TMZ Sports - Page 50

Jake Paul wants to knock out Ben Askren FASTER than Jorge Masvidal -- so he linked up with the UFC superstar to learn the ways of the master!

Check out Jake and Jorge training together in Miami -- where Gamebred is teaching the 24-year-old a running, punch attack ... similar to the flying knee he threw at Askren's head back in 2019.

Remember, 36-year-old Jorge knocked out Ben in 5 SECONDS at UFC 239 -- setting the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history.

Now, with Paul set to face Askren in a pro boxing match on April 17, he's decided to bring in Masvidal to his training sessions to get a little instruction from the UFC's reigning B.M.F. champion.

Check out the video ... Paul practices the running right hook several times -- and looks pretty good. At one point he tells Jorge, "I'm gonna beat your time!"

Of course, Jorge throws a more violent version of the running punch -- but that guy has been fighting for decades ... he's got a little more experience on his side!

For his part, Ben -- an accomplished MMA fighter with multiple championships under his belt -- thinks Jake Paul is in completely over his head ... and he predicts a violent ending to the YouTube star's boxing career when they clash in April.

David Culley can NOT save the Texans' relationship with Deshaun Watson ... 'cause despite Houston agreeing to hire the new head coach, the team's superstar still wants out.

The quarterback made it clear this month, according to multiple reports ... officially demanding a trade from the org. just a few months after signing a 4-year, $156 MILLION contract extension with the team.

And, because of a no-trade clause in his deal, Watson will now get to pick where he's shipped off to if Houston's brass ultimately relents to his demands.

The issues between the 25-year-old and the Texans are well-documented at this point ... Watson wanted a big say in the team's GM and head coach hires -- and he reportedly got none of it.

In fact, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday that Watson hasn't even spoken to new Texans GM Nick Caserio since his hiring earlier this month.

Shannon Sharpe, meanwhile, said on FS1's "Undisputed" on Thursday that Watson is "willing to play hardball" in order to get out of Houston.

Of course, the ramifications of a trade for both the Texans and the rest of the NFL are massive ... Watson is one of the game's brightest stars -- and giving him away would cripple the Texans' org. for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, a trade to a team like the NY Jets or Chicago Bears could suddenly vault them into Super Bowl contention.

Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly under police investigation in Italy for allegedly violating the country's strict COVID rules to take his girlfriend on a fancy ski trip.

Multiple news outlets in Italy say Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez traveled from Turin to Courmayeur earlier this week, which is not allowed at the moment.

Courmayeur is located in Aosta Valley, which is reportedly off-limits to visitors currently because the region is located in a medium-to-high risk orange zone, according to Sky Sports.

Italy has been hit extremely hard by COVID -- with more than 2.5 million cases and 86,000 deaths. More than 500 people died from COVID on Tuesday alone. And, daily cases are reportedly on the rise.

The Juventus superstar reportedly set up a 2-day birthday ski getaway for Georgina, who turned 27 on Jan 27. Video has circulated on social media showing Ronaldo and Georgina on a snowmobile.

Neither Ronaldo nor his girlfriend have been formally accused of any wrongdoing -- but police in the city of Aosta are reportedly looking into the trip to see if they broke the law.

Manchester United officials are sick after 2 of its players were racially abused following a loss Wednesday ... and now, the team is urging social media platforms to find and ban the "mindless idiots" who spewed the vile comments.

Following Man U's 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United ... Black players Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe faced some heinous, racist remarks and emojis on their social media pages.

In fact, the outpouring of sewage got so overwhelming, Tuanzebe reportedly deleted his entire Twitter page.

A short time later, Man U officials dropped a scathing statement ... ripping people for the racist attacks -- and demanding it all stop ASAP.

"Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night’s game," the team said.

“We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also."

Team officials continued, "Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour."

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire, meanwhile, took to his social media page to defend his teammates as well, writing, "UNITED against racism. We will not tolerate it."

"I love seeing a loudmouth get knocked out."

That's Justin Gaethje explaining why he LOVED watching Conor McGregor get knocked on his ass by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 ... and man, he's reveling in the Irishman's defeat!

"I don’t feel bad for him," Gaethje told ESPN's Brett Okamoto ... "I’m happy for Poirier. I’m happy Poirier went out there and did his job and finished him."

"There is nothing that makes me happier. Seeing a piece of s*** get put down? That was great. I loved it.”

