Fights & Feuds

Yair Rodriguez SWEARS there will be no eye pokes when he rematches Jeremy Stephens this weekend -- and he even got a brand new manicure to make sure his fingernails don't go rogue and scratch anyone!

Remember, Yair and Jeremy were set to do battle in Mexico back in Sept. -- but the fight was stopped in the first few seconds after Yair accidentally jammed his finger in Jeremy's eye.

The fight was ruled a no-contest and the two agreed to run it back on October 18 at "UFC on ESPN 6" in Boston.

Yair says there are a bunch of major changes this time -- this will be a 3-round fight instead of a 5 rounder ... and the fight will be at sea level in Boston, instead of 8,000 feet elevation, like it was in Mexico.

Rodriguez believes the new parameters will give him a major advantage -- "It's gonna be even easier than last time."

UFC star Joanna Jedrzejczyk says Dana White is right ... she intentionally misled the media to think she was in danger of missing weight before fighting Michelle Waterson as part of a "mental game" to mess with her opponent.

"It was a head game, mental game," Joanna tells TMZ Sports ... "Everything work out so good. I was not even close to missing the weight."

Remember, Dana White blew up at the MMA media -- including ESPN -- claiming reports suggesting Joanna's main event fight this past Saturday was in jeopardy were just wrong.

There were stories that Joanna was coming into fight week heavy and if Waterson didn't accept a catchweight, the fight would be called off.

But, Joanna says she was never in danger of missing weight ... adding, "We should trust Dana always!!!"

In the end, Joanna DID make weight and dominated Waterson -- despite badly injuring her right foot in the 2nd round of their 5-round war.

Shockingly, Joanna says she was just informed the foot is NOT broken -- and she'll get back to training soon to get ready for a strawweight title fight with Zhang Weili.

Meantime, Joanna is chillin' on the beach in Miami -- enjoying the fruits of her labor.

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz -- who reps UFC champs like Khabib, Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman -- was cited for misdemeanor battery over an altercation with a rival manger, cops tell TMZ Sports.

Abdelaziz -- who runs Dominance MMA -- got into it with Abe Kawa, Vice President of First Round Management, during a PFL event at the Mandalay Bay on Friday.

We're told ... Las Vegas Metro Police Dept. officers were on scene when the two got into a heated verbal altercation, which escalated into a physical incident.

Law enforcement sources tell us officers on scene say they witnessed Abdelaziz deliver two "open palm strikes" -- aka slaps -- to Kawa's face.

Abdelaziz was NOT arrested, but he was detained and cited on scene ... and if the case moves forward, he'll be notified to appear in court.

Footage of the incident was posted on social media. UFC star Anthony Pettis, Kawa's client, was in the middle of the action and told ESPN's Marc Raimondi "Abdelaziz slapped Kawa 'like a bitch' and 'was gone in 15 seconds.'"

Cops note Abdelaziz was cooperative with police during the incident, as was Kawa.

Jeremy Renner was coked up and drunk when he began rhapsodizing about killing his ex-wife Sonni, and the night ended with the actor shoving a gun in his mouth and threatening to kill himself ... so claims Sonni in new legal docs.

Jeremy and Sonni are in a battle royale for custody of their 6-year-old daughter, Ava. She's asking the judge to change the order from joint custody to sole custody on her part with monitored visitation on Jeremy's.

MMA fighter Luis Peña -- aka "Violent Bob Ross" -- tells TMZ Sports the time has come to renegotiate his contract with the UFC ... and he's confident he's gonna get it.

We spotted the 26-year-old after he landed at LAX on Sunday following a controversial split decision loss to Matt Frevola at 'UFC Fight Night' on Saturday ... and it's clear Pena thinks he got robbed.

Pena points out that Frevola trains in Tampa -- where the fight went down -- and he suggests there may have been some "small-town bias" affecting the judges' cards.

Pena stormed out of the Octagon after the judges announced the decision -- and Luis admits he was heated and pissed off, and let his emotions get the best of him.

"At the end of the day, it's on me for not going out there and finishing the fight," Pena says.

Still, Pena (7-2 as a pro) is not only a good fighter -- but he's entertaining -- and it seems the UFC appreciates it. Pena says UFC exec Sean Shelby told him the company is ready to start talking about a new deal.

Oleksandr Usyk -- one of the best boxers in the world -- just used his limited English skills to make a BIG challenge to Deontay Wilder, saying he wants to fight Wilder NOW.

If you don't know Usyk yet, you will ... he's undefeated, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and was the undisputed (held ALL the belts) cruiserweight champion.

He's moved up to heavyweight now ... and when we got him out at LAX, it's clear he doesn't want to waste time making a mark in his new division because when we asked him who he wanted to fight, he said one thing.

