UFC

Sergey Kovalev is the latest pro fighter who wants a piece of Jake Paul ... the ex-boxing champ tells TMZ Sports he's down to fight the YouTuber after his next scheduled match.

"Fight with Jake Paul? I'm ready," the 39-year-old former light heavyweight champion said. "And I will knock him out."

Paul has insisted he wants somebody with a name brand for his next bout -- and while Sergey might not have the biggest social media following, he certainly has the resume Paul is looking for.

"Krusher" is 34-4-1 in his 39 career fights -- and has a win over boxing legend Bernard Hopkins on his resume. He's also fought Canelo Alvarez and Andre Ward in his impressive career.

Kovalev says he's all for trying to add Paul to that list of opponents -- saying he'll be happy to try to make the fight after he returns from his long layoff against Tervel Pulev in May.

"Let me make my comeback fight," Kovalev said, "and then we can do any fight."

He added, "Any day."

Aljamain Sterling says he'll employ a special move during his rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273 ... the Will Smith slap!!

TMZ Sports talked to the 32-year-old UFC bantamweight champ about a week before his second fight with heated rival, 29-year-old Yan, the interim champ.

"I am a certified weapon right now, and ready for battle, and I can't wait to go out there and unleash these tools, and put a little beatdown on this guy that he's been deserving for well over a year at this point, and move on to the victim," Aljamain told us.

Of course, the men fought in March 2021 ... a fight that Aljo was losing, but ultimately won when Petr blasted Sterling with a blatantly illegal knee. But, because Aljamain was losing on the cards and fading in the fight, he's dealt with endless crap online, and as you'd expect, that's bothered the starfighter.

"That's the most frustrating part of this whole thing. It's not being able to compete to shut these guys up," Aljo said.

He even compared himself to a caged animal who isn't able to retaliate because he's chained ... but Sterling says the cage door opens at UFC 273.

"Those chains come free April 9 and I get an opportunity to finally put my hands on this guy, and it's gonna be so rewarding to see the shock in people's eyes when I'm out there and I finally get to put my hands on him and see who is really who."

Sterling, the champ, is a big underdog against Yan ... something Aljamain has taken notice of.

"I know the Vegas oddsmakers got me as a big underdog. This is what everyone wants to go out of their way to tell me. I don't give a s***, at the end of the day, I bet on me. And, I know that betting on me is right. I bet on me the last 6 times and I've won every single time," Sterling said.

Lastly, we asked Aljamain if he had a message for Yan ... and he dropped the A-list actor's name while threatening violence against Petr.

"When they lock that door he's gonna get 'Will Smith'd.' I can tell you that. He's gonna get Will Smith'd. And, after that, it's gonna be a lot worse than what Will did to Chris Rock. It's gonna be a beatdown."

If Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman had any bad blood ... the beef has officially been squashed, 'cause the pound-for-pound king/welterweight champ is helping train "Durinho" for his fight with Khamzat Chimaev.

TMZ Sports talked to 35-year-old Burns just a week and a half before his highly anticipated fight with Chimaev at UFC 273 ... and when we asked the #2 ranked fighter if he brought in any special training partners, he dropped this bomb.

"Usman came a couple of days to help out," Burns said, "He was helping me a couple of times, not training with me but kinda coaching."

"Very high IQ and very good advice. Was good to have him around."

FYI, 27-year-old Chimaev has risen to stardom in the blink of an eye. He's 4-0 in the UFC (10-0 overall) and has literally been hit less than 5 times in his entire UFC career.

Of course, Kamaru and Gilbert were once good friends and training partners at Sanford MMA in Tennessee ... but as Burns rose the ranks in the welterweight division -- where Usman is the champion -- and became a top contender, the Nigerian Nightmare left the gym.

KU and GB finally fought in February 2021 ... and good, tough fight that Kamaru won by TKO.

Any bad blood is clearly long gone ... and Usman, being a caring friend, wanted to help prep Gilbert for one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year.

Here's what's interesting ... there's a good chance Kamaru and Gilbert will fight each other again, and soon.

That's why Burns dropped this movie analogy on us about his relationship with Usman.

