TMZ Sports - Page 50

UFC's Dan Hooker admits he was initially "hesitant" about fighting in Nevada over the weekend due to the looming COVID threat ... but says he trusts Dana White to keep everyone safe.

30-year-old Hooker -- the #5 ranked UFC lightweight -- hails from New Zealand ... where the COVID numbers are incredibly low.

In fact, New Zealand has essentially been unscathed by coronavirus ... with only 1,170 confirmed cases, and 22 deaths.

To compare, the U.S. has more than 2.5 million confirmed cases ... with 126,000 deaths.

Nevada alone has roughly 11 times the number of cases as all of NZ.

"We have no cases actually in New Zealand and then coming over here I was a little bit hesitant to know about the safety precautions," Hooker tells us.

So, Hooker had a serious decision to make when White offered him the chance to fight Dustin Poirier on June 27 to headline UFC Fight Night at the APEX center in Vegas.

Hooker says he was reluctant to fly right into the COVID hornet's nest ... but ultimately he swayed after learning about the UFC's intense screening process.

"I feel comfortable. I've been here for 3 days and soon as we arrived, we got tested. Getting tested again [Friday], we get temperature checks every morning and they got security at every single door making sure that people can't come and go," Hooker says.

"I'm very confident in the precautions that the UFC has in place."

Now, Hooker is focused on Poirier -- the #3 ranked UFC lightweight ... and a win could put Hooker in the mix for a title shot.

FYI, Hooker is on a tear at the moment ... winning 7 of his last 8 fights over guys like Gilbert Burns, Paul Felder and Al Iaquinta.

One of the largest American Indian groups in the country is declaring war on the Washington Redskins -- saying the team name is insanely offensive and NFL players should boycott.

Fawn Sharp -- president of the National Congress of American Indians (which represents more than 500 tribal nations) just went scorched earth on the franchise in an op/ed titled, "Who Will Become the Colin Kaepernick of Washington’s NFL Team?"

"The racial slur can no longer be removed by the complicit, indifferent, tone-deaf ownership of the franchise, because the stain they have fixed onto their own name and enterprises is now permanent," Sharp says.

"It is an insult that can no longer be retracted, a sin that can no longer be erased."

She continues, "Since it’s too late to give the team name up, it’s time for it to be taken."

"It’s time for the players to rip down that name like it was a statue of a Confederate general in their locker room."

WOW.

Sharp takes it further spelling out a plan of action for Washington players.

"I am calling for members of the NFL franchise in Washington, DC, to rise to the occasion and become heroes. All I ask is that you state the unequivocal moral truth: just as you would never play for the Washington [insert any other racial slur], you will no longer play for any team branded with a racial slur against Native Americans."

Ever seen a dude hit a golf ball 428 yards off the tee ... but bogey?!?!

PGA Tour star Bryson DeChambeau just did exactly that at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut ... and the scene was WILD!!!

Check out video of DeChambeau's nuke of a drive at the 10th tee Friday ... he crushed it -- and then got about 100 yards of fortunate roll down a cart path.

His ball eventually stopped on a sewer grate ... but the distance was so long -- it was about 100 yards farther than Rory McIlroy's 3-wood!!!

But, the craziest part of the shot? Despite being only about 40 yards away from the green ... Bryson didn't get the GIR!!

The 26-year-old ended up settling for bogey ... which is possibly a more astonishing feat than the drive itself.

Things didn't get much better for the budding golf superstar on the next hole ... his birdie putt lipped in and then lipped out.

More outlandish and offensive stuff from Formula 1 racing boss Bernie Ecclestone ... who is now pushing the narrative that Black people are more racist than whites.

Seriously. Here's his latest quote -- "In lots of cases, Black people are more racist than what White people are."

Okay, some background ... the 89-year-old racing legend was talking to CNN about Lewis Hamilton's social justice efforts in the recent months -- when things turned sideways.

It started out nice ... Ecclestone praised Hamilton saying he's "very, very, very talented as a driver and he seems to be now extremely talented when's he standing up and can make speeches."

"This last campaign he's doing for Black people is wonderful."

So far, so good.

But, when Ecclestone was asked about Lewis' new endeavor -- The Hamilton Project (created to help promote diversity in racing) ... things started to go off the rails.

"I don't think [The Hamilton Project] is going to do anything bad or good for Formula One."

"It'll just make people think which is more important. I think that's the same for everybody. People ought to think a little bit and think: 'Well, what the hell? Somebody's not the same as White people and Black people should think the same about White people.'"

