TMZ Sports - Page 3

After 6.5 years away, Nick Diaz is about to make his return to the Octagon, taking on Robbie Lawler ... but Dana White admits he doesn't know if the star from Stockton will fight again after UFC 265.

TMZ Sports talked to the UFC prez on Wednesday, days before Diaz is scheduled to fight for the first time since January 2015 (a no contest vs. Anderson Silva) ... and we asked if the comeback meant Diaz was back now as a full-time fighter.

"I don't know. I never know that either. We'll take it one fight at a time," Dana told us.

FYI, it's not the first time the men have fought. Diaz beat Lawler via 2nd round knockout way back in 2004.

Despite the long layoff, Nick's one of the most accomplished MMA fighters of all time... with wins over everyone from B.J. Penn to Frank Shamrock.

But, with over 2,400 days between fights, will it take time for Nick to reacclimate himself to the Octagon?

"Ring rust is absolutely real and especially when you haven't been in here that long, but you never know what to expect from the Diaz brothers. You know what everybody does though? On Saturday, they show up and they fight -- that's it!"

Valentina Shevchenko is also on the card ... where she's a MASSIVE favorite over Lauren Murphy.

Last week we asked The Bullet if she was interested in a trilogy fight with Amanda Nunes ... and she said she was definitely down.

We asked White about making Nunes-Shevchenko 3 ... and he warned that no one should overlook Woods.

"Obviously, you can't look past Lauren Murphy and start looking at Amanda Nunes again. Lauren Murphy has a lot of knockdowns and submissions in her career. So, when you have women that are that size that can actually knock out other women, it's impressive."

But, with that said, Dana made it clear he isn't against pairing arguably the 2 best female MMA fighters in the world against each other.

"Listen, Valentina Shevchenko is a savage. I mean, her and Amanda Nunes are two of the greatest female fighters to ever walk the face of the Earth and if she gets through Lauren Murphy on Saturday, maybe there is a fight for them down the road."

We couldn't let Dana go without asking about Conor McGregor's (terrible) 1st pitch at the Cubs game earlier this week ... the epitome of the reason White says he ALWAYS says no when he's asked to throw the ceremonial pitch.

A minor league baseball game had a four-legged interruption during the 1st inning on Wednesday ... when a bat dog named Rookie stormed the field -- and it was adorable!!

The cute moment happened during the Buffalo Bisons' home game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Sahlen Field ... a matchup that had Rookie filling in for bat-retrieving duties.

But, Rookie was fully prepared to go above and beyond his role to help out the Buffalo squad any way he could ... so he raced out onto the field in the middle of all the action!!

You can see the happy-go-lucky canine jumpin' with joy on the field right in front of the batter before a pitch is thrown ... and even making his way out on the pitching mound for a few seconds

Eventually, Rookie goes back to the dugout and resumes his position ... and we can't emphasize this enough, it was freakin' cute!!

BTW -- Rookie is a celeb ... he has his own Instagram page with more than 14,000 followers!!

"Tonight was a lot of fun, being with @buffalobisons," Rookie's IG page said after the game.

"I loved being able to go all over the stadium and giving out my baseball card to the fans, especially the kids."

New York Giants star offensive lineman Nick Gates will need another surgery to try to repair his broken leg ... and there's now a fear the operations could end his career.

Gates horrifically snapped his left leg while pass protecting during a play in the Giants' loss to the Washington Football Team last week ... and, despite early optimism of a full recovery, head coach Joe Judge says his rehab has hit a snag.

Judge told reporters Thursday Gates is still in a hospital in D.C. ... and will need more work to fix the wound completely.

"We’re confident he’ll be able to come back," Judge said, "but, yes, it could be career-ending."

Gates had seemed to be making good progress after the initial procedures ... 'cause just a few days ago, he was walking with the help of a walker.

Now, though, his football career appears to be very much in jeopardy.

If it is the end, Gates had a hell of a run in the NFL ... the 25-year-old started 21 games in a little over two seasons with New York and had just been named a team captain.

"You can still be rich ... and still have roaches."

Jason Pierre-Paul just revealed his Florida mansion is currently being overrun by dead bugs -- and it's gross as hell!

The Tampa Bay Bucs star showed off the lifeless cockroaches while walking around his pad Thursday ... zooming in on the bugs and providing some pretty hilarious commentary at the same time.

"I don't know where they coming from," JPP said, "'cause there ain't nothing to eat!"

The former NY Giants star hilariously gave some of the dead, creepy-crawlers in the house names ... saying, "He looked like he tried to get out. That's Jodeci."

