MMA

Dana White's new BJJ organization, UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, could have a few famous faces at their events -- but we're not talking about celebs in the crowd -- but instead big stars actually competing alongside some of the best players in the world!

White and Claudia Gadelha -- MMA star turned UFC exec -- chopped it up with Babcock this week ... as the pair touted the new promotion and the TUF-like companion show on YouTube, "UFC BJJ: Road to the Title."

"[Mark] Zuckerberg has competed in tournaments. Mario Lopez competes in tournaments. Tom Hardy competes in tournaments. So, this is a spot anybody could come and compete here in jujitsu," Dana said, name-dropping three of the high-profile celebs who practice jiu-jitsu.

In fact, Dana, a Meta board member, told us he often talks about fighting with Zuck ... and he's not kidding when he says he could compete in the future.

"If Mark keeps training and competing and whatever, he could literally come here and fight in UFC BJJ, 100%. Tom Hardy, Mario Lopez, and many, many other actors that are really good jiu-jitsu guys that nobody knows about. That would be absolutely awesome!"

Of course, Zuckerberg began training during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has linked up with some of the biggest UFC stars in the world, hitting the mats with the likes of Alex Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya, and others.

Zuck even competed in a local competition in mid-2023, fairing quite well in his matches.

Obviously, Dana's new BJJ org. is a whole different ballgame ... they've got some of the very best in the world competing, so no one's suggesting Mark, Tom and/or Mario's going to stroll into the arena when UFC BJJ 1 goes down on June 25!

In the future? Who knows. DW makes it clear, if you've got the prerequisite skill, anyone can get down.

Celebs aside, there's a bunch more with Dana and Claudia ... who talk about building the new UFC BJJ organization, and where they see it going.

Joshua Van's life has been full of surprises lately ... 'cause he tells TMZ Sports he received a bombshell of his own while gifting his mom a new home -- a fight offer against Brandon Royval!!

It all happened after Van's third-round TKO victory against Bruno Silva at UFC 316 ... his 14th win and 7th knockout of his career.

Van -- who made his MMA debut in 2021 -- celebrated the victory by catching his mom off guard with a new crib, not knowing something would also fall into his lap.

MMA legend BJ Penn has been arrested again.

According to the Hawaii Police Department, Penn was taken into custody on Thursday morning over allegations he violated a temporary restraining order.

Penn was transported to a Hilo-area jail and processed ... before he was released on $3,000 bond. Cops say he's now due in court for a hearing on the matter later Friday.

Kamaru Usman is in the midst of the worst stretch of his career -- at least as far as wins and losses go -- but the Nigerian Nightmare says don't get it twisted ... he's still the best 170 lb. fighter in the world's top MMA promotion!

The former longtime welterweight champ, now ranked 5th, joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... just days before his highly anticipated scrap with 7th-ranked Joaquin Buckley.

Kamaru says, despite a 600+ day layoff, he's ready to go.

Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison come from the world of judo, and with the latter about to fight for a title, we asked her opp, UFC Bantamweight champ Julianna Pena, about all the comparisons to Rowdy!

TMZ Sports spoke with the champ just days before the Octagon door closes behind Pena and Harrison in the UFC 316 co-main event in the Garden State ... and let's just say Julianna doesn't see the similarities between Kayla and Ronda.

"Ronda was such a phenom in the fact she was just able to take everybody out in 10 seconds or less," the Venezuelan Vixen said. "I know Kayla's manager [Ali Abdelaziz] said she's gonna be bigger than Ronda Rousey."

Jake Paul will step into the ring with former middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in less than a month ... and The Problem Child says he'll beat the former title holder so badly, it'll catapult him to a championship of his own!

28-year-old Paul joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... where the guys chopped it about the June 28th scrap in SoCal.

"Man, I'm feeling better than ever," Jake said. "This is going to be my breakout performance."

7:27 AM PT -- According to court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, BJ Penn's mom, Lorraine Shin, claims she's the 79-year-old at the center of the allegations against the MMA legend.

In the docs -- which were part of an application written by Shin for a restraining order against Penn -- Shin alleged Penn is suffering from a psychological disorder that's caused him to believe she "killed his family" and has "taken over his mother's identity."

Court records show a TRO was granted in the case -- and both parties are due to appear before a judge on June 10 to share their sides of the story.

Cops in Hawaii say MMA legend BJ Penn was arrested over the weekend not just once, but twice, over multiple incidents he had with a 79-year-old woman.