He followed up with this gem -- "In lots of cases, Black people are more racist than what White people are."

When CNN pushed for specific examples, Bernie didn't cite any concrete evidence -- explaining it's something he's "noticed" over the years.

Oh really, Bernie?

When was the last time a white driver was racially taunted at a race?

It happened to Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and 2009 -- when a bunch of racists put on blackface to taunt Lewis at the Spanish Grand Prix wearing shirts that read, "Hamilton's Family."

There's obviously no shortage of examples, but you get the point.

Bernie has said a bunch of terrible stuff over the years -- famously praising Adolf Hitler in 2009 for being "able to get things done."

He also publicly supported Vladimir Putin's anti-gay policies and also sprinkled in some sexism ... saying women should dress in white "like all other domestic appliances."

The "Civil War" in Oregon has officially ended.

Univ. of Oregon officials announced Friday their school's rivalry games with Oregon State will no longer be called the "Civil War" over "inclusivity" concerns.

"We need to make this change to align the words and symbols we use around athletic endeavors with our shared campus values of equity and inclusivity," UO President Michael H. Schill said in a statement.

Added UO athletic director Rob Mullens, "We must all recognize the power of words and the symbolism associated with the Civil War. This mutual decision is in the best interests of both schools."

A new name for the rivalry has yet to be revealed.

According to the Ducks, former QB Dennis Dixon was the catalyst behind the name change ... and in a video he released Friday, the 35-year-old says he got the blessing of UO legend Jonathan Stewart to push forward for the name change.

"I am happy to see two universities coming together to drive change, an everlasting change," Dixon said. "I'm excited to be part of this change. Thank you to all who have put their time and effort into this."

The move is just the latest in a series of efforts by colleges to make their campus' sports more in line with the fight for social justice.

Future NBA lottery pick Obi Toppin and his brother are taking each other to new heights during the COVID-19 pandemic ... by literally JUMPING over each other in an insane dunk session!!!

Of course, Obi was one of the best players in college basketball with the Dayton Flyers last season ... and younger bro, Jacob, will star at Kentucky after playing one season at Rhode Island.

The brothers proved they BOTH got incredible hops in a vid posted to IG on Friday ... doing one-handed windmill dunks while soaring over each other.

To put things into perspective -- Obi is 6'9" ... and Jacob is 6'8". So yeah, impressive as hell.

It's nice to see Jacob helping keep Obi -- this season's Wooden Award winner -- prepared for the Association ... with the NBA Draft set to go down in October.

A Championship league soccer team is backtracking big time after they used a cardboard cutout of Osama Bin Laden to fill seats at a game this week ... yeah, BIG PROBLEM!!!

Leeds United had banned live fans from attending games during the COVID-19 pandemic ... but welcomed supporters to send in photos which they would place in the seats to simulate a crowd.

Someone sent in Bin Laden -- and NO ONE CAUGHT IT.

So, when Leeds took the field to play Cardiff City at Elland Road stadium on Sunday ... there was the world's most hated dead terrorist sitting right in the front row.

A spokesperson for Leeds United told BBC the team "will ensure there are no more offensive images" used in the future.

And, to add insult to embarrassment, Leeds lost the game 2-0.

Of course, the real OBL was killed by U.S. Navy SEALS during a raid on his compound in 2011.

Pretty cool emotional moment from two Green Bay Packers legends ...

Long story short, we were talking with LeRoy Butler about race issues in the NFL when he brought up Brett Favre as an example of a perfect teammate.

So, we played the video for Brett ... and man, it got misty real quick!

"He was the best teammate, in my opinion, ever and probably in all of sports because nothing bothered him -- especially not color, especially not a guy's religion or sexuality or anything like that," Butler said.

"We had a teammate, Esera Tuaolo (who is openly gay) ... we love Esera. It didn't matter what you were, we just saw one color and that was Green and Gold."

"That's pretty much Brett Favre and that's the reason why this state pretty much and all his teammates love him."

Of course, ya gotta see Brett's reaction to the whole thing -- it's clear Butler's words meant a lot.

"I love my teammates," Favre said ... "I didn't see color."

"I loved LeRoy. We had something special here. We had the chemistry and it wasn't about black and white. We laughed, we had fun together, we fought together, we cried together, we lost together. Obviously ... won a Super Bowl together."

"He's telling the truth. I would have done anything for my teammates."

Someone or someTHING keeps murdering Jay Cutler's beloved chickens ... and the ex-NFL QB is so fed up, he's pulling out the big guns -- AND the night vision goggles -- to stop the culprit.

