UFC

Dana White says Urijah Faber's comeback is REAL -- telling TMZ Sports the 40-year-old's victory this weekend was legitimately impressive ... and he ain't ruling out a fight with Henry Cejudo. 

Faber hadn't fought in 3 years when he came out of retirement to take on Ricky Simon on Saturday -- and Faber destroyed him in 46 seconds!

"He looked good man," White told TMZ Sports. 

"Obviously, not just who he beat but HOW he beat him and how he did it. He looked incredible."

Earlier this week, Faber told us he wants a shot at Henry Cejudo at Madison Square Garden in November -- but after talking with Dana, it seems Urijah might have to wait. 

White explained that Cejudo should defend his 125 pound title against Joe Benavidez BEFORE taking on Faber ... giving Henry a chance to avenge his last defeat (Joe beat Henry in 2016). 

Look, it's obvious Faber vs. Cejudo isn't White's priority -- but Dana clearly knows there's interest ... and that's good for Urijah. 

In the meantime, White says he's glad Cejudo -- who's the champ in TWO weight classes -- is willing to defend both of his titles. 

"I think that he's a guy who can carry both of them ... by both of them I mean both divisions."

We also spoke with White about Pernell Whitaker -- and how much he meant to the world of combat sports. 

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is so amped up after his victory over Ricky Simon this weekend -- he wants a shot at Henry Cejudo ... and he wants it THIS YEAR!!

"He's the best guy in the world and I want to fight him," the 40-year-old legend told TMZ Sports ... "It makes sense."

Faber says at his age, he doesn't want to be sitting out too long -- and says his dream situation would be to fight Cejudo at UFC 244 on November 2 at Madison Square Garden.

"I think Henry's injured at the moment, but the sooner the better!"

Urijah's right ... Henry is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and will likely be out the rest of the year -- but if Faber has to wait until early 2020, it sounds like he's down. 

Faber also tells us why he thinks fighting Cejudo would be a good matchup for him stylistically. 

And, if that fight doesn't come to fruition, there's another UFC star Faber would be down to scrap ... T.J. Dillashaw. 

Every blockbuster fight needs a big-time promoter ... and Floyd Mayweather tells TMZ Sports he's the guy for Justin Bieber's potential fight against Tom Cruise!!

As we previously reported ... there have been serious talks about setting up a fight between the 25-year-old singer and the 57-year-old movie superstar after Biebs playfully tweeted about wanting a piece of TC last month. 

Dana White -- who was tagged in Bieber's initial post about the dream fight -- has said he'd be down to make it happen and predicts it would be the biggest fight in UFC history.

Enter Mayweather -- who says he wants NOTHING to do with training either celeb for the possible fight ... but wants EVERYTHING to do with the money involved.

"If they bring me in as a promoter, then I can talk about it. But until then, I gotta stay in my lane. Gotta stay in my business."

Remember, Mayweather used to be super tight with Justin Bieber -- he even let the pop star walk him to the ring for a few of his fights. Floyd even trained Bieber to box at one point.  

But, the two had a falling out back in 2017 ... and haven't really spoken since. 

Floyd didn't back Justin when we spoke with him ... but he didn't exactly praise him either. 

UFC star Urijah Faber's comeback could be a short one -- like 1 fight -- IF he doesn't get a crack at champ-champ Henry Cejudo, the HOFer tells TMZ Sports.

40-year-old Faber walked away from fighting in December 2016 ... but recently inked a deal to fight Ricky Simon at UFC Fight Night 155 on Saturday -- almost 3 years after retiring.

The California Kid tells us he hasn't decided what he'll do after his fight -- meaning he could hang the gloves back up.

"The truth is, I'll make that decision later. I'm really enjoying this process at the moment. For me, 1 fight at a time," Faber tells us.

But, there's 1 big catch ... he'll absolutely without any doubt fight Cejudo.

"Fighting Henry Cejudo, Mr. Cringe himself," Urijah says ... "I'll fight that dude all day. Believe that."

