UFC

Singers, rappers ... Aljamain Sterling will walk to the Octagon to your music -- blasting in the arena, on TV -- at his next UFC title fight, if your song's good enough.

The bantamweight champ is teaming up with 2x Grammy nominee Joyner Lucas ... and they're launching a contest aimed at putting a spotlight on independent artists.

The way it goes ... artists submit a song on Tully, and if Aljo and Joyner like it, you might hear it on the UFC 280 broadcast next month.

Aljamain is fighting T.J. Dillashaw on October 22 in Abu Dhabi ... and the winner's song will be the last thing Aljo hears before he scraps.

Sterling and Lucas' friendship began in April earlier this year ... after Aljamain walked out to Joyner's "I Love" at UFC 273 before his bout with Petr Yan.

Aljamain became UFC champion that night ... and the men later came up with the contest.

Joyner, who pushes independent musicians like him, has also worked with some of the industry's biggest names ... Will Smith on "Will (Remix)" and Lil Baby on "Ramen & OJ."

It's not the first time Joyner's been part of a big-time sporting event. He's a huge Boston Celtics fan ... and performed at halftime of Game 6 during the 2022 NBA Finals.

Raul Rosas Jr. -- the 17-year-old who just inked a UFC deal -- is one of the most badass high schoolers in the world ... but, RR's so young, he tells TMZ Sports his mom and dad had to sign his contract!

It's a history-making signing for the UFC ... who made Rosas Jr. the youngest fighter to sign with the promotion after the teenager beat 25-year-old Mando Gutierrez earlier this week on the Contender Series.

We talked to the newest/youngest UFC fighter just days after inking the deal ... and while we may all be surprised he's reached this level as fast as he has, he isn't.

"No, not really [shocked] because I've been working my whole life for this moment. Right now, everything going into existence, but I'm grateful for this opportunity, but not impressed."

FYI, Rosas Jr. is 6-0 professionally (and 6-0 as an amateur) ... and fights in the bantamweight division.

The funny part ... 'cause Rosas Jr. is still a minor, his parents had to sign his contract.

"My parents got to sign too because I'm a minor. So parental guardians got to be on there, too."

But, make no mistake, this kid can fight ... and if you want to see how excited the UFC is for his arrival, just listen to Dana.

As for the reaction of his friends and peers, the 12th grader says many of his classmates are pumped about the achievement.

"A lot of them are happy and excited because they don't really know how this process works for me to get to the UFC. I never really explained it because it's a long process. They just like since middle school, like 'Hey when is Dana White gonna sign you?' Or stuff like that."

Lastly, we asked Raul if anyone messes with him at school.

His response? "No, no, no."

UFC fighter Eryk Anders loved his "Cobra Kai" debut so much he wants to continue acting if the right opportunities come up ... telling TMZ Sports it's "less hazardous" than fighting MMA.

No spoilers here ... but Anders was seen fighting in the new season of the Netflix series that was released earlier this month, and we must say, he did a good job for his first role.

He thought so, too ... and tells us even though he's a fighter in the world's biggest MMA promotion, he sees himself acting more in the future.

"I'd love to," Anders said, "if the right opportunities present itself."

"Timing is everything. It's a lot less hazardous to my health as well. As you can see my nose is crooked."

And, the 35-year-old already knows who he wants to work with ... after he gets his nose fixed, and lays down the gloves.

"Maybe something with The Rock," Anders said, "he seems to be the guy like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of now."

"All his movies seem to pretty surefire that it's gonna be a good movie. I think it would be kinda hard to bus with The Rock. I think that'd be dope."

That's no shade to the Cobra Kai actors like William Zabka who plays Johnny Lawrence -- in fact, Anders is a fan of the 'Karate Kid' legend.

"It was cool. It was quite an experience. I watched all the 'Karate Kid' as a kid growing up."

Cory Sandhagen says simply defeating Yadong Song isn't enough ... the #4 ranked fighter tells TMZ Sports he's gunning to destroy his opponent this weekend in grand fashion.

We talked to the 30-year-old star UFC fighter ... who admitted he wanted a higher-ranked opponent for Saturday's fight, but since he didn't get one, he must put on a spectacular performance.

"I just gotta beat these guys and I gotta beat them impressively and I gotta show that I'm one of the best guys in the world," Cory told us.

