UFC

Tyron Woodley says Nate Diaz calling himself "The Real Champ" is an absolute joke ... and if he's really serious about coming back, they can throw hands RIGHT NOW.

Tyron just had shoulder surgery 5 weeks ago, but he ain't kidding ... explaining why he can whoop Nate's ass at way less than 100% on "The Hollywood Beatdown" (full episode drops this Friday).

FYI, Diaz claimed he's making a return to the UFC in a social media post, saying -- "I'll see you around May, June. Sincerely, The Real Champ."

Tyron says he truly believes Nate's gonna come back ... but does he think Diaz will accept a fight with him after ducking out back in November?

He answers that question on the Beatdown, too.

File this under: we weren't sure either.

Floyd Mayweather keeps racking up the accolades, this time getting his very own day in a major American city ... that doesn't seem to have anything to do with Floyd.

It went down back on January 17 when Floyd was honored in Oklahoma City, where the brass in town officially declared the date Floyd Mayweather Day.

There were festivities aplenty ... including a dinner, followed by a meet-and-greet hosted by industry mover and shaker Karen Civil.

This was no joke people, Floyd received official documents from the state -- making the whole thing as official as a referee with a whistle.

All of this is great, but what we can't figure out is WHY OKLAHOMA CITY!!??? We couldn't find any connection between Money and OKC ... and it's got us pretty bewildered.

This has gotta hurt Kevin Durant a little ... just a little.

UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic SMASHED Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 -- but you wouldn't know it by looking at his mug the day after the fight.

Stipe posted a thank-you video to his fans ... and the shiner he was rockin' after the scrap had grown into the size of a damn golf ball. His left ear looks like it got mangled, too.

Francis, meanwhile, barely had a scratch on him ... even though he got worked from bell to bell.

Doubt Stipe cares, though -- dude's the UFC heavyweight G.O.A.T. now.

Roy Jones Jr. says a super-fight between him and Anderson Silva is ON ... as soon as they get Dana White's blessing.

RJJ tells TMZ Sports he's already met with Anderson, and has a group of investors prepared to hammer out the details ... and the only thing holding up the scrap is Dana giving Silva the green light to fight outside the UFC.

"Anderson wants it, I want it, so the only obstacle is Dana giving him the OK," Roy said.

Roy says that since Conor McGregor was allowed to have a one-off boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Silva -- one of the sport's all-time greats -- should get to also.

FYI, we asked Silva if he'd take a non-UFC fight earlier this week ... and he didn't say no.

Anderson Silva says he is absolutely NOT a drug cheat -- and is confident his name will be cleared by USADA (the UFC's drug-testing agency) ... possibly as soon as next month!

"No, nothing, never in my life ... I never used steroids in my life," Anderson told TMZ Sports out in Bev Hills earlier this week.

The MMA legend failed the 2nd drug test of his career back in November ... but Silva says his lawyers and doctors are working OT to prove he didn't knowingly juice.

Anderson told us they're taking a different approach with his appeal than back in 2015, when he got slapped with a 1-year suspension -- and he's pumped to step back inside the Octagon ASAP!

Fingers crossed ...

Chael Sonnen strolled in to the TMZ newsroom ...

With a poem to make everyone look like buffoons.

No, not us, his Bellator competition ...

Who he says he'll knock out, what a shocking admission!

That's right, Chael says he'll put Rampage to sleep ...

Putting Jackson's lights out, leaving him in a heap.

Sonnen's not scared of the others either, you see ...

The heavyweights in his tourney are kinda crappy, says he.

Russia's Fedor couldn't win if Putin came through with a tank ...

And Roy Nelson's too fat, you can take that to the bank.

So when Chael sweeps the field and out-fights 'em all ...

Tyron Woodley says things got thiiiis close to REAL violence with Conor McGregor when the Irish superstar called him a "bitch" behind the scenes ... but Tyron set him straight real quick.

The UFC welterweight champ told the whole story on "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- explaining how things went from 0 to 100 real quick at UFC 205 in Nov. 2016 ... with Conor ultimately backing down.

There's a lot more ... Tyron calls B.S. on President Trump's physical exam numbers -- saying there's no way in hell POTUS is really 6'4", 239 lbs ... but he's got a plan to help him cut the fat.

Tyron's also weighing in on Logan Paul ... telling us if the YouTube star really deserves a 2nd chance after his suicide forest videos stunt.

UFC interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson says he's not worried about Conor McGregor's championship status ... promising he'll destroy "McNuggets" after beating Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Tony and Khabib faced off at the UFC 222 & 223 news conference in Boston -- where Khabib promised to break Tony's arm when they face off in the Octagon on April 7.

Dana White was asked several times if he will be stripping Conor of the lightweight title he won by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 ... but White isn't saying.

