Fights & Feuds

Kevin Gates is not one to mess with -- the popular rapper straight-up clocked AEW star Tony Nese during Dynamite on Wednesday ... after he was told his music sucks!!

It all went down at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA ... where Gates was standing ringside as the newly-crowned tag team champs, Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, celebrated their titles in the ring.

During the segment, Nese and his on-screen manager, Mark Sterling, interrupted the festivities ... and the duo immediately went up to Gates and demanded he sign a petition to have Strickland removed from the AEW roster.

Gates refused ... which set off Sterling, who said, "Just like Swerve Strickland, you're untrustworthy, and your music sucks!!!"

After Tony stepped in between Gates and Sterling ... and BOOM, down went Nese with a mean right hand from the 36-year-old "2 Phones" hit-maker.

Based on the vid of the incident, it certainly looked like Gates made contact with Nese ... which sent him to the ground.

The AEW fans ate it up ... applauding the AEW superfan for exacting some revenge on Nese for crashing the celebration.

The Cult lead singer Ian Astbury took a take-no-prisoners approach during his performance Tuesday night ... jumping into the crowd to break up a scuffle, then calling out the aggressor on stage.

Ian was belting out the song, "Rain," at The Anthem in Washington D.C. when fireworks erupted. Apparently, a tall guy in the front was blocking the view of the guy behind him, and the 2 got into it. Based on what Ian says the tall guy put the other fan in a chokehold.

You see in the video, obtained by TMZ, Ian comes down from the stage and breaks it up, then hugs the guy who was put in the chokehold.

Ian jumps back onstage and finishes the song, but he's not done with the tall guy.

Ian goes on a tirade, talking about how he was once knocked out by a member of the Hells Angels. He then warns the tall dude he's skating on thin ice. The other guy apparently left.

An indoor football game turned into a wild street fight this weekend ... when players, coaches and fans all brawled in the stands following the conclusion of the action on the field.

It all went down on Saturday night -- after the West Texas Warbirds whooped the Dallas Prime at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa.

Video shot by spectators at the arena shows as soon as the final whistle blew -- players went after each other off the field.

Soon after, others got involved ... and you can see in the footage, one coach appeared to rip off a player's helmet and then start throwing haymakers.

All hell then broke loose ... with players from both teams jumping in the action.

Eventually, a Dallas Prime player made his way into the stands and got into it with a fan -- appearing to strike the guy in the head with a left hook.

Somehow, authorities were able to take control of the situation after about 10 minutes of fighting.

Addressing reporters afterward, Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said, thankfully, it appeared "no one sought medical treatment or went to the hospital" following the melee.

Kanye West is out, and Kid Cudi is in at Rolling Loud Miami -- an interesting swap, considering the two have been beefing these past few months.

Festival organizers made the announcement Sunday, saying that -- for reasons beyond their control -- Kanye wouldn't be performing at their event later this month as one of the three headliners ... and in his place, Scott would be stepping in to take up the mantle.

Rolling Loud Co-Founders Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler further tell TMZ ... "We were looking forward to Ye headlining Rolling Loud Miami 2022. We spent months working with him and his team on the performance. Unfortunately, Ye has decided that he will no longer be performing. This is the first time a headliner has ever pulled off our show and though we don’t take it lightly, we wish him the best."

They add, "We look forward to welcoming Kid Cudi as a headliner in Miami and we can’t wait to see what he has in store."

Kid Cudi himself confirmed the news, posting the new lineup on his IG story. It's unclear why Ye bailed, but that's kinda his M.O. lately -- you'll recall, he also pulled out of Coachella last minute, with no explanation. There, too, they had to scramble last minute for a new act.

The backdrop to this latest news, of course, is the fact that Cudi has officially disavowed Ye ... publicly declaring that their friendship is over, this after Ye took some swipes at him for being friends with Pete Davidson.

He even clarified afterward that he and Kanye still weren't cool, despite the fact they collaborated on a song of Pusha T's -- which KC said would be the last time they worked together. So, him being the guy to fill Kanye's shoes is almost coming full circle on all that.

