UFC

Conor McGregor didn’t step up to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, but Dana White says it’s a “100%” certainty the Irishman fights in the Octagon again -- THIS YEAR.

But, bad news for Conor – he won’t be coming back a UFC champion.

Dana just dropped the bombshell at the news conference for UFC 223 in Brooklyn .... confirming McGregor will continue his MMA career sometime in 2018.

But, as the UFC prez has told us in the past, Conor's gonna have to drop his 155-pound belt as soon as Khabib and Max Holloway get it on at 223.

As for McGregor's opponent -- Dana didn't say. But, the winner of Khabib vs. Max for the UFC lightweight title would make sense as Conor’s matchup.

Khabib and Max also got in their shots at the Q&A sesh ... with Khabib mocking Holloway for thinking he stands a chance against him.

Gennady Golovkin is NOT giving up on a second mega-fight with Canelo Alvarez, despite his positive PED test ... and now has his sights set on a September 15 rematch.

TMZ Sports spoke with GGG's promoter, Tom Loeffler, who tells us Gennady is "100%" committed to getting the Canelo rematch on the calendar ... explaining "that's the main focus for GGG."

Loeffler says Golovkin is still committed to fighting on May 5 ... and his team is searching for the best possible opponent to step in for Canelo.

As we previously reported, Canelo withdrew from the rematch Tuesday after testing positive for Clenbuterol, a banned substance that helps athletes cut fat while maintaining muscle mass.

Loeffler says GGG is "frustrated" with Canelo -- and added that's there's a lot of bad blood between the guys.

UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov just got into an intense, face-to-face verbal sparring match with one of Conor McGregor's BFFs/training partners ... and the whole thing's on video!

Unclear what exactly triggered the scuffle, but Khabib and UFC fighter Artem Lobov crossed paths at the fighters' hotel for UFC 223 in NYC ... and things got REAL quick.

Immediately, you can see Khabib getting all up in Artem's grill as they exchange words in Russian and English ... and their teammates are forced to jump in.

At one point, it looks like Nurmagomedov slaps Lobov straight in the dome before they're separated for a final time ... and Artem walks away.

FYI, Khabib ripped McGregor on Monday, saying he should've stepped up to replace Tony Ferguson at 223. Of course, Max Holloway ended up getting the fight vs. Khabib.

Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager is going NUCLEAR on Conor McGregor after he didn't answer the call (literally) to fight Khabib at UFC 223.

"He's not really a fighter -- he only fights when he knows he can win," Ali Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports.

Ali continued -- "Khabib is his daddy ... this motherf**ker is so afraid of his daddy."

"It's a shame. All Irish people I know [are] tough. He's the only soft Irish I know."

FYI, Khabib told us he immediately contacted the UFC asking Conor to replace an injured Tony Ferguson ... but was told they had trouble reaching Conor -- who wasn't ready, anyway.

Ali says that proves Conor is a "little Irish punk" -- unlike "real Hawaiian warrior" Max Holloway, who jumped at the chance to scrap with Khabib.

UFC star Joanna Jedrzejczyk had the exact same thought as all of us when news broke that Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov was off -- April Fools, right?!

Wrong ... and Joanna was shook.

"I thought it was a joke! But ... it's not," Jedrzejczyk told TMZ Sports.

Joanna -- the longtime women's 115-pound champ -- said she would've been fine with her rematch vs. Rose Namajunas getting bumped up to the main event at UFC 223 ... but Max Holloway stepping up is even sweeter.

"He saved the card!" Joanna said.

As for Rose ... JJ's got nothing but respect for the woman who ended her title reign, but says she's in for a rude awakening against Joanna 2.0.

Steph McMahon hit Ronda Rousey with a straight-up MEAN personal attack on 'Monday Night RAW' -- mocking the UFC star for the way she broke down after her losses in the Octagon.

Remember, Rousey went off the grid after her first loss to Holly Holm back in 2015 -- hiding her face at the airport and then stating on the 'Ellen' show she had suicidal thoughts.

