UFC

UFC honcho Dana White ain't exactly slamming the door shut on Greg Hardy -- telling TMZ Sports there IS a chance the ex-NFL star could fight in the octagon one day ... despite his issues in the past.

Hardy was found guilty of domestic violence by a judge in 2014 -- but the conviction was thrown out when he appealed in 2015 to have the case go in front of a jury ... and his accuser stopped cooperating with prosecutors.

He later signed with the Dallas Cowboys -- but after a less than stellar season, they cut ties and he wasn't able to catch on with another NFL team.

Hardy pivoted to MMA and has been training with American Top Team. His first amateur fight is Nov. 4 -- and he told TMZ Sports his ultimate goal is to become a UFC champ.

So, when we saw Dana out in NYC ... we asked if he would ever consider working with Hardy and he didn't exactly say no.

Daniel Cormier wants ANOTHER crack at Jon Jones -- and he's calling for mercy when it comes to JJ's suspension so he can get another shot at his rival before he's too old.

Cormier is 38 -- and that's why he hopes USADA doesn't hit Jones with the maximum 4-year suspension for testing positive for 'roids at UFC 214.

"I would love for him to get another 1-year suspension -- then we can fight again."

UFC champ Tyron Woodley is taking Conor McGregor to task for using the homophobic F-word 3 times at a recent UFC event ... saying he's sick of everyone giving Conor a pass for repeatedly using offensive language.

"How many passes do we give this dude?" Tyron said on his new show, "The Hollywood Beatdown." "You need to have a bit more of a social conscious when you're saying things."

McGregor has apologized for using the gay slur -- and says he's a supporter of the LGBT community -- but saying "sorry" just ain't cuttin' it with Tyron.

Woodley pointed to Conor's remarks from earlier this year -- when he told Floyd Mayweather to "dance for me, boy" TWICE -- that he felt were racist in nature.

T-Wood also goes after Michael Bisping -- vowing to tear his "UFC Tonight" colleague's head off in the octagon for all the crap he's been talking.

G.O.A.T. recognize G.O.A.T.

Kobe Bryant just praised the hell out of Conor McGregor -- saying the UFC fighter is an absolute "animal" ... who's a "genius" in the octagon.

The Mamba was in NYC to promote his Body Armor sports drink at an event that included UFC stars like Cody Garbrandt, Dana White and Francis Ngannou ... when the topic turned to Conor.

"Conor's an animal, bro," Kobe said ... "I think his personality, I think his temperament, I think his style, on top of the genius nature in which he fights gives him a great opportunity to really propel the league to another level."

"I love everything about Conor."

If Georges St-Pierre beats Michael Bisping, it's gonna be a REALLY boring fight -- which is why rock legend Travis Barker is hoping The Count lights up GSP at UFC 217.

Here's the deal ... the Blink-182 drummer is a huuuuge UFC fan -- loves it -- and while he respects GSP as an athlete, St-Pierre's slow grinding style puts him to sleep.

"I think he's a boring fighter. I think he's always been a boring fighter."

But Barker says he's MOST excited for Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw this weekend -- predicting all sorts of action (plus, he digs Cody's tats).

Supermodel Adriana Lima could beat up Arianny Celeste in a real MMA fight.

For real.

At least according to UFC superstar Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Turns out, Joanna -- who's fighting Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 on Saturday -- is good friends with the Victoria's Secret model -- and notes that Lima has been doing hardcore boxing workouts for years and can REALLY throw hands.

And when a UFC champ like JJ gushes about someone's work ethic in the gym, you gotta respect that.

Joanna says Lima will likely never take a real fight because she makes too much money off her face -- but if she ever did get in the ring, she could definitely hold her own.

Dana White says he's trying to lock Conor McGregor in for his UFC return ... THIS YEAR ... telling TMZ Sports both sides are trying to make it work.

The UFC honcho was out in NYC promoting UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden when we asked about the return of the biggest MMA star on the planet.

Dana says his camp is talking with Conor and they want to make a fight before Dec. 31 -- which would be AWESOME.

What's not awesome ... Conor used a homophobic slur during a UFC event last month -- referring to a fighter as the homophobic F-word.

Conor has since apologized -- and White told us the use of the word is a problem in his sport that he wants to address and correct, ASAP.

The guy who plays "The Mountain" on "Game of Thrones" says he MAJORLY "held back" when he sparred Conor McGregor back in 2015 ... because he coulda Prince Oberyn'd the guy for real.

You remember the video ... 6'9'', 400-pound Icelandic strongman Hafthor Julius Bjornsson toyed with the 5'9" UFC star in a training sesh in Ireland before Conor's big fight against Jose Aldo.

Hafthor talked about the throwdown with RT Sport and said he went easy because, "If I would push all my power into him, I would crush him. Crush him."

"I had to hold myself back because I have too much power for a man his size."

He's right.

R.I.P. Oberyn's face.

He's staring down the barrel of a 4-year suspension, but Jon Jones says he's NOT giving up his fight career -- and he's still training as if he'll be back in the near future.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Jones was popped for steroids in August after UFC 214 -- the second time he's tested positive for a banned substance in the last 2 years.

