UFC

UFC champ Max Holloway says he's legitimately concerned for Conor McGregor ... not because he's gonna kick his ass, but 'cause Conor could be throwing away his career.

We talked to Max coming off his huge win at UFC 218 ... and the featherweight king set aside his desire to call out McGregor to dish out some real talk.

"Go figure your life out. You're hearing crazy things about the dude, and I hope it's not true," Max told TMZ Sports.

ICYMI, a rundown of Conor last month ...

-- Got physical with officials at an MMA event
-- Was rumored to have been in a bar fight (though nothing concrete has come out)
-- Pissed off a judge at a court appearance for speeding
-- And that ain't all

Holloway says he wants to avenge his loss from 2013 -- but it's clear he respects McGregor and just wants what's best for him.

Herb Dean's one of the more respected refs in MMA -- but UFC fighter Sabah Homasi says he F'd up BAD during his UFC 218 scrap ... and there should be hell to pay for his actions.

"He knows he f***ed up," Sabah told TMZ Sports, "His facial expression was like, 'Oh, sh*t.'"

FYI, Homasi and Abdul Razak Alhassan were trading BOMBS in round 1 ... and Herb jumped in when he thought Sabah was out of it.

In reality, he wasn't even hurt ... and The Punisher ain't gonna let Dean off the hook, especially since he potentially screwed him outta some serious cash ... and also blew another call later that night.

"It's just mess-up after mess-up and it shouldn't be like that."

Sabah's gonna have a shot at redemption ... Dana White's already booked the guys for a rematch at UFC 219.

Conor McGregor mingled with a lot of huge celebs at London's Fashion Awards on Monday night -- including Rita Ora, who shared photos of her and the UFC mega-star with the caption: "Date night."

The Irish fighter and British pop singer were hangin' for most of the ceremony ... seated together at a table with F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton and supermodels Irina Shayk and Jourdan Dunn.

Before you freak out -- Conor just had a kid with longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin ... and Rita's rumored to be dating musician Andrew Watt.

Still ... that didn't stop the haters from coming after Ora -- including Conor's BFF Artem Lobov, who said, "Sorry Rita, burgers are nice but not when a man has steak at home."

Here's Conor McGregor and Lewis Hamilton proving you don't have to be in the NBA to be sports fashionistas ... stuntin' like bosses at the annual Fashion Awards show in London.

The UFC and F1 mega-stars pulled up to the red carpet at Royal Albert Hall on Monday night and posed for some pics with fashion icon Donatella Versace -- who was honored at the ceremony.

Conor was no doubt rockin' one of his custom David August suits ... but Lewis might've outdone the champ with his bright-red plaid joint.

McGregor and Hamilton kept the party going inside the venue -- rubbing elbows with Rita Ora and supermodels Irina Shayk and Jourdan Dunn.

Holly Holm better be on her game come UFC 219 ... 'cause Cris Cyborg tells TMZ Sports one of the top dogs in women's fighting is joining her training camp to help her prep.

We got Cyborg in Downtown L.A. ... and the UFC women's featherweight champ told us undefeated boxing superstar Cecilia Braekhus is flying in all the way from Norway to help her smash Holly (a former pro boxer) at UFC 219.

Cris got in some serious work with ex-boxing champ Mia St. John a couple weeks ago ... but Cecilia's a whole different animal (and a proven team player).

As for the fight itself ... Cyborg admits that she and Holm are cool -- but says that ain't gonna stop her from taking her head off!!

Chuck Liddell says Chael Sonnen's claim that he turned down multiple offers to fight him is complete and utter BS ... and he ain't gonna let it slide.

"I've never been offered a fight with him," Chuck told TMZ Sports. "Never. No one's offered me anything to fight him. Not even a bad deal that I didn't take."

The Iceman says Chael's just up to his old tricks -- churning out fake news -- and he's got a solution to shut him up once and for all.

"He knows where I train at. Come on down! We'll see what he can do."

Probably ain't gonna happen since Sonnen's signed up to fight Rampage Jackson in January ... but it definitely looks like Liddell's prepping for somebody.

Arianny Celeste says she can slay the mic just like Selena Gomez -- and if you want proof, all ya gotta do is peep her new track!!

TMZ Sports caught up with the UFC's baddest Octagon Girl -- who's been killin' it in the recording studio -- and asked who she compares herself to as a singer.

Arianny shot high ... telling us she thinks of herself as a Selena-Tove Lo hybrid.

But don't take her word for it ... Celeste says her new single, "Zoo," can do all the talking. (We watched it. She's right.)

BTW, Selena, if you're out there ... Arianny says she's down for a collab!!

You really gonna say no to this action??

UFC champ Max Holloway's taking a page outta The Book of Drizzy Saturday night at UFC 218 -- saying he's goin' back to back against featherweight GOAT Jose Aldo.

