UFC

Tyron Woodley wants a crack at Khabib Nurmagomedov ... sending a message to the UFC superstar -- "We can meet at a catch weight!"

Woodley says he's just about ready to return to the Octagon after dealing with a hand issue -- and he's on a mission to win back the UFC welterweight title.

... and when that happens, Tyron says he would LOVE to fight Khabib -- a guy he has tremendous respect for as an athlete.

"I want to fight Khabib," Tyron said on 'The Hollywood Beatdown' ... "He's dope as hell, he's super dope. I'm a fan of his."

Of course, Tyron fights at 170 and Khabib fights at 155 -- but Woodley says he's down to meet at 165 pounds ... "for the right bag."

Woodley says Khabib has struggled to make 155 in the past and thinks it's only a matter of time before the Dagestani superstar moves up ... so why not take a fight with Woodley?

Plus, Tyron says the style matchup is perfect -- "I got the best takedown defense in the history of the sport."

But, before that can happen, Tyron says he's gotta beat up Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington ... two fights he wants BAD.

There's more in this ep of 'The Beatdown' -- Tyron calls out Kobe Bryant for calling out a little girl on the NBA star's youth basketball team.

He also admonishes Antonio Brown's entourage ... saying SOMEONE close to the NFL star needs to step up and help get his life back on track.

Rap star Action Bronson is a hardcore UFC fan ... and he's got some advice for Dana White when it comes to Conor McGregor's next fight!

Here's the current situation in the UFC ...

Conor wants a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Khabib ain't down, saying he'd rather fight a more deserving opponent like Tony Ferguson or Georges St-Pierre.

Dustin Poirier recently lost to Khabib and says the only fight that makes sense is a rematch of the 2014 bout with Conor. Conor wants Dustin to beg him to make that fight happen.

Meanwhile, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is fighting Justin Gaethje on Saturday ... and there's rumblings that Conor could get the winner of that fight.

The UFC has previously tried to book Conor to fight both Cowboy and Justin ... but neither happened for various reasons.

Dana White has TRIED to book Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson on FOUR separate occasions ... but the fight always fell through, mostly due to injuries.

Khabib Nurmagomedov sat down with Vladimir Putin on Thursday -- and the President of Russia showered him with praise for another impressive UFC victory.

It all went down in Khabib's homeland of Dagestan (which is part of Russia) -- and the leader of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasilyev, was on hand to honor the 30-year-old for his UFC 242 victory over Dustin Poirier.

Putin is known for being a massive combat sports fan -- and he's been a huge supporter of Khabib for years.

In fact, when Khabib smashed Conor McGregor back in 2018, Putin summoned the Eagle for a little celebratory snack in a dinky room with a dinky food spread in the city of Ulyanovsk.

But, this time, the gang upgraded to a nicer meeting spot with big leather chairs and a fancy table -- where Putin praised Khabib's father, Abdulmanap, for raising a champion.

"I'll start with you: I want to congratulate you on the victory of your son. A well deserved victory and a challenging opponent ... He's a strong fighter."

Putin continued with Khabib ... "I congratulate you, a very good match, beautiful, honest. I looked, a good asphyxiation."

Putin called Khabib an "excellent athlete" and said the victory over Poirier was "convincing."

UFC superstar Tyron Woodley says his hand is just about healed up and he's ready to punch faces again -- telling TMZ Sports he expects to get back in the Octagon before the end of the year.

Woodley was supposed to fight Robbie Lawler on June 29 -- but had to pull out because his hand was still jacked up from a previous fight.

But, good news! Woodley says "I'm good now" -- and he's working with the UFC to line up his next opponent.

"They offered me a couple of fights the last couple days so you should see me in there pretty soon."

Tyron wouldn't name potential opponents -- but said he's still gunning to get a rematch with Kamaru Usman, who defeated him back in March to win the UFC welterweight belt.

"I want my belt back. That's the fight I want the most."

Besides Kamaru, the top names in Tyron's division are guys like Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards ... which would all be great fights.

In the meantime, Tyron says he's training his ass off -- and gunning to work with legends like Georges St-Pierre and the Diaz Brothers.

"If I'm not gonna fight them ... why not train with them?"

Dana White says BJ Penn will never fight in the UFC again after brawling in the street in Hawaii -- advising the Hall of Famer that he needs to get his personal life in order.

"He wont fight again. That's it. That's a wrap" White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

TMZ Sports broke the stories ... 40-year-old Penn has been at the center of TWO street fights in Hawaii over the past few months. Most recently, he got knocked out in a slug fest outside the Lava Shack on the Big Island in a fight captured on video.

So, was the Lava Shack fight the last straw for Dana?

