TMZ Sports - Page 10

Francis Ngannou is known for his striking and downright scary power ... and now the UFC champ tells TMZ Sports he'd like to box a top heavyweight like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder.

We talked to the 35-year-old, 16-3 (12 KO's) UFC star ... and asked him if he still had designs on hopping to the boxing ring.

"It's always been down the line. This is something I'm not taking my eyes off of. It's gonna happen, either way. Even if, when the UFC and I finalize a deal, the boxing part has to be into it because I can't see myself retire without boxing," Francis says.

FYI, Francis has 1 fight left on his deal with Dana White's organization ... a title defense against interim champ, Ciryl Gane.

But, Ngannou isn't looking to box a tomato can ... he literally is going straight to the top for an opponent.

"Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder. I would like to test myself to that level," Francis told us.

"It's not the same sport, although I'm the champion, I'm in the top in this division. At the end of the day, it's just about like trained hands, trained punches, having a good delivery system to produce bombs and I'm sure that if I deliver my own punch, it's pretty good, I can make some damage."

Of course, Fury -- the top heavyweight boxer in the world -- recently beat fellow great Wilder in one of the best heavyweight fights of all time.

Fury is likely to fight Dillian Whyte early next year. Wilder's next move is currently unknown. But, a Ngannou fight vs. either man would obviously be a huge event.

"Selling Sunset" star Emma Hernan has a secret connection to former NFL stud Julian Edelman ... she played matchmaker and is now his daughter's godmother!!!

Emma's the one who introduced Julian to Swedish model Ella Rose, and now that the two have a kid together, Emma's got a very important role in their lives.

Julian and Ella's daughter, Lily Rose, just celebrated her 5th birthday ... and Emma was there, of course, because she's the godmother.

The connection is 10 years in the making ... because it was about a decade ago when Emma and Ella met at an after-party for the Oscars before becoming roommates.

In fact, Emma introduced Ella to Julian -- she knew him because she has family ties to Boston and Julian, of course, played for the New England Patriots -- the rest is history.

Our sources say when Ella became pregnant with Julian's child, it was only natural for her to pick Emma as the godmother ... they were best friends after all.

Emma's super hands-on ... she was even in the delivery room with Ella when Lily was born -- she had her hand on Ella's leg during the birth.

Petra Ecclestone, the fashion designer/socialite, has filed legal docs to change the names of her 3 kids -- from her ex-husband's name to hers ... and it underscores the bitterness of their divorce.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Petra wants the last name of her three kids -- Andrew Kulbir Stunt, James Robert Frederick Stunt and Lavinia Stunt, to Ecclestone.

As for why, according to the docs, "To conform children's last name to mother's last name ... difficult in both daily life and traveling with children with a different name to mother."

The doc goes on to give another reason for the name change ... "Change and remove last name of absentee father who is subject to regular negative media and tabloid articles and criminal investigation."

The father of the 3 kids, James Stunt, is awaiting trial for money laundering, forgery and racially abusing a black police officer ... charges he has denied.

Stunt, a gold bullion dealer, and Ecclestone divorced in 2017, and it there is clearly still a lot of bad blood.

Petra, whose dad is Formula 1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone, is engaged to Sam Palmer ... they have a one-year-old daughter together.

South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer either loves mayo, or he's got a strong stomach ... as evidenced in the BUCKET of the condiment he was doused in after his team's victory.

The Gamecocks took down North Carolina 38-21 in the Duke's Mayo Bowl Thursday, and part of the victory celebration for the winning team included Beamer getting a mayo bath.

Apparently, a mass quantity of mayo can get heavy, as it took two people to lift it -- and slightly drop it -- over Beamer's head ... but he took the whole thing like a champ and with a smile on his face.

It's not the first time the Duke's Mayo Bowl has gotten some post-game-celebratory attention ... it was back in 2020 when Wisconsin took the trophy -- and then shattered it into a million pieces -- that garnered the game some big-time coverage.

This time, it's just a little less glass to tidy up, and much more mayo.

A NASCAR driver has just taken a deep dive into politics, branding his car with an anti-Biden slogan.

Brandon Brown, a NASCAR driver whose name inspired the slogan, "Let's Go Brandon" -- code for f*** Joe Biden, is sponsoring a cryptocurrency company, LGBcoin.io, whose first 3 letters are emblazoned on Brown's car. The company was coined LGB as a direct reference to the phrase, "Let's Go Brandon."

Brown posted a video of him walking into the garage and seeing the car, showing his approval.

In case you don't know, the way this whole thing started was back in October in Alabama, when Brandon was being interviewed and the crowd was chanting, "F*** Joe Biden." An NBC reporter either tried covering the obscenity or simply misheard the crowd, and said "You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's Go Brandon.'"