He continued ... "Against a guy like Song, I don't really feel like winning will be just enough for myself. I need to go out and dismantle Song and make him look like he doesn't really belong. That's gonna be the goal."

FYI, 24-year-old Song is ranked 10th in the UFC's Bantamweight division. Yadong is 8-1-1 since entering the promotion.

And, if Cory finds himself up a few rounds Saturday night ... don't look for him to coast.

"I think that that's a pretty bad mindset in a sport where it can end like this (snaps finger)."

Sandhagen is coming off two consecutive losses for the first time in his career. Cory lost to former champ T.J. Dillashaw in July 2021 at UFC Fight Night. Then, he was defeated by Petr Yan -- also a former champ -- at UFC 267 in October 2021.

Even though he lost to the absolute highest level of competition, Cory takes no solace. To him, a loss is a loss.

"I really don't give myself that excuse. All the losses feel the same. They felt the same when I was an amateur and they feel the same now as a professional even against the best guys. Nah man, the burn still burns the same."

Three losses aren't an option for Sandhagen ... who says he couldn't handle it.

"There's a little bit of an extra motivator there because I definitely hate losing and I don't know that my soul can take another hit. I don't know if it can take another third loss in a row and my pride and my ego, I don't think it can do that either."

Tyron Woodley's ready to give the people what they want ... a fight between the future UFC Hall of Famer and YouTube star-turned-boxer, KSI!

Some backstory -- KSI blasted out a poll to his 8 million Twitter followers, asking a simple question ... would you like to see me fight T-Wood, Dillon Danis, Slim, or Dr. Mike in January?

And, the winner (at the time we're writing), with 264,446 votes or 36% of the followers polled ... Tyron Woodley. So, we asked the MMA star if he was interested in the fight.

"KSI, I like that he's energetic, he's all into it, he's all over the place but he's gonna get f****d up playing around me. My new slogan is 'don't get f****d up by having me f****d up' and he's had me f****d up for a long time talking shit about my name."

40-year-old Woodley then sent a message directly to the 29-year-old YouTuber.

"KSI, I know you watching because you watch everything I do. You probably was a fan of me like everybody else. If you're watching this, you wanna be a fighter, you want the respect, get the full training camp to yourself as you requested."

"I'll get the full training camp. January, we can get it cracking. We can get it cracking in White Castle. We can get it cracking in U.K. We can get it cracking in Vegas."

As for the fighter's resumes ... Woodley, of course, is one of the best MMA fighters of all time.

But, KSI isn't a scrub. He recently fought twice in one night ... albeit against overmatched opponents. He knocked out Swarmz and 2-5 pro boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda at the O2 Arena in London.

Woodley also broke down some of what he was dealing with behind the scenes leading up to the second Jake Paul fight, and he expressed interest in a scrap with Tommy Fury.

Bottom line ... Tyron is anything but retired, and he's ready to dole out an ass whoopin'!

Daniel Rodriguez has a message for the fans and "experts" (and even Dana White) who've said Li Jingliang was robbed at UFC 279 ... I won the fight!!

"It was a close fight," 35-year-old D-Rod told TMZ Sports just two days after securing the dub, adding ... "At the end of the day, I give Li the first round, and I took the 2nd and 3rd [round], in my opinion. I landed more strikes, I pushed the pace the whole fight."

Of course, Rodriguez, the #14 ranked UFC welterweight, fought Li following a last-minute opponent change (he was originally supposed to fight Kevin Holland) ... and the scrap was super close.

D-Rod -- who hasn't lost since 2020, and is 7-1 in the UFC -- was awarded the split decision win.

During his post-event presser, White told the media he believed Jingliang was the rightful winner.

But, Rodriguez disagrees ... and wholeheartedly feels if the decision went the other way, there would've been outrage from the people.

"If they would've gave the fight to Li, there would've been even more people saying I got robbed, or s*** like that," D-Rod says.

Despite earning the victory and now being a top 15 fighter who's becoming more popular in the sport by the day, Daniel believes he didn't fight his best fight.

Jake Paul says Dana White still owes him a million-dollar check for beating Ben Askren, but the Problem Child is once again proposing a friendly wager with the UFC honcho ... saying he's willing to put $5 MILLION on the line when he fights Anderson Silva.

Jake and Spider were holding a news conference in L.A. on Monday ahead of their October 29 bout in Arizona ... when Paul mentioned how his nemesis thought he'd never take on the challenge ahead of him.