"Deontay Wilder."

Usyk is Ukranian, so it's possible that Wilder's name is some of the only English he knows. But, it's the right English to know because the fight would be huge, and probably tougher for Wilder than you think.

Wilder's got other business to take care of though, namely Luis Ortiz, and every other heavyweight in the world, all looking for a piece of the WBC champ.

Keep hunting, Usyk ... but remember, be careful what you wish for.

At least one world leader will be in the crowd when Alberto El Patron fights Tito Ortiz in December ... because Alberto says the President of Mexico has agreed to be his VIP guest.

The former WWE superstar -- formerly known as Alberto Del Rio -- is taking on the UFC Hall of Famer in a Combate Americas MMA event on Dec. 7 in Hidalgo, Texas.

Tito Ortiz previously told us he invited Donald Trump and the First Family to the event since he's pretty tight with the Trumps ... but it's unclear if they will attend.

But, Alberto says President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is on board.

Kenya Moore's returning for the upcoming season of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," but it seems the war with her nemesis has fired up again ... even though Kenya says she comes in peace.

Moore was at Sally Beauty in Atlanta Wednesday for the launch of her haircare line, when we asked her about her issues with NeNe Leakes ... and she didn't hold back.

Kenya tells us her former friend has shown her true colors over time, but says she doesn't understand why NeNe's so intimidated by her.

She goes on to call Leakes a bully who's treated all of her 'RHOA' costars terribly, and according to Kenya ... NeNe has "very few friends" left because of it.

President Trump is BLASTING Steve Kerr ... calling him a hypocrite who acted like a scared little boy when asked to comment on the relationship between the NBA and China.

If you missed it, Rockets GM Daryl Morey sparked an international crap show when he Tweeted support for protesters in Hong Kong ... infuriating China.

Since Morey fired off the Tweet, the NBA has done virtually everything to get back in China's good graces ... with team owners, the commish and even James Harden apologizing.

Fast-forward to earlier this week ... Warriors head coach Steve Kerr -- who's extremely outspoken when it comes to American politics -- was asked if he had a comment on the China/NBA situation ... and he didn't exactly take a hard stance.

"Um, actually, I don't, I mean, it's a really, it's a really bizarre international story, and a lot of us don't know what to make of it, so um, it's something I'm reading about, just like everybody is. But, I'm not gonna comment further."

Jon Jones is in a war of words with Israel Adesanya ... and UFC star Corey Anderson says there's a good reason why he's doing anything he can to avoid fighting Anderson.

TMZ Sports got Anderson -- 7th ranked UFC lightweight -- at a media event for his management company, Dominance MMA ... and we asked him about a prospective fight with Jones.

"At this point I think he's just trying to avoid me. I showed up to one of his autograph signings, he wanted to crack jokes and everything. So, I walked up to the fence to say something to him and he called security."

"He knows what it is. He knows I'm there. He knows I'm the real deal. He knows I'm gonna be the biggest threat."

Corey also sent a message to the light heavyweight champ ... "Mr. Jon Jones, go ahead, keep the throne warm for me, baby. Keep my seat hot cause I'm coming and I'm ready for it."

These guys clearly don't like each other, and Corey BADLY wants to fight Jones ... but before that can happen, he's got a fight with one of the biggest rising stars in the UFC, Johnny Walker.

Anderson and Walker are fighting at UFC 244 in November ... and he tells us he has 1 main objective.

Derail the hype train.

Every UFC superstar has an origin story -- a fight experience that convinced them they could brawl for a living ... and 5 of the toughest guys in the sport told their stories to TMZ Sports.

Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman, Henry Cejudo, Kelvin Gastelum and Ottman Azaitar joined the TMZ Sports crew for a 30-minute, no-holds-barred convo about everything from upcoming fights to real-life fight stories and how UFC fighters REALLY feel about Conor McGregor.

Gaethje walked us through how he's been trying to draw out Conor into a fight -- but the Irishman seems to be ducking him. He also wants a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Kamaru explained why his beef with Colby Covington is 100% real ... and why he wants to "separate him from consciousness" when they fight at UFC 245 on December 14.

Henry told us why he believes he's the greatest combat sports athlete of all time ... better than Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee and more!!!

Kelvin called out Israel Adesanya for a rematch ... and revealed for the first time that he was sick and way less than 100% when they fought the first time at UFC 236 in April.

Two airline employees -- a woman and a man -- got into an ugly brawl with slaps, punches and spitting, allegedly, involved ... and it was all captured on surveillance video.

