MMA

Belal Muhammad already has an idea who he may fight in his first bout as defending UFC champion ... telling TMZ Sports it could be all-time welterweight great, Kamaru Usman, or up-and-comer, Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Muhammad joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... where the guys talked about everything from what it felt like to finally achieve his dream, to who is on his shortlist for his first fight as the division's king.

"It's been epic," Belal said ... "for me to go down to enemy territory, his home soil in front of his people, that were booing me the whole week, to go out there and dominate them the way I dominated them, it felt so good!"

Khabib Nurmagomedov is arguably the greatest ever to grace an MMA cage, so with Deiveson Figueiredo training with the undefeated former UFC champion ahead of his fight with Marlon Vera, we asked "Chito" if he was concerned with the Brazilian star's secret weapon.

"I don't give two f***s who he trains with," 31-year-old Chito bluntly told TMZ Sports (let's be real, if you've followed Vera, you could've guessed his answer.)

36-year-old Figueiredo reportedly spent time training with The Eagle on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi ... the location of Saturday's UFC on ABC card.

Belal Muhammad is set to take part in his first title match as a member of the UFC ... and the No. 2-ranked welterweight tells TMZ Sports he's ready to play spoiler for the hometown fighter, Leon Edwards.

The 36-year-old Muhammad spoke with us just days before he makes the walk in the biggest fight of his UFC career at UFC 304 in London ... and while it took longer than he thought it would, he's excited the moment has finally arrived.

"This is the fight I've been waiting for the last three years," Muhammad said. "To get this rematch, to get this title shot, it's taken forever, but it's all worth it. The long road, the long wait. I think that once I get to fight night, I'm gonna know the reasons why I had to wait."

Jon Jones is the official UFC heavyweight champion ... but not in the eyes of Curtis Blaydes -- who tells TMZ Sports he views interim champ Tom Aspinall as the real title holder.

We caught up with "Razor" as he prepares to square off with Aspinall for the second time in his career later Saturday at UFC 304 ... and he said there's not much doubt in his mind, he's going up against the real No. 1 in Dana White's heavyweight division.

"I view it as Aspinall [and not Jon Jones]," Blaydes said when asked who's the real heavyweight champion. "I do. I think Aspinall had to beat a harder opponent in order to get the belt. Ciryl Gane is a very skilled heavyweight, but he has an obvious hole in his game, the wrestling. He doesn't have any of it. Jon, smartly, went after that hole. Easy W."

While Paddy Pimblett is viewed as the next big thing in the UFC ... Bobby "King" Green isn't all that impressed -- telling TMZ Sports he's just "another guy" who he's hoping to knock out later Saturday.

We caught up with Green just hours before he throws down with "The Baddy" at UFC 304 ... and while the scrap is in Pimblett's home country of England ... Green says, so far, he's been getting love!

"I didn't know I was international," he said, "but they've been giving me a lot of love, too. And a lot of it is his people been telling me to kick his ass!"

Ronda Rousey is ready for round 2!!!

The former UFC champion and WWE Superstar announced Thursday she's pregnant with her second child ... sharing the big news while speaking at a San Diego Comic-Con panel to promote her new graphic novel, "Expecting the Unexpected."

"Did anyone notice that I'm very pregnant right now? Yeah, I'm just as pregnant as 'Mom' is in the majority of the comic," Rousey jokingly said to the crowd in attendance.

Francis Ngannou is speaking into a mic for the first time since his 15-month-old son died suddenly back in March ... and his words are nothing short of heartbreaking.

Ngannou made an appearance on Joe Rogan's "JRE MMA Show" Tuesday and he talked about a wide range of subjects, including the moments he experienced in the leadup to the death of his son, Kobe.

Ngannou revealed his son had mild inflammation of the brain ... which led to him fainting twice. The first incident happened while they were in Cameroon, but he said the doctors found nothing.

The UFC will host the first-ever live sporting event at The Sphere in Las Vegas, but, there are only 10 fights. So, who gets a spot?? Well, 19-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. said earlier this week one should be reserved for him!

TMZ Sports talked to the rising star -- prior to reports he made the cut for the Noche UFC event going down on September 14 -- and he pleaded his case for why he should be involved.

"My manager is talking with the UFC right now, and I think the possibility is high," Rosas Jr. said of landing the coveted spot.

