UFC

Did you know Michael Bisping has a glass eye? Wanna see him pull it out of his face?!

Great!! Because that's exactly what the UFC Hall of Famer did on his podcast this week ... and it's AMAZING VIDEO!!!

"The Count" was explaining why he used to wear sunglasses so often during his fight career ... and then reached into his right eye socket and plucked out a prosthetic eyeball!

"That's why I used to wear f**king sunglasses, baby boy!!"

Of course, Bisping has spoken publicly about his eye issues over the years -- but it's unclear exactly when he got his replacement peeper.

UFC fighter Steven Peterson's spinning backfist was so vicious there's buzz it could be "KO of the Year" ... except the guy who landed the crushing blow says he doesn't deserve it.

That honor is reserved for Gamebred ... Peterson tells TMZ Sports.

"Man, I would love to get knockout of the year, but I can't beat Jorge Masvidal's knockout. You can't beat the flying knee knockout. I bet I'll get runner up, and I'm happy with that. I'm ecstatic to have runner up behind Jorge Masvidal."

Of course, Masvidal knocked out Ben Askren with a flying knee 5 seconds into their July fight.

Spectacular ... but so was Peterson's.

If you missed his fight, the 29-year-old featherweight switched off Martin Bravo's lights with a perfectly placed spinning backfist in the 2nd round at UFC Fight Night 159 Saturday night.

So, what was it like landing the perfect shot full force to the button of Bravo's chin???

Jeremy Stephens called Yair Rodriguez the homophobic f-word during a heated altercation at their hotel in Mexico just one day after their UFC fight fell apart ... and it's all on video.

In footage obtained by IndiscutidoLA, you can see Yair and his entourage approach Stephens in the lobby ... and while it seems harmless at first, things escalate quickly.

We heard Jeremy tell Yair "Let's run it back." Then, Yair says something about Jeremy's eye. Next thing we know, Stephens shoves Yair in the chest and all hell breaks loose.

Yair tells Stephens -- "F**king p***y, bro. You're gonna have to live with that for the rest of your f**king life."

Stephens replies, "Let's run it back."

Yair says the fight should have happened the day before -- "How bout yesterday?!?"

That's when Stephens hurls the f-bomb ... "You poked me in the eye, f****t. You poked me in the f**king eye."

Yair repeats the slur back to Stephens and continues to mock him.

Stephens says, "I'll see you soon motherf**ker. Trust me. I'll see you soon."

As we previously reported, Jeremy and Yair were the main event at a UFC fight on Saturday -- but the fight was called off after the first few seconds when Yair hit Jeremy with an accidental eye poke.

Lenny Dykstra is out. Screech is in.

TMZ Sports has learned Dustin Diamond has agreed to replace Lenny Dykstra and fight Bagel Guy Chris Morgan in a Celebrity Boxing match this weekend in New Jersey!

As we previously reported, Dykstra pulled out of the event this week because he's focusing on an unrelated lawsuit.

So, Celeb Boxing promoter Damon Feldman reached out to the former "Saved By The Bell" star and we're told 42-year-old Diamond agreed almost immediately!

Now, the fight is on ... the two will clash at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City on Sept. 28.

Screech is 6'0" tall and 45-year-old Morgan is listed at 5'0".

As for Bagel Guy, Chris Morgan has been training his ass off ... working with UFC stars like Chris Weidman and Al Iaquinta.

Unclear if Dustin has been training but he's been involved with celeb boxing in the past -- fighting Ron Palillo -- aka Horshack from "Welcome Back, Kotter" back in 2002. Dustin won the fight after knocking Palillo down a few times.

Ya gotta think the experience will give Screech the advantage.

UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens says he got into a physical altercation with Yair Rodriguez the day after an eye-poke ended their main event ... all because Yair was talking trash.

By now, you probably know Saturday's main event was called off seconds after the opening bell when Yair accidentally struck Stephens in the eye with an open hand. The fight was officially ruled a no-contest. Sucks.

Stephens says he saw Rodriguez at the hotel in Mexico the next day ... and Yair was running his mouth about the eye injury while Stephens was hanging with his wife.

"If you're gonna come talk to me and talk sh*t, this is the street! It's a lot different. He's lucky I didn't break his jaw."

Stephens tells us his eye has been checked out by a doctor and expects to be cleared to fight soon ... and he'll be hitting up Dana White ASAP to get a rematch on the books.

"Let's run it back, baby" ... "I know how to beat you. I will beat you."

So, Jeremy says he got in Yair's face and shoved the guy ... essentially warning him to shut his mouth or else.

Daniel Cormier says he's got ONE fight left in his MMA career -- and it ain't against Jon Jones -- he wants a rematch with Stipe Miocic.

"Next one will be the last one," Cormier said to Ariel Helwani ... "It has to be Stipe. No one else matters."