The video from inside the jetway -- and just outside the door of a Republic Airways plane -- shows a female staffer walking briskly toward the jet as the male employee walks off the jet. There's an immediate confrontation that appears to start with the man spitting in the woman's direction.

The incident, which allegedly went down on Sept. 13 in Denver, quickly escalated with the woman slapping the man's face. He then responded with 2 brutal punches -- one to her body and one to the head -- slamming her up against the wall of the jetway.

The male employee, who might be a flight attendant or pilot based on his uniform, then walked back onto the regional Republic Airways flight. FlyerTalk first posted the video.

As of now, it's unclear what precipitated the fight -- however, TMZ has confirmed both employees were fired.

Yo, POTUS ... got plans in December?? MMA legend Tito Ortiz has one wish for his fight against Alberto El Patron -- and that's for President Donald Trump to be there!!

Of course, The Donald and Ortiz go WAY back -- Trump's been a major UFC supporter since the early days. And, he even tapped the Huntington Beach Bad Boy to compete on Season 7 of 'Celebrity Apprentice' in 2008. He's remained tight with the First Fam ever since.

Matter of fact, 44-year-old Ortiz is texting buds with Donald Jr. and invited him to his Dec. 7 Combate Americas fight against the 42-year-old ex-WWE superstar.

Kevin Durant is twisting the knife on the New York Knicks ... saying it's no longer "cool" to play for New York ... just months after rejecting them for the Brooklyn Nets.

KD spoke about his free agency decision on HOT 97 in NYC Tuesday morning ... saying he was ready to move on from dominating with Golden State to take on a different challenge with a younger team.

“Basketball is the most important thing for me," Durant said. "Kyrie [Irving], DeAndre Jordan, the young players they got was key."

"Playin' with Golden State, playing with a older group I thought it was time for me to impose my will on a younger team.”

This is the part where Knicks fans might wanna look away, 'cause it's about to get ugly.

KD was asked why he went with BK over the NYK ... and he didn't mince his words.

“It's hard to get the best players to play [for the Knicks]. It's hard," KD says.

"I think a lot of fans look at the Knicks as a brand and expect these younger players who, in their lifetime, don’t remember the Knicks being good."

"I saw the Knicks in the Finals, but the kids coming up after me didn’t see that. So, that whole brand of the Knicks, to them, is not as cool to them as, say, a Golden State Warriors or even the Lakers or the Nets now. The cool thing right now is not the Knicks.”

KD says he did, in fact, consider playing for New York ... but it was a very brief "thought" and he didn't explore it that much ... which hurts, given the rumors that he was destined to be a Knick.

"I thought about it, yeah -- just a thought. But, I didn’t do any deep full analysis on the Knicks. I heard it every day -- media in the Bay Area were talkin' about it every day. Tough to dodge, but can’t control it.”

Naturally, Durant is GETTING IT from NY fans on Twitter over the comment ... but he's sticking by his words.

Another boxing superfight is on the horizon ... because Terence Crawford is calling out Errol Spence, telling TMZ Sports the two sides need to cut the crap and make a deal already!!!

After Spence beat Shawn Porter on Sept. 28, boxing fans have been hoping and praying Spence and Crawford can get in the ring for a showdown at 147 pounds.

Well, we spoke with Bud who tells us he's ALL THE WAY DOWN -- sending this message to the undefeated Spence:

"Take off them panties and pull your pants up, and let's sign the contract!!!"

Crawford says he's been trying to get the Spence fight for a while but feels like Errol's camp is always full of excuses. Terence says the real reason is Errol knows he'll lose.

"I honestly believe when it comes to him ... deep down in his heart, he knows what he's up against when he goes up against me."

And, get this, Crawford -- the reigning WBO welterweight champ -- says he's not convinced Spence deserved to get the split decision victory over Porter either.

In fact, Crawford thinks Porter should have WON that fight!!!

"It was a close fight. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't say it was a big-time robbery. But, it was a close fight and if I had to give anybody the victory, I think Shawn deserved it."

Oscar De La Hoya is calling BS on an L.A. radio star who claims the boxing legend treated him like crap during his run with Golden Boy Promotions ... telling TMZ Sports his lawsuit is full of lies.

Oscar just broke his silence on the lawsuit filed by David Gonzalez -- famously known as "Tattoo" -- who accused De La Hoya of doing some seriously messed up stuff in his role as head of the company.

In his suit, Gonzalez -- who was hired to do announcing and PR stuff for Golden Boy -- claims Oscar would force him to run personal, non-work related errands ... sometimes while Oscar was "highly intoxicated and under the influence of various substances."

So, when we saw Oscar at LAX over the weekend, we asked him for his response to the accusations ... and that's when the boxer swung back.