MMA

Stephen Thompson is giving fans an up-close look at his shin after it split open during his scrap against Gabriel Bonfim at last week's UFC Fight Night ... saying despite how it appears, it's healing well!!

Wonderboy posted the photos to his Instagram Tuesday morning ... showcasing the before and after on his left shin, which now includes some stitches.

Even with the gash ... he was almost able to K.O. Bonfim in the waning seconds of the second round of the bout -- but the bell forced the action into the third.

Jon Jones is confident he'll be fighting at Donald Trump's White House UFC event whenever it goes down ... telling TMZ Sports on Thursday he's got "a very strong feeling" he'll be on the historic card.

Of course, the shindig doesn't have an official date or a time yet -- but Dana White said this week he's going to meet with Trump soon to hammer out the logistics ... and whenever it all gets set, Jones made it clear he wants in.

"That's the goal," the former heavyweight champ said out at LAX.

Bad news for those hoping Dustin Poirier has one more fight in him after this weekend ... he tells TMZ Sports he's REALLY hanging up the gloves for good Saturday night.

We chopped it up with the 36-year-old ahead of his retirement match against Max Holloway in his home state of Louisiana. Before we got to that, we had to ask him if next year's potential July 4th card at the White House had him rethinking things.

But Diamond made it clear ... even the thought of throwing hands at one of the most iconic landmarks in the country isn't changing his mind.

1:15 PM PT -- Sanchez appeared before a judge minutes ago ... who said he will be kept in custody after the state filed a motion for preventive detention. His case is being sent to district court, where it will be decided if he stays locked up or is released pending his trial.

Diego Sanchez -- the winner of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" -- was arrested Thursday in New Mexico ... after he allegedly fired a gun while passing by a crash, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to court documents, officers were working an incident on I-40 in Albuquerque when they say a passenger in a Jeep Gladiator -- later identified as Sanchez -- shot off a round as the vehicle drove by the scene.

Cops then followed the car and pulled it over a short time later. While officers say he admitted there was a gun in the car ... Sanchez denied ever firing a shot.

Randy Couture is on the mend ... TMZ Sports has learned he's been discharged from the hospital following his scary crash last week and is now at home recovering.

The UFC legend sustained serious injuries after he wrecked his car during practice runs at a racetrack in Kansas City ... and actually needed to be airlifted to a medical facility to get treatment.

We're told he suffered first and second-degree burns in the accident ... and had trauma injuries as well as smoke inhalation.

Conor McGregor doesn't seem to have a care in the world as he celebrates his 37th trip around the sun -- his birthday festivities are going strong ... despite trending worldwide for his alleged private pics getting plastered all over social media.

The UFC superstar had a helluva Monday -- rapper Azealia Banks accused him of sending "unsolicited" nude photos and instructing her not to "be a rat" about it ... and provided alleged proof of his actions to go with it.

Banks later claimed it's been a mutual interaction between the two for nearly a decade ... saying, "Me and Conor McGregor have been sending each other unsolicited nudes since 2016. LOL."

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's son Knox's 17th birthday kicked butt -- literally -- because he spent his big day winning a martial arts competition.

With Angelina and his twin sister Vivienne cheering him on from the crowd, Knox won the IKF Point Muay Thai Technical event on his birthday weekend.

Video from the competition shows Knox beating the crap out of an opponent ... landing a bunch of punches and kicks as they battle on a red and blue mat.

Ben Askren says he let the medical challenges he's faced over the last month affect him ... admitting he's felt sorry for himself -- but, now, that's all over.

The MMA standout posted a video from a hospital bed Saturday morning ... giving fans another update on his condition and putting into context just how quickly his health has deteriorated.

Askren shared a journal entry written by a friend of the family who wrote on Father's Day that doctors planned to examine him for a potential lung transplant ... that was less than a month ago, and now BA has two new lungs.

Former UFC star Ben Askren was deeply emotional as he addressed his serious health battle for the first time ... saying the experience was almost like watching his own funeral.

The 40-year-old shared a video from his hospital bed on Wednesday ... revealing he doesn't remember anything that happened in the entire month of June -- but after reading his wife's journal, he understands what he went through was nothing short of a movie.

Askren said he "only died four times" as he dealt with severe pneumonia ... a condition that ultimately required a double lung transplant.

UFC legend Randy Couture was airlifted to a burn center with serious injuries after crashing during practice runs at a racetrack in Kansas City ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Couture -- who was slated to make his National Hot Rod Association racing debut this year -- was involved in an accident during preparation on Tuesday ... resulting in first- and second-degree burns, trauma injuries and smoke inhalation.

The 62-year-old fighter, actor and Army vet completely wrecked the car he was driving at the time of the incident ... although it's unclear what caused it.

Ilia Topuria is opening up on his brutal (and shocking) knockout of Charles Oliveira ... and talking about who could be next -- and he's putting two big UFC stars on notice!

The 28-year-old newly crowned lightweight champ joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... just days after he put Oliveira's lights out with a crushing combo of punches in the UFC 317 main event.

As it goes, everyone wants to know what's next for the champion. Two names that have been talked about most ... Paddy Pimblett and Islam Makhachev!

Ilia Topuria says he's got no beef whatsoever with Charles Oliveira -- in fact, he's got a ton of respect for the title contender -- but with that said, he's vowing to beat his ass!

TMZ Sports spoke to the 28-year-old Topuria, who recently relinquished his featherweight belt, ahead of their UFC 317 scrap -- where they'll fight for Islam Makhachev's lightweight strap (he's moving up to welterweight) -- and we asked the 16-0 fighter what he'd say to Charles just days before their title fight.

"I have all the respect in the world for Du Bronx, nothing personal. This is competition, and this time he has a very, very dangerous opponent, and he needs to bring his pillow," Ilia said.

If UFC fans didn't know Nazim Sadykhov before, they do now ... after the 11-1 fighter stunned the MMA world with one of the most insane comebacks in recent history -- and he did it with Merab Dvalishvili in his corner!

TMZ Sports spoke to the 31-year-old rising lightweight star just days after he defeated Nikolas Motta in Baku, Azerbaijan (a country he once called home as a young boy) ... a fight so good Dana White blessed him with a double bonus check -- Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night!

If you watched, you know the first round didn't exactly go as Nazim planned. In fact, he was on the receiving end of a 70-something strike combo, which he somehow not only survived, but ate without appearing too hurt.

The February traffic stop that led to the criminal charge against Jon Jones this month was captured on police video ... and in the footage, you can hear a person who sounds like the UFC legend seemingly making threats to at least one officer while wasted.

It all happened on Feb. 21 in New Mexico ... as the Albuquerque Police Department was questioning a woman about a car crash.

In the video, the unidentified female -- who appeared to be pantsless and intoxicated in the passenger seat of a wrecked car -- is seen telling authorities Jones drove the vehicle ... but took off after the accident.

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.