MMA legend BJ Penn was arrested over the weekend ... after he had a strange run-in with cops that was captured on video.

According to Hawaii Police Department records, Penn was thrown behind bars in Hilo at around 9:40 PM on Sunday on a charge of "abuse family or household member: offensive physical contact."

Records show he was released on $2,000 bail hours later -- at 1:48 AM on Monday. Further details surrounding the arrest were not made immediately available -- we've reached out to cops for comment, but have yet to hear back.

Fight night should be a breeze for Belal Muhammad ... 'cause the UFC welterweight champ says he regularly works out with dudes most dangerous than Jack Della Maddalena, his UFC 315 opp!

TMZ Sports spoke with the 36-year-old fighter ahead of Saturday's main event scrap ... and like a slugger on deck taking hacks with a donut on his bat, Belal says the actual fight will be easier than his time on the practice mats.

"When I look at the guys that I train with, I tell you, I'm training with the best striker in the world in Ignacio Bahamondes. And I strike with this guy every single day. Jack doesn't have striking that comes close to him. The grapplers that I train with, the guys that I'm sparring with every single day, they're better than Jack," Muhammad said.

Jon Jones is at the top of everyone's list of 100 dudes who could join forces to take down a gorilla ... so what's his take on the whole debate??

Pray for the gorilla.

TMZ Sports caught up with the UFC superstar at LAX this week ... and we had to ask with so many social media users throwing his name around, how does he feel he'd fare against a silverback??

Reinier de Ridder is fresh off handing previously undefeated prospect Bo Nickal the first loss of his MMA career ... and while the 3x NCAA champ was a dangerous opp, RDR is setting his sights a bit further up the rankings!

TMZ Sports spoke to the 34-year-old Dutch fighter after he knocked out Nickal with a brutal knee in the second round of Saturday's UFC Fight Night co-main event ... where we asked de Ridder who he's looking to mix it up with next.

"I want Sean Strickland," RDR said ... "That would be the coolest fight."

Bo Nickal says he'll face the toughest test of his still-young MMA career Saturday when he steps into the Octagon vs. Reinier De Ridder ... a former 2-division world champ in ONE!

The 29-year-old 3x NCAA wrestling champ and undefeated MMA fighter is set to scrap with 34-year-old RDR ... and despite being the 13th-ranked Middleweight, Nickal says Ridder is actually underrated.

"I think that both of us would beat most of the top 15, and I think that this fight is way more than an unranked guy fighting number 13," Bo told TMZ Sports. "Whoever wins this fight will have a really nice path to challenging for the title and fighting the best guys in the world."

Ian Machado Garry is fighting Carlos Prates in the main event at UFC Fight Night on Saturday, but that doesn't mean his (very real) beef with rival Colby Covington has been squashed!

TMZ Sports caught up with the #7 ranked welterweight contender just days before his highly anticipated scrap ... and while we talked a bunch about Prates, we also asked about Chaos.

"There's a reason I've said it before and I'll say it again when that man [Covington] goes to bed and he closes his eyes, he fears me. He's never going to step into the Octagon with me and back it up and he knows why," Garry said.

YK Osiris hasn't released a song in 2025 yet but that may change very soon -- after the R&B singer just took a bruisin' in the boxing ring!!!

Over the weekend, YK and streamer Scam Likely engaged in high-octane fisticuffs in a kickboxing match hosted by Kick and Stake ... resulting in YK losing by unanimous decision in the 3-round bout.

YK hopped on IG Monday to admit he was taking his lumps in stride and retreating to his OG profession of belting out songs -- as opposed to chasing a championship belt.

Alexander Volkanovski is set to welcome his fourth child to the world later in 2025 -- and the UFC champ swears it's his last little one -- soooooooo, vasectomy?!

Volk says not so fast!

The 36-year-old, who recently announced he and his wife Emma were expecting their fourth little bundle of joy, joined Charlie Cotton on TMZ's "Big Down Under" podcast where he talked about makin' babies.

Raul Rosas Jr. has experienced a lot of success early into his UFC career ... but he's now ready for the next step -- telling TMZ Sports he wants a top-15 opponent!!

We caught up with the 20-year-old bantamweight following his unanimous decision win in Mexico City last Saturday ... a performance he graded quite highly for himself.

"Good control, good everything and especially I push myself to keep staying in the fight," he said. "I'll give it an A because I would like to finish. I'm always looking for the finish, so next time, I'll fix these mistakes to be able to go out there and get the finish next time."