Money

If Jon Jones really wants a piece of Francis Ngannou, The Predator tells TMZ Sports he's 1 million percent down to clash with the UFC superstar!!!

Of course, it's not that simple ... Jon's the light heavyweight champ and currently fights at 205 lbs. Francis is the #2 ranked heavyweight ... and negotiations haven't even gotten started yet.

But, Ngannou says the bottom line is that he's game ... IF Jon's serious about moving up a weight class and actually signing on the dotted line.

"Listen, let's be clear about something. If that's what you want to know, if I would fight Jon Jones if he goes up to heavyweight, of course. I would say the same thing as he says, it's inevitable if Jon Jones goes to heavyweight. I'm gonna fight him."

Francis is referring to a tweet Jones sent Tuesday night ... when a fan asked him if he could ever imagine himself fighting Ngannou.

Jones -- who recently said none of the light heavyweight contenders excite him -- responded ... "I feel like that fight is inevitable."

During our conversation with Ngannou, he also revealed the UFC offered him a crack at Alexander Volkov on November 9 -- with only 18 days notice -- but says he rejected the fight 'cause he didn't have time to prep and fighting a lower-ranked guy didn't make sense.

Greg Hardy -- who we spoke to about the match on Tuesday -- ultimately accepted the fight.

While he waits, Ngannou -- coming off KO's of Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos -- is clearly frustrated with the UFC ... 'cause he thinks they're dragging their feet booking him a fight.

"I just want to tell the UFC to pay me some respect and give me a damn fight, that's what I'm asking for. I was expecting to have a fight by December to make my Christmas and New Year for my family," Francis tells us.

"Hey, man ... I need a fight. I need to make money."

Cash ... well, a Jon Jones fight would make hella money.

L.A. Clippers guard Patrick Beverley's ball chuckin' celebration after beating the Lakers is gonna cost him a piece of that new contract he just signed ... 'cause the NBA just fined him $25k for the toss.

Beverley had possession of the ball with the clock winding down in the Clips' 112-102 win over the Lakers on Tuesday ... and instead of handing the ball to the ref next to him, Bev threw it into the stands.

Kiki VanDeWeghe -- EVP of Basketball Operations at the Association -- announced the hefty punishment on Wednesday ... saying Beverley was fined "for throwing the game ball into the spectator stands."

FWIW -- Beverley inked a 3-year, $40 million deal this past off-season ... so the dude can afford it.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is getting a big fat check for her contributions to social justice and gender equality ... and she's paying it forward.

RBG was just announced the winner of the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture, given annually to folks who shape "human self-understanding and advancement." It has not been announced which charity the 86-year-old is donating her $1 million prize to.

The Notorious RBG, who has served on the Supreme Court since 1993, is scheduled to accept the award in December at the New York Public Library.

The Berggruen Institute, founded by billionaire philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen, cited RBG's honorable work before and during her tenure on the highest court in the land ... including authoring the first law textbook on gender discrimination and her efforts in the 1970s with the ACLU's Women's Rights Project.

We're guessing the recognition will add a little pep to RBG's step ... not that she needs it.

RBG's still plugging along after her 4th bout with cancer ... and when we spotted her in New York City last month, she was walking without assistance.

And, get this ... RBG told a crowd at UC Berkeley this week she never stopped working out during her fight with cancer, and she still does push-ups every day.

RBG ... an inspiration to us all.

Nelly is putting a sexual assault case behind him by reaching an agreement with his accuser to settle the matter out of court.

A woman in England had filed a lawsuit, about a year ago, against Nelly for allegedly sexually assaulting her after a 2017 concert in Essex. The accuser, who filed as Jane Doe, had claimed the rapper forced her to perform oral sex during a meet-and-greet.

According to docs filed Tuesday in federal court, and obtained by TMZ, the accuser has informed the judge that she and Nelly recently settled their dispute.

Neither side is saying whether money changed hands ... terms of the agreement are confidential.

Nelly's girlfriend, Shantel Jackson, is also in the clear now. The accuser had included her in the lawsuit, claiming Shantel lied when she dismissed the accuser as a liar.

IT'S BBBACK!!!

LaVar Ball is announcing the return of his Big Baller Brand -- saying the company will be back with brand new products ... including new signature shoes!!!