DJ Premier dropped his "Hip Hop 50 Vol. 1" compilation packed with a handful of his favorite rappers on Friday ... setting the stage for Remy Ma to lay waste to basically all her peers!

Mrs. Terror Squadian opened her “Remy Rap” collaboration with Rapsody with both guns a-blazin' … while proclaiming there are only “5 dope female rappers” out.

She also ripped the bulk of female rap artists for hiding behind social media-driven sex appeal for spins.

Rapsody also added testosterone to the track, comparing her rap skills to holding the weight of the world in her pants while giving out gag reflexes.

Assuming Remy counts herself and Rapsody … that would only leave 3 remaining spots on the dope list. Who else could she mean?! 🔍🤔

Remy, being the versatile and veteran battle rapper she is, recently specified how she thinks rappers who just recite their lyrics are closer to karaoke stars or comedians than actual MCs. Damn!

Iggy Azalea’s social media activity found its way into the crosshairs of infamous Cardi B debtor, Tasha K, and somewhere in the middle … lies Tory Lanez.

Blogger Tasha K -- who owes Cardi B $4M from her defamation suit and isn’t allowed to speak Barti’s name -- went in on Iggy Iggz's personal life as rumors swirl that Tory's dating the Australian-born rapper.

Iggy and Tory were indeed spotted out in public in June with no additional context to their meeting. They could’ve been discussing music for all we know!

The dating rumors were fueled even more Wednesday when Iggy cooked up a batch of oxtail … and Tory went outta his way to let the world know the food was bomb.

Enter Tasha K ... who went live and insinuated Iggy allowed Tory to get fed before her 2-year-old son Onyx, and needs government assistance to pay for child care. Remember, Onyx's dad is Playboi Carti.

Well, Iggy stepped up and threatened to sic her legal team on Tasha K -- a move that could easily put the blogger deeper in the hole if she blows another case.

A judge recently forced Tasha to scrub all her old posts mentioning Cardi, and there's still that $4 mil tab.

Lamar Jackson went after ex-Ravens safety Bernard Pollard for dissing him this week ... calling him all kinds of names in a wild Twitter beef.

The two's tiff initially started after ESPN's Ryan Clark said Tuesday that LJ is arguably a top 10 QB ... but, Pollard disagreed, saying Jackson is "a top 10 talent," not a top signal-caller.

Pollard also said no top receivers want to play with LJ 'cause he can't throw the ball ... and that's when Jackson got to typing.

"🤣🤣you sound dumb asf," Jackson replied via Twitter on Wednesday.

"You been cappin since I been playing for the ravens I never heard of you tbh my boy you got your Super Bowl cause of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed 🤣🤣 that year."

Pollard did win Super Bowl XLVII with Lewis and Reed, and because of that, he said he feels LJ (who hasn't won an SB yet) should put respect on his name by calling him Champ.

Jackson refused ... and told the 37-year-old that he's so irrelevant, he had to look Pollard up on the internet before jumping into the drama.

"Nobody speak of you," Jackson said. "I had to Google you lil bra. I never heard of you until I seen you keep dissing like you was a HOFMER BUT YOU FARRRRRRRRRRR FROM IT ACROSS THE OCEAN LIKE OVERSEAS."

LJ took things further by reposting a video of Pollard doing a silly dance in the locker room. He also reposted a clip of Pollard missing an easy tackle in Super Bowl XLVII.

"Bra we almost lost cause of this mf," Jackson said of one of the clips. "I wanted to slap tf outta 31 and it's you???? 🤣🤣"

Here's Joe Gorga booting out a tenant -- the same one he claims hasn't paid rent for 4 years -- and Joe did NOT go easy on the guy during the eviction.

The 'RHONJ' star was recording as he and a sheriff's deputy armed with eviction papers told the Hawthorne, NJ tenant he's gotta beat it. Joe got a warrant to evict the guy after filing court docs alleging he owed nearly $50,000 in back rent.