"Look at him. That's Cici Allah. We'll call this one right here John Doe. Look like he tried to escape quick!"

As for JPP's plan to get them to stop overrunning his place ... the 32-year-old said he already has pest control, and has no idea why the problem is still going down.

Pierre-Paul might not play in the Bucs' game this weekend while nursing a shoulder injury ... so here's to hoping the added free time will help him get it all figured out soon.

The Golden State Warriors might be without one of their biggest stars when the season rolls around ... 'cause Andrew Wiggins could reportedly miss time due to being unvaccinated.

26-year-old Wiggins -- who averaged 18 points for the Dubs in 2020 -- has previously been outspoken against getting the jab ... and his stance is now putting his status for 2021 home games in question.

As the San Francisco Chronicle notes, SF has required full vaccination to attend large indoor events as of August 20 ... and Warriors games fall under that category.

Now, there's a possibility the NBA gives Wiggins a religious exemption ... but it would still have to be approved by the city in order for him to suit up for home games at the Chase Center.

FYI -- San Francisco and New York City are the two NBA towns that require proof of vaccine for large indoor events.

Wiggins isn't the only unvaxxed player, but he's by far the biggest name affected by the mandates.

Back in March, Andrew said he has nothing against those who elected to take the vaccine, but said he'd be making his own decision on the matter.

The Chronicle reports the Warriors even set up a meeting between Wiggins and a local health official to help ease any fear over the vaccine ... but it didn't help change his mind.

Conor McGregor is going IN on all the trolls comparing his first pitch to 50 Cent's ... saying he straight-up believes the rapper's throw is not even in the same stratosphere as his.

"The audacity to compare mine with this piss!" the UFC superstar said in a lengthy social media post Wednesday night. "Picture to picture alone buries this."

"Mine," he continued, "bar the accuracy, was the most powerful and fastest first pitch of any of these other athletes/ artist over the years. No comparison."

If you missed it, Conor overthrew his target by about 30 feet while doing the first-pitch honors at a Cubs game Tuesday night ... causing many to say it reminded them of 50's horrific 2014 throw.

The similarities are hard to ignore -- neither dude got close to their catcher's mitt -- but Conor insisted his was way better, and threw shade all over 50 in the process.

"Small bucks 50 Cent," McGregor said. "One has power. One is the director of media relations for some show called power. You know what it is."

Conor added that his throw contained "Venom. Composure. Balance!" -- all while praising the pricey watch on his wrist.

Of course, Conor is most likely being a bit tongue in cheek with all this ... but we're here for it either way.

Tyron Woodley says his body will officially say "I Love Jake Paul" this weekend ... revealing he is still going to follow through on his tattoo bet after losing to the YouTube boxer last month.

So, now the question is ... rematch back on?!

As we previously reported, Woodley claims he tried like hell to get inked up in Cleveland after JP won via split decision ... telling TMZ Sports he waited and waited, but no one was around to do the job.

Despite TW's efforts, Jake said Woodley didn't hold up his end of the deal and moved on from rematch talks to focus on Tommy Fury ... but negotiations have gone essentially nowhere.

With Jake's next opponent up in the air, Woodley told MMA reporter Ariel Helwani he's STILL going to get the tat -- and he thinks a rematch with Paul is still the smartest move for both sides.

"Tommy Fury should have never even been in position for the bag," Woodley said Wednesday night.

"I’m gonna just let the week go through and see what happens. I think the most sensible thing to do is run it back."

Woodley says he's finally getting the tat on Saturday because "it's the solid thing to do" ... so it sounds like it's for sure happening even if a Jake rematch isn't in the cards.

As for the location of the tat, Tyron says he's still not sure where to get it on his body ... but it sounds like he has no plans to get it removed in the future.

"To me, it's like this ... if a dude want to pay me to whoop his ass -- since he supposedly paid me and promoted the fight -- then I love you!!"

NBA star Dwight Howard busted his ass getting ready for "The Masked Singer" ... taking singing and dancing lessons in preparation for his performance on the hit TV show.

TMZ Sports talked to the 35-year-old Lakers center after he was eliminated from the FOX show Wednesday night, following his performance of "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard, while wearing an extravagant Octopus costume.

"I did singing lessons. I did dancing lessons. I even did my own stuff, my own homework, drills that I never thought you'd have to do for singing."

Bottom line ... whether it's on the basketball court or stage, Howard doesn't like to lose.

"I was infatuated with The Masked Singer, and trying to win this show. It was crazy."

Unfortunately for Dwight, he was eliminated at the end of episode 1 ... but let's be honest, he was (literally) at a giant disadvantage.

