MMA

UFC fighter Felice Herrig is giving TMZ Sports a blow-by-blow of her bloody Vegas street fight ... and she tells us the whole thing started over a penny.

35-year-old Herrig --the #12 ranked strawweight -- was in Sin City for UFC 246 ... when her night out on the town started to resemble her day job.

Herrig was walking with a friend between two casinos when a woman halted foot traffic to retrieve the cent.

“I was just like, ‘Dude it’s just a penny,’” Herrig told us. “And then I thought it was over and I was walking out with my friend, Kim, and she comes up from behind me and she was like, ‘It was on heads!’”

The penny-pincher declined Herrig’s request to get out of her face.

“So, I kind of shoulder bumped her to kind of let her know to go away, and she came at me,” Herrig tells us. “She punched me in the nose. I just remember punching her two times back.”

Herrig wasn't seriously hurt ... but did have her nose busted. Luckily for the woman who allegedly started beef with Felice ... she wasn't badly hurt either.

“I wanted to double-leg her, but I’m still recovering from my ACL injury,” Herrig tells us.

Felice says she doesn’t go out in public looking for fights, but she had a message for anyone else looking to start with her.

Dana White says Conor McGregor's next fight will almost definitely be a rematch with Khabib ... and the result of the match will have a major impact on the legacy of both guys.

TMZ Sports talked to Dana White outside T-Mobile Arena in Vegas after McGregor DOMINATED Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone ... and asked the UFC honcho who the Irish superstar wants next?

"Conor wants Khabib. Conor always has a lot of options. He wants Khabib, that's the fight he wants, and we'll see what happens."

We then asked White who he wants Conor to fight.

"I think Khabib makes sense too."

Khabib is scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson in April ... and if the 28-0 fighter wins, that could set up the Nurmagomedov-McGregor rematch -- and it'd be HUGE.

The only snag? Khabib and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, have repeatedly said the Dagestani star will NOT rematch Conor.

But, Dana doesn't sound worried.

"Listen, Khabib has never turned down a fight. The guy's 28-0. He's one of the baddest dudes to ever do it," Dana tells us.

"This fight's important for his legacy too. When you start looking back at Khabib's career and if he goes undefeated and retires. You're looking at the names, and the names mean everything. He beat Conor McGregor. He beats Tony Ferguson. He beat Conor McGregor again. He beat this guy, that guy."

That's not all ... White also talked Floyd Mayweather -- who teased a Floyd-Conor II and Floyd-Khabib bout Saturday night -- and made it clear TBE still wants to fight.

Conor McGregor partied his face off in Vegas after beating Cowboy Cerrone in spectacular fashion.

Conor celebrated his win at Encore Beach Club, after entering the Octagon Saturday night after a 15-month hiatus. Conor did not disappoint ... a kick to the head in round 1 was all she wrote ... Cerrone went down and Conor pummeled him until the ref stopped the fight.

Fact is ... it's Conor's first victory since 2016, and he needed to win this one -- bad.

The fight -- at the T-Mobile Arena -- was sold out, with more than $11 million in ticket sales alone. Tons of celebs showed up, including Matthew McConaughey, Jeremy Renner, Dave Bautista, Tom Brady, Christian McCaffrey, Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett and Jon Gruden.

As for the party ... Conor arrived at 1 AM and stayed until 4 AM.

Alex Volkanovski ain't done G.O.A.T. hunting ... 'cause the new UFC champ -- fresh off taking out Max Holloway -- tells TMZ Sports he's got his eye on another legendary fighter.

Khabib Nurmagomedov.

We were talking to the the 31-year-old featherweight champ when the convo moved to going up to 155 pounds ... and fighting the undefeated Daghestani superstar.

"I'm not going looking for these fights, but you'd be silly if it doesn't cross your mind," Volkanovski says.

"I'm the type of person, I'll look at all opportunities and I'll at least let me play in my head. Whether I think they're realistically happening anytime soon, alright, maybe not. But, I'm still gonna think about it."

