UFC

One of the people robbed at gunpoint outside the UFC 224 host hotel in Brazil is a famous MMA manager, who tells TMZ Sports ... the robbers shoved their weapons right in their faces.

Very scary moment for Brian Butler-Au -- who manages big fighters like Max Holloway -- and is in Rio to support his fighter, Brian “BOOM” Kelleher, who's fighting on the main card at UFC 224.

Butler-Au says he was at a table on the beach with roughly 10 other people when the 3 men with guns rushed over and pulled out weapons.

"This guy walked up beside me ... he pulled out this handgun that had an extended magazine on it, put it up in my face and then he grabbed my phone."

Butler-Au says the 3 men -- none of whom were wearing masks -- ordered everyone to hand over their valuables ... and even ripped a necklace right off one of the women at the table.

"It happened really fast, but also in slow motion," Butler-Au says.

Eventually, the gunmen sprinted to a getaway car and fled the scene. Butler-Au says his group went right back to their hotel and started working with UFC security and local police.

Scary moment for several UFC staffers -- who were robbed outside of the UFC 224 host hotel in Brazil on Thursday ... so says Dana White.

The UFC honcho says multiple people working on the UFC 224 event were shaken down for phones, wallets and passports. Miraculously, no one was injured, as first reported by ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

White says local police were called to the scene and are currently investigating -- speaking with victims, witnesses and reviewing security footage.

Conor McGregor has returned to his MMA gym ... and took out some aggression on his sparring partner.

It all went down at the Straight Blast Gym in Ireland, Conor's home base. The gym is run by his trainer, John Kavanagh.

Unclear who's on the receiving end of Conor's attack -- but the good news ... Conor didn't actually connect with any of his kill shots.

It's the first time we've seen Conor fighting since that bus attack in Brooklyn back in April. As for that incident, Conor is due back in court on June 14 to face several criminal charges, including misdemeanor assault and felony criminal mischief.

She's beaten everyone from Gina Carano to Holly Holm ... and now Cris Cyborg just beat a parking ticket -- and it's all on video!!!

The UFC superstar was talking with TMZ Sports about her fighting future and how Conor McGregor inspired her to transition into boxing after her next 2 MMA fights ... when the law came knocking at her door!

Turns out, Cyborg was parked in a no-parking zone and was thiiis close to getting a ticket -- when all of the sudden Johnny Law recognized Cris ... and gave her a pass!!

You can even hear the guy fanboy out -- throwing some compliments Cyborg's way before letting her off the hook.

As for Cyborg's career -- she's dead serious about boxing ... telling TMZ Sports she's always dreamed about lacing up the gloves and watching Mayweather vs. McGregor gave her real hope!

FYI, Cyborg sparred with ex-boxing champ Mia St. John just last year and she looked pretty solid.

Stay tuned on this one ...

Oscar De La Hoya says he's one step closer to getting Chuck Liddell back in the cage ... telling TMZ Sports he's "finalizing contracts" for a Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz fight!

We broke the story ... Oscar is starting his own MMA company and he's targeting the 48-year-old UFC Hall of Famer as his first fighter.

"We're finalizing contracts, getting everything rolling," Oscar says ... "I'm excited man!"

Oscar says he's been talking with 43-year-old Tito since he and the Ice Man have a crazy history -- but it's not a done deal yet.

"I think both guys are beasts, man ... they wanna fight each other? Hey, I'm ready."

Chuck hasn't fought professionally since June 2010 when he lost to Rich Franklin at UFC 115. Tito fought back in January 2017 when he submitted Chael Sonnen by rear naked choke at Bellator 170.

Conor McGregor brought Cinco de Mayo to Ireland on Saturday -- throwing a massive Mexican-themed party to celebrate his son's 1st birthday!

The UFC star took over the fancy Kildare Hotel just outside of Dublin -- one of the nicest hotels in the country.

The party for Conor McGregor Jr. had everything from a live band to a balloon animal guy ... and, of course, the best food money can buy -- including lobster.

Conor's entire family showed up -- his mom, sisters and girlfriend Dee Devlin. Everyone appeared to have a great time ... not at all bothered by the looming assault case in NYC.

Speaking of which, several of Conor's fighting buddies were reportedly at the birthday party, too ... but don't worry -- no one got hit with a steel dolly.

Anderson Silva thinks Khabib Nurmagomedov is the "new tough guy" in MMA -- and could become the best fighter in the entire UFC.

At least, that's what we think he said.

The Spider was hanging at The Grove in L.A. when we brought up Khabib -- and asked what he thought of the Khabib's violent rise up the ranks.

"Khabib is great, he's amazing!"

There was a lot of overall praise for Khabib ... including this: "I believe Khabib come the best fight in the sport."

Obviously, Silva is from Brazil and English isn't his first language -- so, some of the things he says are a little more tough to understand than others.

We think he meant, "I believe Khabib can become the best fighter in the sport."

Either way, Silva's a fan -- and really wants to see him fight Conor McGregor.

Attention world class fighters who want to punish regular guys for disrespect -- but don't wanna go to jail ... former boxing champ Andre Berto has a work-around for your frustrations.

Berto was leaving Mastro's in Bev Hills when we told him about Marlon Wayans saying he witnessed UFC star Nate Diaz beat up a regular homeboy who had gotten a little out of control.

We then asked Berto how he deals with those types, being that he's a fighter and legally can't go crazy on an average Joe ... and it turns out Berto has a whole strategy.

"You can slap them. As long as it's not closed fist. I mean, I don't know about MMA but with boxing, as long as it's not closed fist, I'd smack the sh*t out of them."

