UFC

Nate Diaz has his sights set on kickin' ass on one of the most unexpected stages possible: the White House.

The MMA star tells TMZ Sports he’s all-in if talk of a potential fight card tied to the nation’s capital ever becomes reality … making it clear the idea of scrapping under a red, white and blue spotlight has his full attention.

“Yeah, that’d be dope, too,” Diaz said. “America gang, baby. You already know what’s popping.”

Cain Velasquez -- a former UFC heavyweight champion -- has been reunited with his family after spending 11 months locked up for allegedly attempting to shoot a man accused of molesting one of his family members.

In video shared to X, you see the moment Cain gets dropped off by a shuttle and greets his kids after leaving a California prison Sunday. A mariachi band launched into a festive tune upon his arrival, making it an all-out welcome home party for the retired mixed martial artist.

Cain was released on parole.

It's only a matter of time until Ilia Topuria's back in the Octagon ... 'cause TMZ Sports has confirmed the lightweight champ has struck a deal with his ex-wife Giorgina Uzcategui, after previously claiming he was the victim of bogus domestic violence allegations.

The agreement, first reported by Marca in Spain, comes after Topuria posted a photo to Instagram on Thursday, showing him back in the gym training ... with a caption reading, "The Champ is back!!!"

We're told the 155 lb. champion went back to training "weeks ago."

It's still unclear when Ilia wishes to return to the cage, but it'll likely be sometime in the middle of 2026 ... and fans are pumped!

Jon Jones is opening up on his physical health after a conversation, intended to be private, went viral ... where the UFC legend said his hip was screwed up so bad that he needs a replacement.

"Looks like a private conversation I had at DBX 5 in Houston made its way out into the wild," Jones told TMZ Sports. "It happens. Like most fighters, we deal with injuries quietly sometimes and like in my case, for years. A lot of us walk around limping most days, paying the ultimate price for our health."

If you haven't seen it, the former two-time light heavyweight and heavyweight champ was at a combat sports event where he thought he was having a casual conversation with fellow MMA fighter Joaquin Buckley ... but it turns out someone was recording.

It's no secret that folks in Hollywood love their four-legged friends ... and can you guess who this dog mom is?

We caught up with this former UFC champion at LAX in Oct. 2017 ... right when she was adjusting to life with a new dog ... and she was excited about adding another member of the family!

It's been two weeks since Kayla Harrison went under the knife after suffering a serious injury, which forced her out of her UFC 324 co-main event fight with Amanda Nunes ... and now the featherweight champ is showing off her gnarly scar for the first time.

American Top Team -- where Harrison trains in Florida -- shared a photo on social media Thursday ... and it underscores the severity of the procedure

It's the first significant update we've received on Harrison since she posted an emotional video on Instagram after the operation, where she apologized to Nunes for missing the highly anticipated bout.

We're switchin' it up and throwin' not one but THREE terrific kiddos your way ... Can you guess who they are?!

1. The kid on the left came into Hollywood like a "wrecking ball!"

2. The macho kid on the top right is ROCK solid!

3. And, the kiddo on the bottom right is "all about that bass!"

Can you guess who they are?!

After you've solved those cute kiddos, can you score the game below?

UFC 324 was costly for Rose Namajunas ... not only did the former champ come up short on the scorecards against Natalia Silva, but she also suffered a severe eye injury that's forcing her under the knife.

"Thug Rose" shared the bad news with fans on Instagram on Tuesday, showing off her shiner after her unanimous decision loss to the now No. 1 fighter in the women's flyweight division.

Namajunas says the injury stems from eye-pokes "a few times in the fight." As a result, she says her tear duct tore, and she will now require a silicone tube be inserted into her eye for three months.

Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett are both beloved by fans, but only one can walk away from UFC 324 as champion ... so, we asked both, who's it gonna be?!

Babcock chopped it up with both main event fighters ahead of their main event, interim lightweight title fight on Saturday ... pitting 37-year-old Gaethje against 31-year-old Pimblett.

"I'm excited to go out there and teach this young kid some lessons," Gaethje said. "I love how confident [Paddy] is. I love how fickle the fans are, and how quickly they forget how good I am, and how dangerous I am. Man, I'm pumped."

Gaethje says he plans to rely on his experience, and he's ready to go to a dark place to win the fight.

"I gotta rely on my technique and my skill level. I've been in this position so many times. Twenty-five minutes in time, so I gotta go out there and be perfect," Justin said.

Sean O'Malley says no one -- not Paramount, nor the UFC -- forced him to apologize for wearing a mask for face-offs with UFC 324 opponent Song Yadong, telling TMZ Sports it was entirely his decision!