Gaethje -- who's previously told TMZ Sports that McGregor has been ducking him for years -- went on to explain why Conor is delusional if he thinks he still deserves a title shot in the UFC's stacked lightweight division.

"What do they have him ranked at, #6? I think he should be ahead of [Tony Ferguson] in the rankings. But, for him to come out and say he wants a title shot next? A rematch versus Poirier, or his coach, they are f**king idiots."

"[Conor has] been treated special over and over and over and he didn’t capitalize on this opportunity. That event was for him, that event was for him to win, and he wants to be Mr. Humble now??? But, you know he would be an asshole if he won that fight."

There's more ... Gaethje, who's currently ranked #2, says he would think about leaving the UFC if Conor gets to cut the line for another title shot.

"That would be preposterous," Gaethje said ... "For one, he’s sitting at #6. He’s won one fight in his entire life in the lightweight division, and he picks and chooses who he fights. So I have no respect for him in that manner."

COVID-sniffing dogs are now a thing in America ... and the pups are getting their first whiff of action at an NBA game in Florida.

The Miami Heat debuted the virus-sniffing dogs at Wednesday's game at AmericanAirlines Arena, with our four-legged friends screening fans before they could be allowed inside the building.

As you can see, a trainer walks a dog down a line of socially-distanced fans under a big tent and the canine takes a big sniff before moving on to the next person. The dogs are taught to sit if they detect the virus, and the process looks quick and efficient.

The dogs are being used because the Heat are opening the arena up to fans for the first time this season, and it's just an added level of virus protocol in addition to a health questionnaire and mask mandate.

As we reported ... the dogs are being trained at nearby Florida International University, and Dr. DeEtta Mills, who is leading the program, told us how the canines could soon be deployed in airports across the country.

Shaquille O'Neal thinks the usual Super Bowl pre-game coverage is super lame -- so he's created his own event with a ton of his famous friends ... and he's calling it, "The Shaq Bowl."

Superstars like Tim Tebow, Ezekiel Elliott, Diplo, The Miz, Anthony Anderson, Nelly, Offset and more are all booked to compete in various crazy events at a custom-built Shaq Bowl stadium in Tampa on Feb. 7.

All of the action will happen leading up to the Super Bowl game -- and it'll be live-streamed across more than 20 platforms including LiveXLive, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and Twitter starting at 3 PM ET.

"With everyone home this year, we're gonna do something that's fun and entertaining for the people," Shaq tells TMZ Sports.

"I got a crazy lineup, bunch of my close friends -- it's gonna feature athletes, celebrities, superstar-artists across 2 teams competing in fun and viral challenges."

Shaq tells us the event, officially titled "Mercari Presents the Shaq Bowl," will have strict COVID protocols in place ... and they WILL be enforced.

"We're gonna hire a professional well-known staff and they're gonna do what they do," Shaq says ... "Shaq does not mess around."

As for why he decided to go up against the big network Super Bowl pre-game show ... Shaq didn't pull any punches.

"Look, all the Super Bowl pre-game stuff is kinda boring ... so we're gonna change the game."

Chad Wheeler's girlfriend told police ... the NFL player had stopped taking his medication for bipolar disorder in the days before he brutally attacked her -- and had "snapped into a bad place" on the night of the incident.

It's all spelled out in the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which the alleged victim attempted to explain why she believes the Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman violently attacked her.

The Kent Police Dept. in Washington say they first received a call from a friend of the victim around 9:45 PM on Jan. 22 -- saying the woman was locked in a bathroom after a physical fight with her boyfriend.

Soon after, the victim called 911 herself and told the operator she was being "killed."

When cops arrived at the scene, officers say they "could hear a female screaming from inside the apartment" and forced their way inside. They also forced their way into a locked bathroom where they found the woman with blood all over her face and Chad standing behind her.

Cops detained Chad, who was not being cooperative, and he began to repeatedly yell, "sorry" while crying out, "I don't beat women," according to the police report.

The woman was transported to a nearby hospital where she told cops she had been dating Chad for 6 months without any notable issues.

She also explained, "Chad suffers from bipolar disorder and is medicated but has not been taking his medication recently."

According to the police report, the woman said, "Chad had a rough week and had a manic episode this evening. She said it was not provoked by an argument of any sort."

The woman says Chad "snapped into a dark place" out of nowhere and told her to bow to him -- which she refused. And that's when he beat her up, according to the police report.

