UFC

Conor McGregor says he is NOT retired -- still wants to fight at UFC 200 -- and blasted the UFC saying he's paid to fight, not to promote.

Dana White is calling BS on Conor McGregor's alleged "retirement" -- saying he's very confident McGregor will fight again in the UFC within the next year.

The UFC honcho just appeared on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" on FS1 and said despite pulling Conor from UFC 200, he's "not mad" at the guy ... claiming, "The show will roll on."

And get this ... White said there is STILL A CHANCE Conor could save his spot on the card and battle it out with Nate Diaz at UFC 200 ... but there's a VERY small window of opportunity to fix the situation.

Conor McGregor's not just out of UFC 200 -- he's also out of Vin Diesel's new 'xXx' movie ... and according to UFC star Michael Bisping, his part's already been written out.

McGregor pulled out of the flick last month to focus on his rematch with Nate Diaz in July -- but now that Dana White yanked him from UFC 200 for refusing to participate in the promotional campaign, we were wondering if Conor would shift his focus back to Hollywood.

But according to Bisping -- who has a role in the movie -- it's too little, too late.

"His part got written out," Bisping said as he was leaving the set in Toronto.

It's too bad for Conor ... Bisping says he's having a blast shooting the film -- and if it's any good, it could be a huge career booster for him.

Dana White says he's yanked Conor McGregor from UFC 200 -- claiming the Irish superstar refused to fly to Vegas to promote the event.

Joe Rogan ain't buyin' Conor McGregor's retirement tweet ... saying there's no way McGregor will hang 'em up "unless he got f*cking head kicked today and knocked into oblivion."

Rogan -- who's been the color commentator for the UFC for nearly 20 years -- was on his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast Tuesday when the news broke about Conor's tweet and Joe's reaction was about as honest as it gets.

Rogan made a couple of interesting points ... noting McGregor was ringside at an MMA fight in Dublin earlier this month, in which a fighter was beaten so badly, he died from his injuries ... and Conor may have been affected by what he saw.

He also noted McGregor came thiiiiis close to retiring from MMA right before he got his first deal with the UFC -- because some of his close friends were having health issues.

But all that aside, Rogan says he just doesn't believe the announcement is legit -- saying, "There's no way, he'd do it like this."

Well, UFC 200 has some problems ... as both headliners have apparently retired ... with Nate Diaz joining Conor McGregor on the beach.

Nate just tweeted, "I guess my work here is done I'm retiring too."

There's clearly some kind of a dispute going on ... but we're hoping it's nothing that can't be resolved.

Conor McGregor is either messing with his fans ... or just made one of the most shocking announcements of all time ... implying he's RETIRING.

McGregor went to Twitter and wrote, "I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later."

We've reached out to Conor's camp -- so far, it's radio silence.

We've also spoken with a handful of plugged in UFC people -- and so far, no one seems to know if it's a joke or if Conor is seriously hanging it up.

Meantime, Conor is scheduled to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 200 on July 9th.

You've heard of trading selfies?

Well, UFC superstar Demetrious Johnson trades smellfies with his wife ... but there's actually a good story behind it.

We were talkin' to Mighty Mouse about the best picture in his phone that he HASN'T posted on social media ... and his response -- "My son's poop."

Soooo ... why??

Watch the clip, Johnson has a pretty adorable explanation ... until our photog makes it weird.

He's bigger than Conor. He's stronger than Conor ... but if Jason Momoa ever got in a fight with Conor McGregor -- IT WOULD BE LIGHTS OUT, so says UFC's Bruce Buffer.

"Muscles don't win fights," Buffer told us when we asked how the 6'4", 230-poundish musclebound Momoa would do inside the Octagon.

Don't get us wrong, Buffer says he's got all sorts of respect for the "Aquaman" actor -- but even the most ripped, beefed up dudes would get SMASHED by the smallest pros in the UFC.

"I'd put a 135 pounder or a 145 pounder like Conor McGregor on him and it'll be a whole new world for him because he's not a fighter."

"He'd get [Momoa] on his back, he'd choke him out. You put him in an armbar, the biggest guy in the world is gonna tap or cry his eyes out as his arm gets broken."

Buffer says Momoa has the size and toughness to be a decent fighter if he wanted to ... but bottom line -- don't ever confuse muscles for fighting ability.