The retired Chicago Bears star went public with his troubles on Instagram earlier this week ... saying a "chicken serial killer" has been ripping the heads off his birds at his home in Tennessee.

So ... is it a coyote? A raccoon? A monster?!?

Cutler initially thought his own cat, Thelma, had blood on her paws ... but he later determined the pet was not responsible.

After eliminating Thelma as a suspect, Cutler came up with a plan to catch the REAL murderer -- an all-night stakeout!!!

So #6 grabbed his night vision goggles, camo and a nice stogie and assumed his position in his kids' treehouse to look over his rooster, Old Blue after sundown ... updating his 500k followers throughout the night.

"Obviously things have escalated," Jay said on IG. "We're gonna sit here and make sure Old Blue has a good night tonight and whatever happens, happens."

But, the whole stakeout had an anticlimactic ending Friday morning -- Cutler says he was unable to find the killer ... but he's vowed to continue the hunt.

"No culprit last night, which is okay. Stayed up way too late. Super tired this morning. But, Old Blue's gonna be on the case today."

Dustin Poirier says he's only interested in taking fights that will help him get closer to a title shot -- and a rematch with Conor McGregor wouldn't help his cause.

Remember, Poirier fought Conor bad in 2014 and lost in the 1st round -- but Dustin's been an ANIMAL ever since, beating stars like Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway.

In fact, Dustin is currently the #3 ranked UFC lightweight fighter -- with Conor behind him at #4.

Poirier tells TMZ Sports he thinks a win over Dan "The Hangman" Hooker on Saturday will get him closer to a title shot ... but he might need one more victory to seal the deal.

So, we asked if he'd be interested in McGregor after Hooker -- but Dustin says it just doesn't make sense.

"I mean I'd love to for the financial part of it but I'm not chasing grudge matches at this point in my life," Poirier says.

"I'd rather fight Tony Ferguson and get closer to the title but we'll see what happens."

Plus, as Dustin pointed out ... McGregor says he's retired from MMA ... so, it's not on the table anyway!

As for Dan Hooker -- who's on a 3-fight win streak -- Dustin says the key to victory is patience.

An NC racetrack owner is being called "horrific", "shameful" and even a downright racist ... and it's all because he advertised the sale of "Bubba Rope" in the wake of NASCAR's noose incident.

Here's the deal ... Mike Fulp, a 55-year-old who owns 311 Speedway in Stokes County, NC -- threw up an ad on Facebook earlier this week for "Bubba Rope."

In the post -- which has since been deleted -- Fulp wrote, "Buy your Bubba Rope today for only $9.99 each, they come with a lifetime warranty and work great.’’

The ad was immediately hit with backlash ... with people outraged over the insensitivity, considering everything Bubba Wallace had just gone through regarding a garage rope pulldown at Talledega Superspeedway over the weekend.

A spokesperson for NC Governor Roy Cooper ripped the post apart in a statement to the Winston-Salem Journal, saying, "This incident of racism is horrific and shameful."

"North Carolina is better than this.''

Hundreds of people also took to social media to blast Fulp ... calling him a racist and threatening to boycott his track's events.

Multiple attempts to reach Fulp for comment by multiple news outlets have been unsuccessful.

Per the Winston-Salem Journal, NAACP officials are now looking to see if bringing criminal charges against Fulp over the post is a possibility.

"It is horrible that someone would post something of that nature," Reidsville NAACP chapter president Jeff Crisp said. "It's just absolutely unnecessary in these times of tension."

An event at Fulp's 311 Speedway, titled "America We Stand" on Facebook, is still scheduled to take place Saturday night.

Family over everything ... including the NBA.

Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein will NOT join his team in the Orlando bubble when the NBA season resumes ... and it's all because he's got a kid on the way.

The 26-year-old -- the 6th overall pick of the 2015 Draft -- has a baby due in July with his partner and clearly doesn't want to miss that experience, according to The Athletic.

Plus, Florida is experiencing a surge in positive COVID-19 tests ... so it also seems Willie doesn't want to put himself in harm's way while preparing to parent a newborn.

Cauley-Stein was only traded to the Mavs back in January -- and has just played in 13 games with Dallas.

The Mavs are the 7th ranked team in the Western Conference playoff standings -- which means they'll be included in the playoffs.

The regular season resumes on July 30 -- but Mavs players will report on July 8. If the Mavs make a run to the Finals, they would be in the bubble environment all the way until October.