Babcock caught up with O'Malley ahead of the UFC's big debut on Paramount+ Saturday night ... where we asked the former champion about the fallout from the faceoff with the Chinese-born fighter, after Suga rocked a medical mask, prompting an apology.

"Most people kind of saw it a certain way," O'Malley said. "There was a few people that got offended, wasn't my intention. I just apologize if I did hurt anyone's feelings, I do feel bad, that was not the goal."

8:30 PM PT -- Cam Smotherman is speaking out after Friday morning's scary incident, heading to social media, and sending a message to his fans, saying ... "I'm completely okay, I'm good."

Smotherman says he didn't cut that much weight, and isn't sure what went wrong ... adding he's going to be going through additional tests with doctors to try and nail down what happened after he left the scale.

Cam apologized to his opponent (their fight was canceled), and expressed a desire to return to the Octagon in the near future.

2:40 PM PT -- There's good news ... Cam Smotherman is doing well after the scary collapse, according to his teammate Adrian Yanez, who spoke with Ariel Helwani. His CT scan and X-rays also came back clear, and he only needed stitches on his chin after suffering a cut from the fall.

Terrifying moment at the UFC 324 weigh-in on Friday ... when fighter Cameron Smotherman collapsed on stage after stepping off the scale.

The concerning situation played out minutes ago in Las Vegas ... when all the fighters on the first-ever Paramount+ card showed up to make weight for Saturday's fights.

28-year-old Smotherman made weight for his fight against Ricky Turcios at 135.5 pounds ... but as he walked toward the exit, he fell face-first to the ground.

Medical staffers on hand rushed to help him ... and he was carried away.

UFC commentators Laura Sanko and Daniel Cormier reacted in real time ... expressing their shock as the cameras cut from the stage and to their set.

There haven't been any updates on his status ... but we're sure the organization will provide one as soon as it's available.

The Smotherman vs. Turcios bout is now off as a result.

Fighters are known to go through insane weight cuts in order to compete in their respective divisions ... though it hasn't been confirmed that's what sparked Smotherman's medical scare.

The fighting community has sent a ton of support for the Texas native ... with everyone hoping for a speedy recovery.

Dirty Boxing champ Jairzinho Rozenstruik was arrested Monday over an alleged domestic violence incident ... after the former UFC star is accused of getting into a blowout argument with his partner, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to an incident report from Pembroke Pines PD, cops were initially dispatched Monday morning regarding a "suspicious incident" ... which they say was later revealed to be a "domestic battery."

When they arrived, officers say they made contact with Rozenstruik, who told them his partner, who was not identified, pushed him during an argument.

Cops say the 37-year-old fighter was "uncooperative and advised they 'figured it out' and did not need law enforcement."

Dana White says there's a lot of "goofy s***" that makes rounds in the MMA world ... and the biggest case of "goofy s***" at the moment?? Conor McGregor fighting Jorge Masvidal at the White House.

The chatter picked up this week ... with Gamebred even claiming the chances were "not looking bad" that he'd get a shot at Notorious at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. later this year.

That's news to Dana ... who would probably know if that matchup was a possibility.

In just a few months, the UFC will bring the show to the most famous house in the world -- the White House -- and while the card is still a mystery ... the promotion's longtime commentator, Jon Anik, is telling us who he wants to see scrap at 1600 Penn.!

"I think you probably got to do the Heavyweight Championship," Anik told TMZ Sports this week in NYC. "We got to see Tom Aspinall versus Ciryl Gane again."

Of course, the men met at UFC 321 in October ... but the fight was stopped and ruled a no-contest after an inadvertent eye poke.

In the co-main event, Jon threw out another rematch ... which would pit Merab Dvalishvili against the man who just took his belt in December, Petr Yan.

Kayla Harrison is breaking her silence after a serious neck injury made her pull out of her huge co-main event fight against Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 ... posting a video from her NYC hospital bed after undergoing surgery, fighting back tears, and declaring, "I'll be back soon."

Harrison shared the video with her followers on Thursday morning, and it's crystal clear how much of a toll the situation has taken on her ... torpedoing one of the most anticipated fights in the history of women's MMA.

"I'm sorry to Amanda," Kayla said. "I was really looking forward to it."

Turns out maybe there is art in Mixed Martial Arts ... 'cause nearly 10 years after Meryl Streep famously called out the sport during the Golden Globes ... the UFC was front and center at the same show to hype up its Paramount deal!!

Brian Ortega and current women’s strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern made a brief appearance during Sunday night’s 83rd Golden Globes on CBS, which now owns the U.S. broadcast rights to the MMA organization for the next seven years.

A quick refresher on why this is quite notable -- while Streep was accepting an award at the 2017 show, she gave a speech calling out President Donald Trump. When making a comment about diversity in Hollywood, she said, “If we kick [outsiders and foreigners] out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts -- which are not the arts."