TMZ Sports - Page 50

Stefan Struve -- the massive 7-foot tall UFC fighter -- has retired from MMA, claiming he suffered permanent damage from a recent viral infection.

32-year-old Struve -- known as "The Skyscraper" -- has been fighting in the UFC since 2009, and famously beat current UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic in 2012.

But, the giant from the Netherlands has decided to hang up gloves after dealing with vertigo, hearing loss and other issues.

"I was contacted by the UFC last week for a fight," Struve said ... "However, I’ve decided it’s my time to retire from fighting."

"I’ve had an inner ear issue that I’ve been battling since May [of] last year. I caught a viral infection that has damaged my vestibular system and the hearing nerve in my right ear."

Struve says his doctors expected him to make a full recovery -- during his fight against Tai Tuivasa in October 2020, he got flush on his right ear, which made everything worse.

"After that fight I was having more issues again and the doctor scheduled new tests," Struve explains.

"After these tests I was told the damage in my ear and the vestibular issues caused by the viral infection I’ve been dealing with are mostly permanent."

Struve says he has "no big issues" when living his everyday normal life ... it's only when he trains hard that his medical issues flare up and cause serious discomfort.

"The extreme intensity I have put my body through and training camp to get ready for fights I can’t do anymore."

"At this juncture I realize that it’s time to hang up the gloves for good, and put my health and family first."

Struve says the fact he has a 5-month-old child is also a factor in his decision -- he wants to be able to focus on being a good father.

He may not have been the greatest fight in the UFC, but he was always fun to watch. Congrats on a pretty amazing career.

Emmitt Smith's rushing record ain't safe at all ... 'cause Adrian Peterson tells TMZ Sports he's still gunning to play until he's 40 -- and run for 1,500 yards when he gets there!!!

Peterson is just 3,535 rushing yards away from catching Smith's all-time mark of 18,355 ... and the NFL legend says if all goes according to plan, he should blow right by the former Cowboys superstar.

"I want to live to be a 40-year-old back out there rushing for 1,500 yards and amazing people still," Peterson tells us.

Of course, A.P. will turn 36 years old next month ... and, as a free agent this offseason, he doesn't have a team for 2021 yet.

But, if there's anybody who can defy the odds ... it's Peterson -- remember when the dude blew out his ACL in 2011 and returned to be the NFL's MVP a few months later in 2012?!

Peterson, though, says breaking the all-time rushing yards mark isn't his #1 goal ... he tells us he wants to win a Super Bowl ring more.

Tom Brady's signature is like GOLD -- the prices for a TB12 autograph are higher than ever ... DOUBLING in just 4 years!!

The Tampa Bay Bucs QB is holding a private autograph session for collectors and memorabilia shops ... and if you want his John Hancock on a Bucs helmet, you're gonna have to shell out $3,700!!!

Here are the current prices compared with rates from a TB12 signing back in 2017 -- back when Tom only had 5 Super Bowl rings (he's got 7 now!).

TB signed photo from SBLV -- $1,600 (up from $850 in 2017)

TB signed football -- $2,000 (up from $1,000 in 2017)

TB signed mini-helmet -- $1,800 (up from $900 in 2017)

TB signed Bucs jersey with special SBLV inscription -- $3,000 (up from $1,600 in 2017)

And a signed TB Bucs SBLV helmet with “LV MVP” inscription can be yours for $3,699.99!!!

Obviously, a lot has changed since 2017 ... Tom left the New England Patriots and basically secured his spot as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time.

7 Super Bowl titles. 5 Super Bowl MVP awards ... and he still wants to play a few more years!

Adrian Broner is FINALLY getting back in the ring after a wild 2-year layoff -- and he's got a message for everyone who thinks he's washed up.

(Earmuffs, kids)

"Eat a d*** and put gravy on it."

Yep, after all sorts of personal, professional and legal drama ... 31-year-old Broner will return to action on Feb. 20th to fight undefeated Jovanie Santiago on Showtime.