Howard is 6'10" ... and regardless of the costume concealing his face and body, it was still clear the Octopus was a really tall person.

So, when it came time for judges Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger to guess who was in the outfit, they were all in the ballpark ... and The Hangover star actually correctly guessed Dwight.

FYI, Jenny guessed Dennis Rodman (6'7"). Nicole, Shaquille O'Neal (7'1").

We asked Howard what he was thinking as Jeong guessed it was him.

"I was like 'dang, he got me!' I couldn't believe that he got me, but I knew he had a chance because we actually did a commercial together. It was an Adidas commercial."

But, even though he was axed on night 1, Dwight says his time on the TMS was amazing.

"I'm sorry that I didn't make it to the end of the show, but I had so much fun. It was one of the best things that I've ever done in my life."

Celeb jeweler Ben Baller says he'll fix Aaron Jones' necklace issues ASAP -- offering to make the Packers star an indestructible piece that'll safely harbor his father's ashes forever.

The 48-year-old said he'd build Jones something similar to a device he already has on his keychain -- explaining the NFL player would never have to worry about losing his priceless contents ever again once he's done with the job.

"Look, Aaron, holler at me bro," Ben said. "Send me a DM. Send me a text. I'll make you one of these joints."

"Screw it on, boom. It's not coming off. You can secure your pops' ashes in there, man."

If you missed it, Jones headed into Monday's Packers vs. Lions game wearing a locket that had his father's ashes in it ... but he lost it at some point during the big win.

Fortunately, Green Bay trainer Bryan "Flea" Engel was able to find it after a frantic search ... though it's now unclear how Jones is going to proceed with the jewelry going forward.

Ben told us if Jones wanted, his contraption could be iced or it could be kept simple with yellow gold or platinum. Baller added he'd secure it all with one of his sturdy chains.

Andre Berto, Haitian-American former boxing champ, says President Biden needs to act NOW ... and prove he cares about Haitians at the U.S./Mexico border.

"My message to Joe Biden would be for him to get up and do something. Right now is the time. The Haitian people have been pleading, pleading for help for many years."

It's a subject that hits very close to home for the 38-year-old retired boxer. Berto's mom and dad were born in Haiti, and illegally migrated to the country before their son was born. They've long since got their papers ... but AB still understands the plight of many Haitians.

In fact, he holds dual citizenship (U.S. & Haiti) ... and has spent much time and money on the ground in the country.

The situation on the ground isn't good. Thousands of Haitian migrants flooded a border town, Del Rio, TX, last week ... with many setting up camp under a bridge, where they've lived in horrific conditions.

And, Berto says it's time America steps up and helps.

"They're literally trying to find a better life in general. They'll put babies on their back and to walk from Brazil to Chili, all the way through Mexico."

Berto continued ... "Of course with a very corrupt government, you're talking about people that are just trying to find a much better way of life. And to be treated that way here is just sick to see."

Berto even compared the border crisis to the withdrawal in Afghanistan ... where the U.S. transported Afghan refugees from the middle east to the states.

"I just want equal treatment," Berto says, adding, "You saw what they did with the Afghan refugees. They pretty much brought up over here on a red carpet type of situation."

Well, AB says the Haitians need that same treatment.

Evander Kane did NOT gamble on hockey games ... so says the NHL, which announced Wednesday it has cleared the star after a probe into the allegations turned up "no evidence to support" the claims.

The league launched the investigation several weeks ago ... after Evander's estranged wife, Anna Kane, said the 30-year-old San Jose Sharks player had bet on games in his career.

In her claims, she accused Evander of "throwing games" in order to win cash.

The league, though, said it could not prove any of those allegations after a lengthy dive into the claims.

"The investigation uncovered no evidence to corroborate Ms. Kane's accusations that Mr. Kane bet or otherwise participated in gambling on NHL games, and no evidence to corroborate the allegations that Mr. Kane 'threw' games or did not put forward his best effort to help the Sharks win games," league officials said.

"To the contrary, the evidence raises doubts about the veracity of the allegations."

They continued, "While Mr. Kane denied the accusations, our findings are not based on these denials but instead on other evidence uncovered during the investigation."

The NHL said it probed deep into Kane's public and private history to make sure the hockey player committed no wrongdoing.

It should be noted, though, the league did say Anna "refused to participate in the investigation."

The NHL did say it will still investigate Wednesday's claims that Evander both physically and sexually abused Anna during their relationship -- allegations Evander has already vehemently denied.

Patrick Mahomes was clearly less than pleased to see his little brother pouring water on smack-talking Ravens fans ... telling reporters Wednesday, "Obviously it's something we don't necessarily want to do."