Of course, 40-year-old Cormier said he was pondering retirement after he lost to Miocic at UFC 241 in August ... explaining that he needed to talk things over with his family.

But now, DC says it's crystal clear ... he wants the trilogy fight with Stipe to try and win back the UFC heavyweight title -- and no matter what happens next, it's over after that.

"I love to compete and I don't want to finish like this."

Cormier says there's no fight date set in stone yet -- but he was open to Dec. 14 at UFC 245.

Cormier says he's not sure if Stipe has accepted the fight ... but he's laying all of his cards out on the table -- saying he will NOT fight anyone else, including Jon Jones.

As for Stipe, Cormier says he thinks Miocic might be dealing with some issues of his own ... but he wants to fight sooner rather than later.

Claressa Shields still has Amanda Nunes squarely in her sights, and has taken steps to make the fight a reality ... telling TMZ Sports she's met with an MMA coach and her manager talked to Dana White.

Shields -- who's only 24 years old -- is a beast. She holds belts in 2 weight classes, and is looking to make history as the fastest fighter to be a champion in 3 different divisions.

Vasyl Lomachenko accomplished the feat in only 12 fights ... if Claressa wins her October 5 fight with Ivana Habazin, the record is hers.

That's not the only history Shields wants to write ... when we talked to Claressa on Friday, she told us she's seriously considering taking up MMA ... with the end goal being a Nunes superfight.

"I'm really a hard worker, and I'm dedicated to the craft. I eat right, I don't drink, I don't smoke. When you have an athlete like that, and I'm young, I can really pretty much do anything right now," Shield says.

"It has been thoughts to actually start training. I've actually sat and talked with an MMA coach. Shit can get serious real quick."

In order to make this happen ... Dana White -- who previously told us he's open to the idea -- needs to be on board, and Claressa says her manager has already talked to the UFC honcho.

Shields isn't just gonna jump from the boxing ring into the Octagon and fight Nunes, she says she needs to develop her ground skills ... and take a few warm-up matches.

The UFC is creating a REAL custom "Baddest Mother F**ker" belt for the upcoming Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal fight ... and Dana White says it ain't cheap!!!

"I think it's gonna be like $50,000," White tells TMZ Sports.

Of course, the whole thing came about after Nate Diaz defeated Anthony Pettis in August and, during a post-fight interview, declared himself the 'BMF' champion of the world.

"We're fighting for the baddest mother f**ker in the game belt and that's mine," Diaz said after the Pettis fight ... "So, I'd like to defend it against Jorge Masvidal."

White liked the idea and the UFC is running with it -- in fact, White says Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has already agreed to present the belt to the winner of the fight on November 2 at UFC 244, which will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City!!!

What do two fight legends talk about on the sidelines at an NFL game? FIGHTING!!

Check out Mike Tyson and UFC Hall of Famer "Sugar" Rashad Evans chopping it up right before the Jacksonville Jaguars took on the Tennessee Titans on Thursday ... clearly trading fight tips.

You can see Evans measuring Tyson -- and doing a half roll -- while asking Tyson to evaluate his moves.

Tyson coaches him up and gives him a few tips -- while playfully throwing some kicks in the mix, something he obviously couldn't do in the boxing ring.

40-year-old Evans was just inducted into the UFC HOF earlier this year -- but he's been hanging with Tyson a lot recently ... and you gotta wonder if there's another fight in his future.

What's interesting ... Tyson has said publicly he doesn't fight, train or lift weights any more because he's afraid of snapping back into that hyper-aggressive mindset that got him in trouble back in the day.

Instead, he smokes a ton of weed ... and honestly, he seems a lot more chill these days.

Nate Diaz says anyone who has a problem with the UFC creating a special "Baddest Mother F*cker" belt for his fight with Jorge Masvidal is a "bitch" and needs to "shut the f*ck up."

Nate essentially created the belt after his impressive victory over Anthony Pettis last month after a 3-year hiatus from fighting ... saying he and Jorge are the baddest in the game and should fight for a "BMF" title.

The UFC obliged and booked the fight -- they're even creating a special "BMF" belt just for Nov. 2 fight at UFC 244.

Some MMA fans and reporters have taken issue with the belt saying the UFC is making a mockery of the sport by creating meaningless WWE-style fake belts.

We asked Nate about those funless prudes and and clapped back with some savagery.

"If there's any hate or negativity towards it and if there's anybody who's hating on it, like some of these journalists in here, it's like 'cause none of you guys are no fighters, you're bitches, so shut the f*ck up."

Diaz added, "Tell me I ain't the best motherf*cker in the game and watch me fight the whole game."

Diaz also talked about Conor McGregor and the chances of a 3rd fight -- telling TMZ Sports it's probably gonna happen because they fight in the same bracket.

"Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen. Time will tell."

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."