TMZ Sports

Iranian wrestling champ Navid Afkari has been executed in Iran, officials confirm.

The 27-year-old was hanged Saturday morning in Adelabad prison in the city of Shiraz, according to Iranian state media IRNA.

As we previously reported, Afkari participated in a peaceful 2018 protest against government policies. But, officials later accused him of stabbing a water supply company employee during the protests.

Afkari apparently confessed to the stabbing in a video put out by Iranian officials last week .. but most believe the confession was forced after he had been tortured.

Afkari -- a decorated wrestler in Iran who medaled in multiple national tournaments -- had been issued TWO death sentences for his alleged crimes in order to send a message to the rest of the country.

President Trump had tweeted to the Iranian government earlier this month asking them to spare Afkari's life.

"Hearing that Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old Navid Afkarai, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets," Trump said.

"They were protesting the 'country’s worsening economic situation and inflation.'"

Ultimately, Iran ignored Trump's request.

Forget the Music City Miracle, the Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa High School football team just scored the wildest, greatest touchdown EVER.

It went down Friday night when the team was playing rival Wetumpka High. Hillcrest was down 30-28 with 2.9 seconds left in the game on their own 41-yard line. So, it's do or die.

Quarterback Ethan Crawford passes the ball to the running back in the flat, and that's when the craziness starts. Watch as various players get the ball via a total of 9 --  COUNT THEM NINE -- laterals.

At times the ball is fumbled and picked up. At times the runner is tackled, but not before throwing the ball in the air with the hope a teammate will catch it.

The 2.9-second play lasted 59 seconds. In almost poetic fashion, QB Crawford is the last person with the ball and runs untouched 46 yards for the game-winning TD.

Nick Diaz belongs in the UFC Hall of Fame, despite the fact he's never won a UFC title ... so says Tyron Woodley.

"He's done enough in his career, in my opinion, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame," Tyron said on this week's "Hollywood Beatdown."

Diaz famously began his UFC career back in 2003 with an armbar submission victory over Jeremy Jackson.

He beat guys like Robbie Lawler before a showdown with Diego Sanchez on "The Ultimate Fighter 2" finale (Diaz lost that fight).

Nick jumped to Strikeforce, where he DOMINATED -- winning all 7 of his fights between 2009 and 2011, winning the welterweight title and defending it 4 times.

Eventually, the UFC bought Strikeforce and brought Diaz back to the UFC roster where he beat BJ Penn and lost some epic battles to guys like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.

Now, 37-year-old Diaz is rumored to be making a comeback ... but Tyron thinks he's already got a Hall of Fame resume.

There's a lot more in the episode ... including Tyron explaining why he's FINALLY ready to fight Colby Covington on Sept. 19th, a fight that's been talked about for roughly 2 years.

Shout out to our sponsor KFC, which is FINALLY adding Secret Recipe Fries to its menu — click here for contactless delivery.

R&B star Kenny Lattimore says his music sales SKYROCKETED thanks to that memorable scene from "The Last Dance" featuring Michael Jordan rocking out to his songs more than 20 years ago!

In other words, THE MJ EFFECT IS REAL, YO!

You remember the scene ... MJ was on the Chicago Bulls team bus, on the way to Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, when someone asked what he was listening to on his headphones.

Jordan bragged he had some unreleased Kenny Lattimore tracks -- and seemed to really dig it.

So, when we saw Lattimore at LAX the other day, we had to ask if the cameo in the docu-series spiked a surge in music sales.

And, man ... THEY DID.

"The Michael Jordan effect is definitely real!!!" Kenny said.

"There's so many people from around the world that started following me, sending me messages [because of 'The Last Dance]."

"People were like, 'This is Jordan's guy' or 'I'm gonna listen to this 'cause this is what Jordan listens to.'"

Lattimore says his music sales went "to another level" thanks to the doc -- noting streams of his songs were up big, too.

If you're not familiar with Lattimore's music ... GET ON YOUTUBE ALREADY AND CHECK IT OUT!

Dude was huge in the '90s and even got a Grammy nod for his smash hit "For You."

Two pit bulls allegedly belonging to NFL wide receiver Demaryius Thomas attacked a woman and her pet dog this week causing major injuries ... and now officials have launched an investigation.

Jennifer Savage told WSB-TV in Atlanta she was hanging out on her front lawn with her own dog Thursday when out of nowhere, 2 pits went after her pooch.