Here's the thing ... we spoke with a prosecutor and asked if Berto's logic was legally sound. The answer -- "No."

Tyron Woodley told Van Lathan he was proud of the way he handled himself during the TMZ confrontation with Kanye West ... but he needs to be prepared in case they ever have to fight.

The UFC champ had been blowing us up to find out what went down at the TMZ office that day when the cameras weren't rolling ... so we let him ask away on "The Hollywood Beatdown."

And that's when he gave Van a quick lesson on how to fight your favorite rapper.

There's a lot more ... Tyron also weighs in on the Nick Diaz nightclub fight and daps up Dwyane Wade for cutting a $20,000 check to Waffle House hero James Shaw Jr.

Miesha Tate did NOT like Ronda Rousey's comments about how it's a "privilege" to hear her speak ... saying that whole concept is "asinine" and "selfish."

Rousey made the comments during a "Mile 22" media event last month -- saying she's scaled back her media presence because "I believe hearing me speak is a privilege, and it’s a privilege that’s been abused."

Enter Tate ... her longtime MMA rival who now hosts "MMA Tonight" on SiriusXM -- and she went off on the UFC legend.

"This is asinine," Tate said ... "I think this is not the kind of attitude you should have when you're someone who's in a position of Ronda."

Tate says Rousey owes it to her fans to talk to the media -- and to call it a privilege is a "slap in the face" to the people who look up to her.

UFC star Paige VanZant says her USO military tour wasn't just laughs and choking exhibitions ... one of the bases she visited was attacked while she was there!

"We got shot at," Paige said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... "One of the bases we were at got shot at!"

"We all had to like duck and hide under the table until it was all clear ... until they could deflect the fire coming into the base."

Unclear which U.S. military base took the fire -- but Paige says the attack went down last month, while she and Max Holloway were visiting troops in several countries ... including Japan and Afghanistan.

"It was really scary," Paige said ... "but it was awesome and it was worth it because I got to see what our troops go through every single day."

Hi kids. Do you like violence?

If the answer is "Yes," you're probably a fan of NFL-players-turned-MMA fighters -- because Nick Diaz says they tend to have the most entertaining [aka violent] fights.

We spotted Nick leaving Warwick nightclub in West Hollywood when we asked how he felt about Greg Hardy's upcoming UFC debut.

"Football players, they actually do the best in MMA," Diaz said.

Diaz explained how the sport attracts a lot of wrestlers -- but they tend to be one dimensional and develop bad habits. Also, most people want to see traditional martial arts -- packed with striking.

The takeaway ... ex-football players have a tendency to wanna bang more -- leading to more entertaining fights.

Greg Hardy has a message to UFC star Derrick Lewis who recently said he'd LOVE to beat the hell out of the ex-NFL player -- careful what you wish for.

Hardy is gearing up for his first fight in the UFC Contender Series -- where he'll battle for a chance to win a real UFC contract.

Hardy says he's incredibly grateful for the chance, and promises to show Dana White he's a good person and worth the risk.

"I'm not trash or something to get scrapped aside,"Hardy says.

Hardy's past is what set off "The Black Beast" in the first place -- Lewis previously told TMZ Sports he believes Hardy is a "wife beater" and wants to teach him a painful lesson of his own.

As we've previously reported, Hardy was arrested for domestic violence back in 2014 and was initially convicted -- but he appealed and the conviction was overturned.

If Charles Barkley and Draymond Green actually do come to blows ... DRAYMOND WOULD GET ROCKED -- so says UFC fighter Kelvin Gastelum!!

You know the backstory ... Charles said he wants to punch Draymond in the face. Draymond told Charles to bring it on.

So, who wins if these two actually scrap? We asked a guy who fights for a living.

"I got Charles in that," Kelvin said ... "I got experience and age in that one."

KG then dropped some "Rocky" wisdom -- "Every champion has one great fight left in him. And Charles might have it in him. He's a big dude!"

Charles has since apologized ... but c'mon -- these dudes wanna fight!!!

Meantime, Gastelum is prepping for a scrap of his own -- dude takes on Ronaldo Souza at UFC 224 next weekend in Brazil!

Yes, this is REAL!!!!!

UFC superstar Paige VanZant was giving a rear naked choke demonstration to U.S. troops during a USO event with Max Holloway ... when she actually CHOKED OUT THE DUDE UNCONSCIOUS!!!

VanZant had selected a volunteer who agreed to let Paige apply the choke in front of a crowd of very excited soldiers.

But, just a few seconds after she began to squeeze, the soldier's lights went out -- and when Paige released the hold, he collapsed to the floor.

John Gotti Jr. -- a guy known as one of the toughest guys ever -- says there's actually one person in the family even tougher than him ... his MMA fighter son, John III.

If you don't know who John Gotti Jr. is then we're assuming you don't know who John Gotti Sr. was ... and to be honest, we're not sure if we can tell you (google it, and let them be the rat).

John Gotti III is an MMA fighter whose first pro bout is May 4 at a Classic Entertainment & Sports show in New York -- and at a recent workout at Powerhouse Gym in NYC said he's got a clear dream opponent.

"Who wouldn't wanna fight Conor McGregor?"

John Jr. was on hand for the workout and said it's actually tough to watch his kid get in there and bang -- but was quick to give it up to his son, saying he and other MMA fighters are the "real" tough guys.

"I have an immense amount of respect for anyone who climbs into that cage, those are the tough guys. Because those are the guys that gotta get in there in front of all these people and inflict harm, and be harmed."

Did you google it? Yeah, told you, now keep your mouth shut.