Remember, Henry called out Urijah in the Octagon after winning the bantamweight title last month.... saying he had a hit list and Faber was on it.

"Styles make matchups. He's not gonna break me, that's absolutely sure. I'm not worried about getting out wrestled or out grappled. His pressure is what's won him fights. That's something I can handle. Pressure is all good with me."

The greatest female boxer in the world wants a piece of the greatest female UFC fighter in the world ... with Claressa Shields guaranteeing she'd KNOCK OUT Amanda Nunes!!!

"If we were to fight, I would win," Shields told us bluntly ... "In boxing, yeah, Amanda Nunes would go to sleep."

24-year-old Shields is a MONSTER in the ring -- she's 9-0 and the undisputed women's middleweight champion of the world! BEAST!!

Of course, Nunes ain't no punk -- she's widely considered the greatest female MMA fighter EVER ... after smashing everyone from Ronda Rousey to Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm. 

Sheilds says Nunes would obviously have the advantage if they stepped into the Octagon, but in a pure fistfight ... oh man, Sheilds says Nunes wouldn't stand a chance! 

So, could it happen? 

Don't rule it out ... Nunes prides herself on her striking ability and we've seen MMA fighters jump into the boxing ring before (McGregor vs. Mayweather anyone!?). 

In the meantime, Claressa says she REALLY wants a crack at welterweight champ Cecilia Braekhus, a 35-0 superstar who hails from Norway. 

UFC champ Kamaru Usman says he was genuinely "scared" for his UFC rival, Ben Askren -- saying that 5-second, knee-to-the-head knockout looked REALLY bad in person. 

Usman was in the crowd at UFC 239 in Vegas last weekend when Jorge Masvidal turned out Askren's lights with a ferocious flying knee ... and Kamaru admits, "I was kinda scared."

"Actually, I was kinda sad cause he was out for a long, long time," Kamaru says ... "He was out for about 5 to 7 minutes." 

"I was kinda scared cause he was stiff. I thought something might've happened."

Askren was rushed to a nearby hospital -- but tweeted later that night and says he's fine. 

Of course, Kamaru and Ben have a pretty nasty history ... Askren mocked Kamaru for months by calling him "Marty," the Americanized nickname he got during his college wrestling days. 

But, when push comes to shove, Kamaru says he doesn't wish terrible things on Askren -- you can tell there's some real respect there. 

As for Masvidal, who's been pushing for a shot at Kamaru's belt, Usman says the guy needs to "SLOW DOWN" ... though he seems open to the idea. 

Chandler Jones would BEAT THE HELL out of his famous UFC brother, Jon Jones ... so says the Arizona Cardinals DE himself, who tells TMZ Sports, "I'll beat Jon Bones' ass!!"

"Listen, he has the longest arms in the UFC," Chandler says ... "My arms are longer than his. That's my brother, I love him to death, but I'll kick his ass!"

The clip is hilarious ... but Chandler seems dead serious -- telling us his older brother would take the first real L of his career if the two really did square up.

And why? Chandler says it's all about his power.

"I would wrestle him. I'm more strong than he is," Chandler says ... "Listen, I'm not trying to brag, but I go against 300-pound men every day. Jon Bones is like, what, 235?"

Jon fights at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds ... while Chandler plays at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds. The tale of the tape is interesting ...

As for Jon's input on the matter, Chandler says even the UFC superstar knows he'd get wrecked in the bro-on-bro fight!!

"Easy work," Chandler says.

Anderson Silva is one of the greatest fighters to ever live ... but the Spider says we ain't seen NOTHIN' yet ... telling TMZ Sports his son could be even better than him!!

Silva's 20-year-old son, Gabriel, just competed in his first Muay Thai fight last month and beat his opponent via 2nd-round TKO ... so we had to ask his dad how good his son could be.

"He has a great future inside the sport." Spider says ... adding it's too soon to decide whether he'll follow in his footsteps to be a UFC superstar.