"I look up, not even paying attention, and I see two pit bulls charging at me, showing their teeth and growing at me," Savage said.

The woman says she tumbled down a hill trying to protect her dog from the pit bulls -- but couldn't stop the animals from taking "huge chunks" out of her dog.

Savage says she suffered bite wounds to her arms and legs -- and needed stitches.

Her dog, Berkley, was so badly injured he needed emergency surgery.

"They shaved his entire body and there's punctures and tubes all in him," she told WSB-TV.

The news outlet says a police report identifies Thomas as the owner of the 2 pit bulls.

We're out to law enforcement but haven't heard back.

Savage told WSB-TV she's obviously very upset and wants to pursue charges against Thomas over the incident.

We reached out to DT's rep for comment but haven't heard back.

Thomas was a star WR for the Denver Broncos, Patriots, Texans and NY Jets -- but he's currently a free agent.

Danuel House ... is being sent home.

The Houston Rockets player has officially been kicked out of the NBA bubble environment in Orlando, Florida after league officials say he broke COVID protocol by having an unauthorized guest in his hotel room.

House reportedly invited a female COVID tester to his room on Sept. 8th -- despite the fact she is not allowed to hang with players when she's off the clock.

Players are only allowed to have authorized guests in their hotel room -- people who have been approved by the league.

The NBA investigated the allegations and while they didn't identify the unauthorized guest by name, the league clearly states House broke the rules.

"The NBA has concluded its investigation of a recent violation of campus health and safety protocols."

"The findings are that: Houston Rockets forward Danuel House had a guest in his hotel room over multiple hours on September 8 who was not authorized to be on campus."

The league says there was "no evidence" that other players or staff had contact with the guest or were involved in this incident.

"Mr. House is leaving the NBA campus and will not participate with the Rockets team in additional games this season."

'Bachelor' Colton Underwood's split with Cassie Randolph just got that much more nasty ... she's filed for a restraining order against the reality star.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Cassie filed Friday in Los Angeles. It's currently unclear what her allegations are against him and if a judge has signed off on the order.

Colton picked Cassie at the end of his season of "The Bachelor" in 2019 ... but the two never got engaged. The couple announced their split in May of this year, and there were rumors that the breakup was a bad one ... but it was unclear what exactly happened.

Colton also had some health issues just before the split ... as he tested positive for COVID-19.

We've reached out to Colton's rep ... so far no word back.

Story developing ...

Rudy Giuliani is FURIOUS at the Houston Texans for staying in their locker room for the national anthem before Thursday's game ... saying, "Maybe they should stay in the locker room forever."

"Maybe that's where they belong."

The former NYC mayor was at the 9/11 Memorial on the 19th anniversary of 9/11 when we asked him about the drama before the NFL season opener ... and Rudy didn't hold back.

"I think [the Houston Texans] should kiss the ground of the stadium that they're in America. Where the hell would they make that kinda money?!"

Rudy claims roughly "a third" of the players are from another country -- and should "thank God they're in America. Nobody else in this world has an immigration problem but America so people should stop doing hateful things about America."

Rudy says if players want to go down on a knee, "they should kiss the ground and say 'Thank you God that we're in the United States of America' because there's no place else we'd make this kinda money for playing a game."

Guiliani also said the players should have more humility -- because they're not the "real heroes" in this country.

"The real heroes aren't them. The real heroes are the men and women who ran into that building to save people."

Rudy also went after the Black Lives Matter movement -- saying it "hates police."

"They hate police and they call for the killing for the kinds of people who ran into this building and save them."

He concluded with the age-old "love it or leave it" battle cry.

"If [the Houston Texans] can't put their hand on their heart when the flag goes by, maybe you should live somewhere else."

Forget how savagely Joe Kelly trolled the Houston Astros back in July??

No worries ... the Dodgers pitcher's incredible pouty face jab has now been immortalized with a mural in Los Angeles -- AND IT'S 16 FEET OF INCREDIBLE!!!

Jonas Never -- one of the most famous street artists in the country -- painted the piece this week on a barbershop near Dodgers Stadium ... and it was completed just in time for the 'Stros-Dodgers series this weekend.

If you don't recall ... during the last series between LA and Houston -- Kelly nearly incited an all-out brawl on July 28 by firing pitches at Astros stars Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa.