"Be like Drake," Max told TMZ Sports. "I'ma put it on him ... I'm comin' for your head."

Don't get it twisted -- Holloway's got crazy respect for Aldo ... and says he's still got a long ways to go before he matches the greatest 145-pounder of all time.

That said, the young king ain't lackin' for confidence against Jose (his last victim), Frankie Edgar (his original opponent) or anyone else that's in his warpath.

"When you're the baddest man on the planet ... anybody, anywhere, anytime, man."

Francis Ngannou -- the man Dana White says is the next UFC superstar -- tells TMZ Sports he hits so freakin' hard there literally ain't a human being alive who could eat his punch.

We got Ngannou -- who's fighting at UFC 218 this weekend -- in L.A. earlier this week ... and asked him about the video showing him absolutely destroying an arcade game that measures punch power.

"That force can put everyone down if you connect at the perfect position," Francis tells us ... "We are not a machine. We are just human."

We also talked to the man steppin' into the Octagon with Francis, Alistair Overeem, who tells us exactly when he's going to win the fight.

Just look out for that right hook.

Arianny Celeste and her equally hot homegirls are knocking out the beaches in the Bahamas right now ... and tops are optional.

Unclear where the UFC Octagon Girl's hangin' loose in the video ... but Arianny and friends are clearly feelin' themselves, jammin' out to Manu Chao's old-school track about loving life (and weed).

If you like what you hear, Celeste -- an aspiring recording artist -- says you can cop her new single that drops on Friday.

Or ... you can just drink in her other talents. Your call.

Conor McGregor knows how to make an entrance, but it's his exit that stole the show at a court appearance for a speeding violation -- by peeling out of the parking lot and relaying this message ...

"Come and get me."

The UFC superstar was ordered to appear in court on Thursday after reportedly getting busted for driving 158 km per hour (that's 98 mph) in a 100 km zone in Dublin earlier this year. He pled guilty to the offense and was handed a 400 euro fine ($475 U.S. bucks), according to local reports.

But The Notorious didn't seem fazed one bit by the violation ... speeding outta the parking lot in his BMW i8 ... which starts at $150k!!

Georges St-Pierre isn't just one of the most badass fighters in the world ... he's the HOTTEST DUDE in the UFC -- so says fellow UFC smokeshow Michelle Waterson.

We got Michelle out in L.A. ... and our guy had the balls to ask who, in her opinion, was the studliest cage warrior (in front of her husband).

Lucky for us, "The Karate Hottie" and her hubby agreed -- GSP's the guy!

As for Waterson ... she's got a big fight coming up at UFC 218, and says she's coming for her rematch with Rose Namajunas after she takes out Tecia Torres this weekend.

Coulda been fun ... but Tyron Woodley says the potential fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 219 is officially dead.

"Nate Diaz is obviously scared, homie," Tyron said on the "The Hollywood Beatdown" show (subscribe on the TMZ Sports YouTube page).

Woodley previously said the UFC offered him the fight and he accepted -- and it was up to Nate to sign on the dotted line. But it didn't happen.

Woodley says Nate was asking for WAYYYYYY too much cash -- $15 mil -- and he ain't a $15 million fighter.

Ex-MMA star Jason "Mayhem" Miller has pled guilty in his domestic violence case -- after allegedly roughing up 3 different girlfriends between 2015 and 2017, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court docs show Mayhem was charged with 5 counts of felony domestic violence in Sept. -- along with 1 felony count of vandalizing a GF's car and house. He was also hit with misdemeanors for damaging 2 girlfriends' cell phones to prevent them from calling cops.

Miller initially pled not guilty to all charges -- but later struck a plea deal with prosecutors in which he pled guilty to corporal injury to a spouse/cohabitant and the rest of the charges were thrown out.

Miller was sentenced to 3 years probation with a suspended 4-year state prison sentence -- which means if he violates his probation, the judge can lock him up for 4 years. He also got credit for the 62 days he already served in jail.

Hey, Conor McGregor ... Oscar De La Hoya says he ain't screwing around -- he really wants to beat your face in and says he's in shape to do it NOW.

We got ODLH leaving the Guns N' Roses concert at Staples Center the other night and asked him if he's serious about his challenge to McGregor -- and more importantly, if he's in the shape to do it.

That's when the 44-year-old playfully scolded us for even asking the question, "Do you not see me that I'm in shape?!"

The scariest soap opera in sports ain't over just yet ... 'cause Cris Cyborg says a superfight between her and Ronda Rousey might still go down one day.

We got Cyborg training in L.A. for her fight with Holly Holm ... and the women's featherweight champ told TMZ Sports "maybe this fight can happen" if everything were to fall into place.

The problem -- Cris doubts Rousey's ever gonna step foot back inside the UFC Octagon.

Still ... it's a 180 from the stance Cyborg took a couple months ago, when she said she didn't wanna scrap with Ronda anymore because she's a loser.