Roberto Duran -- the boxing legend who famously battled Sugar Ray Leonard in the '80s -- has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his family confirms.

The 69-year-old was admitted to a hospital in Panama City, Panama on Thursday ... but the good news, he seems to be doing okay so far.

"My father's tests have just arrived and confirm that he is positive for COVID-19," Roberto's son, Robin Duran, posted on IG.

"Thank God he is not having symptoms beyond something similar to a cold."

Duran is NOT in intensive care or on a ventilator, according to his son ... but he is still under observation.

Duran's son also notes that his father already had a bad lung due to a 2001 accident in Argentina ... and because of that injury, they can't mess around with coronavirus.

"We just talked to the doctor and he tells us that the lungs are fine and there are no signs of serious damage."

"Let's continue to have faith that everything will turn serious injury well. I keep you informed."

Duran -- who was born in Panama -- was a monster in the ring ... winning titles in 4 different weight classes during his 33-year pro career!!

He retired with 119 fights under his belt ... racking up 103 wins and only 16 losses.

Of course, everyone remembers his fight with Sugar Ray -- Duran won their first bout in 1980 but lost the rematch later that year.

In his loss to Leonard, Duran refused to come off the stool in the 8th-round ... saying, "No Mas" -- which became one of the biggest moments in boxing history.

The two actually became friends after their fighting careers ended.

A pool cleaner claims she required surgery and will likely be scarred for life after Ezekiel Elliott's dogs violently attacked her in March ... and now she's suing the NFL star.

But Zeke's attorney tells us the NFL star adamantly denies wrongdoing and now he's digging in for a legal war.

It's all spelled out in new court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which a woman says she went to clean Elliott's pool at his home in Frisco, TX on March 11 ... when she was "ambushed" by his 3 dogs -- a Rottweiler and two bulldogs.

In the docs, the woman claims the Rottweiler bit her arm and dragged her ... before the two bulldogs began attacking her legs.

The woman says the dogs bit her multiple times ... and after she was able to free herself from the animals, she went straight to the emergency room "in immense pain."

She claims the injuries were so bad ... 2 weeks later, she required surgery to repair the damage done by the Rottweiler's bite to her forearm.

In the lawsuit, the woman says she's still having issues with her surgically repaired arm ... and says she constantly suffers from mental and physical pain over the attack.

She's asking for over $200,000 in the suit from the Dallas Cowboys superstar ... but less than $1 million.

The woman also claims this wasn't the first time Elliott's dogs have attacked a pool cleaner ... she alleges that around Dec. 2019, the Rottweiler bit someone else who worked for her company.

We reached out to the Frisco Police Dept. over the allegations ... and a spokesperson said animal services did respond to an incident at Elliott's home on March 11, but the spokesperson says no criminal charges were filed.

As for Zeke, his attorney Frank Salzano tells us his client did nothing wrong, saying ... "Ezekiel was in no way negligent in connection with the alleged incident and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit."

Elliott has made no attempts to hide his infatuation with his dogs ... he's created an Instagram page for the three -- and even has his Rottweiler, Ace, tattooed on his forearm.

In fact, Zeke just showed off all three dogs on a Twitch stream this week ... giving each one a kiss for the camera.

Indianapolis Colts superstar linebacker Darius Leonard claims he was wrongly kicked out of a Chipotle restaurant in South Carolina ... insisting it's all because he's Black.

The 24-year-old All-Pro says he was eating with his family Thursday -- "3 other Black guys and a mixed woman" -- when another patron (who is white) complained to management that Leonard was "verbally abusing him."

Leonard says the allegation is a straight-up lie -- but the restaurant manager walked over to his table and treated him like a criminal anyway ... booting him from the restaurant and threatening to call the police.

Leonard says what really pisses him off is the white patron got the benefit of the doubt without a shred of evidence -- and says this is the type of crap Black people have to deal with all the time.

"We’re talking about Black Lives Matter and for the guy to look at us and lie and laugh in our face as we walk out and the manger ... just come up here and just basically kick us out of Chipotle?! And, we felt like he was very disrespectful and that’s the white privilege that we are talking about.”

"We are tired of this," Leonard says ... "I'm telling you what I go through as a Black man in America. Ya'll don't understand what I go through."

"Ya'll see the police killing us. Ya'll seeing all the injustices that we go through. I live it. Day in and day out. And, I'm f*cking tired of it. Yes, I'm upset. I'm tired of it."

We reached out to the Chipotle where the incident took place but they offered no comment. We also reached out to the corporate office but so far no word back.