UFC

CM Punk feels Tim Tebow's pain -- saying he understands what it's like to get hate for trying a new sport ... but hopes they can both prove the doubters wrong.

[Tebow] signed with the Mets? Good for him," Punk said moments ago at the UFC 203 media event in Cleveland.

"I think that's great. That's awesome."

If you're expecting CM Punk to embarrass himself in the Octagon, you're in for a big disappointment -- so says UFC champ Stipe Miocic.

"He's not some guy who's gonna walk in there and drop an egg," Miocic tells TMZ Sports.

"He's gonna go out there ... I think ... he's gonna prove a lot of people that hes worthy."

Alistair Overeem has a strong message for Mickey Gall -- SEND CM PUNK BACK TO THE WWE IN TEARS!!!

Mickey Gall might be new to the UFC, but he can talk trash like a seasoned vet -- firing back at CM Punk with his own promise of a victory in their upcoming bout.

The self-proclaimed "kid from Jersey" was on "TMZ Sports" and immediately blew off CM bragging and guaranteeing a win Saturday night. As Mickey put it ... CM's "gotta say that and maybe to a degree he believes that, probably not."

Mickey also talked about the perception many UFC fighters want him to crush CM Punk ... to prove WWE guys can't just step into the Octagon. Best of all, you gotta see Mickey explain how he's gonna get the job done.

Make sure you check out our full interview with Mickey at 12:30 AM ET on FS1.

Conor McGregor's pumped to make 'Call of Duty' an even bigger smash hit.

We ran into the UFC star Monday cruising down Sunset and we ask him about being in the new "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" video game. Check out the vid ... Conor's got his sights set on breaking sales records.

Jean-Claude Van Damme doesn't just talk the talk when it comes to MMA fighting -- he's a REAL athlete who coulda competed in the UFC back in his prime ... so says Roy "Big Country" Nelson.

Roy isn't just an accomplished UFC fighter in his own right -- but spent some quality time with JCVD on the set of the upcoming "Kickboxer: Vengeance" flick.

And with Van Damme recently lecturing UFC fighters about how weak their leg strikes have become -- we had to ask Roy if he thinks JC could back up his tough talk.

For the record, Van Damme is an accomplished martial artist -- who won several fights as a teenager before becoming an action star.

There's more ... we also asked Roy how he'd fare in a showdown with Hafthor Bjornsson -- the MASSIVE guy who plays The Mountain on "Game of Thrones."

The 400-pound Bjornsson famously had a sparring session against Conor McGregor -- but Nelson says he'd get CRUSHED against someone his own size.

UFC legend Georges St-Pierre tells TMZ Sports he's training as if he WILL fight at UFC 206 in December ... and says Dana White needs to call his agent and book a match already!

GSP was at the "Kickboxer: Vengeance" premiere in Westwood Wednesday night -- and made it clear, he wants to return to the Octagon in a bad way.

"I wanna be [at UFC 206], but it's not my decision," St-Pierre said ... "I'm a phone call away."

GSP says he'll fight ANYONE -- from Tyron Woodley to Nick Diaz -- "If it's something people wanna see, no problem. I'll do it."

The 35-year-old says he's so laser-focused on fighting, he's turned down other opportunities outside the Octagon to train. He's even been sparring.

Nate Diaz is done playing games when it comes to marijuana -- posting a big bag of weed on Snapchat Wednesday night ... with his own name written on the bag.

Our in-house weed specialists (surprise, we got those) tell us ... it appears to be about an ounce of high quality bud ... which usually runs the average pot-smoker about $225.

CM Punk GUARANTEES he's gonna beat Mickey Gall's ass at UFC 203 ... and says he might just bust out one of his famous WWE wrestling moves to get the job done!!

CM Punk says he's not worried about embarrassing himself during his UFC debut ... because he once crapped himself during a WWE match ... so, how much worse could it be??

The 37-year-old is gearing up for his MMA debut at UFC 203 on Sept. 10th ... and was asked if he's nervous.