Brown initially was upset over the phrase that connected him to the chant, grousing he couldn't get a sponsorship for his car. Enter LGBcoin.io, and Brown now seems to have had a change of heart.

It pays to have your very own full-sized basketball court at home ... just ask Drake, who shared a cute video of his son draining a bucket at only 4 years old!!!

The Toronto rapper posted a video Wednesday showing Adonis take 10 dribbles -- while showing off his counting skills -- before firing up a shot ... and making it. It's hard to tell who is more excited, Adonis or his friend, but there's plenty of excitement to go around.

Another interesting part, it sounds like Adonis' mom, Sophie, is the one recording the clip ... so you gotta imagine she was able to spend the holiday at Drake's mansion as they all celebrated Christmas together.

It's not the first time Drake's shown off Adonis' basketball skills, we've seen him playing on smaller hoops before ... but to score on a 10 foot basket at 4 is pretty impressive.

The beef between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Vin Diesel is far from squelched ... because "The Rock" just blasted his former 'Fast & Furious' co-star, calling him manipulative.

TMZ reported back in 2016, when they were filming the 8th installment of the franchise -- "The Fate of the Furious" -- the 2 men were at each other's throats. "The Rock" made it clear he was done with the franchise, but Vin wasn't done himself, posting this last month ...

"My little brother Dwayne... the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don't send well wishes... but the time has come. Legacy awaits. I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love... but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can't be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.",

Well, Dwayne just called out Vin on CNN, saying his post was "an example of manipulation," adding, "This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly — and privately — that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return."

He went on  ... "I didn't like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker's death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding. My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible 'Fast & Furious' franchise with gratitude and grace."

The 2 actors had a rotten time together in F&F8, with The Rock making it clear by process of elimination ... "There's no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one. My female costars are always amazing and I love 'em. My male costars, however, are a different story," he wrote, adding, "Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't."

Renee Gracie is rakin' in the cash from OnlyFans and porn ... but that wasn't always the case for the adult film star -- telling TMZ Sports her former career as a race car driver was so toxic it forced her to quit the sport altogether.

We talked to the 26-year-old Australian about her time as a driver down under ... and why she transitioned to porn.

"I left for many reasons. It was a toxic environment. Difficult for a female obviously. I got treated differently than everybody else," Gracie says ... "It was just an extremely taxing environment and industry to be in unfortunately for my mental health."

Gracie's story is amazing. She used to be a driver for Paul Morris Motorsport racing team ... where she raced for several years. In 2017, she jumped to another team, Dragon Motor Sport.

Renee eventually left the sport but admits she was down on her luck for a while before turning to OnlyFans.

"I had a bad year in between where I wasn’t racing. I wasn’t racing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was lucky enough when I left racing my fan base actually grew. I had more people following me. I wasn’t controlled by managers and sponsors and stuff."

Despite the stressful experience as a racer, Gracie tells us there are certain aspects she misses, saying "I really miss that exhilarating pressure and the push to always be better. That’s why I started racing."

But, despite sometimes pining for the speed and competition ... the adult film star says she's absolutely confident she made the right career decision.

Orange County kid Ryan Sheckler brought the world to a grinding halt when he shredded his way to the tops of the podium at an early age as a child skateboard prodigy ... who was flipping his way to gold medals in the Summer X Games at only 13 years of age in 2003.

Sheckler catapulted his career from tech tricks on the coping to some gnarly shows in front of the camera with three seasons of the shredding MTV television shows "Life Of Ryan" in 2007 and a long list of cameos as himself in some rad films.

The 27-year-old brother of Washington Football Team star Montez Sweat was shot and killed on Tuesday in Virginia ... cops said Wednesday.

According to Henrico Police, officers responded to a call of a shooting in Henrico at around 4:09 p.m.

Cops say when they arrived on the scene, they found Anthony Sweat suffering from apparent gunshot wounds... and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Further details surrounding the shooting have not yet been released ... cops did note, however, that no one else was injured. They added no arrests have been made.

Police said an investigation into it all is underway ... and they're urging anyone with more information on the incident to call 804-928-0279.

Montez, meanwhile, missed Wednesday's practice mourning the death of Anthony ... and head coach Ron Rivera called the situation "rough" after the team's workout.

"It is rough," Rivera said, "and our thoughts and prayers are with the families."

25-year-old Montez has been a star for the WFT since being picked in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft ... logging 21 sacks in 42 games.

Warren Moon says of all the non-athletes in the sports world ... John Madden was by far the most legendary.

"I think he's probably the biggest sports icon of a non-athlete that there is," the Hall of Famer told TMZ Sports just one day after the famed football coach and broadcaster passed away.

"He's probably the biggest icon sports has had of a non-athlete."

Moon spent a lot of time with Madden over the years -- the two were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame together back in 2006 -- and he said the coach's passing devastated him.

