Fights & Feuds

Darren Rovell thinks Johnny Manziel is washed up.

Johnny Manziel thinks Darren Rovell is a "bitch."

Yep, things are heating up between the ex-NFL star and the business reporter -- and it's all playing out on social media.

Here's how it started ... Rovell posted a tweet on Wednesday comparing 2 Sports Illustrated cover stories from 7 years ago.  ... featuring the Alex Rodriguez steroid scandal as well as the "Johnny Football" craze.

Rovell says A-Rod was at "Rock Bottom" back then while Manziel was the "envy of the college football world."

He then points out that in 2020, the tables have apparently turned.

"Today, A-Rod is as relevant as ever. Manziel achieves a flash of relevance by flipping off a building into a pool."

Side note -- it was a pretty impressive flip.

Manziel clearly feels Rovell's tweet was an unwarranted cheap shot -- and fired back Wednesday with one of his own.

"Seven years later and you’re still as big of a bitch as ever."

OUCH.

Rovell hasn't responded to Manziel and when we reached out, Rovell issued a "no comment."

Shocker, there's some bad blood between the two men that goes back years -- and it apparently all started in 2013 when Rovell investigated whether Manziel was signing autographs for cash while at Texas A&M.

Turns out, Rovell was on to something -- and Manziel was suspended by the NCAA for one-half of a football game.

He eventually went on to be a 1st round pick in the NFL Draft -- but everyone knows what happened after that ... rehab, CFL, fired from CFL, divorce, mental health issues, etc.

But 27-year-old Manziel has said he's moved on with his life and accepts that his NFL career has ended.

The argument that's broken out on social media ... is Rovell out of line for pointing it Johnny's downfall, knowing what he's been through? Or is it fair game since he's pointing out facts.

As for A-Rod, he's doing great -- he survived the steroid scandal. He made a fortune in business. He's trying to buy the NY Mets. And, he's engaged to J Lo.

Derek Brunson says Edmen Shahbazyan's corner absolutely made the correct decision NOT stopping their fight ... even though their fighter was bloodied and beaten.

36-year-old Brunson handed 22-year-old Shahbazyan the first L of his career at UFC Fight Night in Vegas last Saturday via a 3rd-round TKO.

But, many people believe Edmen -- who ate a flurry of heavy punches to end the 2nd-round -- shouldn't have been allowed by his corner, the ref, or the cage side doctor to come out for the 3rd round.

After the fight, even Dana White criticized the doctor for taking too long to make a decision between rounds ... and said the fight "could have been stopped."

There is at least 1 guy who thinks everyone involved made the right decision ... and that's Derek Brunson, who tells TMZ Sports Shahbazyan was still very much in the fight.

"I mean, of course, they have to [let Edmen continue]. They could of thought it was 1 to 1 [on the scorecards]."

Brunson continued ... "I thought I won both rounds but still, it was relatively close so you can't stop a fight there yet. It's one of those things in sports, you gotta suck it up at that point, ya know?"

Ref Herb Dean eventually stopped the fight only 26 seconds into the 3rd round ... giving DB his 3rd straight victory.

So, who does Brunson -- who was the 8th ranked UFC middleweight BEFORE his big win of ES -- want next?

"The best fight for me next is probably Jack Hermansson. Very tough guy, he's riding a hot streak. I seen him trying to pick fights with Darren Till, but that's not the fight. Me vs. Hermansson, that's the fight to make. I need to crack that top 5."

32-year-old Hermansson is coming off a super impressive 1st-round win over Kelvin Gastelum.

And after Hermansson? Brunson has his eyes on Israel Adesanya ... and he says this time will be very different than when they scrapped in 2018.

Racism ... it ain't just an American problem, as this pissed off white Canadian guy proves with a wildly racist and unhinged rant against a liquor store employee.

As happens these days, it all started because the white guy was asked to wear a face mask while inside the store. That ticked him off, and his racial bias against the clerk -- a person of color -- came pouring out.

He launched into this tirade, accusing the worker of being stupid and brainwashed, apparently by his religion ... in the racist's eyes. The best part is as he's screaming racist crap, he says his country of Canada was great before "you people" showed up, and "Canadians are the nicest f**king people in the world!!!"