The last time Broner saw action was January 2019 when he lost to Manny Pacquiao via unanimous decision.

In fact, Broner hasn't won a pro fight in 4 years -- but the former 4-division world champ tells TMZ Sports he's got his swag back and will return to greatness.

"Our goal is to be another -- a 5-time world champion soon -- so it's starting off February 20."

Broner has made a TON of headlines since his last fight -- but for all the wrong reasons. He's been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, assaulting people in public and he's been sued multiple times for not paying jewelry debts.

In the past year alone he was ripped by a judge for failing to pay more than $800,000 to a woman he sexually assaulted in a nightclub back in 2018 and was arrested for DUI after passing out behind the wheel of his Rolls Royce.

But, Broner insists he's turning over a new leaf -- trying to clean up his life and get back to the top of the boxing world.

"I've matured a lot, I've been through a lot and ya know, it's just time to get to business and make my money and do what I do best and that's box."

Johnny Manziel says his return to the gridiron in the Fan Controlled Football league is NOT an attempt to catch the eye of the NFL ... the QB tells TMZ Sports that's just not the point of his comeback.

"There are no comeback implications with me and football moving forward from here," the former Heisman Trophy winner and ex-Cleveland Browns first-round pick said.

In fact, when we asked Manziel straight-up if he envisioned the FCF as a springboard to a rejuvenated NFL career ... the 28-year-old unequivocally said, "Not at all."

Manziel signed up for the FCF -- a 7-on-7, full-contact football league where fans control everything -- a few weeks ago, but he explained to us it's all strictly about having fun.

"To be honest, I got a lot of free time on my hands," Manziel said ... "I got onto the golf course life in Scottsdale but I got a lot of free time for six weeks to come and pretty much get to be a player, coach a little bit in this."

Manziel says his game isn't what it used to be back when he was dodging SEC defenders at Texas A&M ... but he did tell us he has some expectations to still ball out during the FCF season.

"You'll see little flashes of the old stuff," Manziel says. "I still have the ability to throw the football around to a somewhat high degree. Not like I had in the past, but I think there's still some flashes left in the tank."

Manziel -- who hasn't played professional football since the AAF in 2019 -- will kick off his season with the Zappers on Twitch at 6 PM PT on Saturday.

Before Lamar Odom and Aaron Carter beat the hell out of each other this summer, TMZ Sports got both stars together on Zoom for the 1st time -- and the trash talk was INTENSE!!

We broke the story ... 41-year-old Odom and 33-year-old Carter are boxing June 12 at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City -- all part of a big Celebrity Boxing card.

During the convo, we hit on everything from the huge height difference (Odom's 6’10, Carter's 5’11”-ish), the pressure to represent for NBA players after Nate Robinson was KO'd by Jake Paul, and whether the fight is actually real.

Some highlights:

Lamar says although he doesn’t officially have any fights on his record ... that doesn’t mean he isn’t experienced in the ring.

“I’ve always boxed, in my best years with the Lakers, I used boxing for training, and so for me to go and show what I've learned on my man's face, this is like retribution for Nate Robinson. This is gonna be easy work.”

We asked Aaron if he could realistically beat Lamar ... a giant, elite athlete who played 14 seasons in the NBA.

Without hesitation, Carter basically said ... hell yes.

“I know I can [beat Lamar]. Come June 12th, like I said, like Apollo Creed said, ‘I’m gonna drop him like a bad habit,’ and I mean that.”

Lamar ... well, he doesn’t see it goin' down that way.

“I’m pretty good, bro. It’ll be fun. But, you’ll have fun getting knocked out.”

Carter’s response??

“You will not knock me out! You will not knock me out!”

If all the trash talk didn’t convince you, Aaron made it known this is very much a real fight -- and he’s looking to do real damage.

