TMZ Sports - Page 50

How's this for a good day: MMA fighter kicks a dude in the head ... wins UFC contract ... gets a brand new nickname from Snoop Dogg.

That actually HAPPENED to Julian Marquez on Tuesday -- the greatest day of his life.

TMZ Sports spoke with Marquez after his brutal victory on "Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series" ... and he told us how Snoop personally invited him to kick it after the fight.

There's just one problem ... Marquez already has a pretty solid nickname, "The Cuban Missile Crisis" (badass, right?).

So, which nickname do you keep moving forward -- the old one or the Snoop one?

Decisions, decisions ...

Faye Resnick -- the best friend of the woman O.J. Simpson killed -- seems unhinged over his impending release from prison.

We got Nicole Brown Simpson's best friend in WeHo Wednesday leaving Catch restaurant and she made it clear ... she has NOTHING to say about O.J.'s entrance back into society.

Faye's got reason to fear Simpson. During his murder trial O.J. and his legal team tried to blame Nicole's death on her ... falsely suggesting a Colombian drug cartel may have slit Nicole's throat because Faye didn't pay a cocaine bill.

Resnick has called Simpson "pathological" and we're told she still fears him.

He's unemployed at the moment, but think Nerlens Noel misses playing for the Philadelphia 76ers??

"NAH."

It was that simple when we asked the 23-year-old about his old squad outside of Warwick nightclub in L.A. last night, where he was partying until 2 in the morning.

Noel's story is bizarre ... he was the 6th overall pick in the '13 NBA Draft -- and after bouncing from the 76ers to the Mavs, he's currently a free agent.

After watching the clip, seems a Philly reunion is out of the question.

Oscar Pistorius was transported from his prison cell to a hospital in South Africa early Thursday morning after reportedly complaining of chest pain -- but officials now say he's okay.

The disgraced Olympian is serving time at Atteridgeville prison for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013.

Prison officials have told the media, "We can state that offender Oscar Pistorius was taken to an outside hospital facility this morning for a medical examination, and is expected back in the facility later today.”

It's just a matter of time before Ronda Rousey officially signs with Vince McMahon -- so says WWE legend, Jim Ross , who says it's a "match made in heaven."

"Oh, she's gonna be a big star," the WWE Hall of Famer told us at LAX ... "It's inevitable. I see her in a WrestleMania someday."

Rousey's been a huge pro wrestling fan for years -- and there have been rumors that she could follow in the footsteps of guys like Ken Shamrock and make the transition from the UFC to WWE.

Ross thinks that's 100% the right move.

Conor McGregor put in some violent work Tuesday night -- going "12 hard rounds" with boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi ... and left some marks in the process.

The two got in the ring in Vegas for a full speed workout session to prep for the August 26 superfight with Floyd Mayweather -- and the former WBA welterweight champ tells TMZ Sports, "We both gave each other really good work."

Malignaggi says McGregor been making steady improvements in the ring since the last time they fought 12 days before ... and says he's landing real shots. You can tell by Paulie's face.

As for Conor's power, Paulie says it's time for a reality check.

"Conor doesn't have bad power. It's not 'Oh my god' power ... but it is respectable power."

"Every time I say this people get offended. It's like they want you to lie. It's like they want you to say he has this incredible power like I've never felt anything like it before."

"It is power to where if it hits you, it's gonna get your attention and it may even put you down if you're wearing those smaller fight gloves."

It's a 3-PEAT for Chad Johnson's daughter Cha'iel ... the 12-year-old track star just DOMINATED to win gold medal in the 800m race at the AAU Jr. Olympic Track & Field Championships for the 3rd year in a row.

Cha'iel -- who's won the competition with ease the past 2 years -- crossed the finish line Wednesday with a time of 2:13.72 ... nearly 2 whole seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher.

Mini-Ocho's not letting up, either ... she finished almost 6 seconds faster than her time 1 year ago (2:19:60).

Brendan Schaub is putting his dong on the line for Mayweather vs McGregor ... promising he'll DM the world his finest wiener pic if Conor doesn't go all 12 rounds with Floyd.

That's right -- the UFC fighter-turned-MMA analyst is so sick of fans countin' out the Irishman ... he's bettin' his manhood on McGregor's chin.

"I promise you Conor will not get knocked out," Schaub told Rob King on "The Kicker" ... "If anyone gets finished that night. It's Floyd."

King asked Brendan if he was willing to put a wager on it -- to which Schaub replied, "I will send you guys a d*ck pic if it doesn't go all 12 rounds."

A bet's a bet. No pulling out now ...