Of course ... everyone thought the tight balls were intentional -- considering, you know, the whole cheating scandal -- and the two teams REALLY got into it.

At one point, before the benches cleared, Kelly trolled Correa by allegedly calling him a "bitch" ... and then by hitting him with 1 of the most memorable faces in recent MLB history.

Kelly went on to ultimately be suspended for 5 games over the incident ... and, he never really apologized.

In fact, the 32-year-old pitcher later called the Astros straight-up "little bitches"!!!

Sadly, since Kelly's still on the injured list and has yet to serve his suspension -- there will be no rematch between him and Bregman/Correa this weekend.

But, hey ... at least there's a sick mural now to remind everyone of the good times!!

Marshawn Lynch could be the next Joe Rogan -- because he's now a commentator for a full contact Karate Combat league!

Yep, Beast Mode will team up with MMA legend Bas Rutten for season 2 of "Karate Combat," where real martial artists from around the world compete in real, violent fights.

Remember, UFC star Luke Rockhold attended a Karate Combat event back in 2018 and watched some dude get knocked the hell out!!

Lynch is fired up about the gig ... saying, "This fighting sh*t is for real -- none of that cage or boring rolling around on the ground, just that get down with the get down, ya’ know what I mean?"

"I’ll be kickin’ it with Bas watching guys get knocked out, doing all types of crazy moves in wild ass Indiana Jones type settings. It’s hella dope."

He's right about the setting ... the fight location looks like something out of a movie or video game.

The Karate Combat league (which airs at Karate.com) kicks off on Sept. 27 and runs 12 weeks. We're told Marshawn will only be announcing for the first 3 eps.

Bas Rutten is stoked for his new partner -- saying, "I've always enjoyed watching Marshawn just bulldoze people on the field.

"He’s a natural to analyze and react to all the amazing action we’ll see -- and he’s really, really funny."

The Minnesota Vikings will pay tribute to George Floyd's family prior to their season opener on Sunday ... announcing plans to host them for a powerful moment before the game.

Vikings players have been outspoken following Floyd's death in Minneapolis back in May ... with stars like Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks demanding justice.

The team laid out its plan to bring more awareness to social justice on Friday ... revealing Floyd's family will be in attendance for a tribute following the rendition of the Black national anthem, "Lift Every Voice And Sing."

On top of the league-wide gestures -- helmet decals, end zone messages and pre-game t-shirts -- the Vikings will host music group "Sounds of Blackness" to perform the national anthem ... as well as honor community leaders who have fought for equality.

"I don't see how missing a football game is going to keep police from killing black people."

NFL superstar Richard Sherman says boycotting games is NOT the answer to ending social injustice ... with the 49ers DB saying straight-up, people need to find a different solution.

"People are putting too much onus on saying, 'Hey, sports, stop our problems!'" Sherman said. "And, it's like, 'Hey, this can only go so far.'"

As we previously reported ... teams all across the MLB and NBA boycotted games last month in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting -- and some thought Sherman might bring the same demonstration to the NFL.

But, when Richard spoke about the prospects of that with media members Thursday ... he said, frankly, he just doesn't see the point in it.

"If you told me that boycotting a National Football League game would stop police brutality and stop the injustices that people of color deal with, then I would be all for it," Sherm said.

"If we miss 10 games, does that stop the problem?" Sherman added. "Does that solve it? Does that get something done? Do we make those kinds of shots? Do we make those kinds of calls? I don't think we do."

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka had a Grammy-nominated cheerleader pulling for her at the US Open on Thursday -- her rapper boyfriend, Cordae!!

As we previously reported, the young power couple has been dating since early 2019 ... and are still still going strong during the pandemic.

While regular folks aren't allowed to be in attendance for the Open, 23-year-old Cordae was given the green light as Naomi's guest ... so he was able to be a supportive BF for her semifinal match against Jennifer Brady.

Cordae wasn't just a wallflower, either ... the "Gifted" MC was seen pumping his fist and getting as passionate as you can for a tennis match.

Not like 22-year-old Naomi needed any luck -- she's the 9th-ranked player in the world -- but Cordae's presence didn't hurt ... as she beat Brady 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3 to reach Saturday's final against Victoria Azarenka.

Osaka's been on a tear recently ... and sending a powerful message in the process by honoring victims of violence and police brutality like Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor on her masks.

As for Cordae ... you'll recall the dude used to have 3 letters before his name. But, for those late to the game, the YBN collective is no more.

