UFC

Demetrious Johnson says Ray Borg's lucky he tapped out when he did at UFC 216 ... 'cause he was SECONDS away from breaking the dude's arm in two!!!

After catching Borg in that EPIC flying armbar, the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show asked DJ if he cut Borg a break by not snapping the limb ... out of professional courtesy.

But if you thought DJ was being merciful, think again.

"No, no, no -- I was trying to break it the whole entire time," Johnson said ... "I'm breaking your arm if I get the chance."

DJ says Borg tapped right before he could get the arm in perfect fracture position.

The good news -- "I didn't hear any popping, so he should be fine."

Gotta watch the entire interview tonight on FS1 -- we also talked to DJ's wife about why she was "nervous as hell" going into the fight. It's great stuff.

Jason Aldean turning down UFC 216 to do "Saturday Night Live" was a bad move -- so says DJ Clue, who tells TMZ Sports the country music star shoulda come through for the Vegas shooting survivors and first responders in Vegas.

"He should have represented ... and said 'f**k that money,'" Clue told us outside STORY in South Beach.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Dana White was PISSED when he saw Aldean perform on SNL -- after Jason turned down Dana's offer to sing the national anthem in front of hundreds of people connected to the tragedy.

Dana says Jason's reps told him he was too shaken up to play live -- and the fact that he did SNL on the same night makes him a "coward" that cares about his image more than the shooting victims.

Clue isn't coming at Jason that hard ... stressing that everyone's gotta stay together in times like this.

But would the hip-hop legend have made it out to Vegas? "ABSOLUTELY."

Dana White is FURIOUS with Jason Aldean -- telling TMZ Sports the country singer's team lied to him about why he couldn't perform in front of Vegas shooting survivors and 1st responders at UFC 216.

White says he had reached out to Aldean's camp to sing the national anthem at UFC 216 in Vegas on Saturday night ... an event in which 15 survivors and hundreds of 1st responders were in the crowd.

White says Aldean's people turned down the offer -- saying he was shaken up from the shooting and might never perform live again.

White says he stressed that the survivors who would be attending UFC 216 were shot while watching Aldean perform and it would mean a lot to them ... and the city of Las Vegas. Still, he declined.

Instead, Aldean flew to NYC and performed on "Saturday Night Live" at the same time as UFC 216. Needless to say, White is pissed.

"His image was more important than coming back to Vegas and playing for the people who are his fans and who got shot watching him play," White says.

"F*ck you, Jason Aldean. Stay out of Vegas."

White says he also reached out to several country music stars -- telling us, "Country music was attacked. Those were country music fans."

White says every single country act turned him down.

"Those are people who buy your albums and none of you country music people could sing the anthem in front of survivors and 1st responders?"

White offered a ton of praise to Everlast -- who stepped in and performed instead.

Hey, WWE -- want a bigger, scarier version of Ronda Rousey?

Look no further ... 'cause women's MMA giant Gabi Garcia says she's down to step inside the squared circle!

"I love the show, I love watching WWE, so why not?" Gabi told us at LAX.

Don't get it twisted -- the Brazilian says she's not even close to being done fighting ... but tells TMZ Sports pro wrestling is a definite possibility if Vince McMahon's interested.

He should be. Garcia's got the skill -- she's a 10-time jiu-jitsu world champ -- and she's FOR SURE got the size at 6' 2'', 200-plus pounds.

But for now, she's focused on finding her next opponent.

Girl, guy ... doesn't matter to Gabi.

If Kevin Lee wouldn't have been able to make weight, Tony Ferguson woulda fought him at UFC 216 anyway ... so says Tony's manager.

TMZ Sports spoke with Audie Attar after the dramatic weigh-in Friday morning when Lee initially weighed in 1 pound over the 155 lb limit ... putting the fight in jeopardy.

Officials gave Lee an hour to lose the extra pound -- and if he didn't, Tony could have opted out of the fight.

But Attar says Ferg wasn't about to let Lee off the hook that easy -- "If Kevin wanted (to) move forward, Tony definitely did."

Ultimately, Lee made weight ... and the fight is on.

Of course, this ain’t the first time Tony’s had an opponent with weight issues -- his UFC 209 fight was scrapped after Khabib Nurmagomedov had medical complications during his weight cut.

FYI, the winner of Ferguson vs. Lee could be the next in line to face undisputed lightweight champ Conor McGregor ... especially with Nate Diaz demanding BIG money for a trilogy fight.

Baby boy? Baby girl? Nah ... UFC superstar Cody Garbrandt is having A WHITE KID!

Cody and his model wife, Danny Pimsanguan, were pretty confused at their gender reveal party ... when they cut open a cake expecting to see blue or pink.

But they didn't. It was plain white.

"We’re having a white kid! It’s WHITE!!" Danny joked.

Garbrandt literally dug through the cake with his bare hands ... but still nothing.

Their friends eventually let 'em in on the prank ... and hooked Mr. and Mrs. Garbrandt up with a confetti-filled balloon instead.

Hilarious. Congrats!

If Conor McGregor really wants to continue his boxing career he might've found his huckleberry ... former welterweight champ Danny Garcia, who says he'd beat Conor's ass ... worse than Floyd did.

McGregor has publicly stated he thinks he'd win a rematch with Floyd, and hasn't ruled out a return to the boxing ring in the future (why not? He reportedly made more than $100 million last time).

We got Danny at Team Watson Boxing in L.A. (where huge fighters train), and he said he's more than willing to kick the damn hell out of Conor, and thinks he'd finish him way faster than Floyd did.

"He ain't going 10 rounds with me, I'm a seek and destroy type fighter, I'm one of the type of fighters you want to run from when you fight, it ain't going past 4."

Legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach is currently working with Georges St-Pierre -- and he may have just dropped a huge bombshell about GSP's future fighting plans.

Maybe.

Roach was leaving Craig's in L.A. when we asked what he thought of Conor McGregor's boxing skills. Spoiler -- he thinks Conor sucks.

But that's when he dropped this gem -- "GSP's gonna kick his ass anyway."

Here's the thing ... GSP is currently training for his UFC 217 fight against Michael Bisping. If he wins, could a Conor fight be next? That's what Freddy seems to be getting at.

FYI, GSP is fighting Bisping at 185 pounds -- but he's previously said he can cut to 155.

Conor is the champ at 155 -- but he fought (and beat) Nate Diaz at 170.

Let's face it -- this would be a HUGE fight for Conor and the UFC. Maybe even bigger than Conor vs. Nate III.

So, does Roach know something we don't? Or is it just wishful thinking?

UFC stud Kevin Lee loves the F-word so much, he's wearing it on a bandana -- even during TV interviews.

We would know.

Lee joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show when we brought up some of the viral moments he's created over the past year ... starting with punching Michael Chiesa in the face at a UFC media event. Good times.

That's when Lee (who's fighting at UFC 216 this weekend) decided to push the envelope again ... dropping a few unexpected F-bombs on the guys.

Lee is hilarious -- and goes off about everything from Chiesa to Tony Ferguson during the full interview, which you gotta watch on FS1.

Matt Hughes was on the verge of tears returning to the hospital where he battled for his life ... as 2 ICU nurses were honored for their care of the UFC legend.

On Tuesday, Ashley Hull and Megan Simpson of HSHS St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois received the DAISY Award -- which recognizes extraordinary efforts in their field.

Hughes faced long odds of recovering from a deadly car wreck in June ... but Ashley and Megan worked tirelessly to bring him back to health after he sustained serious head trauma.

"They are masters of their craft and the most caring nurses I have ever encountered," Hughes' best friend Tony Zucca said at the ceremony.

The nurses spoke about how proud they were of Hughes ... which was incredibly moving for the longtime UFC champ and his family.

"We believed wholeheartedly that Matt would wake up," Ashley said. "He beat the odds and won the biggest fight of his life."

Hughes still has a ways to go, but he's already able to walk ... and even practice jiu-jitsu!

Every UFC fighter has an origin story ... and for Demetrious Johnson, his fight career started by the elementary school flagpole -- in a throwdown over WWE wrestling.

Mighty Mouse joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) -- and was asked if he remembers the first time he was punched in the face.

DJ recalled it like it was yesterday -- and says he was forced to defend The Rock's honor when another kid said pro wrestling was fake.

What started ... was the beginning of a beautiful (and violent) career -- a 26-2 record, a 12-fight win streak and a huge match at UFC 216 in Vegas this weekend.

Ronda Rousey hasn't officially signed with WWE, but the offer to come into the ring “absolutely still stands” -- so says Stephanie McMahon.

“We'd love to have you in WWE,” Steph added on her way outta LAX.

Vince’s daughter is super high up in the family biz ... so she would know.

Fans thought it was a gimme that Rousey was coming over after she cut a promo with Ric Flair’s daughter, Charlotte ... but that was almost a month ago, and still nothing.

But Steph says not to lose hope ... even teasing a WrestleMania rematch! Remember -- Ronda woman-handled her and hubby Triple H at The Showcase of the Immortals a couple years back.

McMahon didn't wanna call out Rousey, though ... so our money's on Charlotte.

Dana White tells TMZ Sports ... the UFC will donate $1 million to help the victims affected by the Las Vegas shooting.

The UFC honcho said Vegas is his town -- it's where UFC is based and where he lives -- and he feels it's his duty to help the city recover in any way he can.

The tragic shooting in Las Vegas hit close to home for UFC superstar Cody Garbrandt ... who tells TMZ Sports a very good friend of his wife was shot twice while attending the Route 91 Harvest Fest.

Cody says his wife, Danny Pimsanguan, lives on the Vegas strip -- and was "hysterical" knowing several of her friends had attended the music festival ... including one who was rushed to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Garbrandt tells us he can't stop thinking about victims of the massacre ... and is urging UFC fans to join him and other fighters in Vegas to donate to blood drives.

And the new UFC welterweight champion of the world -- O'SHEA JACKSON JR.!!!

Not really ... but Ice Cube's son looked the part at LAX ... struttin' around with what he says is one of Tyron Woodley's UFC title belts!

O'Shea told us he won it in "an ass kickin' contest" at first ... but when our photog didn't buy it, he admitted the real-life champ hooked it up.

The backstory -- Tyron played one of Cube's boys in "Straight Outta Compton" ... which led to him and O'Shea (who played Cube) becoming boys off set.

So when OSJ asked T-Wood if he could swag out with the strap, the champ obliged.

We reached out to Woodley to see if there was more to the story ... but all he would tell us is, "O'Shea is my homie."

Word.

Former boxing champ Mia St. John is technically retired ... but says there's one fighter who could lure her back into the ring -- UFC superstar Cris Cyborg!

One catch, though -- it's gotta happen at the Playboy Mansion.

We got Mia -- a former Playboy cover girl -- the day after Hugh Hefner's passing ... and she showed Hef mad love for exposing her to the world.

But when the convo turned to her career ... MSJ told us she was officially done -- UNLESS she gets offered a match with Cyborg at Hugh's legendary crib.

Cris says she wants to box, and Mia was in the first-ever mansion fight (yeah, Hef had those) ... so, maybe?

If it doesn't go down ... St. John's got another fight -- against the system she blames for her son's death.