UFC

TJ Dillashaw took care of business in short order Saturday night, knocking out mortal enemy Cody Garbrandt for a second time ... and retaining his bantamweight title.

The bad blood between the 2 fighters was evident ... they didn't touch gloves when the fight began and both were clearly out for blood. TJ took the title from Cody last November and for Cody -- this was a revenge fight.

TJ ended the fight flurry with a flurry of punches at 4:10 of the first round.

Henry Cejudo stunned everyone with a split decision win over Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson. It's all the more impressive because Mighty Mouse hadn't lost a fight in nearly 7 years and was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.

DJ had staved off 11 fighters in a row in title fights ... until Saturday night at the Staples Center in downtown L.A.

The UFC will not discipline Conor McGregor for the bus attack at Barclays Center in New York -- with Dana White explaining that his punishment through the legal system is good enough already.

TMZ Sports spoke with the UFC honcho about the upcoming superfight between Conor and Khabib Nurmagomedov and how he put things together behind the scenes.

"Obviously, I've been telling you guys forever we had to wait until Conor's stuff was handled in New York. [That] got done. It was very favorable for Conor. Time to roll."

As we previously reported, Conor was sentenced to 5 days community service and ordered to complete an anger management course as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

We asked Dana if the UFC had considered slapping Conor with a suspension as well.

"Suspended? He hasn't fought in 2 years. How much longer should we suspend him?"

"He's obviously lost lots of money. Millions of dollars in what went down in New York. What more could we do to him? He went through the legal process and got what he got. That's it!"

Nate Diaz tells TMZ Sports he's considering dropping out of UFC 230 over a serious dispute with the UFC ... telling us he'll only fight if he "feels like it."

Diaz stormed out of the UFC media event on Friday while Dana White announced the Conor McGregor comeback fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov ... and we got him outside.

Nate claims he's been ineligible to fight due to a legal dispute with his former manager. As we previously reported, The Ballengee Group sued Diaz, claiming he never paid them their cut for negotiating his deal for the McGregor fight at UFC 202.

This seems to be the case Diaz is referring to.

Diaz is upset, claiming White has been "bad-mouthing" him by saying he's turned down multiple fight offers over the past 2 years. Nate insists he's "never turned down a fight in my life."

Diaz says he finally settled his lawsuit last month and can fight again -- which is why he agreed to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 230 in November.

But, something at the media event rubbed Diaz the wrong way and now he tells TMZ Sports ... the UFC "better start acting right and start over-promoting [me] instead of under promoting."

There's more ... we also asked Nate who he's got in the Conor vs. Khabib match -- and he replied, "I whipped one's ass and I slapped the f*ck out of the other one so they're both my little bitches."

Diaz then told us about an incident in which he smacked Khabib in the face in front of "all his Russian friends" and they "didn't do sh*t."

Here's how 36-year-old Tyron Woodley feels about fighting 25-year-old Darren Till:

"I'm 10 years older than this dude. I've got underwear his age!"

The UFC welterweight champ took some time away from training camp to shoot this week's episode of 'The Hollywood Beatdown' ... where he told us how he's gearing up to defend his belt at UFC 228.

"Man, I'm ready to f*** Darren Till up, man. I'm not gonna bulls**t."

There's a lot more ... Woodley also tells us why he's not mad at Cody Garbrandt for using the n-bomb on his Twitter page and why he can't hate on Nate Diaz.

Make sure to watch all the way to the end of the clip when Tyron tells us how he stays motivated and focused in the gym ... it'll get you fired up!!!

Dana White says it's 100% on ... Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov is set for Oct. 6 at UFC 229 in Las Vegas!!!

It'll undoubtedly be the biggest fight of the year for the UFC -- Conor's first fight back in the Octagon since his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

The last time Conor fought for the UFC was back in 2016 when he avenged his loss against Nate Diaz.

Got a gambling problem? Wanna make a few bucks wagering on UFC?

Well, here's UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber spelling out why he thinks Conor McGregor will walk away with the W if/when he faces Khabib Nurmagomedov in October.

Backstory ... Faber accurately predicted Nate Diaz to beat Conor when they fought for the first time back in March 2016.

In fact, Urijah says he ALMOST fought Conor at UFC 196 -- but McGregor chose to take on Diaz at UFC 196 instead.

Demetrious Johnson wants to fight the winner of this weekend's scrap between Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw ... as long as the UFC ponies up a helluva lot of cash.

We asked DJ -- who's fighting in the co-main event at UFC 227 this Saturday in L.A. -- whether he'd be down to battle T.J. or Cody ... should he take home his 14th straight win in the Octagon this weekend.

"Obviously, if the money's right. I've always had an interest in it. If the money's right, then we'll make it happen."

That's music to fight fans' ears ... who have long wanted to see Demetrious -- who has dominated the flyweight division (125 lbs.) -- be part of a superfight against Cody or T.J.

DJ knows that's what fans want ... but dropped an obscure analogy using the movie "Spawn" to dampen expectations that it'll actually go down.

"Sh*t, hell, I wanted a 'Spawn 2' with f**king Michael Jai White, but the box office didn't do so well. So, I didn't get a 'Spawn 2.'"

Khabib Nurmagomedov says Conor McGregor ain't worthy of stepping inside the Octagon with him ... but would love the opportunity to kick his ass ... and get paid for it.

TMZ Sports talked to Khabib in NYC on Thursday ... and when we asked him for an update on the super fight ... he unloaded on Conor.