The woman told cops Chad strangled her "with both his hands for some time" -- and continued his attack even after she fought back.

The woman says she lost consciousness -- and when she came to, Chad said, "Wow you're alive?"

That's when the woman says she ran to the bathroom, locked the door and called cops and family members.

Joel Embiid is honoring the late Kobe and Gigi Bryant on the court against the Lakers Wednesday night ... with an incredible custom shoe design.

The Philadelphia 76ers star just revealed the special paint job on his signature Under Armour Embiid 1s ... which feature an image of Kobe and Gigi together on one side ... and the numbers #2, #24 and #8 on the other.

Of course, this past Tuesday marked one year since the Bryants' tragic death ... so Embiid decided to pay homage to the hero he idolized as kid growing up in Cameroon.

FYI -- Embiid also previously honored Kobe last season, switching his jersey number from 21 to 24 for one game to honor the Lakers legend.

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry also showed love for the Bryants on Wednesday ... wearing his special pair of Curry 8 sneakers against the Timberwolves.

The awesome designs were put together by Dez Customs -- the go-to guy for some of the biggest stars in sports.

Future Hall of Famer Jason Witten is hanging up his cleats -- again -- the 17-year vet has decided to call it a career ... and he's doing it as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.

The 38-year-old will go down as one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history ... racking up more than 1,200 catches and 13,000 yards, 74 touchdowns and 271 games played ... which are all records at the position.

Witten previously retired in 2018 and became the lead analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football ... before returning to the Cowboys for the 2019 season.

Witten spent the 2020 season with the Las Vegas Raiders, where his production dramatically decreased -- starting 7 games, catching 13 balls for 69 yards and 2 TDs.

ESPN reports Witten will sign a 1-day contract to retire as a member of the Cowboys once his Raiders deal expires in March.

Witten finishes his career with 11 Pro Bowls, 5 total All-Pro selections and a Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

No word on whether Witten will get a whole 'nother diamond football like last time ... but who knows when it comes to Jerry Jones.

A new video from the Trey Songz saga shows he had a good excuse to take off his mask at one point during the Chiefs game -- but it won't help his case with cops.

As you can see, Trey's face mask was in chin strap mode as he chowed down on a cup of french fries. While masks were required for all fans, the stadium does allow an exemption for eating and drinking.

However, we're told this was about 10-15 minutes before the KCPD officer came over -- backing up 3 visits from stadium security -- demanding Trey pull up his mask.

The other interesting element to this new video is that you can see there are at least a couple other fans watching the fight who didn't have their masks up.

It does make ya wonder if the singer was being singled out ... whether it be by other fans or security.

Of course, the video police released Tuesday clearly shows Trey throwing the first punch during the interaction with the officer -- so, the french fry excuse only goes so far in explaining what went down.

As we reported, Trey also posed for a masked up pic with a security guard at some point prior to the fight. Worth noting ... he did appear to have the mask down during each of the 3 visits from security.

First, we fight ... then we booze?!

That's the plan for UFC star Gilbert Burns -- who says he can't wait to beat the hell out of his old sparring partner Kamaru Usman on Feb 13 ... and then pound beers together afterward!

Gilbert has earned a shot at Kamaru's welterweight belt at UFC 258 -- and tells TMZ Sports he intends to go after Usman with everything he's got, despite their chummy past.

"If the fight goes a little close to how our sparring sessions used to be ... people are gonna get crazy," Gilbert says ... "Because we used to go after each other hard."

"What we have between us is a high-level competition. I want to beat Kamaru, he wants to beat me. The best man should win that fight and will win that fight. But, there's no animosity."

Usman and Burns are both on FIRE right now -- Kamaru (17-1) hasn't lost a fight in the UFC, with victories over stars like Tyron Woodley, Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington and more.

Burns (19-3) has looked spectacular in recent wins over Woodley, Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson.

Gilbert says the only way to show his respect to Kamaru is to come at him with everything he's got ... and he intends to end the fight with a knockout.

Still, he offered these kind words to his opponent -- "Stay safe, we're gonna go out there and give it our best -- and we gonna still have all the respect after the fight."

There's more ... Gilbert also opened up about his bout with COVID-19 in 2020 ... telling TMZ Sports it was rough on his body and took a while before he felt 100%.

Michael Strahan has tested positive for COVID-19 ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the "Good Morning America" host and NFL Hall of Famer tell us he is currently quarantining ... which is why he's been absent from 'GMA' all week.

