MMA

Conor McGregor recently expressed interest in running for president of Ireland. But, despite his popularity, does the former champ-champ stand any chance at winning his nation's highest office??

Chuck Liddell thinks he just might ... telling TMZ Sports he believes "The Notorious" can rack up some votes!

We caught up with "The Iceman" at LAX this week and asked him for his thoughts on McGregor's desire to run for public office, and whether he sees a world where Conor can actually win.

Brian Ortega is one of the twenty fighters who will scrap on the UFC's one and ONLY Noche event at the Sphere ... something the veteran MMA star describes as an "honor."

"Bro, it's another level. We get to fight on a historic event by a promotion that's already known for making history. So it's an honor to be chosen to go in there, a featured fight and kind of kick off the night for both co-main and main event," T-City told TMZ Sports earlier this week, just days before his clash with 29-year-old Diego Lopes.

Remember, Ortega, 33, and Lopes were supposed to fight in June at UFC 303 ... but the fight was scrapped the same day the men were due in the Octagon after Brian, who was coming off a win over Yair Rodriguez, got sick and couldn't fight.

Jorge Masvidal is ready to get back in a UFC Octagon ... telling TMZ Sports he's eyeing fights with none other than Leon Edwards and Michael Chandler -- and one of the two has already responded!!

Masvidal spoke about his impending return to Dana White's org this week after being away from it all since April 2023 -- and he told us he's itching to get back.

For now, no firm return date has been set ... but he said he's hoping to be on a card sometime either at the end of this year or the start of 2025.

Jeremy Stephens is gunning to improve his Bare Knuckle Fighting record to a perfect 2-0 next Saturday ... and the big question is, could a win propel him to a fight with former foe turned BKFC owner, Conor McGregor?!

TMZ Sports caught up with the 38-year-old fighter ahead of his second scrap with the promotion, against 6-2 Bobby Taylor. While Taylor has more experience fighting without gloves, Stephens doesn't anticipate much of a challenge.

"Body bag, not worried about the opponent, man," he said. "Just [going to] put him in a f****** bag. We're here to f****** hurt him, this is the hurt business. He's just an opponent, go in there and do my thing."

Machine Gun Kelly knew Sean Strickland wasn't about to "shut the f*** up," and the UFC fighter proved him right on Tuesday ... firing back at the musician with a wild social media post.

The former middleweight champion got wind of the Cleveland rocker/rapper's comments on the "Impaulsive" podcast episode released on Tuesday ... and despite MGK telling the controversial figure to kick rocks, he's not ready to tap out of their feud just yet.

"Getting lectured by a guy who drinks blood and wears a purse," Strickland said on X. "Dawg you had a mid life crisis and tattooed your entire body. The 'the x community of intolerance' yall I'd hang out with you toxic trolls any day over this c***."

Machine Gun Kelly is opening up about Sean Strickland after their run-in at a Power Slap event back in February ... warning the UFC fighter to quit running his mouth!

The Cleveland native swung by Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast to chop it up on a wide range of topics ... including the disdain between Kelly and Strickland.

At a point during the conversation, the topic turned to Strickland ... and it's very evident MGK is far from a fan of the former UFC middleweight champion.

Paige VanZant went all out for her most recent workout ... ditching her top for an upper body routine with her MMA fighter husband -- and it is all types of steamy!!

VanZant shared the training session with Austin Vanderford to her Instagram followers on Monday ... showcasing the two's impressive physical strength while adding a NSFW touch.

Paige -- sporting a pair of blue biker shorts -- opted to leave the top off to the side ... showing off her massive back tattoo while doing push-ups off her hubby's legs. Vanderford -- who also decided to go shirtless -- grabbed a handful of her booty while giving her support.

Forget Gatorade, Conor McGregor's road back to the UFC Octagon is apparently being fueled -- at least in part -- by beer!!

Check out footage TMZ Sports has obtained from the MMA star's sister's wedding earlier this month -- the 36-year-old nearly downed a whole pint of suds in a matter of seconds at Erin McGregor and Terry Kavanagh's ceremony out in Ireland.

Conor, of course, is currently trying to work his way back to the UFC following a three-year hiatus ... but it's clear he put a pause on his training regimen to celebrate his older sibling's nuptials in style.

Jared Cannonier may be outside what many consider a fighter's "prime years," but the 40-year-old isn't stressing Father Time ... telling TMZ Sports he's taking things one fight at a time, and still sees title shots in his future!

We caught up with the fifth-ranked UFC middleweight before his main event contest with 12th-ranked middleweight contender, Caio Borralho.

Cannonier -- who celebrated his 40th trip around the Sun in March -- says he isn't thinking about how much longer he plans on fighting.

Ronda Rousey is finally owning up to a mistake she made more than a decade ago ... formally apologizing for sharing a Sandy Hook conspiracy theory vid back in 2013.

The former UFC bantamweight champion infamously reposted the clip -- which questioned the authenticity of the tragic school shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six staffers -- to her social media page ... before almost immediately taking it down amid backlash.

She appeared to try to sweep it under the rug in the ensuing years ... but when her recent Reddit AMA thread was bombarded by comments about the controversy -- she took to X to officially issue a mea culpa.

Craig Jones' weigh-in kiss might be a tactic other fighters should pick up ... 'cause he took down Gabi Garcia after planting the smooch on her pre-match.

The Australian grappler dominated his 6'2" opponent from the opening bell ... though she drew out the fight a little before finally tapping out in the second round of the intergender bout.

GG -- who's mulled over an intergender battle like this for years -- has multiple gold medals and world championships in the sport ... but, she just couldn't handle Jones who's also one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes of all time.

Dricus Du Plessis isn't only traveling thousands of miles for his first title defense, but he's headed straight into Israel Adesanya's backyard. So, is the middleweight champ pissed off?!

Nope ... in fact, he tells us he would've preferred to fight in Izzy's own gym!

"I'm extremely happy," Du Plessis told TMZ Sports. "If I had it my way, I would have done it in Auckland, where he's from."

Former mixed martial artist Lumumba Sayers -- who once fought ex-UFC star Derek Brunson inside a cage -- was arrested for murder over the weekend ... after he allegedly shot and killed a man to avenge his son's death.

The Commerce City Police Department says the incident happened at around 5 PM on Saturday during a children's birthday party at a Commerce City, Colo. park.

According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by Denver7, Sayers is accused of walking up to 28-year-old Malcolm Watson and shooting him in the head. The docs state witnesses told cops Sayers may have thought Watson had been a friend of a man he believed to be somehow involved in the 2023 death of Sayers' son.

Boxer John Gotti III admits he was "caught off guard" by the hoopla surrounding his first fight with Floyd Mayweather ... but, with their rematch just a week away, John Gotti's grandson is warning the 50-0 fighter, don't expect a repeat in the rematch!

"It was a big moment. It was the biggest crowd I've ever fought in front of before. It was against a living legend. And, [Floyd] came out with bad intentions, caught me completely off guard," 31-year-old Gotti III told TMZ Sports of the June 2023 scrap.

The fight was ultimately stopped during the 6th round after a ton of trash talk between the men. Despite the bout being stopped, Floyd and John weren't done scrapping just yet, with a melee kicking off in the ring and around the arena.

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.