"I'm the undefeated, undisputed UFC lightweight champion. I no need him. He need me. His last 4 fight is like 2 and 2. He don't fight 2 years. He don't deserve this title shot."

Still ... don't get it twisted, Khabib says he want this fight.

Colby Covington promised he'd make it out to see Donald Trump "unlike the Filth-a-delphia Eagles" after winning his championship fight last month ... and he finally made good on that on Wednesday.

"Like Donald Trump always says: Promises made. Promises kept," Covington said of the visit.

"Pleasure to finally meet you Mr. President. Thank you for always putting America first!"

Remember ... the UFC superstar beat up on Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 -- and took a shot at the NFL's Super Bowl champs while promising a White House visit afterward.

"I told everybody I was going to make the welterweight division great again, and now I’m going to celebrate how a real American should celebrate winning a world a title," Covington said.

"And that’s going to the White House to see Mr. Donald Trump and put this on his desk, unlike the Filth-a-delphia Eagles disrespecting our flag and kneeling for the national anthem.”

If Conor McGregor ever wants to make the jump to the squared circle, he'll have Ronda Rousey to thank ... so says Sheamus, who tells us Rowdy paved the way for MMA stars in WWE.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Irish superstar about Ronda's transition into pro wrestling ... and Sheamus says he wouldn't be surprised if more UFC fighters follow her lead.

"I think anything is possible now with Ronda in the WWE ... Ronda's killing it, so the door's open for anybody."

BTW -- Conor and Sheamus had a huge Twitter feud back in 2014 after the Notorious claimed he would "whoop his ass" in a fight.

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golvkin had real beef when they came together to shoot a promo for their upcoming fight ... sources tell TMZ Sports there was "real hatred" and real trash talk on the set.

The two had to be in the same room at the same time for the promo shoot in mid-July -- and even had to throw fake punches at each other. You can see in the video ... the mood on set was tense.

Remember, getting the deal done for this fight was not easy -- the sides went to war over how to split the profits ... with Canelo and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, threatening to walk several times.

Conor McGregor was booked to appear on an episode of "Vikings" this year -- but canceled just hours before he was supposed to shoot his scene ... this according to one of the stars of the show.

We spoke with Katheryn Winnick -- who plays Lagertha on the show -- and she told us she personally wrote a role for the UFC star in an episode that she was directing.

But, when McGregor canceled right before the shoot -- Winnick says she was forced to scramble and change the entire scene.

Winnick has been an actor on the show since day 1 -- but only started directing episodes in 2018 ... so the incident must have occurred this year.

Winnick says she's not bitter -- in fact, she's even cracking jokes about the experience -- but you can bet she would have much rather had him show up and do the scene.

As for an apology -- Winnick says she never got one ... but she's still waiting!

With Ronda Rousey's movie career taking off, the UFC legend says she's aiming high -- and wants a very specific role if Quentin Tarantino goes forward with a 3rd installment of "Kill Bill."

We got Rousey in NYC where she was promoting her new flick "Mile 22" -- where she stars alongside Mark Wahlberg and John Malkovich. Ronda thinks the movie has a real shot to win an Oscar.

But, moving forward, Rousey says she REALLY wants to play a "grown-up B.B. in 'Kill Bill 3.'"

Of course, B.B. was Beatrix Kiddo's (Uma Thurman) daughter in the original movies.

Tarantino has talked about possibly making a 3rd 'K.B.' flick -- but there's nothing in the works.

T.J. Dillashaw ain't the only one that's gonna get it from Cody Garbrandt Saturday night ... Cody's wife better watch out too, 'cause he's been holding out on the lovin' and says ... after the fight, IT'S TIME!!!

Garbrandt and Dillashaw have a date at UFC 227 in Staples Center this weekend, and it can't come soon enough for Cody ... who's been holding out from the boom boom for his entire fight camp.

"My poor wife," Cody said when we got him out in L.A., telling our guy he just doesn't believe in gettin' down during training camp.

How long has it been? 3 MONTHS according to Cody, who also said his post-fight celebration won't be at a club or a bar ... it'll be in his own bedroom.

"Saturday night, I'm gettin' it in, that's my after-party."

Conor McGregor says he's very close to finalizing the deal to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 -- and he's bragging that he's already in fighting shape.

The UFC superstar was wrapping up his workout in NYC Monday when he updated Adam Glyn on fight negotiations with Khabib -- a fight expected to go down in October.

Conor raved about how much he loved the city of New York -- in the wake of his plea deal in his bus attack case -- but says the fight will most likely take place in Vegas ... not Madison Square Garden.

There's more ... McGregor also praised his former opponent, José Aldo, for his victory against Jeremy Stephens this weekend. Remeber, McGregor seemed to break Aldo's spirit with that legendary 13-second KO in 2015.

He even says ... "the whole [nation] of Ireland was happy for José Aldo that night."

McGregor hasn't fought in the Octagon since his victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 which, at this point, seems like an eternity ago. Of course, he fought Floyd Mayweather last year.

As for his claim to being in great shape ... just check out his human being squats in the park. Yeah, we believe him.

Conor McGregor took his Monday workout to the next level -- throwing a grown ass man on his back for a set of squats in Central Park ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

The UFC superstar is still out in NYC after his court hearing last week in which he agreed to a plea deal in his bus attack case that will keep him out of jail.

So, what's Conor doing with his free time? Seems to be prepping for his next fight ... with a grueling workout all over the city.

After the squats, Conor knocked out some ab work before going on a run -- dude looks to be in pretty solid shape.