TMZ Sports - Page 50

If you thought Alberto Del Rio was getting back in the cage for clout ... THINK AGAIN!!! 'Cause the ex-WWE superstar tells TMZ Sports he's ready to whoop some serious ass in his MMA comeback!!

The 41-year-old announced his decision to return to MMA for Combate Americas earlier this month ... and he's eyeing a fight in 2019.

ICYMI -- ADR had been in the news for other reasons over the past year -- he had a very public breakup with Paige and was investigated for domestic violence after an airport incident (he was cleared of any wrongdoing).

Alberto says he's been humbled by those incidents ... and that's what got him back in the gym training like a madman.

"For the first time after 19 years, I started doing some sparring with my boxing coach, with my jiu-jitsu coach and I was like, 'damn, I think I can do this again.'"

Del Rio says he even questioned if he'd be able to compete on a professional level again ... but he's not giving up for good reason.

Start fillin' out your March Madness brackets RIGHT NOW ... 'cause Carlos Boozer says Zion Williamson's Duke squad is the team to beat this season ... and the competition ain't even close!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the former Blue Devil about Duke's chances at winning it all ... and he says Zion, R.J. Barrett and Coach K are a lethal combo that'll be a BIG problem for the rest of the NCAA.

"I can't think of any other team that's on the same level with their athletes," Boozer says.

Booz says Zion is "one of the best athletes you've ever seen" ... and teaming up with Barrett -- the projected no. 1 overall pick in next year's NBA draft -- will make them unstoppable.

Look ... we get what you're thinking. Booz oozes Duke blue ... but college allegiances aside, he's probably right.

Don't get your hopes up when it comes to seeing Floyd Mayweather box Khabib ... 'cause the fight is NEVER HAPPENING -- so says ex-UFC star Brendan Schaub.

We got the UFC fighter-turned-MMA analyst out at LAX ... and dude wouldn't even let our photog finish his question about a possible Nurmagomedov-Floyd tilt.

"Stop it," Brendan tells TMZ Sports ... "It's never happening. It's never happening."

"It's not happening. EVER."

Why's Schaub so confident about that??

"Khabib's not a striker!!!!!!!"

Khabib feels otherwise -- he's bragged about putting Conor McGregor on his ass with an overhand right during their fight at UFC 229.

Of course ... all this Khabib-Floyd talk has gotten real recently 'cause Mayweather told us the fight is 100 percent going down.

Halloween is creeping up and that means it's time to start pimping those pumpkins! We've put together some scary good celebrity stencils that'll make for a few gourd-eous pumpkins!

From Tiffany Haddish and Post Malone to LeBron James and Hailey Baldwin we've pumped up our star-studded stencils for your carving please.

Step 1: Scroll through our celebrity stencils.

Step 2: Pick one out that'll impress the trick-or-treaters.

Step 3: Use the link in the captions to download and print out an easy-to-use-PDF template.

Sorry, fight fans ... Floyd Mayweather's making it clear -- the Manny Pacquiao tilt is off.

"I don't give a f*** about what's going on with Pacquiao," Floyd tells TMZ Sports.

Remember ... Floyd was singing a little different tune just a few weeks ago -- when he said, "I'm coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year another 9 figure pay day on the way."

But, Floyd tells us that's now off, saying, "We not going to make that happen right now. Not right now. We must take that fight and let that fight build. And then, down the line, let that fight happen."

So, what happened??

Mayweather says it's kinda complicated ... but, basically, since Pacman's now signed with Floyd's manager, Al Haymon -- they wanna go a different route.

"I think the best fight for Pacquiao -- what I told Al Haymon -- was probably the Adrien Broner fight. And then we got Errol Spence and Terence Crawford."

In the meantime ... Floyd seems sure as hell set on getting in the ring with Khabib and/or Conor McGregor.

Anderson Silva has a message for Conor McGregor -- FORGET A REMATCH WITH KHABIB and fight ME instead!

Remember, before UFC 229 earlier this month ... Conor told reporters he'd be interested in a superfight with Silva after he got through Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Obviously, the loss put a wrench in Conor's plan -- but Silva says he's still down to scrap as soon as Conor is ready to get back in the Octagon.

"I just waiting," Silva told us outside his new Spider Kick MMA gym in West Hollywood ... "I accept the challenge for Conor."

Silva says it makes perfect sense for Dana White -- "Two big names. Two big legends. And, why not?"

"It's not about money, Conor. It's about martial arts challenge."

If that can't happen, Silva says he'd still love another crack at Nick Diaz -- since their first fight in 2015 was essentially scrapped from the books, because they both tested positive for banned substances.

As for Spider's new gym, Silva says he's created a new elite facility to pass along all of his fight knowledge -- and it looks AWESOME!!!

Move over Khabib, Conor and Floyd ... Cody Garbrandt wants in on the MMA-boxing crossover action -- and he's callin' out Manny Pacquiao!!!

We got Cody outside of Mastro's with Russell Peters and Chuck Zito ... talkin' everything from Mike Tyson training Khabib to Nurmagomedov's chances against Mayweather in a ring.

But, then Peters brought up a dream fight for Cody -- a boxing match with Pacquiao ... and, turns out, Garbrandt's ALL FOR IT!!!

"I would love that fight, yeah, I would love that."

Cody tells us it wouldn't just be a money grab ... dude says he has a legit boxing background -- and seems confident he could take Manny!

Wiz Khalifa is so jacked up about his song with Tyron Woodley ... he's tellin' TMZ Sports 100 different versions of it are on the way!!!

We got Wiz leaving The Forum on Wednesday night when we brought up the magic words that turned him from laid-back rapper to hype man ... "Your track with Tyron Woodley."

"Oh, man, 'I'll Beat Yo Ass!'?" Wiz says ... "That song goes hard as hell!!"

Of course ... Woodley made the anthem with Wiz a few weeks ago -- and even rap legends like Snoop Dogg have hit up the UFC star asking to be on the remix!

Count Wiz in as one of the people who loves it ... 'cause he says a music video AND a TON of remixes for it are up next!!!

As for if Khalifa wants to keep collabin' with fighters down the road ... he says of course -- "Every last one of them, man!"

Can't. Wait.

The woman you're looking at above is not a professional swimsuit model -- she's a badass MMA fighter, and she tells TMZ Sports she's out to prove she's more than a pretty face.

If Rachael Ostovich looks familiar ... it's 'cause she went viral on social media (for obvious reasons) after appearing on UFC's 'The Ultimate Fighter' in July.

We spoke with the 27-year-old about her newfound popularity ... and she says she wants to make a name for her career in the cage, not her beautiful looks.

"I do believe that you can be a feminine woman and still fight MMA," Ostovich says. "I just feel like just do you. And, this was always me. It was never a fake thing for me."

We asked Rachael if she'd ever venture into the modeling and acting world ... and she says she's 100-percent focused on her career as a fighter ... for now.

"I feel like the attention is cool and all that but my main priority is fighting, and if that comes later on, then sure. We'll see when we get there at that time. But, right now, MMA is my main focus."

Just when you thought Sterling Brown's night couldn't get any worse ... we've now learned the NBA player was on a 1st date with a woman when he was tased in a Walgreens parking lot.

TMZ Sports obtained the file and video from the internal investigation into the Jan. 26 incident -- which made national news for the way Milwaukee PD officers aggressively handled the Bucks player, whose only mistake was parking in a handicap space.

Cops took Brown down to the ground and tased him -- despite the fact video evidence showed he never resisted or seemed to pose a threat.

Now, we've learned the woman who was with Brown that night told cops she barely knew Sterling because they were on their first date.

When cops put the woman into a police cruiser to take her home after Brown was arrested -- cops apologized to her for ending the date ... and joked with her about the evening.

In fact, one of the cops joked about Brown sliding into her DMs.

The unidentified woman laughed at the jokes -- and cops ultimately told her to "give him another chance."

Brown was never charged with a crime -- but he later filed a lawsuit against the PD claiming he was violently mistreated.