All evidence to the contrary.

Racial tension is boiling over -- this time in Brooklyn between a cyclist and a driver, and it ended in a sparked hateful tirade against Asians.

The racist rant started when the guy who recorded this video admits he gave a "light honk" to the biker, who he says was swerving all over the road.

The biker quickly goes racial and hurled so many ethnic and homophobic slurs and stereotypes, you'd think he was trying to win racist bingo.

Basically, the cyclist's lame-ass defense was he's from that neighborhood, and no one should be honking at him on his bike, especially not Asians. Naturally, he pulls the get-out-of-my-country routine.

"Send me location ... I come and smash your face!"

That's UFC rising star Khamzat Chimaev firing back at Conor McGregor -- after the Irishman insulted him on social media.

Here's they backstory ...

The 26-year-old Chechen-born fighter is 8-0 and has dominated in his first 2 fights in the UFC -- mauling prodigy Rhys McKee on Fight Island this past weekend just 10 days after dominating John Phillips.

And, get this ... Khamzat was only hit a total of TWO TIMES in both fights -- while dishing out 192 strikes of his own!!!

In fact, Khazmat's smothering violent style has earned him the nickname "Khabib 2.0" -- and just like Khabib, he's already in a real-life feud with Conor.

After Khazmat's victory over the weekend, Conor called him "rat lip" in a now-deleted Tweet -- but McGregor didn't pull it down quick enough!

Now, Khamzat says he would kill for a chance to shut Conor's mouth in the Octagon ... and he's begging Dana White for the opportunity.

"I can go smash [Conor McGregor]! If [UFC] give me, I would be so happy about that. It's easy fight for me."

"I don't see somebody can stop me. I gonna finish everybody. I gonna finish [Conor] first round. I promise you, I can finish him in 1st round."

He even delivered a message for Conor ...

"Lets fight! Don't talk, let's fight! If you're a real gangster, if you're a real man, don't talk on Instagram."

"Come in the cage, talk in the cage, say something to me. You sitting in Ireland and talk to me because I'm sitting in Sweden. We can meet in Abu Dhabi right now, Las Vegas"

Of course, Conor insists he's retired from MMA because he lost his love for the sport.

L.A. Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly was a man out for REVENGE on Tuesday -- firing baseballs at the cheating ass Houston Astros ... and nearly igniting a brawl in the process.

He talked trash to the players. He threw a 96 MPH fastball at Alex Bregman's head. And, mocked several players from the mound.

He also struck out Carlos Correa and shouted, "Nice swing, bitch!"

It was all part of a highly anticipated matchup between the Dodgers and the Astros -- the first time the teams had played since an MLB investigation revealed Houston had cheated their faces off during the 2017 season.

Kelly wasn't on the Dodgers during that 2017 World Series run -- but he was on the Boston Red Sox, which had been eliminated by the Astros in the ALCS earlier that year.

So, yeah ... a bunch of people had some serious axes to grind.

Fast forward to Tuesday when Kelly took the mound in the 6th inning of L.A.'s game against Houston in Texas ... it didn't take long for him to appear to try to exact some revenge.

After getting Jose Altuve out ... Kelly got down 3-0 in a count to Bregman -- and then fired a 96 MPH fastball that missed the star 3rd baseman's head by inches.

Just two batters later ... Kelly threw a breaking ball that nearly clipped Correa in the back of the head as well!!

Neither player was happy with the throws ... and after Kelly struck out Correa a pitch or two later -- Kelly mocked Carlos on his way off the mound.

Joe made crying faces at the shortstop, then appeared to yell, "You gotta cheat to hit!" and other cuss words ... and that's when both benches cleared and almost got into an all-out brawl!!

Cooler heads ultimately prevailed ... but Astros manager Dusty Baker was PISSED at Kelly after the game, saying his actions put Bregman and Correa's careers in danger.

"When you throw a 3-0 fastball over a guy's head, now you're flirting with ending his career," Baker said. "And then a couple other guys, balls were close. And then what really enraged everybody is when he told Carlos when he struck him out, he told him, 'Nice swing, bitch.'"