"That's Rocky and Apollo," Burns said.

UFC legend Stephan Bonnar revealed his home was "burned to the f***ing ground" in a horrible fire this week ... but in at least a modicum of positive news, he says he was able to salvage some of his famous MMA memorabilia from the wreckage.

The 44-year-old shared a video of his Nevada home after a fire ravaged it earlier this week -- and, sadly, he said the flames completely gutted the place.

"No more casa," the former fighter said in the footage. "Lost everything in it."

But, Bonnar said after jumping through a window and scraping up his legs in the process -- he was able to find some of his old UFC gear and save it from the rubble.

Bonnar showed off gloves from his Hall of Fame fight with Forrest Griffin -- as well as a couple other cool items from his fighting career, including a signed jersey from the athletes he competed with on season 1 of "The Ultimate Fighter."

Bonnar then sent well wishes to everyone from the show who's had a rough past few months.

"It's been a f***ing s*** year for me too," Bonnar said. "So, all right. Peace guys, I'm out."

As we reported, the Henderson Fire Department knocked down the flames about an hour after the fire started at Bonnar's place, but were unable to save it from being destroyed.

The felony strangulation charge that Chael Sonnen was hit with following his alleged meltdown at a Las Vegas hotel last year has been dropped ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to court records, prosecutors declined to move forward with the battery by strangulation count that they had previously charged Sonnen on last month.

The records show five other battery charges -- all misdemeanors -- against Sonnen were dropped as well.

We've reached out to the Clark County District Attorney's office for comment on the decision -- but so far, no word back yet.

Sonnen is still facing five misdemeanor battery charges in the case after officials claim he absolutely lost it in a hallway at the Four Seasons Hotel on Dec. 18.

As we reported, Sonnen is accused of beating up several men and one woman in a fit of rage inside the hotel.

According to police docs, Sonnen told officers at the scene he had no recollection of his alleged actions -- explaining to them that he had taken a sleeping pill and "could not recall" anything after that.

Sad news for Stephan Bonnar ... the UFC legend's family says its Nevada home was destroyed in a fire this week.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the Henderson Fire Dept. received a call for a residential fire at 2:40 PM on Monday ... and when help arrived on the scene, fire and smoke were visible from outside the home.

Due to high winds and the closeness to the neighboring homes, the first responders called on the Clark County FD for backup in order to get the blaze out. The fire was extinguished nearly an hour later.

The fire dept. says two adults, one child and four dogs were removed from the home. Luckily, no injuries were reported ... and no one was transported to the hospital.

Bonnar's wife, Andrea, shared the news on her business' Facebook ... saying, "I am just jumping on to let you know our house burned today and we have lost everything."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Stephan Bonnar was part of arguably the most important fight in UFC history -- the season finale of the Ultimate Fighter 1 against Forrest Griffin. Stephan lost by decision, but the fight was so incredible, the UFC gave both guys contracts.

A Florida politician is throwing his full support behind Jorge Masvidal ... defending the UFC star over his alleged attack on Colby Covington, saying, "It's not like he beat up some kid on the street."

Manny Diaz -- a current FL state senator -- spoke with news station WPLG Local 10 about the allegations against Masvidal after the fighter appeared at a Ron DeSantis event on Wednesday evening ... and he made it clear, he's in Jorge's corner.

"Jorge is a fighter and, yeah, he ran into another fighter," Diaz said. "It's not like he beat up some kid on the street. I mean, look. It happens."

Masvidal is accused of attacking Covington outside of Papi Steak in Miami on March 22 ... punching him so hard that police say Covington told them the blows actually fractured one of his teeth.

Masvidal was hit with two felony charges over the alleged ambush -- but at DeSantis' event Wednesday, he didn't look like he had too many cares about the criminal case that's looming over his head.

In fact, one of the attendees at the event, Ophir Rahimi, told WPLG Local 10 that Masvidal looked normal and didn't talk about the alleged altercation with Colby. Rahimi, though, did note that it looked like Jorge's hand was damaged.

"You were able to see the hand was a bit swollen," Rahimi said. "There was a cut there. So I'm assuming that's the right hand that was used."