Football fans also noticed he only appeared remotely for his other gig on "FOX NFL Sunday" during the NFC Championship -- that's because Michael was already taking precautions.

We're told he found out on Saturday he'd been exposed at some point last week, and immediately started quarantining. Our sources say he's planning to appear on 'GMA' Thursday, remotely, to discuss his diagnosis. He's not currently experiencing any severe symptoms.

There's also this ... we've learned Strahan's daughters came into contact with him AFTER he'd been exposed -- so they're getting tested. So is their mother, Jean, with whom they live most of the time. We're told they haven't gotten their results yet.

It's unclear how much he'll be working for now. We've seen other anchors work from home while quarantining -- CNN's Chris Cuomo comes to mind.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO WILL MAKE YOU WINCE!!!

NBA star Jamal Murray was so pissed during a play Monday night ... he straight-up uppercut his opponent right in the groin -- and then he was promptly kicked from the contest.

The wild incident all went down in the 3rd quarter of the Nuggets vs. Mavericks game in Dallas -- when Murray appeared to be enraged after getting bumped by Tim Hardaway Jr.

With no foul called after the two had collided ... Murray got up and appeared to take a swing at Hardaway Jr.'s family jewels like he was a young Johnny Cage (memba that?!)

The inner part of Jamal's elbow looked like it caught flush ... and immediately, the ref blew his whistle to signal for a foul.

After an ensuing video investigation by the zebras ... Murray was deemed to have done it intentionally -- and he was ejected.

Hardaway Jr., meanwhile, was in quite a bit of pain -- you can see in the TV replay, he grabbed his junk and screamed.

But ... the Dallas star ended up shaking it off -- scoring the game's next few baskets. Tough guy!!!

For Murray's part, his coach, Michael Malone, was hopeful after the game the nut shot wouldn't lead to more league discipline by the NBA.

"Hopefully, it's nothing more than Jamal being ejected tonight and we can use it as a learning experience," Malone said.

As for Hardaway Jr., he didn't appear to be all that mad at Murray after the matchup ... 'cause he was still getting over the fact that his team ended up losing, 117-113.

"Just playing the game and I guess he was just frustrated that they didn't call a foul," Hardaway Jr. said of Murray. "I was trying to do the best I can to deny the ball."

"The rest speaks for itself. It happens in the game. It sucks, but it doesn't even matter at this point. We lost."

Can you imagine if TB12 became TB7?!?!?

Tom Brady was VERY close to making that huge change -- with the QB considering swapping his number after joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So why #7?? 'Cause Brady's going after that 7th ring, baby!!!

Bucs GM Jason Licht made the major revelation in an interview on the Peter King Podcast this week ... saying Brady was totally fine with letting star receiver Chris Godwin keep #12 'cause he had a new number in mind.

Licht breaks down the convo after the move to TB was a done deal ... and it's the most Brady story ever.

"After we had talked and we knew that this was gonna happen, I said, 'Hey, there's one other thing. It's a small thing but maybe a big thing," Licht says."

"We have a #12 on our team and he's pretty good, Chris Godwin. What are you thinking about that?'

Brady's response?? ... "'Oh, he's a great player, I'm not going to take his number. Know what number I'm thinking of? I'm thinking of taking maybe #7. Is that available?'"

"I said, 'Yeah, I think it is, why #7?' He goes, 'Going after that 7th Super Bowl.'"

It's crazy to hear Brady was prepared to ditch #12 so easily ... after all, the dude has an entire TB12 brand tied to his beloved digits.

Of course, Godwin ended up switching to #14 to let Brady take #12 ... and TB12 is one win away from that 7th ring.

Shaun Weiss -- famous for playing Goldberg in "The Mighty Ducks" -- is damn near unrecognizable again, but in a great way ... and that's because he's now 1-year sober.

His friend, Drew Gallagher, tells TMZ ... Shaun officially hit the milestone yesterday. He says Shaun chose to delay his Christmas as part of the celebration ... waiting to open presents on the day he celebrated his sobriety.

There's more good news ... remember the full dental sponsorship he got back in September to address his need for new teeth? Well, his permanent pearly whites -- top and bottom -- are almost done. He's wearing temporary dentures for now.

Shaun, who is still at a sober living house in Tarzana, CA, is getting ready for his next steps in life. We're told he's working on his comedy chops and doing some scriptwriting.