For their part, Kelly and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts both said there wasn't any intent behind the pitches.

But, with Correa and Bregman being the two most famous players associated with the Astros' sign-stealing, trash can banging scandal that perhaps cost the Dodgers a World Series ring in '17 ... it's not hard to see through this one.

L.A. ended up winning 5-2, by the way ... but there's still another game left in the series Wednesday night.

Getcha popcorn ready!!!

SO MUCH TRASH TALK!!!

Jake Paul and Nate Robinson have signed the dotted line to fight in Sept. -- but they're already throwing verbal haymakers ... and the video is amazing!

23-year-old Jake is taking on the 36-year-old ex-NBA player on the undercard of the big Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight after a war that started on TMZ Sports.

Long story short ... Nate called out Jake after watching the YouTube star beat up a couple of social media influencers in his first boxing matches.

Jake saw Nate's comments and challenged him to put his money where his mouth is -- and he did! Fight date is Sept. 12 on PPV and the Triller app.

We spoke with both guys at the same time -- and right off the bat, the insults were flying!!!!

Jake called Nate a washed-up old man. Nate said Jake is a fraud who's never fought a real athlete.

In fact, Nate says he's gone up against NBA legends like Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson -- and says Jake is a BUM compared to those guys.

Nate has never had an amateur or pro boxing fight -- and Jake says he's simply biting off more than he can chew.

"You're not ready, you haven't even sparred yet," Jake said. "you don't even know what it's like to spar, buddy."

"Shut up, Jake ... with your bird head ass," Nate barked back. "Listen, come September 12, bro, you said you was gonna knock me out. Just make sure you're a man of your word."

Jake added, "This is the only thing you have going for you ... where was Nate Robinson before this? ... I'm like a doctor with the shock pedals reviving your career!!"

Even Robinson's bud and ex-NBA star, Matt Barnes, got in on the fun ... saying he wanted to go after one of Jake's friends!!

The guys did settle down for a bit to talk about the opportunity to fight under legends like Tyson and RJJ ... and they both understand it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"All the stars have aligned and it's honestly an honor to be a part of the Mike Tyson card," Paul tells us. "Like, seriously, a dream come true. I can't even believe it."

Nate says he's tapping Floyd Mayweather -- as well as other boxing greats -- to help him train for the big event.

"I've been working with guys like Floyd Mayweather out here in Vegas," Robinson says.

Two white guys in Las Vegas told a black woman her baby girl needed to pipe down 'cause she was annoying them -- and she recorded the whole disgusting encounter.

This went down at a Japanese joint Monday, where the mother started filming the two men -- we'll call them Kens (Karen gets a day off) -- from across the restaurant. She feels one of the guys was being racist because he'd said something about her 1-year-old daughter making noises -- ya know, like babies tend to do.

The men never say anything racist on camera, but the mom claims they said something before the video started. When the men realize she's recording, they whip out their own phones, and the older guy got out of his chair and accosted the mom and the 2 kids at her table.

The war between Mike Tyson and Don King is officially over -- so says Don King who tells TMZ Sports the two have finally made peace after decades of animosity.

The beef between the two men is legendary -- Tyson had accused his former promoter of bilking him out of millions of dollars during his boxing heyday.

In fact, Tyson famously sued King for $100 MILLION in 1998 -- but ultimately agreed to settle for $14 mil.

Tyson has bashed Don publicly over the years -- even calling him a "wretched, slimy, reptilian motherf**ker."

And, who could forget when Tyson threw water on Don King for touching him without permission during a 2018 boxing event.

But, GOOD NEWS ... Don says despite all of the drama, they're back on speaking terms!

"I love Mike Tyson," King tells us ... "I have never had anything negative to say about Mike Tyson."

"I just talked to him on his birthday on June 30th -- him and his beautiful wife and I wished them a happy birthday. "

King says the two men had a "substantive call" -- and he's excited about the way it went down.

"I'm just very very happy to be able to still see Mike around."