Remember, the BBB brand was thiiiiis close to death earlier this year when Lonzo Ball had his BBB tattoo covered up and his manager told fans to throw their BBB products in the garbage.

But, as we previously reported, LaVar hired a new staff and has been working on relaunching the brand for months ... and now he's released an official mission statement for BBB Version 2.0.

"The Big Baller Brand is alive and well," Ball says.

"The brand has been restructuring and we are working to reveal the new website in the next few weeks. It will have a new look and new name www.BigBallerBrandInc.com."

"LaVar Ball has put a great team of seasoned professionals in place to move the brand forward, with exciting new products, along with signature shoes, and sportswear."

What's interesting ... the BBB shoes have been widely panned since they were first released with a $495 price tag.

In fact, Lonzo went on a podcast back in September and said the ZO2 prototypes he would wear during NBA preseason games would regularly EXPLODE on him, significantly affecting his on-court performance.

At the time, it seemed like the final deathblow to the brand.

But, LaVar has maintained that he would bring BBB back to life ... and now, the comeback is closer than ever.

We spoke with LaVar a few weeks ago and he told us ALL of his sons would continue to work with the brand ... despite massive interest from outside shoe companies like Nike.

As for BBB co-founder Alan Foster, LaVar says the company has completely severed ties ever since Lonzo sued him for allegedly embezzling more than $2 million, allegations Foster has denied.

One of Offset's baby mamas is taking the rapper to court ... 'cause she wants him to pony up more dough to support their daughter.

Nicole Marie Algarin, who goes by the stage name Shya L'amour, has filed legal docs making several requests but chief among them ... child support for their 4-year-old daughter, Kalea. According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Nicole says the Migos rapper has "provided limited financial support" for Kalea, but she's now looking for the judge to order more. Or, at the very least, to formalize court-ordered payments.

In docs, Nicole says they've already taken DNA tests that confirm Offset is Kalea's father. What's more, she says Offset has publicly acknowledged he's Kalea's father -- Offset earlier this year posed with Kalea and captioned a picture on Instagram "Daddy's Girl."

Nicole says she just wants the court to follow suit and officially recognize him as dear ol' dad.

Antonio Brown got "FREEEE" from the Raiders ... and now he's trying to get "FREEEE" from his awesome Oakland pad ... listing the Bay Area home for $3.3 million!!!

Of course, AB's time in the Silver and Black lasted a whoppin' 181 days ... but prior to all the drama during that short time, Brown bought the Alamo home earlier this year.

Now, the NFL superstar has listed the pad through listing agent Maria Afzal and Next Move.

The 4,199 square-foot crib has 6 beds, 5.5 bathrooms, a master suite with a huge walk-in closet and a marble bathroom ... as well as a big patio with a huge pool and hot tub.

The backyard is where AB's infamous celebration went down after the Raiders released him ... so if you wanna channel your inner Antonio Brown, all you gotta do is cough up $3,375,000!!!

Brown briefly switched coasts to play for the Patriots for one game ... before eventually going without a team for the rest of the season (so far).

As we previously reported ... Brown is also parting ways with his Pittsburgh mansion (which is listed at $2.3 million) ... so there's a lot of AB property on the market right now.

Drake really DOES need some really big rings ... 'cause Drizzy just copped a Toronto Raptors championship ring ... and then got an even CRAZIER one done for himself!!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... not only did the Champagne Papi get the "official" ring the Raptors received during their opening night ceremony on Tuesday ... he also hit up Jason of Beverly Hills to get him a one of a kind ring to commemorate his team's title run.

The piece is incredible -- it's got 30 carats of diamonds, which is more than any other championship ring in NBA history.

Jason tells TMZ Sports ... "Drake had me fly to Turks and Caicos for an emergency design meeting."

"It's a championship that's dear to his heart and he wanted to create an over the top ring that not only paid homage to his city but made a statement above and beyond anything else in history."

As for the rings Kyle Lowry and Co. received on Tuesday ... those have a face made of 74 diamonds (to represent the number of team wins during the season), one large diamond, and custom-cut baguette diamonds to make up the Toronto skyline.

The outer edge of the ring is lined with 16 rubies to go with each roster member's numbers ... and the inside of the ring includes personal messages for each player.

According to the Raptors, it has more than 640 diamonds total -- which is a record for most on any pro-championship ring.