When it comes to protection, headgear and padded gloves can actually make things MORE dangerous for an MMA fighter ... so says UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

We were asking Joe about the recent death of MMA fighter Joao Carvalho -- who died following an MMA fight this weekend -- and if adding extra layers of padding could help prevent tragedies like this in the future.

While Joe said he didn't know about the specifics surrounding Joao's death, he made it clear he believes more padding is NOT the answer.

"It's actually better to have no pads," Joe said ... "You'll take less brain impact than with pads."

When asked specifically about forcing fighters to wear headgear during a match, Rogan says he wasn't keen on that either -- "There's actually an argument that wearing headgear is worse."

Jon Jones says he was the victim of RACIAL PROFILING -- claiming the cop who pulled him over for drag racing in New Mexico only targeted him because he's black.

Jones posted part of a local news report to Instagram which claims Officer Brown of the Albuquerque PD has had several complaints filed against him for racial profiling in the past ... and one person even sued him over it.

For the record, the APD has claimed Brown has no pattern of racial profiling.

But Jones says he's convinced the March 24th incident -- in which he was cited for 5 violations including drag racing -- was purely motivated by race.

"Officer Brown all over the news in Albuquerque after reporters dig up how many times he has been in trouble for racial profiling in the past. Being a father of biracial children, I'm definitely not one to pull the race card. At the same time, I'm not necessarily surprised about this discovery after the run in I had with him."

"Having him stand there, look me in the eyes and start accusing me of several things him and I both know I didn't do made me feel let down by the community, made me feel powerless, he made me feel like what was actually true had no power over him."

Jones wasn't exactly a perfect angel during the stop -- calling the officer a pig and a "f**king liar."

Jon says he was emotional and explained, "It's easier for me to understand why so many people hold resentment towards law enforcement. Officer brown almost single-handedly ruined my trust in law-enforcement."

"The sad thing about it is, I actually went to school for criminal justice, I wanted to be an officer myself. Fortunately I know better than to let one person ruin my views of a whole group. Just glad people are finally bringing light to who I was dealing with that night."

Pay. The hell. Attention.

UFC legend Dan Henderson is about to give the fellas -- and some of you ladies -- the most important advice he could ever give you.

He's gonna tell you exactly what you need to land a smoking hot wife.

Henderson should know ... his wife, Rachel, is an absolute DIME ... and when we ran into him out in L.A. we had to know ... dude what's the secret?

He has an answer ... hope it helps out ... in the meantime, enjoy some pics of his work below.

We'd advise you just look though ... guy could kill you.

UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz says Urijah Faber's chin looks like a butt -- so, we decided to see if he could seriously tell the difference in a game called, "Butt ... or Urijah Faber's Chin."

Cruz appeared on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs Friday night on FS1) -- and played the game ... and did surprisingly well!!

Here's a teaser clip -- but make sure to watch the WHOLE THING on the show tonight ... it's pretty hilarious.

Mini-Me is pissed ... with Verne Troyer blasting UFC star Jon Jones for using the M-word to attack Daniel Cormier ... a word that's clearly offensive to little people.

Jones hurled the insult at Cormier during their Twitter war this week -- calling him a "mental m**get"

Troyer says the word is extremely hurtful -- adding that people who use that word are "just naive and I would say stupid."

Troyer says he doesn't necessarily want an apology -- he just wants Jones to stop using the word.

UFC superstar Chris Weidman played the role of Super Bowl bet debt settler in the TMZ office ... punishing the producer who picked the Panthers to win -- by delivering a right-handed pie to the face.

It all went down while Weidman was co-hosting the "TMZ Sports" TV show on FS1 -- and brought up the bet Evan and Van made with Weidman back in February.

The initial bet was "loser gets a leg kick from Chris Weidman" ... but Van (he picked the Panthers) was able to negotiate down to a pie to the face.

A.C. Slater's no bitch ... so says UFC superstar Urijah Faber who tells TMZ Sports when it comes to fighting, Mario Lopez is the REAL DEAL.

Faber says he and Lopez have been friends for a while -- and can personally vouch for his fighting skills ... saying Lopez really excels in boxing and wrestling. For real.

"Mario is a beast, brother."

The "Extra" host is 42 years old -- but Faber says the guy is in insane shape and could seriously hold his own if Dana White comes calling for a real deal UFC fight.

Zack Morris rematch, anyone???