking an MMA fight in 2018 -- with his eyes on McGregor -- and even reached out to UFC champ Tyron Woodley to set up a training program.

But Floyd says life has gotten in the way ... and he's been spending way too much time focusing on his family and growing his real estate business.

In fact, Floyd says he's a MAJOR investor in One Vanderbilt -- which he says will be the tallest skyscraper in New York.

Floyd says he's got more than $100,000,000 invested in NYC real estate projects -- and that's more important to him right now than learning a new combat sport.

The good news ... Floyd isn't completely closing the door on MMA, and insists he's keeping himself in shape just in case.

Stay tuned ...

UFC superstar Yoel Romero has a big rematch with Robert Whittaker this weekend ... but there's a MUCH bigger opponent he's already got his sights on -- SHAQ!!

TMZ Sports started asking The Cuban Missile about meeting The Big Aristotle at an event in Miami back in May ... and that's when Y.R. revealed he wants to get in the Octagon with the 7'1" giant to give him the whoopin' of a lifetime.

FYI, Yoel is 6'0" and 185 lbs.

Yoel might be teasing about the fight ... but one thing he's NOT joking about is what the outcome would be if he DID end up fighting the NBA legend.

As for Whittaker at UFC 225 ... Romero says he's gonna get his revenge on the loss at 213 and hints he's gonna make sure the outcome is indisputable this time around.

As for Shaq ... dude can fight -- he's been in the ring with both Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Shane Mosley and held his own!

CM Punk says he would LOVE to get back in the cage with Mickey Gall ever since he got destroyed in their tilt two years ago ... but Gall says Punk's a liar -- telling TMZ Sports, "HE DON'T WANT THAT!!"

Gall is convinced Punk's been talking about running it back knowin' damn well the UFC won't let the former WWE star back in the Octagon with him and let him get his ass kicked AGAIN.

"I think he's a liar. I think he's a liar. I don't think he actually wants that," Mickey told us.

"I don't think they'll let that happen to him again."

BUT ... Gall says there is a scenario where he WOULD give Punk a rematch -- and it involves CM's bout with Mike Jackson at UFC 225 this weekend.

Conor McGregor's gonna LOVE this -- Forbes just named him the 4th highest-paid athlete over the last 12 months ... over guys like LeBron James, Neymar and Roger Federer.

So, how much cash has Conor raked in? Forbes is estimating he's made $99 mil -- most of the cash was from his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Conor was ranked #24 the previous year with $34 mil in earnings.

Speaking of Floyd ... he's #1 -- with an estimated $285 MIL!!! (He was ranked #16 the previous year with only $44 mil).

He's followed by a pair of soccer superstars ... Lionel Messi ($111 mil) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($108 mil).

Remember, Conor once told Ronaldo to his face that he was coming for him on the Forbes list ... to which Ronaldo responded, "I don't think so."

He still might get him one day ... but it's not today.

Others on the list include ... Steph Curry ($76.9), Matt Ryan ($67.3), Matthew Stafford ($59.5) and Kevin Durant ($57.3).

UFC champ Tyron Woodley is ALL ABOUT Snoop Dogg's new foray into MMA -- and now he's breaking down Snoop's fighting video on "The Hollywood Beatdown!"

Snoop just started MMA training at Jay Glazer's Unbreakable gym in L.A. -- and Tyron says he'll probably get on the mat and spar Snoop himself at some point!

But the question ... which skinny, MMA-training rapper would win in a fight -- Snoop or Wiz Khalifa?

There's a lot more ... including Tyron's take on the Nick Diaz arrest and Cris Cyborg's future in the UFC.

UFC superstar Cris Cyborg says she learned A LOT in her court-ordered anger management class ... and wants to use the knowledge to "be an example for other people."

As we previously reported, Cyborg was ordered to complete an "impulse control program" as part of her sentence in the battery case stemming from a 2017 altercation with UFC fighter Angela Magana.

Cyborg completed the program and the battery charge has been dropped. So, when we saw her outside Cobrinha Fitness in L.A., she was proud of her accomplishment,.

"I studied the anger management," Cyborg said ... "Every mistake you do, you learn."

Cyborg says she knows other people will try to make her snap in the future -- and she plans on using her new skills to avoid a physical confrontation.

"I have to control myself."

As for her fighting future, Cyborg talked about that too ... and told us she thinks she's on a collision course for a rematch with Holly Holm.

Cyborg also got a new Tesla -- and couldn't wait to show off one of her car's new tricks!

UFC legend Michael Bisping isn't planning on fading away now that he's retired from fighting -- dude has BIG plans ... telling TMZ Sports, "I'm taking over Hollywood."

Oh, and yeah ... he definitely FaceTimed us from the sauna.

But Bisping's not joking about his acting career -- he's got 3 big action movies in the works including a new 'xXx' movie and a sequel to the Gerard Butler, 50 Cent flick, "Den of Thieves."

39-year-old Bisping says he's truly touched by the outpouring of support from the MMA community after announcing his retirement ... saying, "I didn't realize I wasn't hated that much!"