The only fighting star boxer Vasyl Lomachenko will do now for the foreseeable future is for his home country against Russia ... so says his manager, who tells TMZ Sports Loma will remain in Ukraine until the war ends.

Lomachenko has been in the war-torn country since February -- shortly after Russia's initial invasion -- choosing to forego a championship fight with George Kambosos Jr. to stick around and help his fellow countrymen in the war.

And, Egis Klimas, who manages Lomachenko's boxing career, told us out in L.A. on Wednesday the plan is for that to continue until all of the fighting in Ukraine stops.

Klimas, though, did ensure Lomachenko is staying safe while the war rages on.

"He's doing good," Klimas said. "He's in the safe place in Ukraine. He's in the corner. The place where he's at, it's not a war zone. He's not in a war zone."

Lomachenko last fought in the ring in December, beating Richard Commey via a unanimous decision. He was expected to fight Kambosos Jr. in June ... before the war caused Loma to pull out of the bout.

Kamboso Jr. has said he will remake the fight with Lomachenko after he leaves Ukraine -- and wished him the best while he fights for his home country.

Klimas, meanwhile, says Oleksandr Usyk, one of the other star boxers he manages who joined the forces in Ukraine back in February, has left the country and is in the process of preparing for his rematch against Anthony Joshua.

Chael Sonnen allegedly threw a woman into a light fixture and struck her -- causing her to bleed from her face -- during a wild fight in a Las Vegas hotel in December 2021 ... according to new police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports.

In the docs, officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept. say they responded to the Four Seasons Hotel on Dec. 18 regarding an alleged fight between Sonnen and several other people, including security guards.

Cops in the documents say a Four Seasons Engineer told them the altercation all started as he was coming out of a room.

Cops say the man said as soon as he opened the door, Sonnen punched him in the jaw. Officers say the man told them he then closed the door and called for security.

Police in the documents say, though, that a short time later ... a couple told them they encountered Sonnen outside of the room and the former UFC star got aggressive immediately.

Cops say Christopher Stellpflug and his wife, Julie Stellpflug, told them Sonnen -- who was apparently wearing a white robe and a partially bloodied T-shirt -- knocked a glass out of Christopher's hand.

Then, cops say the couple told them, Sonnen flew off the handle, attacking Christopher and throwing him to the ground and hitting him repeatedly. Cops say Julie told them he then turned his attention toward her after she tried to intervene.

In the docs, the officers say Julie told them Sonnen threw her against a light fixture and socked her in the face. Christopher, according to police, told them the strike caused Julie's lip to split and bleed.

Cops say a witness on the scene told them security eventually arrived, but Sonnen punched the guard in the throat. Police say the witness was then attacked, with the man saying Sonnen elbowed him in the chest several times and shoved him.

In the documents, police say the fight was eventually broken up ... and when they questioned Sonnen about it all, they say the former pro fighter told them he "did not have memory of anything."

According to the docs, Sonnen told them he and his wife took a sleeping pill hours before the alleged altercation and he "could not recall anything else."

As we previously reported, Sonnen has since been hit with 11 charges -- including felony battery by strangulation -- over the incident. He's also been sued by the Stellpflugs, who claim they both suffered concussions in the alleged attack.

Jake Paul tells TMZ Sports he's dead serious about an MMA fight with Conor McGregor ... saying even in an Octagon, under UFC rules, he'd KO the Irish star.

Paul has called out McGregor a bunch of times over the last couple years ... but now, more than ever, he seems ready to make the tilt actually happen.

And, this time, he tells us he's willing to go onto Conor's turf to do it.

"Conor is on a downhill spiral," Jake said. "His limbs are all broken. So, stand-up game, I'm coming out and knocking him out, first round."

Paul tells us he and McGregor weigh the same now, and he's legitimately looking into leaving boxing for MMA to make the fight.

Jake also said he wants to throw down with McGregor in the UFC in order to try to persuade Dana White to give more of the company's revenue to fighters.

"If I win, then Dana has to increase the minimum of fighter pay," Jake said. "If I lose, then they can take all of the money and whatever and so be it."

"But, I know I can beat Conor."