"It's funny because you can ask yourself, 'What happens if I lose? What happens if I get embarrassed in front of the world?'"

"And then you think to yourself, 'Well, you s**t yourself on national television before so how bad can it go? How bad could it really be?'"

FYI, the incident Punk's talking about went down in 2013 -- when Punk gave WWE fans a little more than they bargained for during a bout with Dean Ambrose.

Hey, at least he won the match ...

[H/T MMAJunkie]

Brock Lesnar is DONE in the UFC -- and will never fight in the Octagon ever again, despite his hopes for a comeback ... so says Alistair Overeem.

Overeem is one of the few guys who actually beat Lesnar during his MMA career -- so when we saw him at LAX, we asked if there was a chance we'd ever see a rematch.

Problem is ... according to Alistair, we'll never see another Brock match, period -- following the drug allegations surrounding UFC 200.

You can see in the video Alistair has A LOT more he wants to say ... but bites his tongue.

It's interesting considering we just got Brock out earlier this month and he told us a UFC return was still a possibility.

We'll see ...

Paige VanZant knows not the ways of the evil Cobra Kai ... or how to properly wax a car ... because SHE'S NEVER SEEN 'KARATE KID!'

So, we were talking with Paige about her insane K.O. crane kick to Bec Rawlings' face at "UFC Fight Night" in Vancouver this weekend ... when she dropped the revelation.

"To be competely honest, and I'm gonna be judged as a martial artist, I've never seen 'The Karate Kid,'" Paige said.

"I need to go watch that."

Check out the clip ... Paige also shows off her black eye ... THE SAME BLACK EYE DANIEL LARUSSO HAD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE!

"You're the best ... around!"

The Diaz brothers were playing with fire Sunday night -- hanging backstage at a Snoop concert ... with Nate holding (what appears to be) one of the BIGGEST JOINTS EVER!

It takes 60 HOURS and thousands of dollars to make every single custom suit for Conor McGregor ... and the guy has DOZENS of 'em ... so says his personal custom suit guy (yeah, he's got one).

We spoke to the UFC guy's longtime wardrobe guru David Heil -- CEO of David August clothing -- who says McGregor is an animal when it comes to fashion.

Here's the math -- each custom suit ranges from $4,000 to $10,000 ... and Conor orders 8 to 10 outfits every single time he goes out on a media tour.

"We also have 2 or 3 extra outfits on hand in case anything happens to the outfits he’s supposed to wear for an event."

Translation -- money is no object when it comes to Conor's look.

And Heil says he's a full-service outfitter -- "From the suits down to the bow ties to the cuff links, he’s wearing David August."

"Every outfit I make for him takes 60 hours. He likes to wear his suits high and tight and really tailored, and his size changes all the time depending on his fights. So we’re always measuring him to make sure it fits exactly how he wants it."

"He’s such a style guy ... he’s always been that way since the day I met him. He takes everything and makes it his own. It takes a guy with the right mind to pull off these extreme looks, and he does."

UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer is going to bat for his boy, Casper Smart -- asking Jennifer Lopez to give him a pass for blowing off a NY fundraiser to be Octagon-side at UFC 202.

"He's a f***ing maniac, he's an animal, he's a competitor, he wants to win. That's his nature and I respect it." -- Dana White on Vince McMahon.

The UFC honcho opened up about his working relationship with the WWE tycoon on Ric Flair's podcast this week ... and while he says it hasn't always been smooth sailing, it's obvious he respects the guy.

"Vince has been very difficult in the past but the past several years he's been much better," White said.

White says working with the WWE on the recent deal that allowed Brock Lesnar to fight at UFC 200 -- along with a deal to get Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 31 -- were "probably the best experiences."

"If you look at what Vince McMahon has accomplished in all of his years and to still be on top and still be doing it ... The guy's got enough money, he's in it because he loves it, he's in it because he's still passionate about it." White said.