Great news for rich UFC fans -- the iconic "superfight" belt from UFC 5 is about to hit the auction block ... and you can add it to your mantel if you're willing to drop a small fortune!

Backstory -- UFC legends Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock threw down to crown the company's first ever superfight champ back in '95 ... but their 36-MINUTE bout was declared a draw, so neither of 'em took home the gold.

Now, Goldin Auctions -- consigning the strap for a collector who got it from UFC co-founder Art Davie -- is bringing it to a bid ... and expects it to go for $25k-$100k (if not more).

G.A.'s founder Ken Goldin tells TMZ Sports -- "It's the most significant UFC item ever to be auctioned" ... so expect a lot of action before bidding ends on Feb. 17.

WWE Raw women's champ Alexa Bliss ain't sweatin' Ronda Rousey -- in fact, she's got a message for the UFC legend ... "I'm not worried."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Ronda recently had dinner with Triple H and it seems like a deal to bring her to the WWE is imminent.

So, when we saw Bliss at LAX, we had to ask if she was scared Ronda would be coming for her belt.

"Please, I'm a fighting champion," Bliss said ... "I'm not worried about anybody taking my belt."

As for the rumors Rousey could make her debut in the first ever women's Royal Rumble match -- Alexa addresses those, too.

UFC star Cody Garbrandt says him and Jean-Claude Van Damme are totally cool ... but if they ever fought for real, he would straight-up DECAPITATE the Muscles from Brussels.

"I'd rip his f**king head off ... is that really a question??" Cody told TMZ Sports at the premiere of JCVD's "Kickboxer: Retaliation" event at TAO in Hollywood.

You might remember ... a few months back, JCVD accidentally kicked Cody in the mouth during a light sparring sesh -- a move that had Garbrandt seeing red.

But Garbrandt says Jean-Claude felt so bad he actually started crying ... and now they're bros again.

For Van Damme's sake -- we're glad.

UFC fighter Uriah Hall says he suffered a "slight heart attack" and "mini-seizure" the day before his fight with Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night: St Louis ... and doctors told him he's lucky to be alive.

"The doctor even said that even if I had made weight I probably would have died the next day because my body just wasn’t having it," Uriah said in an Instagram Live video.

Hall says his health scares were due to an injury that hindered his weight cut ... and he's refuting Dana White's claim that he was partying in L.A. -- insisting he was taking his training 100% serious.

The day before the event, the former 'TUF' finalist fainted on his way to the scale and was transported to a local hospital.

UFC pound-for-pound king Demetrious Johnson says it's "an honor" Anderson Silva called him the greatest fighter of all time -- but tells TMZ Sports he does NOT think he's G.O.A.T. status.

That said, when the guys on "TMZ Sports" (airs weeknights on FS1) really pressed the flyweight champ for an answer -- he did admit he's getting close.

"I don't believe that," Demetrious told us ... before adding, "I do believe that I have, out of all the champions and all the opposition I've fought ... it's getting there."

FYI -- Mighty Mouse recently broke Anderson's UFC title defense record with his 11th straight ... but dude might be too humble to ever say he's the best.

UFC champ Tyron Woodley recently told Joe Rogan he doesn't really like fighting, "I'm just good at it."

Yeah, that's not true. He LOVES it.

Especially when he's smashing dudes out of consciousness.

Woodley clarified his comments on "The Hollywood Beatdown" ... waxing poetically about why there's no better feeling in the world than knocking an opponent out cold.

Make sure to check the full ep. when it drops on Friday (subscribe to the TMZ Sports YouTube page) -- when Tyron talks about how his beef with Conor McGregor got very real.

Meantime, here's a video of Woodley doing what he does best ... destroying people.

UFC legend Anderson Silva says he's NOT the greatest MMA fighter of all time -- telling TMZ Sports that honor goes to Demetrious Johnson.

In his prime, Silva had 17 consecutive wins -- with 10 consecutive title defenses -- leading Dana White to call him the "Tom Brady of the UFC." The dude was a machine.

But, that was before Johnson went on his MMA run ... ripping off 13 consecutive victories over guys like Ray Borg, Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez.

DJ's the reigning flyweight champ -- and last year, broke Silva's record for most consecutive UFC title defenses.

What's worse than being brutally KO'd by a juiced-up Jon Jones??

For Daniel Cormier, you'd assume the answer would be "nothing" ... but the UFC light heavyweight champ told us dropping his fight at UFC 220 this weekend could be even more painful.

"As bad as July was, it can actually be worse if it happens again," Cormier told TMZ Sports.

"My motivation is not only competition, but to avoid feeling like I felt in July, and putting ... everybody that's close to me through the disappointment that we felt."

Daniel told us how he plans on getting the job done ... and says once he's finished with #1 contender Volkan Oezdemir, there will absolutely be a 3rd fight between him and Jones.

FYI, Jon's still waiting to find out how long he'll be sidelined.