MMA

Machine Gun Kelly knew Sean Strickland wasn't about to "shut the f*** up," and the UFC fighter proved him right on Tuesday ... firing back at the musician with a wild social media post.

The former middleweight champion got wind of the Cleveland rocker/rapper's comments on the "Impaulsive" podcast episode released on Tuesday ... and despite MGK telling the controversial figure to kick rocks, he's not ready to tap out of their feud just yet.

"Getting lectured by a guy who drinks blood and wears a purse," Strickland said on X. "Dawg you had a mid life crisis and tattooed your entire body. The 'the x community of intolerance' yall I'd hang out with you toxic trolls any day over this c***."

Machine Gun Kelly is opening up about Sean Strickland after their run-in at a Power Slap event back in February ... warning the UFC fighter to quit running his mouth!

The Cleveland native swung by Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast to chop it up on a wide range of topics ... including the disdain between Kelly and Strickland.

At a point during the conversation, the topic turned to Strickland ... and it's very evident MGK is far from a fan of the former UFC middleweight champion.

Paige VanZant went all out for her most recent workout ... ditching her top for an upper body routine with her MMA fighter husband -- and it is all types of steamy!!

VanZant shared the training session with Austin Vanderford to her Instagram followers on Monday ... showcasing the two's impressive physical strength while adding a NSFW touch.

Paige -- sporting a pair of blue biker shorts -- opted to leave the top off to the side ... showing off her massive back tattoo while doing push-ups off her hubby's legs. Vanderford -- who also decided to go shirtless -- grabbed a handful of her booty while giving her support.

Forget Gatorade, Conor McGregor's road back to the UFC Octagon is apparently being fueled -- at least in part -- by beer!!

Check out footage TMZ Sports has obtained from the MMA star's sister's wedding earlier this month -- the 36-year-old nearly downed a whole pint of suds in a matter of seconds at Erin McGregor and Terry Kavanagh's ceremony out in Ireland.

Conor, of course, is currently trying to work his way back to the UFC following a three-year hiatus ... but it's clear he put a pause on his training regimen to celebrate his older sibling's nuptials in style.

Jared Cannonier may be outside what many consider a fighter's "prime years," but the 40-year-old isn't stressing Father Time ... telling TMZ Sports he's taking things one fight at a time, and still sees title shots in his future!

We caught up with the fifth-ranked UFC middleweight before his main event contest with 12th-ranked middleweight contender, Caio Borralho.

Cannonier -- who celebrated his 40th trip around the Sun in March -- says he isn't thinking about how much longer he plans on fighting.

Ronda Rousey is finally owning up to a mistake she made more than a decade ago ... formally apologizing for sharing a Sandy Hook conspiracy theory vid back in 2013.

The former UFC bantamweight champion infamously reposted the clip -- which questioned the authenticity of the tragic school shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six staffers -- to her social media page ... before almost immediately taking it down amid backlash.

She appeared to try to sweep it under the rug in the ensuing years ... but when her recent Reddit AMA thread was bombarded by comments about the controversy -- she took to X to officially issue a mea culpa.

Craig Jones' weigh-in kiss might be a tactic other fighters should pick up ... 'cause he took down Gabi Garcia after planting the smooch on her pre-match.

The Australian grappler dominated his 6'2" opponent from the opening bell ... though she drew out the fight a little before finally tapping out in the second round of the intergender bout.

GG -- who's mulled over an intergender battle like this for years -- has multiple gold medals and world championships in the sport ... but, she just couldn't handle Jones who's also one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes of all time.

Dricus Du Plessis isn't only traveling thousands of miles for his first title defense, but he's headed straight into Israel Adesanya's backyard. So, is the middleweight champ pissed off?!

Nope ... in fact, he tells us he would've preferred to fight in Izzy's own gym!

"I'm extremely happy," Du Plessis told TMZ Sports. "If I had it my way, I would have done it in Auckland, where he's from."

Former mixed martial artist Lumumba Sayers -- who once fought ex-UFC star Derek Brunson inside a cage -- was arrested for murder over the weekend ... after he allegedly shot and killed a man to avenge his son's death.