Mike Perry will be across from Jake Paul in just over 24 hours (more on that in a minute), but before fight night Platinum made a huge announcement, telling us he's launching his very own combat sports promotion, Dirty Boxing Championship!

"We are friends for fighters and fans," 32-year-old Perry told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

"Me and my team have been working on this for quite some time," Mike added. "We've tried to hint at this, we've been making way and we're ready to make the announcement that this is coming very soon. We're very close to being sanctioned by commissions and we're ready to get some athletes and get a card together and put a fight on sometime this year."

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones isn't tapping out in his ongoing legal battle ... entering a not-guilty plea for the two misdemeanor charges he's facing in relation to a drug test gone wrong earlier this year.

Jones -- who appeared in New Mexico court virtually -- was charged with assault and interference with communications earlier this week ... after a testing agent claimed he made threats and took their cell phone when they popped up at his Albuquerque home unannounced back in March.

As we previously reported, two drug testing agents for the UFC's anti-doping partners -- Drug Free Sport International -- went to Jones' pad to collect a pee sample ... but in a police report, one of the agents told authorities Jon grew agitated with her after he was unable to provide a urine sample.

Don't worry UFC fans, if Paddy Pimblett has it his way ... he'll be sticking around the UFC once his current contract with the promotion runs out, telling TMZ Sports the UFC is the place he wants to be!!!

We caught up with Paddy "The Baddy" as the star MMA fighter prepares for his upcoming bout vs. Bobby "King" Green at UFC 304 in Manchester, England. A fight, for Pimblett, which could mark the last with Dana White's promotion ... 'cause it's the last on his deal.

Paddy's been asked about his future in recent interviews, and some have perceived him to be signaling a desire to go elsewhere.

Rener Gracie -- whose family is credited with creating Brazilian jiu-jitsu -- is teaching cops a new restraint that he says is safer than a chokehold, and he demonstrated on one of our own to hit the point home.

The MMA legend joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and broke down the move, which he calls the "SafeWrap" ... trotting out an exhibition of sorts by deploying it on a TMZ staffer who played guinea pig for the demo.

Rener is now teaching his move to the NYPD ... explaining that it can take down a noncomplying suspect safely and effectively ... even if they are armed.

No shoes, no shirt, no problem when it comes to PowerSlap prep ... Paige VanZant threw on her finest teeny bikini and grabbed her MMA star hubby Austin Vanderford for a steamy training sesh!

The power couple -- who married in 2018 -- shared video on social media, showing PVZ rocking a neon, thong bikini ... as Austin, an 11-2 MMA fighter, trained wifey using a pool noodle (a lot better than getting slapped!)

Of course, Paige -- who competed in UFC, bare-knuckle, and boxing (as well as pro wrestling) -- made her debut at Power Slap 8 earlier this month against Christine Wolmarans ... a fight VanZant won!

Tracy Cortez pulled out all the stops to ensure she made weight for her upcoming main event fight with Rose Namajunas ... cutting off inches of her hair to come in under the 126 lb. limit!

Talk about dedication!

The 30-year-old fighter hit the scales Friday morning in Denver, CO ... with only the scale standing between her and Thug Rose, who are headlining Saturday's Fight Night card. The problem for Cortez ... she was about a pound overweight, and time was running out.

Shawn Porter had the best seat in the house for Nate Diaz's scrap with Jorge Masvidal on Saturday, with the former boxing champ saying the Stockton star trained hard for the fight, as opposed to when he lost to Jake Paul a few months back!

"[Diaz was] the same fighter, but more prepared. The same fighter, but really ready to fight," Porter, who called the fight for Fanmio, told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

Shawn continued ... "They said Nate didn't really train for the fight with Jake Paul. He didn't take it as serious as he should have. And it showed."

It appears Conor McGregor is inching closer to his UFC return ... 'cause the MMA superstar shared a bunch of sparring snapshots to his Instagram on Monday -- and if they're in fact recent, fans might not have to wait much longer to see him in action.

Notorious -- who backed out of his UFC 303 matchup with Michael Chandler last month due to a toe injury -- added two separate workout posts to his profile over the past 24 hours ... showing him having his way against his partner.

Conor appears to move around the canvas with no issue as he lands kicks and punches ... even to the point where he gets blood on his glove.