"Dana White did not think I'd take this fight," Jake said minutes ago. "And Dana, I know you're watching, bro. You still owe me a million dollars from when you bet against me on Ben Askren."

"I want you to come out of hiding, stop being a bitch and make a bet against me and Anderson and actually pay up this time because you didn't think I would take this fight."

"So let's make a bet," he added. "Let's put a mil, let's put two mil, let's put 5 mil on it. But I bet you won't, Dana, because you're a bitch."

As for a bet between Jake and Anderson ... Spider says he hates tattoos, so a body ink bet is off the table. With that being said, Jake says he'll get clever and figure something out.

Don't expect Dana to respond to Jake's offer -- 'cause as he told TMZ Sports last week, he's sick of talking about the guy.

Former UFC fighter Elias Theodorou died Sunday following a battle with cancer. He was only 34 years old.

Theodorou had been courageously fighting stage 4 liver cancer ... but chose to share the diagnosis with only select people who were close to him.

Elias -- an outgoing and personable dude outside the cage -- was a heck of a fighter inside it. During his years in the UFC, Theodorou posted an 8-3 record with wins over Eryk Anders and Sam Alvey.

ET was also an advocate for the use of medical marijuana in combat sports ... believing the herb to be safer and more beneficial than prescription drugs.

Elias last fought in December 2021 ... against Bryan Baker at Colorado Combat Club 10, where he won by unanimous decision. Overall, ET was 19-3 professionally.

Back in 2018, Theodorou became the first "ring boy" ... when he worked the Invicta FC (all women's MMA promotion), strutting around the cage like Arianny Celeste.

We spoke to Elias at the time (March 2018) ... and he couldn't have been cooler.

Gilbert Burns tells TMZ Sports he and Jorge Masvidal have verbally agreed to a fight ... and the only question is whether it'll go down December in Vegas or January in Brazil!

36-year-old Burns joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV Show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... when we asked him whether rumors of a Masvidal fight were accurate.

"I spoke with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby [two weeks ago] and they said that's a fight that they want, you know, and I said, 'For sure, there's no plan B.'"

"We wanna do you and Masvidal," Gilbert says Shelby told him.

Burns, who last fought in April against Khamzat Chimaev (it was a very close fight -- Chimaev was awarded the decision), says the bout will in all likelihood happen at the end of 2022, or the beginning of 2023.

"[UFC] just gonna figure out Pay-Per-View in December or Pay-Per-View in January, but the fight is verbally accepted from him, from me, so I'm just waiting to confirm if it's gonna be December 10th in Vegas or if he has the balls to go to Brazil, UFC Rio, January 21st."

"I don't think he will show up in Brazil but we'll see. I'm just waiting for the UFC and for Jorge to accept. C'mon Jorge! Let's do it!"

Of course, Durinho is from Rio de Janeiro.

37-year-old Masvidal last fought in March ... a decision loss to Colby Covington. Before that fight, Jorge fought then-champ Kamaru Usman twice.

Gilbert says he plans to follow up with the UFC after 279 this weekend, and he's ready to fight no matter where the location, but ... he really hopes it'll be in his home country.

Khamzat Chimaev just stepped on the scale during weigh-ins ... and the UFC star weighed a whopping 7.5 pounds over the 171-pound limit -- putting his highly anticipated fight with Nate Diaz in jeopardy.

Diaz and Chimaev are the main event at UFC 279 -- where they're fighting at welterweight (170 pounds) -- but when it came time for the 28-year-old undefeated fighter to get on the scale, he clocked in at 178.5 pounds.

It didn't seem like Khamzat was upset or remorseful, either ... he flipped the middle finger up as he was about to step off the scale.

He also Tweeted an altered image with training partner Darren Till.

FYI, during non-title fights, the UFC allows fighters to be one pound overweight ... meaning Khamzat could've made weight weighing 171 pounds. But, he wasn't even close.

In fact, 178.5 pounds puts Chimaev closer to the Middleweight division (185 pounds) ... where he has also previously fought.

Nate weighed in at 171 pounds.

Now, the question is, what happens to the fight?? There's a chance the bout could be scrapped ... or, Khamzat will be forced to give up a healthy chunk of his fight check to Diaz.

Story developing ...

Dana White is making one thing clear -- he's absolutely FED UP with Jake Paul ... telling TMZ Sports he has no interest in talking about the YouTuber's fight against UFC legend Anderson Silva.

It's no secret -- the UFC honcho and Jake have become hated rivals in recent years ... with Paul constantly calling him out for how he runs his business, and White criticizing the Problem Child's relevance and talent in combat sports.

After his fight was announced this week, Jake posted an old clip of Dana, who previously said he doubted Paul would ever call out Anderson, hyping up Silva's skills in the boxing ring. Now that the fight's been made, we had to ask White about the matchup.

Well -- we tried, at least ... before White cut us off.

"I don't care about that. I literally was saying the other day, everybody keeps asking me about Jake. This guy's not even in my sport!!"

"I don't care."

What Dana DOES care about is UFC 279 on Saturday ... where Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev are set to duke it out in Las Vegas in one of the most anticipated fights of the year.

Gilbert Burns -- the last man to share an Octagon with Khamzat Chimaev -- says despite Nate Diaz being a huge underdog, the star from Stockton can absolutely beat Borz on Saturday!

36-year-old Burns joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... where we asked the #4 ranked UFC welterweight if Diaz could truly get a W.

"I'm looking forward to Nate Diaz surviving that storm that [Khamzat's] gonna bring in the first two rounds but after that I think Nate Diaz got a chance," Burns said.

"I think the first two rounds are gonna be very rough for Diaz but the veteran that he is and a lot of experience, I hope he gets through those two rounds and then I think the fights gonna turn to the other side."

FYI, Chimaev is around a 10-to-1 favorite ... meaning you'll risk around $1K just to win $100.

Of course, 37-year-old Diaz hasn't consistently fought over the last few years. In fact, Nate's only had one scrap since late 2019 ... a loss in June 2021 to now-champ Leon Edwards.

Speaking of Edwards, Nate hurt Leon in the 5th round of their fight. And, that's why Burns thinks he can beat Khamzat ... Diaz has an incredible gas tank, while Khamzat hasn't yet proven he can fight 5 rounds.

"I want Nate Diaz to win and I hope he survives the first two rounds and then put on a beating on Khazmat. I know he can do it," Burns told us, adding ... "It's gonna be tough the first two rounds. After that, the gas tank of Khazmat slows down."

"Five rounds is different brother."

While UFC 279 is about Nate and Khamzat, Gilbert is looking to get back in the Octagon with Chimaev ... whom he fought in April 2022. Burns lost the razer close fight by decision ... but pushed Khamzat further than any other fighter had previously.

That contest was just three rounds ... and Gilbert believes if they fought a full five rounds, there's no question he would've won.

"100%. It's very hard to say, but I do believe I would've won and I do believe if we fight again, I'm gonna beat him."

Nate Diaz has a huge fight next weekend, but the scrap with Khamzat Chimaev isn't stopping the superstar from Stockton from launching his very own fight promotion, Real Fight, Inc.

TMZ Sports is told 37-year-old Nate, one of the most popular fighters in the world, will apply to become a promoter of combat sporting events sometime over the next few weeks ... with a specific focus on "boxing, MMA, and BJJ," according to team Diaz.

It's a path we recently saw Khabib Nurmagomedov take, when after retiring, he launched Eagle FC ... his own MMA promotion. Khabib's been able to sign fighters like Kevin Lee and Diego Sanchez to his promotion.

The difference with Khabib and Nate ... Diaz isn't done competing.

"The new venture has no bearing on his status as a fighter, where he will continue to be very active.  Real Fight, Inc. is his expansion into the business side of the sport where he has been a fixture for close to 20 years," Diaz's team tells us.

As for the fighters Nate's looking for, they told us this ... "The promotion will look attract fighters from around the world, whether it be up and coming prospects or household names who fit the brand of 'Real Ninjas. Real Fighters. Real Shit...'”

Ex-UFC fighter Pearl Gonzalez says she wishes she could go back and stop herself from getting tattoos at such a young age ... telling TMZ Sports it ended up being more than a $10,000 mistake!!

As we previously reported, the Chi-Town Princess is getting her signature boob ink -- along with three other pieces -- removed over the next few weeks ... a process she says she wishes she didn't ever have to go through in the first place.

Gonzalez tells us getting the tats lasered off is something she had been planning on doing for a while ... but knew it was time to clean up her image once and for all.