We followed up by asking if Gabriel could be better than his daddy, and Silva said, "of course!!!"

Silva says they've sparred together in the past ... and his son has beaten him!!

Floyd Mayweather is laughing at the idea of a rematch with Conor McGregor -- labeling the UFC star's camp as a bunch of "circus clowns" who "can't f*ck with Money May!"

As we previously reported, McGregor publicly stated that he wants another crack at Floyd because he knows what he did wrong in the first fight and he's convinced he can win the 2nd-time around.

So, when we saw Floyd out in L.A. this week, we asked if he was down for another scrap with the Irish superstar. 

Floyd and his crew immediately began bursting into laughter -- and that's when the trash talk began. 

"Boy, boy, boy, boy, boy ... these kids are some circus clowns," Mayweather said. 

"They cant f*ck with Money May."

"They gonna keep coming my way. At the end of the day, I keep laughing, I keep living, I keep going to the bank."

Remember, Floyd beat up Conor pretty badly when they clashed in 2017 -- ultimately winning by way of TKO in the 10th round. 

We asked Floyd -- who made more than $300 mil from the first McGregor fight -- if there was a number that would get him back in the ring ... but he essentially told us he doesn't need the money. 

There's more ... we asked Floyd if he's supporting Manny Pacquiao in his upcoming fight against Keith Thurman. 

Jorge Masvidal's FINALLY gettin' the respect he's long deserved -- thanks to his brutal Ben Askren flying knee KO -- so says UFC star Robbie Lawler.

TMZ Sports talked to Lawler -- who was in NYC promoting his August 3 fight with Colby Covington -- about his former teammate Masvidal's monster win at UFC 239 last weekend.

"That was damn impressive. Masvidal is awesome and it was cool to see him go out there and showcase his skills," Lawler says ... "He's been in the sport a long time and never got the respect that I think he was due. And, hes earning it now." 

"He has almost 50 fights. He's fought a lot of the good guys in the sport. He's impressive!"

FYI -- Masvidal's 34-13 with wins over guys like Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Darren Till.

Of course, Masvidal FLATTENED Askren, the formally undefeated fighter in 5 seconds ... the fastest UFC KO ever.

What's interesting -- Robbie and Ben have history ....they fought in March (Askren won), but the match ended in controversy.

Lawler (and a lot of fans) believed ref Herb Dean prematurely stopped the fight while Robbie was getting choked.

In fact, Dana White publicly said he wanted to rematch the fight ... but it never came together.

Justin Bieber is stoking the battle flames again by nominating Tom Cruise after doing the bottle cap challenge and saying the cap could be Tom's dome, if he wants to join the party.

JB threw up a video Sunday, showing himself doing the now-famous viral challenge that tons of celebs have taken part in. He tells the cameraman, "This could be Tom Cruise's head," and then does a spinning kick to fully unscrew the cap and send it flying.

In his caption, Bieber wrote ... "I nominate Tom cruise and Hailey Bieber." Besides the fact that we're likely to see Hailey's version of the challenge, it's obvious that the Biebs actually DOES want to fight ol' Tommy ... despite telling paps that he was just messing around when he sent out that bizarre tweet. 

Bieber even said at the time that TC would probably whoop his ass in a real fight, but based on what we're seeing here ... we're not so sure. Bieber's got some karate moves in the shed, it seems.

There's one person we know who would be happy to make it happen ... Dana White. He's already told us it would be the biggest purse in UFC history and could possibly go down. There's even been rumblings that Tom might actually be interested in getting in the Octagon. 

Fact is though, he hasn't uttered a peep about it ... so who the hell knows. In the meantime, put this bottle cap challenge up there with the best of 'em.  

Jon Jones powered through the pain after his big win Saturday -- 'cause he was up on his own two feet dancing the night away ... despite having to be wheeled out of the Octagon.