Volkanovski continued ... "People will be like, 'He's trying to call out Khabib.' They can take it however they want, but if that opportunity comes ..."

"Again, my goal is to defend my belt in the featherweight division, we've got a stacked division, so I'm happy to defend it there. But, if that opportunity comes up, I'm not gonna lie, obviously I'll take it."

Alex is 21-1 as a pro -- and hasn't lost since 2013 (that's 13 wins in a row) -- so no shocker he believes he matches up great against Nurmagomedov.

"Let's be honest. I'm not an easy man to hold down. Me being short sometimes works in my favor. These little limbs get me up pretty easily. I'm very strong, I've got a very good base. And then, obviously, you know that I can strike."

Here it is ... Conor McGregor and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone stripping down and weighing in for their main event fight at UFC 246 -- and good news, they both made weight!

Conor and Cowboy both hit 170 on the dot -- perfect weight for their welterweight matchup Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The last time McGregor fought, he only weighed 155 to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight title.

But now, he's moved up in weight and he looks pretty good -- big, strong and UFC doctors say he's in the best shape of his MMA career.

As for Cowboy, DON'T SLEEP ON THAT GUY -- Cerrone holds the UFC record for most victories, most finishes and most fight bonuses!

Both fighters will next attend the UFC ceremonial weigh-in -- which goes down later Friday in front of thousands of fans. It's usually a chaotic scene. We'll have the highlights for you right here.

Dana White was so impressed with the way a female Best Buy staffer beat the hell out of a suspected shoplifter, he's flying her to UFC 246 and wants to HIRE HER!!

The footage of 24-year-old Summer Tapasa went viral in December when she confronted a man at a Best Buy in Hawaii who allegedly stole an expensive speaker and blocked him from leaving the store.

Tapasa parted ways with Best Buy after the incident -- but their loss could be the UFC's gain, because White tells TMZ Sports he's on a mission to bring her into the UFC fold.

"That's the kind of person I want working for me," White said ... "You're crazy Best Buy! You shoulda kept her! I'm gonna steal her from you now!"

White says he's flying Summer to be his VIP guest in Vegas for the Conor McGregor vs. Cowboy Cerrone fight at UFC 246 ... and he's "dead serious" about possibly offering her a job during the event.

T-minus 8 days until the return of Conor McGregor ... and no one seems more excited than Conor himself!

Check out the Irish superstar in a pre-fight workout at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas earlier this week -- his energy is through the roof.

As we previously reported, Conor returned to America a few weeks before the January 18 bout with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone ... and he's been training like crazy.

During this week's workout session, Conor was bouncing around the gym while Notorious B.I.G. played in the background. At one point you can hear McGregor say, "I f**king love it!"

McGregor hasn't fought in the Octagon since his UFC 229 loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov in Oct. 2018.

Conor has said his main goal is to run it back with Khabib -- but Dana White wants him to EARN his rematch by getting through Cowboy first at UFC 246, only available on ESPN+.

Claressa Shields is getting a big-time assist in her possible MMA fight with Amanda Nunes -- PERSONAL TRAINING SESSIONS FROM JON JONES!!!

The planet's best female boxer tells TMZ Sports she's been in contact with the UFC superstar about some MMA lessons to get ready for a possible tilt with Nunes ... and it looks like those will all go down after Jones' fight with Dominick Reyes in February.

"He said after he fights, I could come down there a week or two and see how I feel doing MMA stuff."

Of course, if Shields had her way ... there would be no need for the workouts -- she wants a fight with Nunes to be strictly boxing only.

But, Amanda told us last month the only way she's getting in the ring with Shields is if it's an MMA fight ... so Claressa is taking the steps to get the ball rolling on that.

Shields says she's actually "excited" AND "scared" to begin learning the tools for the possible bout ... telling us, "I'm going to have to learn so much more stuff and I just hope that I like it."