After her next loss to Amanda Nunes, Rousey went into another black hole and suggested on IG that she hit "rock bottom."

So, it was shocking when McMahon decided to go "there" with Rousey on live TV -- telling Ronda:

"In the record books your very first match in WWE is going to be a loss to me. And we all know, the world knows, how you handle losses."

Obviously, the line was scripted and most likely run by Rousey before the show -- and the fact she approved it suggests Ronda's finally coming to terms with the way her UFC career wrapped up.

Ronda will be ready to exact revenge on McMahon at WrestleMania 34 -- when she teams up with Kurt Angle to take on Steph and Triple H.

Our money's on Rowdy.

UFC star Brian Ortega told Dana White 'HELL YEAH" when he called and offered him the chance to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the 155-pound title at UFC 223.

Of course, that shot ended up going to Max Holloway ... who Ortega was scheduled to fight later this year with Max's 145-pound title on the line.

But, Brian says he ain't sweatin' the double whammy -- 'cause all it means is he's gotta wait a little longer to take out BOTH of 'em!

"My shot with Max (at 145) is already secure ... but then, there's always Khabib. I've always been interested in this fight with Khabib," Ortega told TMZ Sports.

Plus, Ortega's got some cool stuff cookin' on the side -- including a charitable project with Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr.!!

"My first option when Tony's out, I tell, 'Hey, where's Conor? I need Conor. He's champ. Bring this guy.'"

That was Khabib Nurmagomedov's reaction when he found out Tony Ferguson injured himself and couldn't fight at UFC 223 ... he wanted Conor McGregor first, not Max Holloway.

"When UFC call [Conor], he say, 'Oh, I am not ready,'" Khabib tells TMZ Sports.

For the record, Dana White says he didn't want to rush Conor into a short-notice fight because he wants more time to promote a McGregor scrap. Plus, weight could have been an issue.

Instead, UFC booked Holloway -- and Khabib says he's 100% confident he'll smash the Hawaiian easily.

In fact, Khabib says he's already thinking about his next opponent ... and it ain't Conor -- it's another UFC legend.

"After this fight, I'm gonna ask UFC -- 'Hey, Madison Square Garden, me vs. Georges St. Pierre. November. 155 (pounds)."

Khabib had a message for Ferguson, too ... and he didn't hold back.

UFC star Max Holloway is stepping in to fight arguably the scariest dude on planet, Khabib Nurmagomedov, on 6 DAYS NOTICE ... and he's somehow super chill about it!

Max got interviewed at the airport on his way outta Hawaii ... and made it clear that he's pumped to be the late replacement for Tony Ferguson at UFC 223.

"They called the right guy. I'm here. 6 days notice. April 7th. It's gonna be a great night," Max told KHON's Rob DeMello.

As for his thoughts on Khabib, a 25-0 fighter who used to WRESTLE BEARS as a child -- "Animal. Animal."

"But, you know what they say -- to be the best you got to beat the best, and the best is Blessed, baby, so I can't wait."

FYI, the winner gets the UFC lightweight belt, and probably the next shot at Conor McGregor ... so you can see why Holloway, the featherweight champ, ain't sweatin' it too hard.

If Floyd Mayweather ever steps inside the Octagon, Conor McGregor wants to be the guy staring at him from across the cage -- so says Dana White.

We got the UFC prez out in L.A. ... and asked him if there was anything cookin' on the Mayweather-to-UFC front.

Dana wouldn't say anything definitive, but he did drop this pretty cryptic message on us.

"I'm interested and obviously he's interested. The last time we were both interested you saw what happened," White told TMZ Sports.

As for his first opponent -- "Possibly Conor. I know Conor wants it."

BOOM!!!

FYI, Floyd recently said it might be tough for him and McGregor to fight 'cause he'd want Conor to drop back down to 145 pounds, but at the same time -- "if the numbers are right, then we can make it happen."

Here's Joanna Krupa declaring her allegiance to Poland's #1 UFC star, Joanna Jedrzejczyk ... and using some questionable vernacular along the way.

