UFC

Paige VanZant was a star in the UFC, but she says her MMA-fighter husband's debut win with the promotion was sweeter than any moment she had in the Octagon!

TMZ Sports talked to VanZant about hubby Austin Vanderford's UFC Fight Night 252 win against Nikolay Veretennikov by second-round TKO ... a fight AV took on less than one week's notice.

Wifey couldn't be prouder.

Paddy Pimblett is locked in for his co-main event fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 314 in Miami ... but the MMA star can't help but dream about what could come next -- including a potential mega-fight with Conor McGregor!

TMZ Sports caught up with Paddy "The Baddy" ahead of his big-time showdown with the seventh-ranked fighter in the lightweight division ... saying their scrap is what many consider the true main event.

"I don't think anybody has more entertaining fights than Michael Chandler," Paddy said.

FBI Director Kash Patel wants UFC fighters to train his Agents ... and well there's one that is totally down! 🙋🏽 Justin Gaethje.

TMZ Sports spoke to 36-year-old Gaethje, who at the moment is a little tied up preparing for his co-main event scrap with Rafael Fiziev, who was plugged in for an injured Dan Hooker this week.

After the March 8 scrap in Las Vegas, the lightweight contender is down to help the country's top law enforcement agency in any way he can ... training personnel, or just kickin' the ass himself.

Newly sworn-in FBI Director Kash Patel wants his org to kick some serious ass ... with reports stating he's considering bringing in UFC trainers to work with agents!!

According to Reuters, Patel suggested the idea in a video conference with supervisors on Wednesday. In the call, he proposed establishing a formal relationship with Dana White's promotion to fine-tune agents' self-defense skills.

The idea may seem a bit odd ... and that's how it's being received by at least a few agents, who said it was "surreal" and "wacky," according to the outlet.

Guilherme "Bomba" Vasconcelos -- an MMA fighter who competed in the UFC and Bellator, and dated Demi Lovato -- died by suicide, according to newly-released documents.

TMZ Sports obtained the case report from the October 15 incident ... which state cops were dispatched to an Illinois home around 9 AM after a woman reported finding Vasconcelos in the garage.

After reviewing security camera footage ... cops determined Vasconcelos took his own life the night prior around 11:45 PM -- and was not discovered until the following morning.

Conor McGregor just formally moved to overturn the result of his recent civil assault case in Ireland.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ Sports ... McGregor filed an appeal with the courts last Friday in an effort to clear himself following a jury's November ruling that he was liable for assaulting Nikita Ni Lamhain.

The case, as you know, stemmed from allegations Ni Lamhain -- AKA Nikita Hand -- made against the fighter in a lawsuit years ago. Hand claimed McGregor had sex with her against her will at a hotel ... after he picked her up from a 2018 Christmas party.

Turns out Jon Jones' next bout isn't against Alex Pereira OR Tom Aspinall ... the UFC heavyweight champ is picking a fight against a far more powerful entity -- the American healthcare system!

TMZ Sports has an early look at a Super Bowl commercial starring Bones -- slated to run during Sunday's Chiefs vs. Eagles game -- where he takes aim at the industry.

"Thanks for joining me today. This next fight for me is a personal one, but it's not just for me. It's for every American who's ever been bullied, robbed, or deceived. It's arguably the most important fight of my career. My next opponent will be the American healthcare system," Jones says in the commercial.

Ronda Rousey might be done fighting, but she's still a knockout ... and, we've collected all her hottest shots for her 38th birthday.

Whether in a sports bra and shorts fighting in the ring or in a black cocktail dress, Rousey's always taking people's breath away.

RR was at the top of the UFC pyramid when she won 12 straight fights between 2011 and 2015 -- before losing her Bantamweight title and retiring in 2016.

Bryce Mitchell is walking back positive statements he made about Adolf Hitler -- apologizing for sounding insensitive with his comments about the former dictator ... and adding he's definitely not a Nazi.

The UFC fighter released a statement just minutes ago ... saying he's sorry to fans who he offended with his comments -- adding he knows many people died in the Holocaust and that Hitler did a whole lot of evil things.

Mitchell adds he's "definitely not a nazi, and definitely do not condone any of the evil things Hitler did."

12:30 PM PT -- Mitchell's boss, UFC honcho Dana White, unloaded on his comments at a Power Slap press conference just now ... in which he labeled the fighter "probably one of the dumbest human beings."

"We've obviously reached out to Bryce and when we read what he said and let him know what we feel about it, we are beyond disgusted," White said.

He went on to say Mitchell apologized ... but when asked about a potential punishment, White said it's free speech.

"That's the beautiful thing about this business," he continued. "For all of you who hate Bryce Mitchell, you get to see him hopefully get his ass whooped on global television."

UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell complimented Hitler and denied the Holocaust in a wildly offensive podcast episode, saying the former Nazi leader simply attempted to "purify" Germany from the "greedy Jews."

If the BYU crowd was extra loud Tuesday night, thank Conor McGregor for the raucous atmosphere ... The Notorious was in the house as the school's hoops team beat Baylor, and he had the student section FIRED UP!

Mystic Mac was courtside for the Cougars game vs. the Bears at the J. Willard Marriott Center ... and it sounds like McGregor had a blast!

"I've always wondered what the college game would be like, and I am very, very, very impressed," McGregor said.

Belal Muhammad says he's back in the gym and gunning to make a mid-2025 return to the Octagon ... but he's not looking to share the Octagon with training partner Islam Makhachev.

TMZ Sports talked to the UFC welterweight champ ... several weeks after 36-year-old Muhammad was forced to pull out of his title defense fight with number one contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.

"I think for sure, May, June, right after Ramadan is where I'm aiming for. And, definitely before summertime, that would work perfectly for me, where I could get in three fights this year, that's my goal, to stay active," Belal told us of his plans.

Dana White and Joe Rogan won't be the only UFC representatives at the presidential inauguration on Monday ... Jon Jones will also be in attendance after receiving a personal invite from Donald Trump!

"Donald and Dana White have become pretty good friends, and it's a really cool time to be in the UFC, being American, being a champion, getting an invite from the president. It's quite a big deal," the UFC heavyweight title holder said after touching down in the D.C. area.

To anyone who criticizes his attendance at the historic event, Bones says this:

Another legal issue has just cropped up for Conor McGregor ... TMZ Sports has confirmed the UFC superstar has been sued over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman during an NBA game back in 2023.

The suit was filed in a federal court in Florida on Tuesday ... by a woman ID'ed only as "Jane Doe."

She alleges in her court docs that at some point during the Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets playoff game on June 9, 2023 at the Kesaya Center in Miami, McGregor led her into a men's restroom near the arena's nightclub, and sexually assaulted her inside of a stall.

Frontier Airlines is adamant they were NOT in the wrong when they booted UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov off a flight this weekend ... claiming the 29-0 fighter ignored a flight attendant's instructions before takeoff.

But, TMZ Sports just spoke to someone close to Khabib, who says that's simply false.

First, Frontier's side of things. The airline says Khabib -- who was seated in an exit row -- failed to indicate he was willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency.

Khabib Nurmagomedov was taken off a flight over the weekend following a seating disagreement with the airline’s staff.

The incident, which took place on a flight leaving Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport on Saturday, was captured on video and posted to social media. In the video, you hear a flight attendant asking Nurmagomedov, who's sitting in the emergency exit row, if he was prepared and able to assist other passengers in the event of an emergency.

The flight attendant says, "We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row … I am not going to do this back and forth. I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane."