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Jonathan Martin just cut a deal with L.A. prosecutors ... and now, the ex-NFL O-lineman could get out of his gun and knife threats case without spending more time behind bars.

Martin -- who famously alleged he was bullied by ex-teammate Richie Incognito during their playing days with the Dolphins -- made some scary comments on social media that led to his arrest in 2018.

In an Instagram post, Martin threw up a picture of a shotgun with shells ... and wrote, "When you're a bully victim & a coward your options are suicide, or revenge."

Hours later ... cops say they found Martin with a cache of weapons including a loaded shotgun, knife and an ax -- and say he had been threatening classmates for years.

Prosecutors eventually hit Martin with 5 charges ... 4 counts of making criminal threats and 1 count of possessing a loaded firearm.

But, TMZ Sports has learned Martin cut a deal in court Friday ... and will enter a 2-year pre-trial diversion program.

The specifics about Martin's program are unclear -- but typically, when offenders complete a diversion program, the charges are wiped from their record.

Typical diversion programs include completing treatment courses, counseling, community service, restitution, etc.

30-year-old Martin started 32 games in his NFL career before ultimately getting cut from the Panthers in 2016.

Conor McGregor has been charged with assault stemming from an April attack in an Irish pub ... and he's now fcaing up to 6 months in jail.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Conor walked into the Marble Arch Pub in Dublin on April 6 and punched a patron in the face after he refused a shot of Conor's Irish whiskey.

Cops investigated the incident and now a spokesperson for the Irish police tells us a court date has been set in the case, October 11th.

Conor is facing one count of assault, according to the Irish news outlet The Independent, which carries a maximum 6-month jail sentence if convicted.

Conor has spoken about the incident publicly ... telling ESPN in August, "I was in the wrong."

McGregor added, "That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having to end the way it did."

During the ESPN interview, Conor said he tried to make amends with the victim but didn't specify how or if he was able to do that.

"But still, that doesn’t even matter. I was in the wrong," McGregor said.

In the meantime, Conor has said he wants to return to the UFC and fight again ... but no match has been set.

We reached out to McGregor's camp for comment. So far, no word back.

The Miami Dolphins might suck, but it's still good to be Josh Rosen ... who left an L.A. hotspot Thursday night with a very attractive lady on his arm!!!

Rosen's Dolphins are on a bye week so the QB decided to catch a plane back to his hometown where he was spotted on a double date with his longtime buddy, Scotty McKnight.

The duo left with two hot chicks ... but we haven't been able to identify them yet.

If McKnight looks familiar, it's because he not only was drafted by the NY Jets back in the day, but he's also kind of a Hollywood big shot who famously dated "Gossip Girl" star Jessica Szohr.

Robert Kraft's helicopter did NOT destroy a college field when he landed before the Pats vs. Bills game this past weekend ... the damage was "minimal," according to multiple sources.

Here's the deal ... Kraft's chopper touched down on the football field at Erie Community College on Sunday, right before the Pats took on the Bills in Buffalo.

There were reports the helicopter damaged the football field, causing divots that may have led to a problem when ECC played their next football game.

But, we reached out to multiple people connected to the situation -- including ECC -- and were assured by multiple parties the extent of the damage was "overblown."

We're told there WAS some minor damage to the field -- and the Buffalo Bills sent their groundskeeping crew over to check it out -- but it didn't exactly require a massive effort to fix.

An ECC rep tells us the guys just stomped some dirt in the divots and it successfully remedied the issue. The rep says, "There wasn't even $100 in damage."

We're also told the field is in fine condition for ECC's next game and it doesn't seem like anyone has any problems with Kraft or the Patriots.

Kevin Garnett put on a SHOW off-camera on the set of the new Adam Sandler movie, "Uncut Gems" -- hooping out of his mind during a pick-up game ... and it was AWESOME!!

KG has a major role in the flick, which is about a degenerate sports gambler who gets into major problems when his debts spiral out of control.

Garnett plays himself ... and we had heard that during downtime on the set, he stayed in his role and just murdered people on a basketball court they used in the movie.

So, when we saw "Uncut Gems" director Josh Safdie at the Alice Tully Center in L.A. on Thursday, we asked him about the rumors ... and yeah, it's all true, baby!!

"Kevin doesn't know how to do anything but play at 100%," Safdie told us.

No, Sandler didn't play in the game with Garnett ... but Safdie says they all sat on the set and watched KG go off.

Ex-NFL star Fred Smoot -- who played for the Vikings and Redskins -- was arrested in Virginia on Thursday and TMZ Sports has the pics.

Law enforcement tells us, 40-year-old Smoot was taken into custody in Loudoun County around 7:15 PM local time.

A witness says multiple cops were waiting for Smoot at his home when the ex-NFL player arrived there. He was placed in handcuffs and taken to a nearby station where he was booked into county jail.

We're told Smoot was taken in on outstanding warrant stemming from a failure to appear in court in Sept. for a previous issue. Unclear what the previous issue is at this point, but we're working on it.

Smoot was previously arrested in Washington D.C. in 2014 for domestic violence stemming from an issue with his girlfriend. But, when the case went in front of a judge in 2015, he was found not guilty.

Besides being a pretty solid defensive back, Smoot was famously involved in the Minnesota Vikings "Love Boat" scandal back in Oct. 2005 ... when several players were accused of hiring prostitutes for a sex party on water.

Smoot later pled guilty to disorderly conduct and being a public nuisance on a watercraft stemming from the incident.

Ric Flair has touched down in Los Angeles ... and there's one thing on his mind -- BEATING UP HULK HOGAN!!!

The Nature Boy tells us he's not only healthy and ready to get back in the ring (in fact, he says he's been by cleared by doctors) ... but he's also back on great terms with WWE.

Remember, Ric  told us in September he had some problems with WWE superstar Becky Lynch using the nickname, "The Man" ... because Rick says he owns the rights to that term and thinks the WWE should pay him for it.

But, when we saw Ric at LAX on Thursday with his wife, Wendy Barlow, Flair said things are definitely cool now ... and he chalks it all up to a case of "agree to disagree."

Gennady Golovkin says Canelo Alvarez should change his name to Amarillo Alvarez ... because the dude is straight-up SCARED to fight him a 3rd time.

(Note for all of our non-Spanish speaking friends, "amarillo" means yellow.)

GGG is set to fight Sergiy Derevyanchenko on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden ... but a lot of people are wondering why he's not gearing up to complete the trilogy with Canelo instead.

So, we asked Gennady ... and he essentially told us his team tried like hell to come to terms for a 3rd fight, but Canelo was ducking the smoke like he was Floyd Mayweather.

"Last time he said 'No,'" Golovkin tells TMZ Sports ... "Everybody push him, he said 'No.' I can't bring him!"

Here's something you've never seen before ... Tim Tebow got dominated in a push-up battle -- all while he was spending time with inmates at a Texas prison!!!

Tim -- who's been preaching religion to people behind bars for YEARS -- visited the Alfred D. Hughes Unit in Gatesville, TX on Thursday to talk with the guys.

But, at some point ... Tim put down the mic and put his arms to the test -- 'cause the ex-NFL QB went one-on-one with an inmate in a push-up contest ... and got DESTROYED!!!

The former Heisman Trophy winner actually threw up some amazing numbers ... in about a minute, he got his body up and down 71 times.

LaVar Ball is firing back at his ex-BBB business partner Alan Foster ... claiming the scathing allegations against LaVar in a new lawsuit are total BBBS.

"Alan Foster’s claims are not only unfounded and devoid of any truth, but are an egregious attempt to turn the attention away from the millions of dollars that he embezzled from the Ball Family and the Ball Family Business," Ball said in a statement.

"Not only will LaVar Ball and his family continue to vigorously pursue their civil action against Foster seeking civil damages, but will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in order to seek justice for his egregious actions."

"The Ball family are all united in relentlessly pursuing Foster for his grave injustices, and will always fight to protect the respected Ball family name, despite Foster’s futile attempt to defile it."

Foster reportedly filed court docs against LaVar, accusing Lonzo Ball's famous father of embezzling more than $2.5 million from the Big Baller Brand company.

The WNBA is investigating L.A. Sparks General Manager Penny Toler after the exec admitted to using the n-word in an emotional postgame outburst in the team locker room after a loss.

Toler -- who is African American -- went off on the team after the Sparks lost Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals to the Connecticut Sun on Sept. 19.

Several players, who didn't wish to be named, spoke with ESPN's Ramona Shelburne about the incident ... saying Toler called them "motherf**kers" and showed "total disrespect."

53-year-old Toler says "it's unfortunate" she used the n-word but insists, "By no means did I call my players the n-word."

"I'm not saying that I couldn't have used it in a context," Toler told ESPN ... "But, it wasn't directed at any of my players."

Toler acknowledges she shouldn't have used the word, adding, "Nobody should ... but you know, like I said, I'm not here to defend word by word by word what I said. I know some of the words that I'm being accused of are embellished. Did I give a speech that I hoped would get our team going? Yes."

Now the WNBA has announced the league is investigating the incident ... saying in a statement on Thursday they have ZERO tolerance for offensive racial language.

“We’ll be looking into it as a league. We understand the heat of the moment and that the Sparks lost in the semifinals, but we don’t condone that kind of language and will be reviewing it over the next couple of days,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

Good news for Jason Pierre-Paul ... the Tampa Bay Bucs pass rusher says he's all healed up after suffering a neck injury in a May car crash and expects to get back on the field for Week 8.

As we previously reported, JPP suffered a fracture in his neck during a single-car wreck on May 2 at 5 AM in Florida while driving his SUV. He spent the past couple of months in a neck brace while he recovered.

At the time, the Bucs placed 30-year-old JPP on the non-football injury list -- making him ineligible to play for the first 6 weeks of the NFL season.

The player is allowed to receive treatment and attend team meetings -- and JPP has been doing just that. In fact, he was at the Bucs gym on Thursday working out and showing off his 6-pack.

We reached out to JPP's agent, Doug Hendrickson, who tells us Pierre-Paul is ready to go and would play as early as Week 7, but the Bucs have a bye that week.

But, the Bucs play the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 27 (Week 8) ... and we're told JPP is targeting that game for his triumphant return.

The Bucs are probably eager to get JPP back on the field soon since they're paying him a ton of money. He was originally slated to make $13.65 mil in 2019 but amended his contract after suffering the injury and will only make $10.5 mil instead.

Don't feel too bad for JPP, he's reportedly made over $72 mil in his NFL career.

Oscar De La Hoya is being sued by a famous ex-Golden Boy Promotions employee -- who claims the boxing star would call him at all hours of the night to save him from situations when he was "highly intoxicated."

The man behind the suit is David Gonzalez -- a famous L.A. radio star known as Tattoo.

FYI -- Tattoo first appeared on Power 106 back in 2001 and agreed to have the words, "I slept with Shaq" tattooed on his forehead in exchange for Lakers' playoff tickets. He later got the tattoo removed.

But, Gonzalez says he was contacted by Golden Boy Promotions in 2010 to work for Oscar's company, mainly doing promotional work and announcing at events.

In his lawsuit, Gonzalez says things got weird quick ... and was ordered to "perform a wide range of highly personal, improper, and elicit non-work-related duties."

Rams legend Isaac Bruce doesn't understand what's going on with Todd Gurley this season ... telling TMZ Sports the Rams' usage of the star running back is "strange."

Gurley signed a 4-year, $57.5 MILLION contract before last season -- and was the team's workhorse ... averaging 18.3 carries per game plus 4.2 catches per game.

But, this year ... he's been rotated in and out of the lineup for backup Malcolm Brown -- and has seen his touches drop to just 12.2 carries per game and 2.8 catches per game.

Bruce says TG's role in the offense so far is perplexing ... telling us, "It's strange to see with Todd being as young as he is being on somewhat of a management program."

Bruce added, "It's kind of strange. It's different."

WNBA star Jonquel Jones is the first player in WNBA history to record a 30-15 game in the Finals ... and she's revealing her secret weapon after her dominant performance -- her adorable dog!!

The Connecticut Sun forward was an absolute beast in Game 2 of the Finals on Tuesday ... posting 32 points and 18 rebounds to single-handedly take down the Washington Mystics and tie up the series.

TMZ Sports spoke with JJ on Thursday at Reagan National Airport ... and she just so happened to have her INCREDIBLY CUTE doggy, Rylo, with her.

So, of course ... we had to chop it up with Jonquel about her 4-legged friend ... and she says she's able to take Rylo with her everywhere she goes!!

"He's my son, so I'd want to take him anywhere I can take him," Jones tells us.

Naturally, after a dominant game like she just had, we had to ask if young Rylo brings her some additional good luck on road trips ... and she says "most definitely!!"

We take it we're gonna see Rylo around a LOT during the rest of the series.

Air Force's beloved falcon mascot, Aurora, took her last flight on Wednesday ... the school announced the iconic bird has died. She was 23.

Aurora -- a rare white phase gyrfalcon -- played a huge role at Air Force sporting events over the years and was touted as "an ambassador for all falcons."

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Aurora passed away earlier today," the Academy said in a statement. "Aurora was the Academy’s longest-serving live mascot. In her 23 years at USAFA, she interacted with tens of thousands of people at sporting venues and military and community events."

USAFA credits Aurora for "helping us educate the public on the importance of these majestic birds."