“I want to make something very clear too, just so everybody knows. There was no secret meetings, nothing gets staged. This is as real as it gets.”

But, don't expect the beef to carry over outside of the ring, after the fight ... 'cause Lamar says there won’t be any hard feelings. In fact, he wants to chill and party with the pop star in AC.

“I’m gonna be real with you, dinners on me cause I don't want you to take this ass whoopin' personal."

UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman says he's laser-focused on beating Gilbert Burns this weekend -- but after that, he'd LOVE a crack at Georges St-Pierre!

Usman is on a 16-fight win streak -- and he's tied with GSP for most consecutive wins in the UFC's welterweight division (12). The dude is on fire.

If Usman beats Burns at UFC 260 on Saturday, there's a strong argument he should be considered the greatest UFC welterweight of all time.

Of course, GSP retired in 2019 -- his last fight was 2017 -- but he's been training like a maniac in the snow and there have been rumors the 39-year-old is considering one last go in the Octagon.

Kamaru says if GSP wants a scrap, just say the word!

"If he wants to do it, you gotta come see me. If he doesn't want it, that's okay. More power to him!"

"I respect the retirement because he's done it all. He doesn't need to come back for no reason. If he wants to come back, he cuts the line, he beats everybody! He cuts the line from everybody! He gets the shot right away."

As for Burns, he's trying like hell to be the spoiler -- he also wants to be remembered as the greatest to ever do it.

"I'm looking forward for this one so much because if I beat the guy that is in the conversation of being one of the greatest, they gotta put my name in the conversation," Burns tells TMZ Sports.

Cam Newton's NFL days are NOT numbered ... so says his former teammate Trai Turner, who tells TMZ Sports he believes the quarterback "has more left in the tank."

Newton is coming off his worst season as a pro -- throwing just eight touchdown passes to 10 interceptions -- and it's got some wondering, is retirement the next move for the former NFL MVP?

Turner -- who blocked for Cam from 2014 through 2019 in Carolina -- says hell no ... telling us people shouldn't rush to judge Newton's future based off his 1 year in New England.

"First year on a new team and it's just different man," Turner says. "Different people around you. Different city, new place and all that. But, I don't think that was the last showing that Cam would have wanted."

"Me just knowing him and knowing what he can do and just being able to see him play, I know that he has more left in in the tank to give."

Newton is slated to be a free agent this offseason ... and he's already promised to come back to the league next season a better player.

Chris Doyle's run as the Jacksonville Jaguars' director of sports performance is over before it ever really got started ... with the controversial coach resigning amid major backlash.

Jags head coach Urban Meyer made the move official late Friday night ... saying, "Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted."

"Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville."

So ... what was the distraction??

Doyle -- who served as Iowa's strength and conditioning coach from 1999-2020 -- was accused of making racial comments, bullying and other instances of misconduct towards players during his time with the Hawkeyes.

Doyle's time in Iowa City ended after multiple players came forward about his alleged antics last year ... resulting in a "separation agreement" of roughly $1.1 million in June.

The decision to hire a guy accused of that kind of misconduct was ill-received ... and the Fritz Pollard Alliance -- which works with the NFL on diversity -- released a scathing statement, calling the hire "unacceptable."

While Meyer initially claimed he and Jags ownership went through a serious vetting process before hiring Doyle, he is now admitting it wasn't a good look.

"We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved."

Charles Barkley is gonna piss off his NBA family with this one -- the basketball legend says he believes Tom Brady has surpassed Michael Jordan as the greatest athlete of all time ... and he's got an interesting reason behind the take.

Chuck -- who's always defended MJ to be the undisputed G.O.A.T. -- spoke about TB12 winning his 7th Super Bowl title this past week ... and explained why he thinks His Airness has officially been dethroned.

"It's hard for me to put anybody above Michael, but Michael was always gonna be the best player 4 out of 7 games," Chuck told ESPN 1000's "Waddle and Silvy."

