UFC

Ex-UFC star Tim Kennedy -- a U.S. Army Special Forces sniper -- doesn't believe waterboarding should be considered torture ... and to prove his point, he turned the hose on himself.

Yep, Kennedy and his pals waterboarded each other for roughly 45 minutes on Friday ... and barely even flinched.

So ... why???

Kennedy says the move was to show support for Gina Haspel, Trump's pick to lead the CIA. Haspel has been criticized for using waterboarding and other interrogation methods at black sites during her CIA career.

"It’s not torture!!!!" Kennedy wrote ... "Hell we had elk tacos and wine afterwards. Wake up people. #waterboarding."

Kennedy also described -- in detail -- the waterboarding technique -- "They wouldn’t tell me when they were going to put the towel on they would just smash it on my face and start pouring. You can’t hold your breath while they do it because the water runs down your sinuses. The water run through your eyes, down your nose, and pools at the back of your throat."

Still, seems Haspel could have an uphill battle -- with people like John McCain arguing against her nomination due to her connection to questionable interrogation methods.

Wiz Khalifa says he completely AGREES with Jay Glazer ... that he's good enough to take a pro MMA fight if he wanted to.

There's just one catch ... HE NEEDS A CRAPLOAD OF MONEY!

Earlier this week, Glazer raved about Wiz ... saying the rapper is an absolute beast in the gym -- and has legit power.

So, when we saw Wiz at LAX we asked if there was a chance ... and he didn't say no!

"You got to pay me a whole bunch of money to get me to fight, man."

Wiz says he still likes rapping better than fighting -- but he really enjoys training with some of the best MMA stars in the world.

"It's just fun, man."

Dillon Danis needs to stop "living in the shadow" of Conor McGregor ... so says undefeated Bellator star and potential D.D. opponent Neiman Gracie.

Danis -- Conor's training partner and friend (he bailed McGregor outta jail) -- made his pro MMA debut last month ... winning his first fight in under 2 minutes.

After the fight, Dillon gave a Conor McGregor-esque promo in the cage ... calling out the entire roster.

So, who's next for the rising star?

Neiman -- a 4th generation member of the Gracie fam who's 8-0 -- says he is ... if Danis has the balls to fight him.

"I talked to the Bellator guys. They say they're going to offer him the fight."

Stay tuned.

UFC superstar Nick Diaz says he was poisoned "with some kind of weird ass drug" before he fought Georges St-Pierre back in 2013 ... telling TMZ Sports there was a diabolical plot against him.

Diaz was leaving Catch in L.A. Friday night when we asked about the allegations his brother Nate made about GSP -- that he was a steroid cheater at UFC 158, a fought Nick lost in a 5-round unanimous decision.

Nate had previously said he will not fight GSP until he admits he cheated publicly.

Enter Nick ... who doubled down on the cheating allegations and then accused someone -- he doesn't name anyone specifically -- of poisoning an IV he was administered before the fight in Montreal, GSP's hometown.

Diaz insists he was in the best shape of his life at the time but something caused his body to fail on the night of the fight ... and he believes he was sandbagged.

Nick also touched on his previous allegations that the Quebec Athletic Commission didn't really test the fighters before his match with GSP, and his proof is ... he knows he should have tested positive for weed, but didn't.

Tyron Woodley says Georges St-Pierre and Nate Diaz have something in common -- they're both punk bitches.

The Chosen One went off on both fighters on 'The Hollywood Beatdown' ... blasting the UFC stars for refusing to fight him over the past 6 months while working on a deal to fight each other instead.

He's mad. You gotta watch.

There's a lot more ... including Tyron's take on that brutal fight after the Met Gala involving Cardi B's entourage ... and his blunt advice for DJ Khaled, who refuses to participate in certain activities with women.

Tyron also breaks down the new Conor McGregor sparring footage and tells us why he's actually impressed!

Plus, Tyron wants to take Evan for a real-life streetfight ... good times!

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."