The eviction went down Tuesday night, and as you can see, the tenant was pretty shocked when Joe and the sheriff came a knocking. There was a woman there with him who started crying.

Joe's rep, Michael Martocci, tells TMZ ... the tenant's father came over to try and tug at Joe's heartstrings, begging him not to go through with the eviction, but Joe told them he had enough.

As we reported, Joe and the tenant got into a heated exchange last month -- again, all on video.

While Joe looks and sounds giddy watching the eviction unfold, his rep says he does not like throwing out tenants, and insists this situation is different because it was a multi-year ordeal.

Hasim Rahman Jr. says he knows where Tyron Woodley went wrong against Jake Paul -- leading to a brutal knockout -- telling TMZ Sports he will absolutely NOT make the same mistakes as the future UFC Hall of Famer.

"Bro, [Jake's] a little boy, and I'm gonna treat him like one. That's what Woodley didn't do. Woodley gave him too much respect, and he sat back with his hands down and he got caught," 31-year-old Rahman Jr. bluntly said when we asked where Tyron went wrong when fighting 25-year-old Paul.

And, 6'3" Rahman Jr. -- who has previously fought north of 260 pounds -- believes he has another advantage ... size!

"All of Jake's opponents have been smaller than him. All of them have been much smaller. This is the first time he's going to be in there with someone that's walking him down and much bigger than him."

Paul -- who's 6'1" and was 191 pounds when he fought Woodley (T-Wood weight 189 for 2021 rematch) -- has faced fighters who all stand under 6 feet (Gib, 5'9". Robinson, 5'8". Askren, 5'11". Woodley, 5'9").

Rahman Jr., 12-1, just fought April 29 ... where he suffered his first loss, via TKO. But, that didn't stop the son of the former 2x heavyweight champ from accepting the Paul fight when Tommy Fury dropped out ... even though Hasim claims Jake made him accept strict rules meant to diminish the heavyweight boxer in the ring.

Hasim says although the fight will be contested at 200 pounds ... he'll only be permitted to rehydrate to 210 pounds just hours before the bell rings. A guy Rahman Jr.'s size could typically gain 15, 20 or more pounds in between making weight and the fight.

"If you really wanted to make a statement you would've came up to heavyweight and fought me. But you didn't. You wanted to bring me down, and stack the deck against me, so you could actually have a fighting chance. He knows he has no chance against me had it been at my weight class," Hasim says.

We also talked to Rahman Jr. about Logan Paul advising his brother to not take the fight, and much more.

Some tweets live forever -- a tough lesson Soulja Boy and Wizkid are learning the hard way, thanks to some ancient posts from the Afrobeats music star, and they ain't pretty from Soulja's perspective.

This tweet from May 10, 2010 popped up on Soulja's timeline -- “I swear soulja boy is wack!..jeeeezzzzz!”

The now-viral diss originally dropped about 3 years after Soulja's iconic “Crank Dat” hit, and nearly a decade before Wizkid linked with Drake to blow up on the American side with his “Come Closer” collab.

SB later launched an animated 15-minute Instagram Live session explaining “30 minutes or 30 years” still warrants a response ... and added that when you become rich and famous ... you should delete your old tweets that could lead to moments like this.

He’s not mad … just a lil mad. 😬

Jake Paul's fighting Hasim Rahman Jr. August 6, but the world's most controversial boxer has his sights set on another opponent -- Nate Diaz -- telling TMZ Sports the UFC superstar is the guy he wants to put hands on more than anyone else ... at least in the short term.

"I think Nate Diaz is first and foremost," 25-year-old Paul told Babcock when he joined the "TMZ Sports" TV show (weekdays on FS1).

"That's the one that everyone's been wanting. Everyone knows he only has one or two fights left with the UFC."

Jake continued ... "So, hopefully, when he's done with that, we can run it back because there's some unsettled s**t talk there."