Jones has been provisionally suspended and is now facing 4 years in the penalty box once the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) metes out the official punishment.

But Jon isn't waving the white flag just yet ... in fact, he busted out the UFC gear and hit the mitts with a trainer -- insisting, "If I made it to the top of the mountain once, I can do it again."

The question ... is he looking to switch sports?

He added another caption saying, "I believe there are talents inside of me I haven't even discovered yet. There's nothing I put my mind to that I can't achieve, just got to be willing to put in the work."

Jones is a freak athlete. He's only 30. Guessing he's not planning on doing NOTHING.

Ex-NFL star Greg Hardy says he's going for it all in his MMA career ... telling TMZ Sports his ultimate goal is to be in the UFC, and he thinks he can be the heavyweight champ.

Hardy, who's making his amateur debut this weekend, has been training for over a year at American Top Team in Florida ... the same gym where bad asses like Tyron Woodley, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Amanda Nunes train.

You know his past -- Hardy was one of the best players in the NFL before his domestic violence case made him persona non grata in the league. Despite the fact he's a grappling newbie, Hardy says he wants it all.

"Honestly I would like to be in the UFC, and be able to obtain UFC gold."

There are some -- including FOX Sports' Jay Glazer -- who says Hardy's past should keep him out of the Octagon, but Hardy's plugging ahead, preparing for his first fight November 4 at Rise of a Warrior 21 against Joe Hawkins.

"I want to be champion of everything I can be. The world champion, best heavyweight."

He pop and locked during his brawl with Dominick Cruz -- but now UFC champ Cody Garbrandt says he's upping his dance game for UFC 217 ... with some Michael Jackson moves!

To get straight to the point ... Garbrandt says T.J. Dillashaw is a "piece of sh*t" -- and he wants to humiliate the guy in the worst way possible.

"If he gives me the chance to dance on him, I'm gonna make him act like a fool too," Garbrandt says.

If you need a reminder about Garbrandt's dance fighting skills -- check out the video below ... and imagine Cody MOONWALKING after landing a shot on Dillashaw.

Or a crotch grab? Or the Thriller dance? Could be very entertaining ...

T.J. Dillashaw is firing back at Cody Garbrandt for all the snake emojis he's hit him with ... saying his UFC rival should have a prostitute emoji 'cause Urijah Faber's his pimp!!

"Urijah's more his daddy (than his coach/teammate)," T.J. said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show. "He tells him what to do and how to feel ... he's just on his leash and he listens to him."

Garbrandt's been trashing Dillashaw ever since he left him and Faber's MMA team 2 years ago -- droppin' snake-mojis all over social media.

So, we asked T.J. what emoji he would give Cody -- and he went with a working girl ... so long as it came with a pimp emoji for Faber.

Ronda Rousey still loves fighting ... but she doesn't have to break arms to be in the scene.

The semi-retired UFC mega-star gave us the low-down on her latest project -- an executive producer gig for the docuseries "Why We Fight."

Rousey told TMZ Sports it's basically a look inside the mind of a mixed martial artist ... and what pushes people like herself to punch face for a living.

"It's not a normal profession or thing to do, but there's always something that drives you towards it and everyone always has their own story."

FYI, Ronda's also keeping busy in the gaming world (Assassin's Creed is her jam) ... and it's looking like she's about to jump ship to the WWE.

Rampage Jackson says there's only 1 way he can get square with Nick Diaz after Diaz tried to swoop his girl -- FIGHT!!!!!!

"Nick Diaz, come to my weight class. You know you disrespected me. You know you was outta order. Come to my weight class, motherf**ker!"

FYI, Rampage and Nick were out partying in Vegas last week ... when Nick made his move in a video that some people think was staged.

But now ... we got Jackson calling out the elder Diaz bro -- even though Nick's at least 50 pounds lighter than him.

Is Rampage being serious? Hard to tell ... but anything to get Diaz back in the cage, right??

Fun Fact: This rivalry goes back to a 100% real (and hilarious) incident where Rampage hollered at Nick's girl inside a Burger King.

Kim Kardashian will NEVER be able to outrun the stench of her sex tape -- despite her family signing a $150 MILLION reality deal ... so says UFC champ Tyron Woodley.

With Conor McGregor expected to make $100 mil this year -- we had to ask who's had the more impressive career ... and Woodley explained why it's CONOR all the way.

It's all part of Tyron's new show, "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- where Woodley also reveals what happened when some DUMBASS tried to fight him a house party.

Michael Bisping just went OFF on the guy suing him over an alleged altercation at a gym back in July -- acknowledging there was an "unfortunate incident," but saying he never assaulted anyone.

Bisping appeared on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs Friday on FS1) and talked all about the lawsuit ... telling us why he thinks the accuser is lying and looking to make a quick buck.

The Count also told us about his Hollywood plans after UFC 217 -- which include TWO big blockbusters.

In fact, Bisping says he sparred with one of his famous co-stars and it seems like he put a beating on the actor!

Check out the entire interview tonight on "TMZ Sports."