As for Mike's upcoming fight against Roy Jones Jr., Don danced around the question when we asked him to pick a winner -- but it's clear he still thinks Tyson is as dangerous as ever.

By the way, King is still VERY involved in pro boxing -- he's promoting a huge fight between undefeated heavyweights Trevor Bryan and Christopher Lovejoy on Sept. 26 for the WBA interim heavyweight title on the Impact Network.

88-years-old and still going strong -- only in America!

A belligerent, maskless Rhode Island woman chased down a couple guys in a pickup truck, and screamed bloody murder because they ... wait for it ... drove past her house.

The latest 'Karen' -- AKA a sign everyone's losing their minds -- pulled up to the Apponaug Marina in Warwick, RI and went on a profanity-laced tirade about the truck ... "I don't care how fast you were going, stop driving past my house with that piece of s**t!"

She added ... "I bet you live in a s**thole too. Do you live in your f***ing truck, you piece of s**t?!"

The collateral damage here is a poor guy named Barry, who "Karen" apparently knows -- she turned her rage on him, demanding he be responsible for keeping the men in the pickup truck away from her neighborhood.

She even told Barry if he didn't, there'd be "hell to pay!"

When Barry didn't budge, she called the police ... and mistakenly thought she knew the 2 men. We reached out to the Warwick police, who tell us cops did receive a call for a "motor vehicle offense" and interviewed the parties involved. There were no arrests or charges, and everyone left.

This guy unleashed his anti-mask fury on a poor Smart & Final employee -- flipping out like a maniac, but he changed his tune real quick when cops showed up in force.

The maskless man's meltdown happened in Paso Robles, CA -- a normally chill town known for its wineries -- and everyone in the store probably needed a drink after witnessing this public freakout.

According to reports ... the guy entered without a mask, so the female employee you see in the video gave him one, but he refused to put it on.

When she followed and demanded he wear it -- as required by California state order -- he decided to make a scene, screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs ... RIGHT in her face. Maskless too.

He was a real tough guy ... incredibly aggressive, and even lunged toward her -- but watch how quickly he piped down in the face of cops.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just ripped into a colleague who allegedly called her a "f***ing b*tch" after a heated debate over a crime bill, saying she is someone's daughter and by not squarely apologizing, he is not a decent man.

AOC took to the House floor Thursday with an impassioned speech on the impact the words of Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida) had on her, her family and other women.

The congresswoman choked up when she said she's glad her dad, who is not alive, did not hear Yoho's comments. But, she says, her mom did, and what Yoho said cuts to the core.

Yoho offered an apology -- of sorts -- Wednesday, saying he regretted "the abrupt manner of the conversation," but never apologized for the words attributed to him by others. He had earlier denied saying it, but some people on the floor say they heard it, loud and clear.

AOC offered this ... everyone says things they regret from time to time, but when the words go beyond decency, a decent person apologizes, and Yoho did not.

She also took issue with Yoho's comment that he has 2 daughters. AOC said she's someone's daughter too, although Yoho didn't seem to care.

Antonio Brown is pissed off at the NFL -- claiming the league's multiple investigations surrounding him are taking FOREVER and it's hurting his chances to sign with a team.

The league has previously said it was looking into multiple off-the-field incidents and allegations involving Brown -- from his battery arrest on a moving truck driver to sexual assault claims to menacing text messages he sent a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.

There were also multiple incidents involving Brown publicly berating police officers and the mother of his child ... some of which AB streamed live on Instagram.

NFL commish Roger Goodell had said back in January the league was looking into Brown and wanted to help him get his life back on track.

But, here we are at the end of July and the league has yet to mete out punishment. Brown says teams are interested in signing him but are afraid to pull the trigger without knowing if he'll be suspended (or for how long).

"NFL, I have complied with each and every ask of your investigations throughout the past 11 months," Brown said in a message directed at Roger Goodell.

"You have had access to all of my phones, you know what the deal is in each and every situation that the media has distorted. I have been seeing the therapist you asked me to, I have worked on all aspects of my life this past year and have become a better man because of it."

"The fact that you refuse to provide a deadline and the reason for the fact you won’t resolve your investigations is completely unacceptable."