(Note: Jake and Nate haven't fought -- but have exchanged some trash talk)

We also asked Jake for the short list of fighters, aside from Rahman Jr., who he considered as replacements for Tommy Fury ... after Tyson's bro dropped out of their scheduled match for a second time.

"Yeah, there was Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as well. I still want that fight,.I think it can happen one day."

Paul also considered an MMA G.O.A.T. ... who like Jake has had success in the boxing ring of late (Spider actually beat Chavez Jr. in a boxing match in 2021).

"Anderson Silva was on that list, but he's in a tricky contract with Triller from what I'm told. So, it wasn't easy to make that fight happen right away, and yeah, just waiting for some guys to get out of their UFC contract to put them to sleep, too."

Despite the Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury fight falling apart for the second time, The Problem Child tells TMZ Sports he STILL wants to beat the pugilist reality star's ass ... after he defeats Hasim Rahman Jr.

"I'm considering [fighting Fury] after August 6, but I want to fight at Madison Square Garden, and the show must go on whether or not Tommy Fury's in the arena. I don't wait for people. I don't need to wait around. I have a responsibility to my fans to put on shows."

Of course, Jake and Tommy were set to scrap at MSG in NYC in August ... until Tyson's younger bro learned he wasn't able to enter the United States (backstory here).

Despite the official account, Jake says he's skeptical Fury truly wants the fight.

"I don't buy it. I had multiple people hit me up that said, 'I can get him in. I have connections to people at the embassy. We'll get him his visa, no problem.' And I DM'ed Tommy and he just went into hiding."

FYI, it's the second time Jake and Tommy were scheduled to fight. Back in December, Fury pulled out after saying he developed a "chest infection."

Enter 31-year-old Hasim Rahman Jr. -- a professional boxer with a 12-1 record who previously trained with 25-year-old Paul -- stepped in on short notice to accept the fight.

He's bigger and more experienced ... so, we asked Jake if he believes HR Jr.'s a tougher test than Tommy.

"Yeah, this is a harder opponent than Tommy Fury," Jake says.

The 5-0 boxing star continued ... "Look, [Hasim] has more amateur fights, he has more heavyweight fights. He’s a heavyweight. He’s been in boxing his whole entire life. He’s older, more experienced than Tommy Fury and has been in a lot bigger fights and has sparred with some of the toughest heavyweights in the world.“

If Rahman Jr.'s name rings a bell ... there's a reason. His dad, Hasim Rahman, was a 2x heavyweight champ who once absolutely starched boxing great Lennox Lewis.

In fact, Jake says Rahman Jr. is such a step up in competition, his own brother and team advised him NOT to accept the fight.

"Really my manager, and even my own brother [Logan] was like 'Yo, you shouldn't be doing this fight. Like why do you want to do this? The risk isn't worth the reward.'"

"And I was just like, 'Yo, I'm built different.' I really want to do this. I want to prove to the world that I can knock out a professional boxer no matter how good he, or she is, or anyone. I'll knock out anyone!"

We also talked to Jake about star boxer Amanda Serrano, signed to Paul's MVP promotions, beef he has with Rahman, and much more!

Israel Adesanya is taking aim at Chris Pratt after the actor criticized him for his performance at UFC 276 ... calling the 'Jurassic World' star "just some fan" and sharing a video of him getting hit in the mouth.

Adesanya unleashed the clap back on his Twitter page early Wednesday morning -- nearly four days after Pratt said he was underwhelmed by the fighter's effort against Jared Cannonier on Saturday night.

"Good morning," Adesanya wrote while sharing a video of Pratt getting smacked by a keyboard in the famous Angelina Jolie flick, "Wanted."

"I’m the man. You’re just some fan."

Pratt initially kicked off the unlikely beef following Adesanya's win over Cannonier, saying on a post-fight show that he wasn't impressed by the way the MMA star fought after days of trash talk.