As for what will happen when she feels her MMA skills are good enough to take on Nunes ... Shields says she expects that fight to be BIGGER than Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor!!

But before stepping in the cage ... Shields has a big time boxing match this Friday against Ivana Habazin in Atlantic City.

He's baaaaaaack!

Conor McGregor has returned to the U.S. -- he's got a fight here in 2 weeks -- and he's already hitting the ground running ... literally.

"Out running on the streets of Las Vegas today," McGregor said over the weekend ... "We are two weeks from fight night!"

"So great to be back on U.S soil."

Of course, McGregor is taking on Cowboy Cerrone at UFC 246 on January 18 at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas in his first fight since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in Oct. 2018.

But, he's not coasting into the fight -- McGregor's been training since his arrival. In fact, Conor ran into UFC star Dominick Cruz during a session at the UFC Performance Institute.

Before this trip, we hadn't seen Conor in America since around the time he was being prosecuted for stomping on a cell phone outside of a Miami hotel back in March.

The Irishman pled not guilty and the charges were ultimately dropped after the victim stopped cooperating with police ... but it wasn't a good look for Conor.

Since then, CM's had other problems ... he punched a man in a bar in Ireland for no good reason during an incident in April and reportedly been investigated for 2 alleged sexual assaults in his home country. He adamantly DENIES the allegations in both cases.

What would you do if you won $1 million? Well, Kayla Harrison's got the money ... and some ideas on how to spend it.

Harrison -- one of the biggest stars in MMA -- beat Larissa Pacheco and won this year's PFL tournament ... which comes with an over-sized million dollar check.

So, we hit her up and asked how she's gonna spend the money ... and she's considering using part of the big ass check to honor her father.

"My dad passed away a while ago and he used to love fixing up old American muscle cars. So, the last car he had that he really wanted to fix up when I was a kid was a ’69 Camaro. So I’ve kind of been rolling around the idea of getting a Camaro."

Kayla says her dad actually unloaded his favorite old -school muscle car back in the day to get her, her bro and sis some quads ... so copping the Camaro would be special for her and her family.

"I just remember [the Camaro] from being a kid. He was fixing it up and he actually sold it to buy me and my brother and sister four-wheelers for Christmas. So I was like damn I need to get that Camaro in his memory."

That's not all ... Kayla -- who also says she's gonna donate a bunch of the cash to her Fearless Foundation -- says winning the money (and the tournament) is literally a dream come true.

"I feel good, life is good, I’m happy. Damn, I’m blessed. Like are you kidding me? I never thought that in a million years that, a million no pun intended, I never thought in a million years that I’d be making millions of dollars doing what I love."

"I’ve come a long way from that 16-year-old girl with $200 in her pocket, to a millionaire by 30. What the hell. Dreams do come true."

But, she isn't done ... Harrison says she's gunnin' for the million-dollar prize again next year.

What would you do if someone handed you a check for $1 MILLION!?!?!? New Ferrari? Big ass mansion? Pet tiger?

MMA fighter Jordan Johnson has MUCH different plans if he wins the big PFL $1 million prize fight on New Year's Eve ... dude says he wants a Kia!

The 31-year-old light heavyweight fought his way into the championship match against Emiliano Sordi -- where the winner takes home that 7-figure payday. Not bad.

Johnson says he ain't trying to count his chickens before they hatch ... but he'd be lying if he said he hadn't given some thought about how to spend the money.

"Ya know, I'm not gonna make any crazy purchases, but maybe a new car is something we've kinda been talking about."

And the dream ride?!

"I love Kias. We've been talking about the Telluride. But, I just saw the Stinger for the first time the other day. Most people laugh about this, 'You have a million dollar payday and you want to go buy a Kia?'"

Don't laugh ... the 2020 Telluride MSRP's for about $32k, and was named SUV of the Year by Motor Trend.

Sure, it doesn't go 200 MPH ... but do $300k sports cars hold 8 passengers and have an ungodly amount of cupholders? Nope.