Brown says he "demands" the league "provide me clarity on this situation immediately if you really care about my wellbeing."

He continues, "My legal team continues to ask and you provide no answers. How is it that the league can just drag its feet on any investigation it chooses on players and we just have to sit there in limbo?"

"Need an update so I can talk to these teams properly, they’re waiting on you @nfl let’s get this thing moving! We’ve got history to make!!"

Brown was recently spotted working out with Russell Wilson -- maybe he thinks the Seahawks are interested?

Al Sharpton thinks President Trump joking about renaming a military base after him is more of the same old song the man has played time and again ... think Song of the South.

We got the Reverend Sunday in NYC ... not too long after Trump's interview with FOX News' Chris Wallace aired earlier in the morning. The Prez was asked about threatening to veto a military spending bill that has bipartisan support ... all because it also seeks to rename national military bases named after Confederate generals, like Fort Bragg.

DT challenged Chris to come up with a new name .. and then he name-dropped Al out of nowhere.

Welp, the good Reverend has some thoughts on that ... telling us it's hard to make sense of what Trump's getting at, because he says the dude's so nonsensical. Still, in Al's eyes ... he finds it crazy that Trump's so stuck on defending the Confederacy as a heroic cause.

It obviously wasn't, as he points out -- the rebels were traitors, and definitely on the wrong (and losing) side of history.

"I've offered him a shot! I said, 'Hey if you want it, it's yours, you got it' and he was silent."

That's UFC champ, Kamaru Usman, telling TMZ Sports he TRIED to make a fight with Conor McGregor happen earlier this year ... but the Irishman was all talk.

"If Conor wants to put my name in his mouth, then come get some."

Kamaru is on a TEAR right now -- running through some of the top fighters in the welterweight division including Tyron Woodley AND Jorge Masvidal.

Conor -- who's won UFC titles at 145 lbs and 155 lbs -- has flirted with the idea of fighting for that 170 lb welterweight belt, but Kamaru says when push came to shove, Conor didn't want the smoke.

"[A Conor fight is] just a lost cause," Usman says ... "because we both know Conor -- the only time Conor gets up to the welterweight division is if he's able to pick and choose lightweights with double-digit losses that he can pick off and not have to cut weight to get down to lightweight."

"If Conor wants a piece at welterweight, he knows who the king of the division is. I'm not going anywhere! I'm right here!"

There was also talk about a possible Conor McGregor vs. Masvidal matchup down the line ... so we asked Usman who would win that fight.

"Honestly, I don't know and truthfully I don't really care. At this point in my career, I'm just worried about me."

Usman says his focus is on getting back into the Octagon and fighting the best in the world -- noting he's still hoping he can lure Georges St-Pierre out of retirement!

Myles Garrett says he won't let his helmet-swinging attack on Mason Rudolph define his career ... and he's ready to put the "small bump in the road" behind him for good.

The Cleveland Browns superstar was suspended a total of 6 games in 2019 after he hit the Steelers QB during a game against Pittsburgh on November 15.

The 24-year-old -- who just inked a massive 5-year, $125 MILLION extension to stay in CLE -- spoke with local media for the first time since the incident on Thursday ... and said he's ready to prove it was a one-time thing.

"My life is much bigger than one moment," Garrett said. "Me, the Browns, and my teammates are going to look past that."

"That will be just a small bump in the road."

Garrett says he's not concerned about being labeled a "dirty player" ... and he won't be "walking on eggshells" on the field to make sure he isn't viewed that way.

"That's just life," Garrett added. "You have one mistake and people are going to come after you."

"Me, I'm just going to keep on playing my game, not worrying about what people say. It's just a bump in the road. I know my teammates will have my back to de-escalate and keep it to football."

Remember, Garrett previously told TMZ Sports he saw his suspension as a "blessing in disguise" ... and has used his time away from the game to stay in insane shape.

Garrett -- who accused Rudolph of using the n-word during the incident -- added he hasn't spoken to anyone with the Steelers organization in the months following ... but welcomes the opportunity to hash things over with the QB and coach Mike Tomlin.