The light heavyweight champ -- who tied a record with his 13th title fight victory at UFC 239 -- was spotted partying it up after walking away with a split decision W. You can see Jon turning up at On the Record at the Park MGM casino and hotel. 

He eventually got on the mic and thanked his fans for showing up and showing love, and then continued to boogie. 

Jon and his opponent, Thiago Santos, both had to be rolled into the locker room after their brutal brawl, but Jon seemed to be doing better at the presser. He showed off some cool tricks in his chair, and was able to get up on the stage without much of an issue.

If you blinked, you missed it!!!

UFC star Jorge Masvidal set a UFC record Saturday -- knocking out Ben Askren in 5 seconds!!!

The two faced off at UFC 239 in Las Vegas -- after months of some serious trash talk between the welterweight stars. 

When the opening bell rang, Ben -- a highly decorated wrestler -- put his head down and went for a takedown ... something Masvidal clearly expected. 

Masvidal had clearly been training for that move -- and came sprinting out his corner with a flying knee that connected right to Askren's temple. 

Askren was out cold before he hit the mat -- but Masvidal continued to smash him until the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. 

Askren eventually woke up -- he was helped to the back where he was treated by medical staffers. He was later transported to a local hospital. Hopefully, he's okay. 

As for Masvidal ... wow. 

Could Jon Jones be the 4th member of the New Day?

Kofi Kingston ain't ruling it out ... telling TMZ Sports he'd love to see the UFC star get involved in pro wrestling -- but he's gotta see Jon's hip-shaking ability before bringing him into the group!!!

Check this out ... Kofi says he actually met Jon recently and admitted he was straight-up starstruck -- "He's one of the greatest of all time man!"

"It was a real honor meeting him ... real cool."

And, with former UFC star like Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey killling it in the WWE, Kofi thinks Jon could be the next great crossover.

"He's definitely got the height, he's got the skill," Kofi says. "From what I see he's got the right attitude."

"I think a lot of people would love to see Jon Jones in there."

Of course, before Jon can even consider a wrestling career, he's gotta get through Thiago Santos at UFC 239 in Vegas on Saturday night.

UFC legend B.J. Penn tried to get into a scrap with a strip club DJ before he ultimately got into a street brawl with the bouncer ... this according to 911 calls obtained by TMZ Sports.

Penn was involved in a melee at Club Femme Nu in Honolulu last week ... with the UFC Hall of Famer mounting a man and shoving his elbow into the guy's throat.

Cops were called to the scene ... but since no victim came forward -- Penn was never arrested, and charges haven't been filed.

But, now, we're learning more about the incident ... with a 911 caller telling dispatch Penn had tried to fight the club's DJ before he got into the street fight outside.

"So B.J. Penn is here causing a fight with the DJ," a woman tells dispatch.

The woman is clearly annoyed with Penn ... and goes on to say he had been stirring up problems throughout the night, saying, "It's really pissing me off."

"He's just running around with shorts and no shirt on. Screaming and yelling and trying to cause problems again."

In another 911 call obtained by TMZ Sports ... you can hear a man clearly concerned about the fight Penn was in outside, with the guy telling dispatch they need help separating the two.

Can size and strength overcome decades of hardcore MMA training if a UFC fighter and an NFL lineman threw down in a real life street fight?!

It's a debate we've been having in the office for months ... so we brought in 2 guys who would know a little something about it to hash it out on the "TMZ Sports" TV show. 

Bryant McKinnie is a 6'8", 375 pound former NFL lineman with crazy athletic ability -- and played pro for 11 seasons. 

Tyron Woodley is 5'9" and fights at 170 pounds -- and is considered one of the greatest UFC welterweight champs of all time. 

So, who wins if they fight in the street???

"Somebody's gotta get the business," Woodley said ... "I can't be on the receiving end!"

You gotta listen to the two superstars go back and forth and state their cases about why they would emerge victorious ... it's actually really interesting. 

But, the bottom line here ... DON'T FIGHT WITH EITHER ONE OF THESE GUYS IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!!!