Skip Bayless is NOT apologizing for his comments about Dak Prescott -- saying it's the public that "misconstrued" what he was trying to say about the QB's battle with depression.

Bayless had come under fire from top athletes, media members and even his own network for the comments he made Thursday on his FS1 show, "Undisputed," in the wake of an interview the Dallas Cowboys star gave to Graham Bensinger.

During the Bensinger interview, Dak revealed he suffered from depression during the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

He also addressed the death of his older brother, Jace, who took his own life back in April. Dak believes the emotional toll from their mother's death affected him deeply and ultimately led to his suicide.

So, on Thursday ... Bayless weighed in on the interview and said he doesn't have sympathy for Dak going public about his depression -- essentially claiming it's a sign of weakness for a leader of an NFL franchise.

FOX Sports condemned Skip's comments as "insensitive" -- and says they addressed the matter with Bayless directly.

Fast forward to Friday's show ... Bayless tried to clear up his position.

"As I strongly stated, I have great compassion for anyone having clinical depression which is very real," Bayless said.

"And, this is the final point, one I'm told was misconstrued by many -- the only Dak depression I addressed on yesterday's show was from an interview he taped with Graham Bensinger."

"Dak said that depression happened soon after the pandemic hit, early in the quarantine. I said yesterday that if Dak needed help for pandemic depression he should've sought counseling then. And again, if you are suffering from any form of depression, please seek help."

As for Dak, he was asked about Skip's comments on Thursday afternoon ... and says going public about his battle with the depression was absolutely the right thing to do.

"I got the help I needed, and I was very open about it," Dak told reporters ... "Emotions can overcome you if you don’t do something about it."

Damian Lillard's full Kobe Bryant tribute track just dropped ... and it's 3 minutes packed with tons of nods to the Mamba -- with Snoop Dogg going off on the beat as well.

The song starts with Derrick Milano's chorus ... and then goes right into Lillard's emotional bars remembering one the NBA's greatest of all-time.

"Rest In Peace to the Mamba and Baby Gigi," Dame rapped.

"Still remember where I was standing after the 3-peat. 'Fro was lined up yelling 'Kobe!' but playing Pee Wee. When you know they shoot the freebie right after they tear achilles. Killer!"

Dame D.O.L.L.A. continued ... "#8 was crazy. But, 24 was scary. Respect his name or else he might show up as Bloody Mary. Won't forget the things he mentioned -- how to get a Larry. Whatever necessary, he tried to help prepare me."

"They tell us never look in the eyes of a killer. I did out of respect for the greatest at Staples Center. The closest thing to M.J. and no I ain't talking Thriller. It ain't an I in team but a me in it. Please remember, Bean."

As we previously reported, the Portland Trailblazers superstar helped create the song for NBA 2K21 -- saying he just had to use his pull as a cover athlete to get the bars on the game's soundtrack.

As for Snoop ... his part of the song is just as fire as Dame's -- but his best nod to Kobe???

"It's really disrespectful and it's disgusting just to see that and hear that go on."

Former Super Bowl champ James Jones was so shocked to hear booing during the Chiefs-Texans' pregame "moment of unity" ... he went OFF on the fans after the game.

"If you're going to boo, don't even come to the game," Jones said on NFL Network's post-game show. "Don't boo and then act like that, and then cheer us to score touchdowns when the game comes."

If you missed it ... players, coaches and personnel from both the Chiefs and Texans locked arms before their NFL season-opening game Thursday night.

The moment was powerful ... star QBs Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were front and center, arm-in-arm -- and the demonstration was all to show a united effort against racism.

But, stadium microphones picked up A LOT of booing during the moment from the nearly 16,000 fans in attendance and at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City -- and it really pissed Jones off.

"It's bigger than touchdowns," Jones said. "It's bigger than Super Bowls. It's bigger than all of that. I have two young kids and it hurts that somebody out there hates them because of the color of their skin. And, that is what we're trying to end. We're trying to end racism."

Houston star J.J. Watt said after the game the booing bothered him as well ... calling the reaction "unfortunate."

"I don’t fully understand that," Watt said. "There was no flag involved. There was nothing involved with that besides two teams coming together to show unity."

The mayor of Kansas City, Quinton Lucas, said he heard the boos too ... but claimed those were nothing more than a few bad apples in an otherwise great city.