If the matchup with Conor doesn't happen, there's still a chance Jake heads to MMA for his next fight regardless. He tells us he's been in talks with Bellator and PFL -- "and other MMA entities" -- to try to hammer out some kind of deal to potentially fight in a cage.

"You gotta expect that out of f***ing Colby Covington. He's a bitch for pressing charges. And, if I got a message for him it's 'snitches get stitches' around here homie. That's some bitch s**t."

That's 35-year-old rising UFC welterweight star Daniel Rodriguez going in on Colby Covington ... after the #1 ranked 170 lb. contender cooperated with police and pressed charges against Jorge Masvidal for allegedly attacking him and cracking his tooth outside a fancy Miami restaurant earlier this week.

"I'd do the same thing," D-Rod told us Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles.

Of course, Masvidal allegedly attacked Colby as he was leaving Papi Steak in South Florida Monday night. Police responded, and took a report for battery.

Days later on Wednesday, Jorge turned himself into a local jail around 10 PM local time, and was hit with several charges, including felony battery, which can carry a lengthy prison sentence.

Some fighters, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, believe Colby was out of line for going to the cops -- especially after some of the trash talk the men engaged in leading up to their UFC 272 fight -- and you can count Rodriguez in that group.

"I respect Khabib for that. He's always been that kind of fighter that doesn't disrespect, especially family. Trying to promote, trying to sell a fight is one thing. But, when you throw family in the mix, it's kind of personal. So, ya know, I'm not mad at Jorge Masvidal for this incident where he ran up on [Colby] in Miami."

It remains to be seen if fellow welterweight fighters will heed Khabib's advice and not fight Covington. However, it's almost impossible to imagine fighters passing on an opportunity to take on the consensus 2nd best 170 lb. fighter in the world.

We also talked to Daniel, 6-1 in the UFC, about his health.

Jorge Masvidal is in jail in Florida ... he's been arrested over his alleged attack on Colby Covington.

Jail records, obtained by TMZ Sports, show the 37-year-old UFC star was booked in Miami at 10:27 PM ET on Wednesday, where he posed for a mug shot.

The records show he was booked on two charges -- aggravated battery with a mask, and criminal mischief. His bond has been set at $15,000, the records show.

WPLG Local 10 News shot video of Masvidal as he entered the jail in cuffs. The footage shows he sprinted into the station without taking any questions from reporters.

As we previously reported, Masvidal has been accused of punching Covington twice as his UFC rival was leaving popular restaurant Papi Steak on Monday night.

In police documents, cops say Covington told them Masvidal hit him in the mouth and the eye -- causing him to fracture a tooth.

Cops also say Covington suffered an abrasion on his wrist and a damaged watch.

In video we obtained shortly after the alleged incident, Covington can be heard appearing to describe the attack, saying, "He's over here swinging, trying to come at me, and I ran ..."

Covington has yet to comment publicly on the incident.

Story developing ...

Colby Covington told police the watch that was damaged when Jorge Masvidal attacked him earlier this week was a $90,000 Rolex.

The detail was revealed in new police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which cops say the UFC star told them Masvidal caused $15,000 worth of damage to the pricey piece of jewelry when he attacked him outside of Papi Steak in Miami on Monday night.

In the docs, cops say Covington told them his watch "had scratches and a bent/broken wristband" following the altercation.

The new docs also revealed Covington did go to the Miami Beach Police Criminal Investigations Division to press charges on Masvidal.

Cops in the docs also say Masvidal had an injury to his right hand/knuckles "where he had stitches that occurred prior to police contact" when he turned himself in on Wednesday night.

The moment Conor McGregor, driving his convertible Bentley, was pulled over by Irish cops for traffic violations was caught on video by a group of "Notorious" fans ... just minutes before the UFC superstar was arrested.

The video clearly shows 33-year-old Conor driving his $200K+ Bentley Continental GT neck-and-neck with another car on the Dublin highway ... when moments later sirens are heard, and a white squad car is behind McGregor.

It's unclear how fast Conor was going at the time of the video -- the two cars in the lanes next to him are going at the same rate of speed. Still, McGregor doesn't look like he's sweatin' the run-in with police.