We got Krupa -- who moved from Poland to the U.S. when she was 5 -- in the Bev Hills ... where 'The Real Housewives' star told us she was a huge fan of her same-name sister.

"I love her. She’s Polish, of course I support her!" Krupa told TMZ Sports.

But when we asked if JJ could beat Rose Namajunas in their UFC title rematch ... that's when things got a little dicey.

"She can do it, she’s a Pol**k. Pol**k’s rule!"

"We're driven ... especially if you come from a communist country you have that in your blood."

FYI, the P-word ain't really the most P.C. term ... and Poland hasn't technically been communist in 3 decades.

Elias Theodorou just made history as the first UFC fighter to work as a "ring boy" ... and after killin' it in his debut, says he's got HUGE plans for the concept!!

We spoke to Elias after last weekend's fight card for Invicta FC (an all-women's MMA promotion) ... where he strutted around the cage like the dude version of Arianny Celeste.

The middleweight stud told us he had such a good time, he's gonna reach out to other UFC guys to form a "Ring Boys of MMA" crew.

Elias says he'll start with t-shirts and a sexy bros calendar ... and one of his first big ideas -- "There's an opportunity to start another conversation that 'big is beautiful' and have some heavyweights on this," Theodorou told TMZ Sports.

"How about Mr. Derrick Lewis for July?"

ET's also dipping into the Hollywood scene as he gears up for his next UFC scrap in May ... and get this -- it sounds like he's bringing "Street Fighter" back!!!

Tony Ferguson respects Khabib Nurmagomedov as an athlete ... but says the 1 area he falls short is "mental toughness," and he's gonna expose that next weekend at UFC 223.

We spoke with the UFC interim lightweight champ in the lead-up to their long-awaited title fight ... and Tony told us Khabib's already shown his true colors by botching his weight cut days before they were scheduled to fight at UFC 209.

Ferguson says Nurmagomedov "took food off my kid's table" by getting that fight scrapped ... and he ain't letting that slide.

UFC champ Demetrious Johnson says he wipes the floor with Rampage Jackson every time they fight ... in the virtual world, that is.

You might've heard -- Demetrious is a HUGE gamer with over 150k followers on Twitch ... so when he isn't wrecking guys inside the Octagon, he's crushing plebes in games like Fortnite and PUBG.

One of the MMA stars DJ gets down with is Rampage Jackson ... and we had to ask what happens when they strap on their headsets.

"We go back and forth. Rampage is pretty damn good," Johnson told TMZ Sports.

That said -- "Fighting game, I'll mop him. If it's a first-person shooter, anything can happen."

Canelo Alvarez is suspended, but his rematch with Gennady Golovkin -- only 36 days away -- will go on, according to Dana White ... 'cause there's too much damn money on the line.

We saw Dana in L.A. and asked him about the most anticipated rematch in boxing ... and whether there's any shot in hell the fight happens May 5.

Remember ... Canelo was temporarily suspended after twice testing positive for a banned substance (he blamed contaminated beef). This week, the Nevada State Athletic Commission hit the champ with a formal complaint -- meaning he is facing a year suspension.

Still, Dana believes the almighty dollar will prevail, and come Cinco de Mayo, Canelo and GGG will fight.

"Yeah, I think it will. There's too much money involved."

Floyd Mayweather couldn't have picked a better teacher for his MMA quest -- so says Jay Glazer, who's convinced Tyron Woodley is the man to mold Floyd into an Octagon killer.

Don't get it twisted -- Jay, an MMA analyst, clearly thinks Mayweather's facing a steep learning curve ... but when it comes to one of his biggest holes, he told us the UFC welterweight champ has him covered.

"He's in good hands. If you want to learn wrestling, Tyron's the guy to learn it from, no doubt," Glazier told TMZ Sports in Hollywood.

Jay also told us why all Floyd's haters need to take a step back ... 'cause anyone trying to master "the toughest sport in the world" should get respect.