Tyron Woodley says he spoke with Floyd Mayweather -- and the boxer told him he honestly believes there's a 70% chance the fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov actually happens.

You can see Tyron give all the details about his call with Floyd on this week's 'Hollywood Beatdown' ... where the UFC champ also reveals what Floyd's doing behind the scenes to make it happen.

"Floyd says it's the real deal."

Tyron also explains why he thinks BOTH guys in the Khabib vs. Conor fight looked terrible -- and tells us what he REALLY thinks about Canelo Alvarez's new $365-million contract.

Plus, Tyron also brings in a very special guest and drops some info about his hit song, "I'll Beat Yo Ass," that could make some people RICH!

Paul Allen's cause of death was the septic shock brought on by his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma ... TMZ has learned.

We obtained Allen's death certificate, and it lists septic shock and immunosuppression as causes of death ... but both were clearly the result of his cancer. According to the document ... Allen died Monday at 12:35 PM at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.

The Microsoft cofounder had announced nearly 3 weeks ago his cancer had returned after 9 years of remission.

Allen owned the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trailblazers, and cofounded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975. His estimated net worth was north of $20 billion. Allen was never married and had no children. He was 65.

According to the death certificate, he opted to be buried instead of cremation.

Conor McGregor's already puttin' that UFC 229 money to good use ... 'cause he just surprised 10 Boston firefighters with World Series tickets!!

We're told McGregor wanted to do something special to show his appreciation for the firefighters ... so he plunked down a good chunk of change for 10 tickets to W.S. Game 1.

Remember, Conor says he made around $50 million from the Khabib fight -- and around $100 mil for the Mayweather fight -- so it's nice to see him spreading the wealth around.

McGregor personally delivered the goods to the Back Bay Fire Station ... where he spent time takin' pics and choppin' it up.

As if gettin' to watch their beloved Sox play for a ring at Fenway wasn't enough ... Conor also hooked the first responders up with his super hard to get Proper No. Twelve whiskey.

Before The Notorious split ... they cracked open some Proper No. Twelve and toasted to the Sox winning a title.

BTW -- Proper No. Twelve tells us they're donating $5 to first responders for every case of whiskey they sell ... up to $1 million a year.

Wicked awesome!!

Floyd Mayweather is proving you can never be too rich -- 'cause the dude just dropped $2,000 on lottery tickets in the hopes of winning the $1 BILLION jackpot!!!

Floyd rolled into a 76 gas station in L.A. on Thursday and told the cashier to start ringing up the Mega Millions tickets. You can see the stack of orange tickets in his hand as he walked out with his bodyguard.

The current jackpot is $1 BILLION -- but if there's a single winner and that person takes the lump sum, the take-home check would be about $565 million!!!

The drawing is set for Friday night -- but if nobody wins, the prize will be carried over to next week where the estimated grand prize could be over $1.6 BILLION!!!

Good luck, everyone ...

Here's Lonzo Ball's baby mama, Denise Garcia, proving her snap back game is STRONG ... showing off her incredible post-baby bod less than 3 months after giving birth!!

As we previously reported ... Garcia gave birth to Zoey Christina Ball on July 22. If you've been paying attention to her social media, she's been practically living in the gym ever since.

Before Curtis Granderson steps into the batter's box Friday night ... he needed a visit to the dentist's chair -- 'cause dude JACKED UP his tooth sliding into second base Wednesday!!

You'll remember ... The Grandy Man legged out a double in the 9th inning of the Brewers' Game 5 loss to the Dodgers -- and his helmet whacked him square in the mug on the slide.

Curtis ended up with a fat lip AND a broken front tooth to go along with the L ... and even said afterward the chipped piece got STUCK IN HIS LIP!!!

BUT ... the story has a happy ending -- 'cause Curtis hit up Mykleby & Thao Family Dentistry in Wauwatosa before Friday night's first pitch ... and he's cheesin' like normal now.

The smile might be fleeting, though ... Milwaukee's on the verge of elimination.