Moon tells us he knew John was "in bad health" -- but he was shocked to hear the news of his death on Tuesday.

Moon, though, says John will never be forgotten ... telling us that while athletes like Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Babe Ruth might be more iconic, no non-athlete was more memorable than Madden.

Joe Rogan is sticking to his guns, canceling an upcoming show in Canada ... and it's all over the country's vaccine mandates.

Joe was scheduled to perform in Vancouver on April 20th -- yes, April 20th -- but British Columbia requires proof of vaccination in various situations and venues. The show, which is sold out, was supposed to go down at the Rogers Arena, and that's one of the venues requiring proof of vaccination.

Joe said on his podcast, "I should probably say this because I haven't yet. My 4/20 show that's sold out in Vancouver, I don't think that's happening." He went on ... "I don't think I can even get into the country. I'm not vaccinated. I'm not gonna get vaccinated. I have antibodies. It doesn't make any sense."

Joe plans on rescheduling the show, though it's unclear when.  It's unlikely the show will go on as long as the mandates are in place.

Great news ... legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross says he's now cancer-free!

The 69-year-old revealed the prognosis on his social media page Wednesday ... just two months after he was diagnosed with skin cancer.

"I'm CANCER FREE!" Ross said, showing off an image of his healed leg. "We did it!"

Ross added that he'd be working his normal gig at AEW Dynamite on Wednesday night following the amazing update.

Of course, back in October, Ross faced a steep fight to get to this point ... he shared on his social media page back then that he had been battling a gnarly sore on his ankle for "over a year."

Ross said doctors told him it was skin cancer ... and prescribed several rounds of radiation to eradicate it all. Ross said they finally finished the treatments this week.

Move over, Santa ... Robby Anderson is now the king of Christmas -- at least this year -- 'cause the Carolina Panthers star surprised his fiancée with a custom, 2021 G-Wagon for the holiday!

The NFL player had the awesome Dreamworks Motorsports ride delivered over the weekend -- and it arrived in style, coming inside of a glass box.

And, check out video of the surprise, Anderson's fiancée, Sade, was so blown away by the present ... she fell to the ground!!!

"Oh my God!" she screamed over and over again.

Anderson eventually got her up and took her to the Mercedes -- which came with a bow and completely tricked out.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Anderson had the vehicle covered in custom satin black with custom pink accents.

"THANK YOU HUSBAAAAND OMFG 😭😭😭," Sade said on her social media page after getting the car. "………….THIS CAN’T BE REAL, THIS IS MY ULTIMATE DREAAAAM CAR YALL!! 🥺 wow I love you!!!!!"

No word on how much the car cost -- but don't worry, Anderson can afford it ... he just signed a two-year, $29.5 million contract with Carolina this offseason.

As for his relationship with Sade, it's unclear how long they've been dating ... but Anderson just proposed to her a few days before gifting the car.

Dave Chappelle did what he does best Tuesday night ... packed the house with fans, including a bunch of celebs, who showed up on a cold L.A. night to watch Dave's stand-up.

Chappelle was in great spirits as he arrived at the Peppermint Club in WeHo -- drink and cigarette in hand.

Among those who showed up ... Jeff Ross, Mario, Talib Kweli, Andrew Garfield, Casey Affleck, and Odell Beckham Jr. and GF Lauren Wood.

Dave's been doing a bunch of shows since his final Netflix installment dropped. He's been showing his documentary, "Dave Chappelle: Live in Real Life," at some of the venues. From what we can tell, however, his Peppermint Club gig was strictly stand-up.

Aaron Rodgers -- who famously took Ivermectin and a concoction of other drugs to fight COVID -- says he's "100 percent" sure NFL teams are recommending his same med regimen to players to get over the virus.

The Packers superstar made the claim Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show" ... insisting that he knows for a fact teams believe his method of staving off coronavirus can work.

"I do know, behind the scenes," Rodgers said, "this is 100 percent true; there are many teams who are using -- who are recommending a lot of the same treatments that I got for their players."

As we reported, Rodgers said after he contracted coronavirus in November that he used a combination of drugs similar to Joe Rogan to recover from the virus quickly.

Rodgers said the meds included monoclonal antibodies, zinc, vitamin C and D, HCQ -- and the polarizing Ivermectin.

Rodgers reiterated Tuesday he believes it all truly helped him mitigate symptoms ... telling McAfee he thinks there are NFL teams that believe it too.

"If you have Delta like I did," Rodgers said. "There's treatment options that actually help."

Rodgers told McAfee he doesn't understand why the combo of drugs isn't being used more in the general public -- and then he went on to slam virus experts.

"If science can't be questioned, it's not science anymore," Rodgers said. "It's propaganda. That's the truth."