“I don't know this game -- I'm just an actor, but I'm not a fan, man," Pratt said. "I’m not a fan of coming out like all that talk, and then just kind of putting on a little bit of a pitter-patter. I’m like, 'C’mon, man. You’ve got to cash on that promise of being so badass.'"

Of course, Adesanya clearly isn't all that bothered by Pratt's barbs ... the 23-1 fighter was seen partying his ass off without a care in the world at XS Nightclub in Vegas following his big win.

We're told Adesanya -- alongside Alexander Volkanovski, Nate Diaz, "Rampage" Jackson, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou -- celebrated for a while at the venue ... and even rubbed elbows with Bengals superstar Joe Burrow.

Prince Harry claims he was not aware that some folks in the Royal Household had a hand in ending his police protection during a recent trip to the U.K. ... and he's pissed about it.

The Duke of Sussex and his team fired back at royal officials in a hearing Thursday ... saying he should've been aware that some of the Queen's aides were involved in the decision given the fact there were tensions between him and some royal officials.

In case you didn't know -- Prince Harry, who now lives in California, is suing for taking away his personal security during visits to the U.K. He claims it's not safe for him, Meghan Markle, or their two children to return to Britain because it's too dangerous without security help.

His lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, says ... "there were significant tensions between the claimant [Prince Harry] and certain people."

The Jake Paul and Tommy Fury fight has been shelved once again -- the Problem Child says he's officially moving on to a new opponent for his Aug. 6 event ... accusing TNT of going into hiding.

"Fury's received a termination notice," Paul said on Wednesday. "(Most Valuable Promotions) did everything it could 2 help him & team. He wasn't interested & he literally went into hiding."

"2nd time in a row he has pulled out. 2nd time in a row '’m going to step up & take on a new opponent on short notice."

As we previously reported, Fury was denied access to the U.S. for the fight press conference in New York City last week due to his family's ties to alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan.

We're told boxers, managers or anyone connected to Kinahan or his MTK Global boxing company has been rejected from entering the States as officials try to get any possible information on his whereabouts.

Jake, however, doesn't believe the excuse ... saying all Tommy had to do was go to the embassy to get a visa, but was dragging his feet to get it done.

Now, there are rumblings Paul will face off against 12-1 Hasim Rahman Jr. -- the son of former boxing champ Hasim Rahman.

HRJ hasn't fought any big names, and most recently lost to James McKenzie Morrison via knockout in April.

There's history between Paul and Rahman Jr. -- the two have sparred together several times in the past ... with "Gold Blooded" praising the YouTube superstar for his improvement over the years.

Rahman Jr. may not have as much clout as Fury ... but the matchup will certainly quiet the haters who have called out Paul for never facing a "legit" boxer.

It's clear Canelo Alvarez doesn't like Gennady Golovkin ... 'cause the boxing star tells TMZ Sports GGG is a straight-up "a**hole" who talks too much -- and he's planning to KO the guy because of it.

"He's a f***ing a**hole," Canelo said of his upcoming September opponent. "He's not honest. He pretends to be a good person and be different but he's not."

Canelo says his opinion of Golovkin basically boils down to this -- he believes the 42-1-1 boxer is just flat-out two-faced.

"He talks a lot of s*** about me," Alvarez said. "He'll say, 'I respect him, his career.' And, other part, 'He's an embarrassing boxer, he's embarrassing for Mexican boxing.'"

"I hate that motherf***er because of that."

Earlier this week, GGG told us he knew Canelo felt that way about him ... but he believed it was because the 57-2-2 fighter can't handle his honesty.

The beef will all be settled on Sept. 17 in Las Vegas when the two square off for the third time in their careers ... and, according to Canelo, he'll get the last laugh.

"My goal is to end this fight before the 12 rounds," Canelo said.

After that, Canelo said he'd like a rematch with Dmitry Bivol -- the only boxer he's ever lost to outside of Floyd Mayweather.

"I'm 100% focused on this fight [with Golovkin] because it's a dangerous fight," Canelo said, "but 100% looking for a second fight with Bivol."