Jackson Mahomes was caught on camera dousing Baltimore supporters with a bottle of water following the Chiefs' loss at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.

The video -- which shows fans jabbing at Jackson after the game before he tossed the liquid all over them -- quickly went viral ... and Patrick said in his weekly meeting with media members that he wasn't thrilled with it all.

The Chiefs star, though, did seem to at least understand the impulsive act ... saying, "There was things said to him and [my fiancée] Brittany that you don't see kind of on the clip."

Still, Patrick is hoping Jackson learns from the situation and deals with it in a different manner going forward.

"He's been good at not trying to respond to that stuff," Patrick said. "He takes a lot and he's usually pretty good at it."

"He'll learn from it and just try to stay away from those people best he can."

It turns out ya can't really say ANYTHING about a player without breaking the NBA's anti-tampering rules ... 'cause Warriors owner Joe Lacob just got hit with a $50k fine this week -- for basically saying he's not interested in landing Ben Simmons.

The Warriors have been named as one of the potential landing spots for the 25-year-old ... after the struggling Philadelphia 76ers star demanded a trade this offseason.

Lacob was asked about the team's potential interest in Simmons during an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle this week ... and it definitely didn't sound like they were jumping head-first into the Simmons sweepstakes.

"I think we are always looking at everything to see if we can improve our team," Lacob said.

"We would always look. In some ways, [trading for Simmons] doesn't really fit what we're doing. He makes a lot of money."

Lacob also said Simmons is very talented, but questioned whether he can finish games down the stretch and if he would fit well with Draymond Green.

In other words, Lacob's not salivating to bring Simmons to the Bay ... but, nonetheless, he was hit with a $50k slap on the wrist on Wednesday.

Donald Trump just can't stop taking shots at Joe Biden ... this time he shaded the current POTUS out on the golf course, saying there's no way in hell #46 could outdrive him.

Donald threw the jabs after smashing a drive on a tee box in front a crowd of golfers ... saying, "You think Biden can hit a ball like that?!"

"He couldn't get it passed the first tee!"

The onlooking golfers loved the remarks ... cheering on Donald as he got back into his golf cart to set up for his second shot.

Of course, clowning Biden is nothing new for Trump, who also took a dig at the President during a boxing match news conference earlier this month.

At that event -- a pre-fight media sesh for the Vitor Belfort vs. Evander Holyfield clash -- Trump said he'd want to box Biden because he knows it'd be an easy victory.

"I think he'd go down very, very quickly," Donald said. "Very, very quickly."

Introducing the newest member of the Orlando Magic ... a 6'2" guard from Fayetteville, North Carolina ... J. Cole!!!

Okay, so maybe not quite ... but the superstar rapper DID work up a sweat with a bunch of Magic players at a workout this week -- and he looked GOOD!!

Of course, Cole is known for his skills on the mic AND the court ... and rap legend/former NBA hopeful Master P told us back in 2020 the rapper was interested in pursuing a career in the league.

Now, Cole was able to put his skills to the test against guys like Cole Anthony and R.J. Hampton ... with the Magic posting footage of the squad hooping on Wednesday.

The vid is impressive -- Cole holds his own against the pros by draining three-point shots and dishing dimes.

Cole even got to chat it up with the guys after ... saying, "Any time I get to act like a kid around professionals, I appreciate it."

The Magic even gave Cole his own custom #15 jersey to top it all off!!

But, does Cole really have what it takes to be in the NBA?? Ex-pro Larry Sanders certainly thinks so -- he told us back in August 2020 the dude could legit make it if he worked at it.

Keep ballin' out, J.!!

If you're looking for a sweet deal on a Texas mansion ... ex-NBA star Jermaine O'Neal just dropped the price of his decked-out mega-mansion -- and now it only cost $9.9 million.

The former Indiana Pacers center built this beauty on 5 acres of land in Southlake, Texas (about 25 miles from Dallas) back in 2012.

And, the 16,477-square-ft. estate is dope -- featuring 8 bedrooms, 10.5 bathrooms, a giant living room with a gorgeous staircase, top-notch kitchen, full gym, an elevator and a 6-car garage.

The best part? The cribs entertainment. There's a full indoor basketball court (of course) and a big outdoor pool with a waterslide.

There's also a bowling alley and pool table in the game room!

The house has been on the market for over 500 days. O'Neal even put the property up for auction in December 2019 ... but the reserve price of $11.49 million was not met, according to the Star-Telegram.

JO slashed the price by almost $2 million and re-listed the house on the open market for $9,999,900.

Almost seems like a steal for the chance to live like a legit NBA All-Star ... exactly what O'Neal was during his career.