Forget Conor McGregor ... Canelo Alvarez says he's down to fight UFC star Jorge Masvidal next -- telling TMZ Sports, "Why not?!"

... Of course, in boxing only.

Masvidal famously called out Canelo shortly after beating Nate Diaz for the 'BMF' belt back in November ... and when we asked Alvarez out in L.A. this month if he'd be up for the fight, the boxing superstar told us he's down.

"For business, why not?!" Canelo says.

Neither guy has an opponent lined up for their next fight ... so could it actually happen??

Seems there's a chance ... the first big, MMA-boxing crossover was HUGE -- with Floyd Mayweather and McGregor making SERIOUS bank for getting in the ring back in 2017.

And, Canelo DEFINITELY appears pretty intrigued by that.

As for if the Masvidal fight falls through ... Canelo says he'd be up for a rematch with Mayweather next -- telling us, "I was very young and experienced at the time and now I'm a different fighter. It will be a totally different result."

You think a fetus can derail UFC fighter Nina Ansaroff's MMA training!?!?!

Well, it can ... but Nina tells TMZ Sports she ain't exactly putting her career on hold when she gets pregnant with Amanda Nunes' baby.

Of course, Amanda ain't the only world-class fighter in the relationship -- 34-year-old Nina is the #5 ranked strawweight contender in the UFC. She's a killer.

But, with the two decided to expand their family in 2020 -- and Nina being the designated baby carrier -- we asked the two how it will affect her career in the Octagon.

"I’m taking a year off," Ansaroff says ... but when she returns, Nina says she plans on moving up a weight class and competing in the 125-lb flyweight division.

"I’m gonna be training throughout my pregnancy. I’m gonna stay in shape. I’m not gonna, ya know, just like not do anything and jump in."

You can take David Arquette out of the wrestling ring ... but you can't take the wrestler outta David Arquette ... 'cause he tells TMZ Sports he's BACK for another brawl!!!

It's no secret the actor loves to get his ass beat ... remember when he got in a nasty, bloody beatdown back in 2018?? He went on to continue to get his ass beat repeatedly in 2019.

But, DA ain't afraid to get back to business ... telling us he's got an epic "bar wrestling" fight going down on New Year's Eve to end his year on a high note!!

"I'm ready for some 2020," Arquette says. "I'm sick of this 2019. 2019 was bad. I almost died twice in 2019."

Like we said ... dude REALLY gets his ass kicked.

But, this time around he says he's facing off against Joey Ryan and Colt Cabana ... and his tag team partner is RJ City. So ... maybe this time he'll deliver the beating??

UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman says he's got BIG things lined up for 2020 -- not just in the Octagon -- in fact, he wants to be the next 'Bachelor.'

... and yeah, HE'S SERIOUS!!!

The 32-year-old fighter had a huge year in 2019 -- not only defeating Tyron Woodley to win the welterweight belt but also beating the hell out of Colby Covington in a jaw-breaking performance at UFC 245.

So, how do you top that in 2020? Kamaru's got a plan ...

"I'm gonna blow it out of the water," Usman says ... suggesting he could try his hand at acting or broadcasting.

As for "The Bachelor," Usman first floated the idea back in October ... but now hopes his high-profile win over Colby will help him get on the show!

This was no Mayweather vs. McGregor ...

UFC superstar Derrick Lewis told a boxer to PUT UP OR SHUT UP during an argument about MMA vs. boxing ... and the results did not go well for DL's opponent.

The 34-year-old heavyweight says he was working out in the gym on Wednesday, when the other man said, "He will knock me out because I’m a MMA fighter."

Lewis, not one for boring debates, told the guy to strap on the gloves and get in the ring ... and the rest -- well, just watch.

Lewis beats the guy up so badly, he almost punched him THROUGH THE ROPES!

Of course, Lewis -- aka "The Black Beast" -- is known as one of the toughest dudes in all of combat sports ... beating guys like Francis Ngannou, Alexander Volkov, Travis Browne and Roy Nelson.