Sports Business

17 million people tuned in to Jake Paul's MVP MMA 1 card Saturday night, and co-founder and CEO Nakisa Bidarian is giving a State Of The Promotion after the event ... addressing everything from whether Gina Carano should've been in the cage with Ronda Rousey to the UFC's decision to drop big Conor McGregor return news during the event!

"Tremendous success. Unprecedented for someone to come into a sport that has an endemic reference brand like the UFC and to perform the way that we did," Bidarian told Babcock Wednesday afternoon.

"It speaks to obviously our partner in being Netflix, speaks to the fighters on the card, but also speaks to MVP, Jake Paul, who is the biggest brand in combat sports under the age of 30, unequivocally, and all of that magic coming together and our ability to execute. So very, very happy with the outcome."

Nakisa believes it was a smash hit ... begging the question, will MVP do MMA again?

Dianna Russini’s former “Scoop City” podcast co-host, retired NFL quarterback Chase Daniel, is breaking his silence on her scandal with Mike Vrabel.

Chase, who played 14 seasons in the NFL, was asked about Dianna during Thursday's episode of "The Jim Rome Show" and he said ... "Look, that’s something that’s unfortunate in many different ways. We haven’t really chatted about it. We haven’t done any of that, so I’m going to leave that there. That’s their business."

Dianna left the podcast and her gig at The Athletic in April after the first batch of photos showing her and the married New England Patriots head coach were published.

Jeanie Buss is used to watching the Los Angeles Lakers win ... and, now she's looking to bring that winning magic to the city's mayoral race -- throwing all her support behind Spencer Pratt.

According to paperwork filed by Pratt's campaign ... Buss made an $1,800 donation to Pratt for Mayor 2026 just last week.

Buss probably had more than $1,800 lying around in her couch cushions -- remember, she and her family agreed to sell a majority stake in the franchise to Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter for $10 billion last year -- but, $1,800 is actually the most people are allowed to donate to a political candidate in the race.

Lamar Odom spent time in Africa with his girlfriend, Rachel Bradley ... and TMZ has video of their epic adventure involving watching gorillas and meeting with local politicians.

The athlete and his arm candy flew to Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, for the presidential election with friends, former NBA stars D.J. Mbenga and Trevor Ariza. 

Lamar and his pals hung out with Rodrigue Nguesso, who works with high-ranking officials, and they stayed for the election on March 15. 

April Fools’ Day had the sports world in a blender Wednesday … with fake comebacks, bogus fight cards and unhinged team announcements flying all over the internet ... and plenty of people got got.

Leading the charge was former NFL star Julian Edelman, who had fans thinking he was dusting off the cleats for a New England Patriots return after posting a slick “Let’s get to work #FoxboroForever” graphic.

Problem is … Edelman retired in 2021 and has repeatedly said he’s staying that way. But hey, toss in a dramatic font and a little nostalgia, and suddenly everyone’s spiraling.

The world continues to mourn the loss of Chuck Norris ... including his friend, actor, martial artist, and Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks, who told TMZ Sports the legendary figure played a major role in shaping him as a person.

We caught up with Blanks at LAX this week ahead of his induction into the MMA Hall of Fame -- an honor he says means a lot, especially since Norris is also enshrined.

That's when Billy became emotional while talking about his friend Chuck, who passed away last week at the age of 86.

Donna Kelce's home renovation plans are the talk of the town ... but it turns out she's been making moves behind her son's back -- 'cause Travis said he had no idea his mom had a "massive" project on her hands!!

Kelce popped up on the "Pat McAfee Show" to discuss coming back for his 14th NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs, but McAfee couldn't let him go without asking about the bombshell news folks can't get enough of on social media.

TK admitted he wishes she had let him know about the work being done ... as he could've put his hard hat on and done the job himself!

"I didn't even know she was doing these things," Kelce said. "If she needed a guy to come screw some door hinges in, she could've just called me."

Winnie Harlow made quite the fashion statement during an event -- she stepped out in a sheer outfit without a bra ... and her confidence certainly turned heads.

The Canadian model pulled up to the star-studded event at Gekko Miami over the weekend to celebrate "The CEO Club" Prime Video docuseries, which features Harlow, Serena Williams, and others.

Harlow later shared her glam pics with her 9 million Instagram followers in honor of International Women's Day on Sunday ... and her outfit left little to the imagination.

Travis and Jason Kelce’s mom, Donna Kelce, is in the middle of a home renovation ... TMZ has learned.

According to official records filed last month, Taylor Swift’s future mother-in-law appears to be redoing her 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1,434-square-foot pad in Orlando, Florida.

The documents show Donna's hired a company to replace 9 windows and 6 doors at the home.

Killer Mike is going to bat for Atlanta’s most famous strip club -- firing back at critics of the Atlanta Hawks’ controversial Magic City promotion … and he’s not mincing words.

The Atlanta rapper and activist weighed in on the debate surrounding the team’s “Magic City Monday” theme night -- and made it clear to TMZ Sports that outsiders should mind their business when it comes to ATL culture.

“So you come to Atlanta … and they say they like the girls and the chicken wings, and the city doesn't have a problem with it, shut the f*** up,” Mike said.

He even took a swipe at NBA players who have criticized the idea.

The Atlanta Falcons wasted no time cutting ties with assistant LaTroy Lewis -- hours after the coach was accused of sexual assault, the team announced he's been fired from his role.

The Falcons made the announcement Friday, not long after they confirmed they were looking into the disturbing report.

The allegations against Lewis stem from his time as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan from 2023-24. A woman claims Lewis raped and attacked her in separate incidents -- with the article including graphic messages Lewis allegedly sent the woman.

Patrick Beverley is in the clear months after he was accused of choking and punching his 15-year-old sister -- TMZ Sports has learned the former NBA player will not face charges in his assault case.

A grand jury in Fort Bend County, Texas, no-billed Beverley in relation to the November 2025 accusations ... meaning it did not believe there was enough evidence to move forward with charges.

Pat Bev's attorneys, Rusty Hardin and Letitia Quinones-Hollins, are doing a victory lap ... as they said all along the former hooper "would be cleared of all charges."

Tom Brady’s NoBull just made a splashy new addition -- and Livvy Dunne is officially in the building.

The former LSU gymnastics star took to Instagram to announce to her millions of followers she’s joining the performance brand co-owned by Brady in a major way -- not just as a face of the campaign, but as an athlete, investor and partner.

TB12 shared the post to his story and was quick to hop in the comments … saying “LFG” with three raising hands emoji.

And she didn’t just drop the news -- she dropped jaws.

Here's a new controversial comment from noted intellectual Cam Newton ... "Women's value get lower the more children that they have."

The former NFL quarterback is already getting tons of backlash for the statement ... which is from his guest appearance on the "It's Giving - Podcast" with Sarah Fontenot.

Cam, who has 9 children with 3 different women, was responding to Sarah asking him, "Do you feel like women's value gets lowered when they have multiple children by multiple men?"