"But, the difference is every time Tom Brady played a football game, it was a Game 7. I never had thought about it like that. I mean, you think about that. Every football game in the playoffs is a Game 7."

Chuck continued ... "Like, if Michael, he's gon' win most series because he's gonna be the best player 4 outta 7 games. But, when you playing football, every single game in the playoffs is a Game 7."

Barkley says it's incredible how Brady has won 7 out of his 10 Super Bowl appearances ... saying Brady's 34 playoff wins can be compared to 34 Game 7s in the NBA playoffs.

As for Brady's most recent playoff run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chuck says he's shocked TB12 didn't hang up his cleats ... saying it would have been the perfect end to his career.

"I can't believe he's not retired, I'm not gon' lie. Because if you do what he just did, beat Drew Brees in New Orleans, beat Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field, and then beat Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, that would be the greatest 'drop the mic' ever in sports."

A 26-year-old former college basketball player has been arrested in Mexico after officials say he allegedly murdered a woman inside a Tijuana strip club.

... and it appears the murder was captured on surveillance video.

The suspect is Logan Kelley -- who played 3 games for Rutgers during the 2012-13 season before landing at the University of Montevallo, where he played in 20 games in the 2015-16 season. Before that, Kelley was a star high school player who led the state of NJ in scoring during his senior year.

But now, Kelley is making headlines for all the wrong reasons -- officials say he sneaked up behind a female employee at the Adelita Bar and sliced her neck with a folding knife Wednesday before trying to make a run for it, according to SD Union Tribune's Wendy Fry.

In a surveillance video, which we've seen but chosen not to publish, you can see a man wearing a COVID mask rush up behind the victim, stab her in the neck, and throw her to the ground while shocked bystanders scream in horror.

The footage also shows the suspect trying to run away.

Officials say Kelley was detained at the scene by security guards and held until police arrived to make the arrest. Cops have released a photo of Kelley taken after he was arrested.

Medical personnel raced to the club to try and treat the victim, but it was too late ... and she was declared dead at the scene. The victim has been identified by police as 19-year-old Isis Atalia Montoya Romero.

Police also say they have recovered the suspected murder weapon -- a 4 to 6-inch folding knife.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith and his family were reportedly robbed at gunpoint after arriving in Los Angeles earlier this week ... but thankfully, the team says everyone is now safe.

The 32-year-old former Super Bowl champ and his family arrived at LAX with his family Tuesday night ... and were followed to their hotel, according to The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec.

Once the group arrived at the hotel, the report says they were robbed at gunpoint ... but no one was injured during the incident.

We're working on getting more information regarding the incident.

The Ravens released a statement Friday saying they've been in touch with the former first-round pick and have confirmed he and his family are doing okay.

"We are aware of the situation involving Jimmy Smith," the team said Friday. "We have spoken with Jimmy, and he and him family are safe."

Smith -- who grew up in Southern California -- has been with the Ravens for 10 seasons, signing a 1-year deal for $6 million last March.

WHAMMY! WHAMMY! WHAMMMMMMMMMMMY!!!!

The Oklahoma Sooners women's softball team kicked off its season with a BANG -- hangin' 29 runs on UTEP in the greatest college power-hitting display of all-time -- blasting 13 HOME RUNS in the process!!

Yeah, that's an NCAA record!

... and get this, the game was stopped in just 5 innings thanks to the NCAA's mercy rule -- so, who knows how many dingers the Sooners woulda hit!

Here's how it played out ... #4 ranked Oklahoma started things off Thursday with an insane 1st inning -- exploding for 13 runs!! And then hit just keep on coming!

In total, 7 different Sooners players went deep ... including freshman Tiare Jennings and junior Grace Lyons, who each hit 3!!!

FYI, the previous NCAA softball single-game home run record was 10 -- shared by BYU (2008) and UTSA (2004).