UFC superstar Cris Cyborg is a new woman -- she completed a court ordered anger management course stemming from her battery case with another UFC fighter ... and now she's in the clear!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Cyborg had cut a plea deal with prosecutors stemming from a May 2017 altercation with UFC fighter Angela Magana at a fighter retreat in Vegas.

Cyborg had been cited for battery for allegedly punching Magana in the face -- and faced up to 6 months in jail.

She initially pled not guilty --- but later accepted a deal in which she agreed to complete an "impulse control program" and stay out of trouble for 6 months.

Had she failed to hold up her end of the bargain, the judge could have locked her up for 45 days.

Fortunately, it won't come to that ... court records show Cyborg completed all of the terms, so the charge has been dismissed and the case is now closed.

If you're wondering what an impulse control program is ... it "teaches offenders to be accountable for their actions and provides participants with positive alternatives to inappropriate and impulsive behavior."

What do you give a UFC legend who just whooped Michael Bisping's ass? A HUGE painting that took 40 hours to finish.

18-year-old Shane Birenbaum -- a big GSP fan who's from Canada -- happened to run into St-Pierre while on vacay in Florida.

GSP and Shane chopped it up ... and the artist showed some of his work to the legendary UFC fighter.

St-Pierre was a fan ... and asked Birenbaum to create a piece of his own. The only instructions ... something dope.

Shane worked off of a photograph taken right before GSP put the hurt on Bisping.

We talked to Shane, who told us he delivered the art -- which took him around 40 hours to finish -- to GSP a few days after his birthday ... a belated bday gift.

It's unclear exactly how much dough GSP dropped ... but Shane says he'd normally charge between $2K and $3K for a similar piece.

GSP told Shane the painting will live at Tristar gym -- where St-Pierre trains -- 'cause it's too dope to hang on a living room wall.

Conor McGregor made a mistake when he attacked a UFC bus -- but it's not like he beat his wife, so fans should give him another chance ... so says MMA legend Bas Rutten.

"There's guys who beat up their wives. Guys who beat up their women," Rutten tells TMZ Sports ... "I think that's way worse, to me, than something like [the bus attack]."

A lot of people are still pissed at Conor for the bus attack in Brooklyn that injured UFC staffers and fighters ... but Rutten says, "We all did things like that."

"I mean, it's Conor McGregor ... He did a lot of good. He got caught up in the moment. Let him figure it out."

"Of course, he's gonna have to pay. He's gonna have to go to court and make everything right," Rutten says ... but Bas is confident Conor will survive that, too.

Tainted meat scandal be damned ... the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox says when it comes to boxing, Canelo Alvarez is the best in the world!

Well, what he really said was, "El mejor del mundo" ... yes, we're bilingual. You're welcome.

FYI, Fox was the Mexican Prez from 2000 to 2006 ... we didn't know he was a boxing fan.

Of course, the issue with Canelo ... dude tested positive for PEDs and backed out of the May 5 Gennady Golovkin rematch.

Alvarez blamed tainted Mexican beef for the positive test and insisted he never intentionally cheated.

Chuck Liddell already has his fight strategy for his 3rd scrap with Tito Ortiz -- "I'm gonna knock his head off."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the 48-year-old MMA legend is coming out of retirement to fight on a MMA card promoted by Oscar De La Hoya -- and can't wait to get back in the cage with his old rival.

"When it's all over with, it's gonna be 3-0," Liddell said ... bragging about the 2 wins he already racked up over Ortiz during their fights back in the mid-2000s.

"He's trying to convince himself he can beat me -- it ain't gonna happen," the Ice Man told us outside a launch party for Humbyl crptocurrency in West Hollywood Monday night.

Ortiz sees the fight going down in a different way ... just last week Tito says he plans to make a couple million dollars "kicking Chuck Liddell's ass."

Bellator stars Paul Daley and Michael "Venom" Page don't see eye to eye (they freakin' hate each other) ... and are rumored to be fighting in the near future.

Page -- 12 and 0 as a pro -- has a fight at Bellator 200 this weekend ... so TMZ Sports asked Daley -- a veteran fighter who's went into battle with guys like Tyron Woodley and Nick Diaz -- to send his rival a message ahead of the fight.

"Shit, I ain't got too much to say to him, because he's got to focus on the fight this weekend," Daley told us ... "Mike is gonna win that fight, and he should win it convincingly."

"If he struggles with Richols, then really, for his family's sake, he shouldn't sign the contract with me. That's my message with him."

Here's where it gets really good.

Paige VanZant tells TMZ Sports ... the boob job rumors are true -- and it's really no big deal.

The UFC star's chest has been the topic of some Internet debate recently ... even Michael Bisping weighed in on the issue on a podcast.

Now, Paige wants to set the record straight once and for all ... telling us, "Yep, I did get a boob job."

She continued, "I'm a girl and always wanted my own boobs. They never came so I bought them."

So, how will the new additions affect her day job? They really shouldn't ...

However, there was a fighter, Pearl Gonzalez, who was temporarily stopped from competing in New York in 2017 because of breast implants ... but the NY State Athletic Commission later cleared her to fight.