A famous MLB ump says Paul Lo Duca is lying ... claiming he did NOT "open up" the strike zone for a star Mets pitcher who let him borrow a sick '57 Chevy -- and now he's suing.

The pissed-off ump is Joe West -- a baseball legend who's been working MLB games since the '70s.

West is FURIOUS over claims Lo Duca made during an April 18 podcast on The Action Network ... when the ex-Mets catcher accused West of essentially taking bribes from star closer Billy Wagner.

Specifically, Lo Duca said during a game he was catching around 2006 or 2007 against the Phillies ... he noticed West (the home plate umpire) was being extra generous with strike calls for Wagner.

In fact, Lo Duca claims West called the final 3 batters out on strikes to end the game.

Afterward, Lo Duca claims he asked Wagner why he was getting so much love from West ... and that's when the pitcher winked at him and explained it this way ...

"Joe loves antique cars ... so every time he comes into town, I lend him my '57 Chevy, so he can drive it around ... so then he opens up the strike zone for me."

In his lawsuit, West claims he was FURIOUS when he heard the allegations -- claiming the story is 100% made up and he can prove it.

West says in 2006 and 2007 ... he was only the home plate umpire for a game between the Mets and Phillies ONE TIME -- and claims Wagner did not pitch at all.

In fact, West says that game he umped ended on a home run -- NOT a called strikeout.

West also claims he NEVER received a car from Wagner to use ... and says in the lawsuit he NEVER "opened up the strike zone" for Wagner as a favor.

There's more ... on the podcast, Lo Duca said West had ejected him from a handful of MLB games during his career. But, West says that's also not true -- he only threw Lo Duca out of ONE game.

West is suing Lo Duca and The Action Network for defamation, claiming Paul's claims were reckless and just plain false -- and has hurt his reputation as fair umpire. He's asking the court for unspecified damages.

Lori Loughlin and her husband are getting hit with even more charges in the college admissions scandal, and this time prosecutors are going after them for bribery.

The U.S. Attorney out of Boston just filed a charge called Federal Program Bribery. Translation -- prosecutors say Lori bribed officials of a university that receives federal funding.

As we reported, Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly paid $500,000 to mastermind Rick Singer to get their daughters into USC, and they faked a photo making it appear their girls were adept at rowing.

The new charge carries a maximum 5-year prison sentence. They've already charged them with various other crimes that could land them in prison for 40 years.

TMZ broke the story ... the U.S. Attorney is more open than ever for a plea bargain in Lori's case, especially after Felicity Huffman got sentenced to a scant 14 days behind bars. Prosecutors know the probation department and the judge who heard Felicity's case are not sympathetic to long sentences, because in their view no one really lost anything because of the alleged parental misdeeds.

Business is officially closing in the Steel City -- Antonio Brown's Pittsburgh mansion with a pimped-out tree house is up for grabs ... and it can be yours for $2.3 MILLION!!

Things went south REAL quick in Pennsylvania for AB ... so it's no wonder he's trying to part ways with the pad. But, aside from all the drama, the place is dope.

The home comes complete with the 2-story tree mansion, it also has a custom basketball court (which might need a makeover if a Steelers fan cops the place), a turf field, home theater, gourmet kitchen, gym and a sauna.

There are 5 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in the place -- listed by Shane and Amy Smith in partnership with Jordan Stuart and Next Move -- and it also has a study, spacious dining room, and a family room with a "jaw-dropping stone fireplace."

But, the best part of the home is the FAMOUS insane tree house, once featured on the Animal Planet TV show "Treehouse Masters" ... and it's AWESOME!!!

But, seriously, the tree house is a home in itself ... you could buy the place and Airbnb that thang out and start your own boomin' business -- AB style.

Kylie Jenner's no fool ... when she sees something that's hot, she tries to own it, which is what she wants to do with the catch phrase, "Rise and Shine."

Kylie filed legal docs asking the feds for ownership of a slang version of the famous wake-up call ... "RIIISE AND SHIIINNEE."

The trademark would cover belts, pants, coats, dresses, footwear, gloves, headbands, headwear, jackets, loungewear, scarves, sleepwear, socks, swimwear and undergarments ... as well as cosmetics.

Kylie did a YouTube tour of her office earlier this month, walked into Stormi's room -- where she was sleeping in her crib -- and began singing "Rise and Shine" to wake her up. It exploded online and the Kardashians/Jenners are nothing if not brilliant business people, so what better ploy than to ride the wave and take advantage.