"It's not even that this was the last straw, it's ... I didn't love him continuing to fight anyway, but when you have the relationship that he and I have and he's getting me on the phone begging me for another fight, begging me for another opportunity, it's hard for me to turn him down."

"But, after what I saw on that video, BJ needs to ... he needs to focus on his personal life, get himself together before he worries about fighting again."

Penn is on a 7-fight losing streak in the UFC -- but Dana had said he would let Penn take one last fight against Nik Lentz later this year. Clearly, that's not happening now.

As for BJ, he claims he was NOT the aggressor in either Hawaii street fight -- and insists he was trying to DIFFUSE the situation outside the Lava Shack before things escalated.

"What I saw in that video was sad," White added ... "And, I love the kid and I hope he gets his life together."

BJ Penn says he tried to WALK AWAY from the man he fought outside of a bar in Hawaii last month -- but claims the other guy snapped and attacked, leaving BJ to defend himself.

The UFC Hall of Famer is finally speaking out about that crazy incident outside of the Lava Shack on the Big Island where footage published by TMZ Sports showed Penn in a fist fight with another man. Penn was knocked down in the fight but eventually got up and smothered the man.

So, what happened? Penn told his side of the story to TSN ...

"I’m at a concert going to meet a friend that I’ve known since we were really young kids and I’m over there and an acquaintance of mine, he gets mad about something, you know something was said or it was an old past thing and then he wants to fight about it," Penn says.

"I was like, 'No, no, I don’t want to fight, we’re friends, everything is cool.' He even walks outside and I’m thinking, this is silly I’m going to go get him, calm him down and get him to come back inside and enjoy the concert, we’ve got some other friends there."

"I walk outside to go give the guy a hug and then he hits me twice and I’m like, 'No, calm down!'  I try to give him another hug and he hits me a couple more times and he hits me again."

"Finally my adrenaline picked up because he was hitting me so much so I said, 'Go ahead and hit me again.'"

Penn continues ... "I thought the guy would eventually just say forget it BJ, whatever, walk away, but he hit me -- and he hit me good and knocked me down -- and then when I got back up he tried it again and I just had to defend myself and that’s what you see in the second video."

Penn claims the videos were "edited" to cut out moments where Penn was trying to hug the other man. TMZ Sports did not cut a single frame out of the clips. We posted what we were able to obtain in its entirety.

During the TSN interview, Penn also touched on the OTHER recent bar fight he got into outside of a strip club on Oahu in June, another incident captured on video.

"There was another video on TMZ of me holding somebody on the ground ... I’m in the middle of a custody case right now and from that last one I already got a lot of flak from the custody evaluator, from their lawyer of course, from my lawyer."

"The last thing I want to do is get into any type of trouble, my custody case, me seeing my kids depends on all this stuff and it’s just really strange how things just happen and you never see this kind of stuff, but here I am in a custody case and this happened twice."

Cris Cyborg has found a new home -- the MMA superstar has signed with Bellator after parting ways with UFC.

"Hey Cyborg Nation fans, I'm very excited to announce that I'm going to be partnering with Scott Coker and Viacom -- I'll be fighting Bellator," the fighting legend says.

"And, you guys know I have a lot of girls that want to fight at 145 pounds and this means you're going to have a lot of fights per year and I'm very happy about that."

The 34-year-old had clashed with UFC honcho Dana White earlier this year -- and White had said he was going to release Cyborg from her contract.

"I will not match any offers, she is free and clear to go to Bellator or any of these other organizations and fight," White said back in August ... adding, "We’re out of the Cyborg business."

Well, Bellator wasted no time snatching her up ... and it seems pretty obvious Cyborg -- who's 21-2 as a pro -- will get an immediate title shot against Julia Budd, the reigning featherweight champ.

Budd is 13-2 with her only 2 career losses coming from Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.

Seems Cyborg has her eye on more after that, 'cause she says she's hoping to be one of the most decorated fighters EVER once she arrives in Bellator.

"My goal is going to be the only female fighter holding four different major tiles in the same division and I know with you guys I can do that. And, I just want to say, Cyborg Nation, Welcome to Bellator!"

Ex-UFC fighter Melvin Guillard knocked out a man on the street in Colorado while working as a bouncer for a popular bar ... and TMZ Sports has now obtained video of the violent punch.

Guillard was working for the Ginn Mill in Denver back on June 15, 2018 ... when a scuffle broke out inside of the bar.

You can see in the video, bouncers wrestle with a man to get him outside ... when suddenly, another male approaches the commotion.

That's when Guillard goes after the guy, pushing him back with one arm ... before socking the dude straight in the jaw.