The Commerce City Police Department says the incident happened at around 5 PM on Saturday during a children's birthday party at a Commerce City, Colo. park.

According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by Denver7, Sayers is accused of walking up to 28-year-old Malcolm Watson and shooting him in the head. The docs state witnesses told cops Sayers may have thought Watson had been a friend of a man he believed to be somehow involved in the 2023 death of Sayers' son.

Boxer John Gotti III admits he was "caught off guard" by the hoopla surrounding his first fight with Floyd Mayweather ... but, with their rematch just a week away, John Gotti's grandson is warning the 50-0 fighter, don't expect a repeat in the rematch!

"It was a big moment. It was the biggest crowd I've ever fought in front of before. It was against a living legend. And, [Floyd] came out with bad intentions, caught me completely off guard," 31-year-old Gotti III told TMZ Sports of the June 2023 scrap.

The fight was ultimately stopped during the 6th round after a ton of trash talk between the men. Despite the bout being stopped, Floyd and John weren't done scrapping just yet, with a melee kicking off in the ring and around the arena.

Belal Muhammad already has an idea who he may fight in his first bout as defending UFC champion ... telling TMZ Sports it could be all-time welterweight great, Kamaru Usman, or up-and-comer, Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Muhammad joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... where the guys talked about everything from what it felt like to finally achieve his dream, to who is on his shortlist for his first fight as the division's king.

"It's been epic," Belal said ... "for me to go down to enemy territory, his home soil in front of his people, that were booing me the whole week, to go out there and dominate them the way I dominated them, it felt so good!"

Khabib Nurmagomedov is arguably the greatest ever to grace an MMA cage, so with Deiveson Figueiredo training with the undefeated former UFC champion ahead of his fight with Marlon Vera, we asked "Chito" if he was concerned with the Brazilian star's secret weapon.

"I don't give two f***s who he trains with," 31-year-old Chito bluntly told TMZ Sports (let's be real, if you've followed Vera, you could've guessed his answer.)

36-year-old Figueiredo reportedly spent time training with The Eagle on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi ... the location of Saturday's UFC on ABC card.

Belal Muhammad is set to take part in his first title match as a member of the UFC ... and the No. 2-ranked welterweight tells TMZ Sports he's ready to play spoiler for the hometown fighter, Leon Edwards.

The 36-year-old Muhammad spoke with us just days before he makes the walk in the biggest fight of his UFC career at UFC 304 in London ... and while it took longer than he thought it would, he's excited the moment has finally arrived.

"This is the fight I've been waiting for the last three years," Muhammad said. "To get this rematch, to get this title shot, it's taken forever, but it's all worth it. The long road, the long wait. I think that once I get to fight night, I'm gonna know the reasons why I had to wait."

Jon Jones is the official UFC heavyweight champion ... but not in the eyes of Curtis Blaydes -- who tells TMZ Sports he views interim champ Tom Aspinall as the real title holder.

We caught up with "Razor" as he prepares to square off with Aspinall for the second time in his career later Saturday at UFC 304 ... and he said there's not much doubt in his mind, he's going up against the real No. 1 in Dana White's heavyweight division.

"I view it as Aspinall [and not Jon Jones]," Blaydes said when asked who's the real heavyweight champion. "I do. I think Aspinall had to beat a harder opponent in order to get the belt. Ciryl Gane is a very skilled heavyweight, but he has an obvious hole in his game, the wrestling. He doesn't have any of it. Jon, smartly, went after that hole. Easy W."

While Paddy Pimblett is viewed as the next big thing in the UFC ... Bobby "King" Green isn't all that impressed -- telling TMZ Sports he's just "another guy" who he's hoping to knock out later Saturday.

We caught up with Green just hours before he throws down with "The Baddy" at UFC 304 ... and while the scrap is in Pimblett's home country of England ... Green says, so far, he's been getting love!

"I didn't know I was international," he said, "but they've been giving me a lot of love, too. And a lot of it is his people been telling me to kick his ass!"