The clip then ends ... but as we previously reported, Conor was taken into custody for several traffic violations. His pricey car was towed.

While at the station, McGregor was administered drug and alcohol tests, which he passed, according to his rep.

McGregor, who's still recovering from his broken leg, was later released on bail.

Although it's not the worst thing Conor's been accused of over the years, he could still face 6 months in jail, if convicted, according to the Irish Independent.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is hoping Colby Covington gets hit where it hurts -- his bank account -- saying he wants fighters to boycott taking bouts with "Chaos" after he pressed charges against Jorge Masvidal.

The Eagle and his team absolutely despise Colby ... and there was certainly bad blood between the two before his beef with "Gamebred."

Nurmagomedov is now giving his take on the Covington/Masvidal incident in Miami -- and he thinks Colby had it coming after comments he made about Jorge's kids.

"If you are stronger than someone inside the Octagon, it does not mean you can insult his children," Khabib said on Twitter on Thursday morning.

"No one has the right to insult someone's family. Once you have gone down that path, then be ready to back up your words."

As we reported, Colby pressed charges after Jorge allegedly ambushed him in Miami on Monday night ... claiming he was punched twice, resulting in a fractured tooth. He also said his watch was damaged in the scuffle.

Nurmagomedov clearly has an issue with Colby going to police ... and he wants the former interim champ to suffer consequences for it.

"You were attacked by a professional fighter, the same as you are, your own size, and you go press charges against him to the police?"

"I think all welterweights should refuse to fight Colby, just don’t accept fights with him, let him sit without a fight, it will probably significantly affect him and all fighters who even think of insulting families, who is provoking the fighters to look for someone in restaurants to deal with him."

Masvidal was arrested on Wednesday night and booked on two charges -- aggravated battery with a mask, and criminal mischief.

Conor McGregor wants to fight Kamaru Usman ... something UFC legend Clay Guida believes would be an enormous mistake that could actually lead to the ending of The Notorious' MMA career -- that's how bad the UFC vet believes McGregor would get beat.

TMZ Sports caught up with 40-year-old Guida at Commerce Casino in SoCal -- where he was supporting a buddy fighting in an Alta event over the weekend (Alta takes non-fighters and puts them through a rigorous training camp, before taking an actual fight!) -- when we asked about Conor, still recovering from the broken leg sustained against Dustin Poirier, after the world's most popular MMA fighter recently declared he wanted his comeback fight to be against Usman, with the welterweight belt on the line.

"Myself versus Usman for the 170 lb. title in my comeback fight is the one I'm eyeballing at the minute," Conor said during an interview with TheMacLife.

"Why cut the weight? I've already won the 155 lb. title. I got myself to a lightweight frame, but you know, I'm big now. I feel big. I feel strong. I feel healthy. I've got good energy. I'm coming back from a gruesome injury. I don't want to be depleting myself. There should be no need to deplete myself."

When we talked to Clay, we asked him for his thoughts on a Kamaru vs. Conor fight.

"That might be his last fight. Usman is on a whole another level right now. I think that would be a poor decision, physically, for Conor McGregor," Guida says, adding "I love [McGregor], he's pure entertainment. The guy's fun to watch, but Usman is on a different level right now."

But, no chance Conor wins that fight?? Clay doesn't think so.

"I think we've all seen Usman what he's done to Tyron Woodley who I thought was unbeatable, what he did to Colby Covington who I thought was unbeatable. He's the greatest welterweight, and GSP. Greatest welterweight of all-time."

So, Clay clearly doesn't want to watch Kamaru and Conor fight. But, he's got another opponent in mind for the Nigerian Nightmare.

And, it happens to be the world's top pound-for-pound boxer.

"I would be more intrigued to see Usman fight the boxer he's calling out. Canelo. Just because it's great for both sports, why not? Just like I wanna see Henry Cejudo fight Volkanovski. Those, I think, are great for wrestling, it's great for MMA. It's great for both sports."

BTW, the

We also talked to Guida -- whose 2009 fight with Diego Sanchez was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame a few years back -- when he plans on laying down his gloves for good.

And, good news for fans of Clay ... he ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon!