UFC

Everyone wants to know why UFC star Paul Felder is volunteering to fight a killer like Rafael dos Anjos on just 5 days' notice.

Well, Paul just gave us the answer -- and it's about as gangster as it gets.

"This is the crazy stuff that will either set me up for a major fight and move my career forward or I'll prove that I got balls that are bigger than anybody else's in the division."

No lies detected.

Paul -- who hasn't fought since February -- stepped up to replace Islam Makhachev in the main event on Nov. 14 ... after Islam was forced to withdraw this week due to a staph infection.

Felder says UFC firmed up the fight on Monday night -- giving him less than a week to prep himself for war.

Fortunately, Felder says he's been training like a maniac recently for a triathlon -- which means his cardio is insane at the moment.

So, he weighed the pros and cons of fighting a legend like dos Anjos -- and quickly came to the decision that it's worth the risk.

"If he beats me, he's a former champion! I don't give a sh*t! It's Rafael dos Anjos!"

Felder continued, "I mean, I've got nothing to lose other than some brain cells and some broken bones and things as usual but I will heal up and I'll be fine."

Don't get it twisted, Paul says he wouldn't have taken the fight if he wasn't 100% confident he can win.

"I'm fully capable of beating him, that I will make everyone clear of! I'm not coming in here to get a payday."

Felder says there's a real chance this could be the last fight of his career -- but he's not worried about that. He's just getting himself ready to fight.

Dos Anjos is the former UFC lightweight champ -- with signature victories over stars like Nate Diaz, Robbie Lawler, Kevin Lee and "Cowboy" Cerrone.

"I think he has lost his marbles"

That's Tyson Fury shooting down Deontay Wilder's claim that he CHEATED during the Feb. rematch ... saying Wilder just can't accept that he got his ass kicked.

Two weeks ago, Wilder didn't mince words -- accusing Tyson Fury of hiding weights in his gloves to increase the impact of his punches during their Feb. 22 fight.

"I highly believe you put something hard in your glove," Wilder said on video ... "Something the shape and size of an egg weight."

Wilder believes the foreign object caused his face to "swell up in the shape of an egg weight and it left a dent in my face as well."

A boxer accusing another boxer of loading up his gloves is a major allegation -- especially with no real proof.

But now, Fury is firing back ... claiming it's just another pathetic excuse from Wilder, who already tried to name the loss on his pre-fight costume, among other things.

"First of all it was the suit, then it was the bicep injury, then his trainer was on our team, then the referee was against him, then I had weights in my gloves," Fury told TalkSport.

"Now someone has spiked his water ... it’s one of those things, isn’t it?"

Fury is also addressing Wilder's claim that he's refusing to take a 3rd fight -- staying, it's Deontay who's pushing the dates.

"The original date was July 18," Fury said ... "That didn’t happen because he had an injury so it got put back 3 months to October. Then that didn’t happen because they were trying to get a venue."

UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman -- the first UFC heavyweight champ ever -- is recovering in the hospital after suffering a heart attack.

The 55-year-old legend says he felt something was wrong late Tuesday -- "chest locked up my arms went numb" -- but he tried to sleep it off.

When things didn't get better after several hours, Mark hightailed it to the hospital where doctors found a "complete blockage of a major artery."

"If I [didn't go to the hospital] I’m probably not here today," Coleman posted from his hospital bed.

"I’m so glad I went I have so many things I want to do."

He added, "For the first time in a long time I am motivated I am great full and appreciate all your support. It wasn’t my time. It’s time to live."

Coleman became the first UFC heavyweight champ back in 1997 when he defeated Dan Severn in the 1st round of their fight at UFC 12.

He went on to fight some of the greatest heavyweights of all time -- like Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture.

His signature victories include wins over guys like Mauricio Rua and Stephan Bonnar.

Coleman was inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008.

Khabib Nurmagomedov met with another world leader this week -- the Head of Dagestan -- and it sounds like he's staying retired.

Khabib sat down with Sergei Melikov, the acting Head of the Dagestan Republic -- who praised Khabib for bringing a "great victory to our people" with his UFC 254 win over Justin Gaethje.

"Khabib, you became the pride of not just your family and your people but the pride of Dagestan," Melikov said in an interview captured by RT Sport.

"Dagestan takes your victory as its own and celebrates it as its own win."

Of course, Khabib announced his retirement from MMA in the moments after the fight -- and even left his gloves in the octagon in a symbolic gesture.

UFC president Dana White recently said he's been talking to Khabib about returning for one last fight -- but when Khabib was talking with Melikov, he didn't sound like a man contemplating a comeback.

Khabib said fighting after the death of his father was difficult -- "The emotions in this fight were completely different. Everything was completely different without my father."

"I was offered the fight [with Gaethje] right after everything happened. I had the decision to accept it or turn it down -- nobody knew about this -- or retire."

"Or I could come back, fight and then retire. Now I tell the people close to me that aren’t happy with me retiring that even if I fought 10 more times, I’d still have to face that decision."

"This decision could come up when I’m 32, 34, 35. It’s a hard decision because I’ve been fighting all my life. I’ve been on the mats for as long as I remember. It’s difficult to leave and do something else. People can’t understand it, but what can you do?”

So, what will Khabib do? His father wanted him to retire with a 30-0 record. He currently sits at 29-0.

Israel Adesanya says his wonky pec at UFC 253 was NOT due to steroids or some sort of medical issue ... rather, the MMA star says it's simply 'cause he smokes too much weed!!!

"It might have just been unhealthy living a little bit -- like, smoking weed," the 31-year-old said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show this week. "That's what the doctor from the UFC said."

If you missed it ... while Adesanya picked apart Paulo Costa on Fight Island on Sept. 26, his right pectoral muscle flopped around far lower than his left one.

Viewers were concerned something might be horribly wrong ... and critics suggested it could be "juice" related.

But, Adesanya said he got everything checked out recently -- including getting an ultrasound and a mammogram -- and he claims docs told him everything was likely due to too much devil's lettuce.

"After a performance like that, I'd think I was on steroids too," Adesanya joked.

Adesanya says docs explained the disfigurement was nothing more than "a fat deposit" ... and he added he's now feeling -- and looking -- much better.

"It calmed down," Adesanya said. "Not as sensitive."

As for Adesanya's plans for weed now ... he says docs advised him to stop -- but he's laughing about that idea.

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is now a Huntington Beach City Council member.

MMA legend Tito Ortiz dominated the competition in Tuesday's election -- clinching 1 of the 3 available City Council seats in his home town.

The 45-year-old UFC Hall of Famer finished with 34,901 votes (14.3%) -- the most amount of votes out of the 15 candidates running for the open seats.

The next closest was Dan Kalmick, Huntington Beach Planning Commissioner, who finished with 11% of the vote.

Ortiz celebrated with a small gathering in Huntington Beach -- passionately thanking the locals for supporting him.

Tito is a hardcore Trump supporter who previously told TMZ Sports he received political support from the Trump family.

Before the election, Ortiz pushed a COVID conspiracy theory -- explaining why he believes the virus was created by man and is being weaponized by "the left."

"It's population control by the left," Tito said last month on the "I Only Touch Greatness" podcast.

"They’re trying to take out all of the older people who are getting social security and so forth."

ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?!?!

It hasn't even been 2 months since Randy Couture was seriously injured in an ATV crash -- but he's already cleared to start training again!

As we previously reported, the UFC Hall of Famer was pretty banged up during the Sept. 7 crash on his ranch in Flagstaff, AZ.

The 57-year-old suffered injuries to his ribs -- and underwent surgery so doctors could put two plates in his shoulder!

So, how's he feeling now?

"Everything's great. No issues," Couture tells us ... "The ribs actually healed up a lot faster than I remember healing up last time I did this sh*t."

"The shoulder was fine, they plated the shoulder, I got full range of motion. So, there's no real issues."

INCREDIBLE!

Randy says he's been cleared to do some light training -- and as soon as his ribs heal up, he'll go back to his usual full workout routine.

Couture is one the toughest guys in pro sports -- he famously walked himself to the hospital after suffering a heart attack in 2019 ... and then walked back home when he was discharged!

#Beast

Jon Jones' fists are as good a weapon as any, but when it comes to someone allegedly trying to steal his crap at home ... nothing gets the job done like a 12-gauge!

The UFC superstar posted security footage that he says was captured at his home -- presumably, in Albuquerque, where he lives -- that shows what appears to be a man sneaking around his driveway at night, peering into cars ... and trying to make a clean getaway.

Check it out ... as the alleged burglar hears the garage open, he makes a run for it. Little does he know that JJ is a professional athlete. Not only that, he was locked and loaded!

You can see Jon give chase with what he says is a shotgun he owns, and he was catching up to the dude pretty quickly on foot. Both men run off camera, and you don't get to see what happened after ... but Jon broke it down in detail in a follow-up IG caption.

He says he ended up tapping on the driver-side window of this guy's vehicle with the muzzle of his firearm -- to us, that means he caught the dude and held him up at gunpoint and presumably waited for cops to arrive. Jon adds, "Next time you try to rob someone, make sure you’re fast enough to out run them."

Anderson Silva has some business advice for Conor McGregor -- forget about a rematch with Khabib ... and focus on getting a deal done with Manny Pacquiao!!

Remember, Silva and Conor had publicly floated the idea of fighting each other over the past year -- with Silva even consulting with doctors about cutting weight for a possible throw down.

But, 45-year-old Silva says it became clear it wasn't going to happen and he moved on -- he's now fighting Uriah Hall on Halloween night in what could be the last fight of his Hall of Fame career.

As for Conor, Silva tells TMZ Sports ... McGregor should seriously reconsider getting back in the boxing ring, since he made a life-changing paycheck from his 2017 bout with Floyd Mayweather.

"I think for Conor right now, the best fight is with Manny Pacquiao," Silva says.

"For business, I think the best fight for Conor is to take the fight with Manny Pacquiao."

Silva says Conor obviously needs more training -- but he thinks it's a very interesting fight that people would love to watch.

As for his fight with Hall -- it's dangerous. 36-year-old Hall is on a 2-fight win streak and has previously defeated tough guys like Thiago Santos and Gegard Mousasi.

Silva has said this is most likely his last fight -- but nothing's set in stone. In other words, if he mops the floor with Hall, you might see him back in the octagon one last time.

If he does retire, he's a lock for the HOF -- widely regarded as one of the best of all time ... defeating legends like Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Stephan Bonnar and more.

#Legend

It hasn't even been a week ... and Khabib Nurmagomedov may already be coming out of retirement!!

HUGE NEWS!!!

Long story short, UFC boss Dana White told CBS Sports' Zach Gelb that he's been in touch with Khabib recently and he believes there's a good chance the Dagestani superstar will return to the Octagon sometime soon.

"Khabib and I have been talking," Dana said ... "He was completely emotional [at UFC 254] when he got through that fight. I have a feeling that he might go for 30-0."

When asked directly if he thinks Khabib will come back and fight again, White said -- "I do. His dad wanted him to get to 30-0, and I think he wants to honor his dads wish."

As we previously reported, Khabib defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 this past weekend -- boosting his record to 29-0 -- and after the fight, Khabib announced his retirement from MMA.

Khabib's father passed away earlier this year from COVID complications -- and Khabib said he has no desire to continue fighting without his dad by his side.

They were super close. Khabib's dad had trained him since he was a child.

But, White says he may very well reconsider the retirement -- question is ... who is the opponent?

Khabib has recently said Georges St-Pierre is the only fighter that gets him excited for a fight ... and GSP seemed interested too.

Tony Ferguson does NOT believe Khabib Nurmagomedov is retiring for good -- claiming the Dagestani will return to the octagon one day ... and Tony can't wait.

"You’re gonna miss it like [Conor McGregor]," Ferguson said on Submission Radio ... "He’s going to be back. So, I’ll be f*cking ready."

Khabib announced his retirement after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 -- saying he can't bring himself to fight again after the death of his father.

But Tony -- who was booked to fight Khabib on multiple occasions only to have the fights fall apart due to various issues -- claims he saw Khabib's retirement announcement coming from a mile away.

"I completely called it out," Ferguson said ... "I called it out on my post. You guys can see that. I called he was gonna retire."

Ferguson says Khabib's manager Ali Abdelaziz "did his job" by steering Khabib into fights with guys like Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje instead of him because "he kept his client safe."

"He kept [Khabib] away from very dangerous opponents. I mean, that’s what an agent and a manager is supposed to do. Although, he is a piece of sh*t, but I have to say, he did the smart thing. I mean, he avoided me at all f*cking costs."

Ferguson continued, "I mean, the Russians, they avoided me at all fucking costs. That’s f*cking awesome. So, you know what, I did my job. They ran. F*ckin’ Dagestani ran with his tail between his legs. But you know what, he’s off in the sunset."

Ferguson did offer Khabib "props" for handling his "family business" -- but predicts he will unretire just like Conor McGregor so they can finally settle things in the octagon once and for all.

For his part, Khabib says he's dead serious about retirement -- promising his mother he would stop fighting after the Gaethje victory.

If Jon Jones wants to secure his legacy as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Randy Couture has some advice for him ... move up to heavyweight and win another title!!

TMZ Sports talked to Couture -- one of the greatest fighters in UFC history -- about Jones, and his beef with the UFC's P4P rankings.

Of course, 33-year-old Jones has held down the #1 spot for a while, but was bumped earlier this week for the retired Khabib Nurmagomedov ... and has been beefin' with MMA fans over the decision online.

Randy tells us if Jon wants to make it clear he's the best in the world, all he's gotta do is put on a few pounds and fight Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou.

"I think if Jon really wants to solidify himself as pound-for-pound, he needs to go up to heavyweight and he needs to take a shot at winning that title. And, then that erases any argument that anybody could have."

Couture says Jon's dominated the light heavyweight division for so long ...but tells us winning in another division would take his career to a different level.

"I think that's something that Jones needs to look at, and really solidly his legacy in the sports by going up and winning the heavyweight division, and showing just how technically proficient and athletic he is."

FYI, Jones relinquished his LHW belt a few months back ... and has flirted with the idea of moving up to fight a top heavyweight.

Jon Jones believes he's the GREATEST fighter of all time -- not Khabib Nurmagomedov -- and he's spelling it out in a new video.

"I’m talking to all you Khabib fans out there," Jones said ... "15 world titles to your guy's 4??? And, you guys are really talking about who’s the best fighter ever? You guys are joking, right?"

"15 to 4. Are you guys’ kidding me?"

What Jones is saying is he's 15 title fights for either an undisputed or interim title -- though it's worth noting, his victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 was overturned due to a failed drug test.

Khabib has won 4 title fights in his career -- defeating Al Iaquinta, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

Not a bad resume ... but Jones says his 8 title defenses blow that out of the water.

"The only person that could possibly come back and challenge my record and what I’ve done in the UFC is possibly Georges St-Pierre. He would have to come back and win 2 championship fights to tie me, and I’m not even retired yet! I’m 33 years old. I’ve got a whole 'nother chapter to go through.”

Oh, there's more -- Jones continued ...

"And, all you guys who are going with this, 'He’s more dominant' argument, [Khabib] just recently started fighting elite-level competition. Could you imagine me against the #10 ranked guy?”

Jones has a solid point there ... look at his resume -- Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Alexander Gustafsson (twice!), Daniel Cormier (twice!) and many, many more.

And, Jones beat these guys in their primes.

Yes, Jones technically has a loss on his record -- a 2009 defeat against Matt Hamill -- but he was disqualified for an illegal elbow in a fight Jones was dominating. Most people don't really count it against him.

If Justin Gaethje is serious about fighting again in 6 weeks, Michael Chandler tells TMZ Sports he's all the way down to make that happen!!

Chandler -- who just signed with UFC after dominating Bellator for the past decade -- was the official "alternate" for the Gaethje vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight on Fight Island this past weekend ... and says he's already in shape for a 5-round main event.

So, when Justin took the mic after his loss to Khabib on Saturday and said he's ready to go again in the next 2 months ... Chandler says his ears perked up.

"That's a fight that I'd love for myself and for the fans," Chandler told us from the airport shortly after touching back down in the US.

"It's a fight that scares me, it's a fight that gets me excited. It's a fight that -- it gets your juices flowing. If you're a mixed martial arts fan, a UFC fan, you wanna see us step into the cage together.

Chandler believes his role as the alternate for the lightweight championship fight at UFC 254 should make him the number 1 contender to fight for the vacant lightweight belt ... now that Khabib has retired.

Conor McGregor has returned the gym ... seemingly preparing to return to the Octagon in January to take on Dustin Poirier.

The 32-year-old UFC superstar was doing some boxing drills (he appears to be at Straight Blast Gym in Ireland) ... trying to get himself ready to fight for the first time since January, when he destroyed Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

As we previously reported, both Conor and Dustin have publicly agreed to fight on January 23rd -- but Dana White recently told us the contracts have not been officially signed.

That said, White says he's confident the McGregor vs. Poirier will happen because "In the history of dealing with Conor McGregor, Conor McGregor has never come out publicly and said, 'I accept this fight' and then not fought and turned down a fight. So, I expect the fight to go on."

The only wrinkle ... Justin Gaethje called out Conor after losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov this past weekend -- suggesting the Irishman should bail on the Poirier fight and fight him instead.

So, what will Conor do? For now, just train.

There's been a ton of drama in Conor's life since his last fight -- including criminal allegations in Corsica, where he's accused of attempted sexual assault.

Before that, he announced his retirement from the sport of MMA -- claiming he didn't have the fire anymore ... but no one believed him.

Now, McGregor has seemingly changed his tune -- even posting on IG that he's "still committed" despite being worth "half a billi."

Khabib Nurmagomedov just RETIRED FROM MMA -- after choking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.

Wow.

Khabib essentially said he doesn't want to continue in the sport without his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who passed away earlier this year after a bout with COVID-19.

Gaethje proved dangerous -- throwing bombs as the lightweight champ -- but ultimately, Khabib's ground game was too strong ... and he caught Justin in a triangle choke in the 2nd round. Gaethje was rendered unconscious but came to moments later. He's fine.

Afterward, Khabib broke down in the Octagon sobbing ... overcome with emotion in his first fight since the passing of his father.

Justin and Khabib embraced after the fight -- nothing but respect between these two.

"God give me everything," Khabib said in the post fight interview ... "This is my last fight. Ain't no way I come here without my father."

32-year-old Khabib ends his career 29-0 -- defeating superstars like Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Gaethje and more.

Khabib says he's thought long and hard about his career -- and is certain his decision to retire will stand. It's not a publicity stunt.

In fact, Khabib left his gloves in the center of the Octagon -- a tradition from fighters to symbolize the end of their career.

Next stopgap UFC Hall of Fame ... he'll go down in MMA history as one of the greatest of all time.

Conor McGregor posted a respectful message to Khabib after the fight -- saying, "Good performance. I will carry on. Respect and condolences on your father again also."