The punch immediately crumpled the guy ... and he lay lifeless on the sidewalk for nearly 30 seconds before bystanders were able to help him up.

The guy suffered undisclosed injuries in the attack ... and pressed charges -- with cops ultimately arresting 36-year-old Guillard for felony assault.

Guillard fought the charges in court for a year ... but he just cut a deal with prosecutors this summer to have the case closed.

As part of the agreement, Guillard pled guilty to one count of assault in the second degree -- but was only hit with probation -- plus fines and fees -- for the crime.

Guillard had been out of the professional fight game while his case played out in the court system ... but he made his return to MMA action last month in the Bare Knuckle Fight Championship. He lost to Isaac Vallie-Flagg via technical knockout.

If Conor McGregor's keepin' it 100 about wanting a Frankie Edgar fight, he's got a willing dance partner, 'cause the UFC superstar from Jersey tells TMZ Sports he'll literally fight Conor at "any weight, any time."

Remember, last week The Notorious told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that he admired Frankie ... and was interested in a bout with the former 145 pound champ.

But, is Frankie -- who declared he was going down to 135 pounds after losing to Max Holloway -- down for that fight?

Hell yes!

"I'm game, he knows I'm game. I'm supposed to go down to bantamweight, but I will obviously delay that for the McGregor fight."

Edgar says Conor's interview actually made him optimistic the fight could finally happen ... after years of talk.

"It gave me hope that maybe I could get a fight with him. I've been trying to fight this guy for a really long time."

McGregor said he was targeting an Octagon comeback before the start of next year ... and Frankie says he wants to fight once more before 2020 rolls around.

So, what's Edgar's message to Conor?

"Hey, lets stop faking the funk, man. Don't just say it. Lets follow through on it and get it done. I'm game. Like I said, any weight, any time. We could really do it anywhere. That's a fight you get remembered for."

Daniel Cormier should NOT hang up the gloves just yet ... not before seeking vengeance in a trilogy fight against Jon Jones ... so says former UFC star Jimi Manuwa.

Earlier this week TMZ Sports talked to Jimi -- a former UFC light heavyweight bad ass who beat dudes like Ovince St. Preux, Corey Anderson, and Jan Blachowicz -- about DC's future in MMA.

Manuwa says DC isn't done and deserves another big time fight ... and the perfect opponent is Jon.

"I don't know if he should f**kin' go out on a loss like that, ya know? I feel he should maybe do 1 more with Jones."

Remember, Cormier just took a devastating L to Stipe Miocic ... and he admitted he's mulling retirement.

It's not only Daniel ... Khabib Nurmagomedov recently told us that he and DC's coaches and teammates also want him to retire.

But, Manuwa disagrees ... and says the 3rd time could be the charm when it comes to Jones.

We've never seen anything like this ... ever.

BJ Penn is getting a SERIOUS offer from the man he's supposed to fight in October -- with Nik Lentz telling TMZ Sports he wants Penn to come live and train with him to help get his life back on track.

Remember, Dana White said Penn's last ever UFC fight would be against Lentz later this year -- but after Penn was KO'd during a street fight in Hawaii, it seems the bout could be in jeopardy.

Lentz tells us he "needs" this fight to happen for the sake of his own family -- but also he cares about Penn and wants to help him get cleaned up.

"Clearly, there's something wrong here," Lentz says about Penn's recent altercations ... "You need to get your life together."

Lentz says he wants Penn to move out of Hawaii -- where he thinks Penn is running with the wrong crowd and it's dragging him down.

"There's people there that are not good for you."

Instead, Lentz says Penn should relocate to Florida -- where he can train at his gym and sleep in his home.

"I'm gonna teach you how to be a man because right now you're a monster" ... adding, "You can't be getting knocked out in front of the Lava House."

But, don't mistake Lentz's kindness for weakness -- Nik says he won't have mercy with Penn when they step into the Octagon.

"I'm going to help him more than he's ever been helped in his life," Lentz says ... "I'm gonna kick his ass for money at the same time, but I'm still gonna help him."

When it comes to street fights, Chuck Liddell has one important piece of advice for BJ Penn -- "It really isn't worth it at this point in our lives."

Liddell and Penn came up around the same time and are both members of the UFC Hall of Fame -- and both had a reputation for fighting ANY opponent, any time, any place.

But, after 40-year-old Penn got knocked out in a street fight in Hawaii this week, Liddell says Penn should probably take some time to think about his decisions.

In fact, when we saw Liddell leaving Rafi Anteby's birthday celebration at the Sofitel in L.A., we asked how he deals with potentially violent situations when he's out in public ... and Chuck told us he kills people with kindness these days.