The Sooners pitching was strong too, earning a shoutout. Redshirt senior Giselle Juarez set the tone early with 6 strikeouts in 3 innings.

The game was part of the 2021 Miner Invitational -- where the Sooners already have 2 wins, including a 9-0 victory over Abilene Christian.

The force ain't with Gina Carano anymore ... but Ben Shapiro sure is!

The former 'Mandalorian' star -- who's on the outs with LucasFilm after sharing an offensive post about Jewish people on Instagram -- announced she's signed a new movie deal with Shapiro's conservative media outlet, "The Daily Wire."

"The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams -- to develop and produce my own film -- come true," Carano told Deadine.com.

"I cried out and my prayer was answered. I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same."

She adds, "They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them."

Carano -- one of the first female stars in MMA -- had a booming career as an actress after leaving the cage ... booking roles in flicks like "Deadpool" and "Fast & Furious 6."

She's most famously known for playing former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune in the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian" -- but lost the role when her bosses at LucasFilm caught wind of a post comparing her perceived mistreatment of conservatives in the U.S. to the millions of Jews who were slaughtered in the Holocaust.

Shapiro -- who is Jewish -- says his company "could not be more excited to be working with Gina Carano, an incredible talent dumped by Disney and Lucasfilm for offending the authoritarian Hollywood Left."

"We’re eager to bring Gina’s talent to Americans who love her, and we’re just as eager to show Hollywood that if they want to keep cancelling those who think differently, they’ll just be helping us build the Xwing to take down their Death Star."

A college basketball team in Virginia was given two options -- stop kneeling for the national anthem or face suspension ... and the players chose to kneel.

NAIA Div. II school Bluefield College was forced to forfeit Thursday's conference matchup with Reinhardt University ... after players involved in national anthem demonstrations were suspended from the team.

Here's the deal ... the BC Rams team has been kneeling for the anthem during games in January and February this year ... despite school president David Olive telling them to cut it out.

Olive decided to take matters into his own hands by unleashing the punishment this week ... saying, "The basis for my decision stemmed from my own awareness of how kneeling is perceived by some in our country, and I did not think a number of our alumni, friends, and donors of the College would view the act of kneeling during the anthem in a positive way."

"Pointing to the already fractured and divided nature of our country, I did not want Bluefield College contributing to the further divide; rather, I wanted the College to bring people together in a united effort to address issues of racial injustice," he said.

Olive says he's been speaking with the school's athletic director and the athletes about bringing awareness to social injustice in ways other than the anthem kneeling ... but felt he was left with no choice but to suspend players after it began drawing widespread media attention.

"I further told them that their intended message in bringing awareness of racial injustices was being diluted or completely lost because some saw their act of kneeling as being disrespectful to the flag, our country, and to our veterans."

He continued ... "In my opinion, their message was not being heard."

Olive presented several alternatives -- like kneeling during player intros, reading a message about combating racism before home games -- but the players refused to compromise.

Behold, the future #1 overall pick ... of a shampoo company?!?!

That's right ... Trevor Lawrence flashed insane arm talent at his Clemson Pro Day on Friday that will no doubt make him the top selection in April's NFL draft -- but his showcase also had to have hair product companies swooning!!

The 6'6", 21-year-old QB -- who normally covers up his salad with a helmet every week -- showed off his famous arm AND 'do for about an hour in front of Urban Meyer and other NFL scouts ... and the locks were seriously glorious.

Lawrence would throw a rocket down the seam, and then he'd flip the hair. He'd drop a dime on a dig -- and yup, a hair toss would come next.

It happened after nearly every throw ... and at one point during a little water break, he even got in a full-on head whip!

Of course, shampoo and hair product companies are no strangers to partnering up with NFL stars ... Patrick Mahomes and Troy Polamalu have famously been in Head & Shoulders ads for years!

So, could Lawrence add on that kind of deal on his way to being picked by Meyer's Jacksonville Jaguars in the draft??