"I'm currently having four tattoos removed," Pearl tells us. "If I could have them all removed, I would. Maybe two I would keep."

Gonzalez says she first started getting body art before she even became a teenager ... and the majority of her collection came from going to tattoo parties before she was 18 years old.

As for her most recognizable piece -- the fighter says she can't stand the clouds and moon she got above her nipple when she was around 15 ... even if others still appreciate it.

"It is the stupidest t***y tattoo I've ever gotten in my life," she said. "But yes, everybody loves the t***y tat."

"I just don't like it. It doesn't look good. It looks ghetto to me. I want cleaner skin, a cleaner body."

Gonzalez is one of the toughest ladies on the planet ... but admits the removal process is pretty excruciating.

Mark Zuckerberg might be the most eccentric of the tech billionaires out there ... 'cause the dude's apparently diving into mixed martial arts, with some skills to boot.

The Facebook founder posted a video Saturday, which shows him training with a fighter named Khai 'The Shadow' Wu ... who's got his UFC debut coming up on Fight Pass. To ring in the milestone, Mark honored his buddy with this clip of them throwing blows.

Check it out ... you see MZ all padded up an going toe to toe with Khai, and wouldn't you know it -- it actually looks like he knows what he's doing. Peep that vicious leg kick!

Mark writes, "One of my training partners, @khaiwu, is making his debut on @ufcfightpass tonight. Looking forward to a great fight." So it seems Zuck's the one who's getting a workout in with Khai -- and not the other way around. On the face of it, the sessions are paying off.

Of course, some can't help but notice that Mark recently sat down with Joe Rogan for a chat on his podcast ... where they talked more serious issues than they did Octagon fighting.

After seeing this demonstration, though ... maybe JR has more in common with the Meta boss than he thought. And perhaps we'll even see Zuck ringside one of these days! 😆

Kevin Holland, UFC star and real-life superhero, tells TMZ Sports he's done saving people near his home in Texas ... after cops in the area jammed him up for minor traffic violations!

You may recall, the 29-year-old fighter risked life and limb on (not one but) two occasions within the last year. In October, Kevin stopped an alleged carjacker, chasing down, and holding the would-be thief until police arrived and arrested the man.

Then, just a few months later, Holland risked his own life when he stopped an alleged gun-wielding man who pulled a weapon at a local sushi spot.

But, Holland -- who's fighting Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 279 on September 10 (more on that later) -- says local law enforcement recently gave him a hard time for a traffic-related incident, so he's done doing their jobs.

"I got pulled over one night on my way to the airport, right, and they were like, 'we gotta book you., I'm like, 'book me for what?' They're like 'for tickets,' I'm like 'tickets? How much are the tickets? I got the money right now, I'll pay you.'"

Unfortunately, they dragged Kevin down to the station ... before finally letting him pay (he's a star athlete -- he's got the cash). It took hours before he was cut loose.

"I'm there for like 3, 4 hours -- this is way back on my birthday. I missed the flight, you know, I was picking someone up from the airport," Holland says, adding, "So, they gotta Uber to the house and I'm like bro, I just literally stopped a shooting a week ago and y'all gonna book me for some tickets?"

Harmless detainment aside, we asked Holland if local authorities ever honored him for his genuinely heroic acts.

"No. They give you one of these (flips middle finger)! Stay out of our way kid!"

But, Kevin continued, saying it was never about recognition.

"The good thing is I don't do it for the medal or anything like that. It's just when you see something bad going on, the right thing to do is the right thing to do, but I ain't gonna lie, it was funny as hell when [the arrest] happened. All my boys were like, 'this why I ain't doing s**t good, I ain't helpin' nobody.'"

The good news is as long as you're not in the Ft. Worth area ... Kevin says he's got your back.

"I ain't doing nothing to Saginaw no more, man. I'll help everybody else anywhere else. If you in Saginaw, I ain't helping you."

As for Holland's fight with 35-year-old Rodriguez (16-2, 8 KOs), Kevin's unfazed by his opponent's trash talk (and there's been a lot of it).

"It seems like he's forcing it, trying to sell some stuff," Holland said ... "Do your thing, bro!"

Kevin also breaks down who the UFC offered him, why he and Daniel are fighting at a catchweight of 180 lbs., and much more.

His prediction for September 10??