"I usually have fun with them," Liddell says about hecklers ... "I usually just joke around with 'em. I have a good time."

UFC legend BJ Penn was involved in another bar fight in Hawaii -- this time, the 40-year-old was sprawled out on top of another man raining down punches, and TMZ Sports has the video.

Penn was at the Lava Shack on the Big Island on Tuesday when he got into it with another dude -- and in classic Penn fashion, the fight ended up on the ground. We have a pic of Penn at the bar earlier in the night. You can see the clothing is the same.

Penn had his opponent mounted -- and his legs were hooked in -- and he threw at least 4 ferocious shots to the other man's head ... and it looks like all of the shots landed pretty clean.

You can see several men in red "Security" shirts move in and try to break the whole thing up.

Unclear what started the fight -- but we're told law enforcement responded to the scene. It does NOT appear Penn was arrested and cops say they have no record so far.

The situation is similar to a fight Penn got into back in June on Oahu -- where he pummeled a man outside of a strip club while a group of people looked on.

Cops were called to that incident as well -- but again, Penn was NOT arrested or charged with a crime.

We reached out to Penn's camp for comment -- so far, no word back.

Penn is slated to fight Nik Lentz in the near future but no date has been set. Dana White has said the fight will be the last of Penn's legendary career.

Penn is a UFC Hall of Famer with victories over legends like Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson's domestic violence case is closed ... the ex-UFC star just cut a deal with prosecutors and won't have to spend more time behind bars.

Johnson was arrested back on May 6 in Palm Beach County, Florida after his girlfriend told cops the former fighter roughed her up during an argument.

In police docs, Johnson said he DID pick the woman up to carry her to a different room because he was tired of arguing ... but he insists he never tried to hurt her.

Johnson was hit with a misdemeanor domestic battery charge ... and faced up to 1 YEAR in jail.

But, Johnson's attorney, Michael Walsh, tells TMZ Sports Johnson reached an agreement with prosecutors this month to enter a pretrial diversion program.

Walsh says Johnson will be required to complete an anger management course ... and once he's done that, the case will be dismissed.

Walsh -- who called the deal a "no-brainer" for Johnson -- says the 35-year-old has until Oct. 21 to complete the course ... although he could request an extension.

Johnson retired from fighting back in 2017 with a 22-6 record as a pro ... with wins over stars like Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader and Alexander Gustafsson.

Nick Diaz has a message for Colby Covington -- stop talking, let's fight.

Colby just went off about Nick during an interview with Helen Yee -- claiming he had signed a contract to fight Nick at Madison Square Garden in 2018 ... but Nick wouldn't put pen to paper.

"Nick was on board, he gave his verbal to the UFC that he wanted to fight me," Covington said ... "but when they sent him the contract, he never signed the contract.

He added, "We find out that he's a Stockton soy boy. He's scared. He has Stockton slaps but I got MAGA bombs and he ain't got sh*t on MAGA bombs."

So, when we saw Nick leaving Catch in L.A. on Monday, he disputed Colby's version of the story -- saying, "I'm not gonna sit here and call the man a liar, I never heard about it. I just found out."

But, Nick isn't a guy to dive into the details, he simply made a street offer to Colby instead.

"If you wanna fight man, you know where to find me. I'm not a hard guy to find ... step in my motherf*cking range right here."

He added, "Come at me, bro!!!!"

We also asked Nick about Georges St-Pierre -- and Diaz told us that there's no bad blood, he actually likes GSP ... he just wants the guy to move on with his life.

Conor McGregor's PR tour has touched down in Italy -- where the UFC superstar is still trying to prove he's just your average family man ... and not a violent maniac.

Just days after Conor went on ESPN to apologize for punching a man in the face at a pub, McGregor and his girlfriend, Dee Devlin, flew over to the Amalfi Coast for some R&R.

Conor also brought along his personal photographer to Italy to capture some lovey-dovey pics of the couple ... which we're sure they'll post on social media shortly.

Of course, Conor is desperately trying to push the narrative that he's not a bad guy ... telling Ariel Helwani last week his violent outbursts are a result of being "baited" by troublemakers.

The problem, obviously, is that video evidence doesn't seem to jive with Conor's explanation ... the guy at the Irish pub was just SITTING THERE when Conor punched him in the face.

And, the phone-smashing incident in Miami also seems to have been more about Conor being a jerk than the other guy antagonizing him.

And, don't forget about the 2018 bus attack ... when Conor chartered a plane from Ireland to New York to try and jump Khabib Nurmagomedov ... injuring several innocent people in the process.

The good news ... Conor is using his injured left hand to lift weights during his Italian vacation which is a good sign if he's REALLY hoping to fight again in 2019.