Lori Loughlin may not go to trial after all in her college admissions case, because our sources say there's an opening now for a plea bargain in the wake of Felicity Huffman's superlight sentence.

Multiple sources involved in the various college admissions cases say Lori's big break came with the probation department's sentencing report for Felicity ... specifically, the part where the dept. says no one suffered a loss as a result of the actress's conduct. Prosecutors argued someone who took the SAT was probably denied admission somewhere because Felicity's daughter scored higher than she should have because of a rigged test. Probation said ... not the case.

As we reported, our U.S. Attorney sources tell us prosecutors wanted a year behind bars for Felicity. The fact that they only got 14 days, and the probation department would have been fine with no prison time and straight probation has caused concern for the U.S. Attorney.

Prosecutors, we're told, are worried it will become an embarrassment for the office if Lori goes to trial, gets convicted and gets a short sentence. And remember, Felicity rigged an SAT test that potentially affects every applicant. With Lori, even though she paid way more ($500,000), the bribe didn't really affect anyone else.

Sources with direct knowledge on the subject tell us the U.S. Attorney is open to plea discussions, and that is far more likely now that a possible sentence for Lori could be measured in weeks and not years. Remember, if you look just at the charges, Lori faces a maximum of 40 years. It won't look good if prosecutors go to trial, win a conviction and she gets 3 or 4 weeks behind bars.

So, the smart money now ... plea bargain before trial.

Kim Kardashian just entered the last year of her 30s and as a gift ... her husband, Kanye, got her something she seems to appreciate more than any one material item.

The middle Kardashian sister hit the big 3-9 Monday, and to celebrate ... it appears she kept it relatively low-key with her closest loved ones -- including Ye and the kids. She posted a few videos of what she described as a "home cooked meal" from Carousel Restaurant ... which cooks up Middle Eastern cuisine. KK and co. also had a beignet truck pay 'em a visit.

The biggest revelation came a bit later in the night though, when Kim posted a photo of a letter she'd received ... which said a million-dollar donation had been made in her name.

Kim says Kanye gave the money to her fave charities -- which focus on prison reform, which she's obviously passionate about -- and got the kids in on it too. The charities included Cut 50, Buried Alive Project, Equal Justice Initiative and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.

The idea of a donation as a gift may seem a little Costanza-ish -- remember "Festivus?" -- but these orgs are very much real ... and a million bucks goes a long way toward the cause.

She sure has come a long way, huh? Happy birthday!!!

Suge Knight's rise and fall is going to be immortalized in writing ... and he says he's tapped Nick Cannon to write the book.

Suge shared the big news Monday during a phone call from his state prison in San Diego ... revealing Nick's plan to author the story of his life.

So, why Nick?!? Suge says he considers him one of the most respected people in Hollywood, and that's why he's trusting Nick with the monumental biography task.

Nick's joining Ray J in helping Suge cash in on his legacy ... as we first told you, the former Death Row Records boss signed over his life rights to Ray J, giving Ray the green light to use his likeness in movies, music, publications and all types of media.

Suge clarified that Ray J won't be the only one calling the shots, saying his fiancee Toi-Linn Kelly has his power of attorney. However, we've seen the contract with Ray, and it gives him creative control.

In fact, Suge says Ray is also going to handle the future of Death Row Records, and it sounds like there's a new album in the works.

Suge sounds confident he'll be out of prison sooner than later. As we've reported, he struck a 28-year plea deal in his murder case last year, but due to prison overcrowding and getting credit for time served ... he could be released in little over a decade.

One thing's for certain ... Suge's got a helluva tale, so Nick's got his work cut out for him.

Offset, Takeoff, Quavo and Saweetie don't make it rain in the strip club, they make it downpour ... because together they dropped a staggering $45,000 on strippers in less than an hour!!!

Saweetie was at VLive Los Angeles last night hosting the strip club's weekly Reign Sundays promotion when Migos showed up and helped her throw around an insane amount of cash ... and we've got it all on video.

Our sources say Migos pulled up to the club around 1:20 AM and by the time the rappers left at 2 AM, they helped Saweetie drop $45k on exotic dancers. Now that's a nice hourly rate for the girls!!!

The money was flowing, and so was the booze ... we're told the club comped bottle service for Migos and Saweetie -- rose, Patron and Hennessy.