Floyd Mayweather is expecting to make more than $300 MILLION from his fight with Conor McGregor ... which would break down to more than $8 MILLION per minute in the ring.

The boxer spelled it all out for Showtime's "All Access: Mayweather v. McGregor" -- explaining why no other professional athlete in the world is more bankable.

"I mean, am I the highest-paid athlete out there? And just coming back? We not talking about no contract. We not talking about no contract for no 4 years, or no contract for no 5 years. I can do it in 36 minutes. $300 (million) or better. In 36 minutes."

Not a bad deal.

As for Conor, the UFC fighter is expecting to rake in around $100 mil for the August 26 superfight -- but it'll be largest payday an MMA fighter has ever made ... so he's not complaining either.

Justin Bieber's hockey skills are getting BETTER -- the pop star hit two penalty shots on the same ice where the Kings train and we gotta say ... the stick work is pretty good.

Bieber was playing a couple of games at the LA Kings Valley Ice Center when he was tapped to take a penalty shot in 2 different games.

He faked out the goalie -- both times -- going to his backhand to put the puck in the back of the net.

If Peyton Manning runs for President ... he's gonna have to WORK to get Reggie Wayne's vote.

With rumblings that Manning could transition into politics, we asked the QB's former Indianapolis Colts teammate if he'd pull the lever for the guy out of NFL loyalty.

The answer -- NOPE.

Wayne says he'd only vote for Peyton if he's "talking about the right stuff" ... adding, "If he don't, he might not get my vote."

"Just because we're teammates doesn't mean that what you stand for is right."

Being 35 weeks pregnant ain't gonna stop Serena Williams from gettin' her sweat on ... 'cause the tennis superstar is still killiin' it in the gym during her 3rd trimester!!

Williams -- who announced she was 20 weeks pregnant back in mid-April -- hasn't slowed down one bit with a bun in the oven ... playing preggo tennis and posing naked for the cover of Vanity Fair.

Serena told TMZ Sports in May that she's not gonna retire once she gives birth -- and her mom says she's gunning to return to the court as soon as possible.

G.O.A.T.

Macklemore is using Marshawn Lynch to fire shots at Tom Brady -- with ball deflating jokes and a jersey theft ... and it's all in his new music video.

M & M know each other from Seattle -- and hooked up for Macklemore's new track with Lil Yachty called "Marmalade." The main theme seems to be messing with Brady and the Patriots.

Of course, the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX after that insane decision to throw the ball from the 2 yard line instead of giving it to Beast Mode.

Clearly, both guys remember.

Marshawn makes a funny cameo in the video -- masterminding a Tom Brady jersey theft ... obviously inspired by Mauricio Ortega, the guy who jacked Brady's real uniform after Super Bowl 51.

Funny to us. Wonder if Tom's laughing?

It's shades of 2000 all over again for Allen Iverson -- who was just suspended 1 game for blowing off the BIG3 in Dallas.

As we previously reported, The Answer was a no-show in Dallas last weekend when his team -- 3's Company -- was scheduled to take on Team Power.

Iverson had been hitting the casinos hard in Chicago before the game -- and was spotted at a Chicago restaurant Sunday night, after blowing off the league.

Iverson apologized to Ice Cube but did not explain his absence publicly.

It ain't A.I.'s first basketball suspension -- he was punished by the 76ers after missing practice in 2000.

LeBron James was "that dad" at his 12-year-old son's youth basketball game this weekend -- talking mess from the sidelines and telling his kid to get in his opponents' ass, "like a bike without a seat."

It all went down at an AAU tournament in Vegas where Bronny's team -- the North Coast Blue Chips -- were taking on the Utah Elite ... and LeBron wasn't happy with the way things were going.

You can hear James say, "Don't care about sportsmanship?" -- but it's unclear why.

He then yells out to the players, "Get in they ass like a bike without a seat."

Toward the end of the game, someone shouts back at LeBron -- and it sounds like the NBA superstar responds by mumbling an n-bomb under his breath.

One person who was there tells us there's no real issue -- "LeBron was cool. No problems."

As for the game, we're told the Blue Chips won handily.

The ENTIRE New York Giants squad turned the locker room into a club on Tuesday -- including Eli Manning ... who proved, without a doubt, to be the goofiest dancer on the team.

It all went down after practice -- everyone from Odell Beckham to Jason Pierre-Paul and Duke Ihenacho bumped the music and busted out their best dance moves.

Then the camera panned to Eli ... who was doing a sort of jig, shuffle thing. He looked like the high school prom chaperone.