Fights & Feuds

MMA fans are clamoring for a Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou megafight ... but Dana White says there's nothing to see there, 'cause the new heavyweight champ would've demolished "The Predator" much like he did Ciryl Gane last weekend!

The UFC president joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... when White was asked if he could foresee any situation where he'd welcome Ngannou back to the UFC and make the Francis-Jon fight.

"I'm not interested," Dana said.

"I tried to make that fight for two years. He didn't want the fight. Know what I mean? He didn't want the fight, and he left here without even having another deal in place. And, I know how the boxing world is, it's crazy, but Francis didn't want to [fight Jones]."

Don't be too disappointed ... White says Francis almost certainly would've been easy work for the G.O.A.T.

"Let me tell you what, I think, a lot of other people feel this way, I think that's exactly the way the fight would've gone if [Ngannou] was in there, too."

Of course, Jon made Ciryl look like light work at UFC 285 ... taking him down and forcing a tap out in a shade over 2 minutes.

Dana, using some MMA math, explained why Ngannou wouldn't have stood much of a chance.

"[Francis] and Ciryl had a five-round war, and if Ciryl doesn't go for that submission, Ciryl probably wins that fight. At the end of the 5th round there."

FYI, Ngannou won their UFC 270 scrap in January 2022 by unanimous decision, but it was a very close fight.

Dana then answered the original question -- can you see yourself making JJ vs. FN?

"No."

We also talked to White about the next big heavyweight matchup, Stipe Miocic vs. Jones. There's talk the fight will go down at UFC 290 on July 8 during International Fight Week, but Dana says nothing's set in stone, and there's not much time to get a deal done.

Dana also said he wouldn't be surprised if this is 35-year-old Jones' last fight.

"I wouldn't be shocked either if he fights Stipe and then retires."

We also talked to Dana about his upcoming Power Slap 1 event, going down Saturday night in Las Vegas. The card features four title fights ... including the two top-ranked heavyweights in the world.

White says he sees parallels between Power Slap/slap fighting and the UFC in its early days, when MMA was viewed as being brutal and too violent.

Dana also broke some news about the future of "Power Slap: Road To The Title," announcing they've signed a two-year deal. White says the next season will take place in Dubai.

Floyd Mayweather and Jake Paul came face-to-face in Miami after the Heat game Wednesday night ... the legendary boxer and a group of men confronted the Problem Child -- before JP booked it from the area.

The incident happened after the Heat-Cavs game in south Florida ... when Mayweather rolled up on Paul, who appeared to have a lone security guard with him at the time.

After exchanging a few words, Jake made a run for it ... getting out of there before any fists started flying.

Of course, Floyd and Jake have been beefin' since Paul snatched the hat off the 50-0 boxer's head at a press event promoting his brother Logan's fight with TBE in May 2021.

Jake addressed the situation on social media shortly after the incident occurred.

"So I'm leaving the Miami Heat game and Floyd Mayweather and 50 dudes pull up out of nowhere, out of like some side alley, waiting for me outside the stadium, and they're like, 'So what's up? what's all that talk now?' Paul recounted on Instagram.

The 6-1 fighter continued ... "I'm like first of all, what did I say to you Floyd? I just took your hat and you're still mad about it? Come on, bro. And then 50 dudes literally start surrounding me to jump me, and I'm out that bitch, ok?"

As for Floyd, sources close to the fighter say he just happened to run into Jake while leaving the basketball game, denying they were lying in wait. We're told Mayweather believes Jake previously made comments that went beyond the typical trash talk amongst fighters, so he confronted him.

“Jake crossed the line. This wasn’t about grabbing a hat. This was about Jake’s comments to Floyd about Floyd’s deceased family member and other below-the-belt inappropriate behavior,” a source close to Floyd told us.

As for Paul's social media response after the arena incident, our Floyd source responded ... “Jake went to his IG and started name-calling once again when he can hide behind a camera.”

Speaking of Instagram, Jake didn't miss the opportunity to challenge Floyd to an organized boxing match.

"You wanna run it one on one, no problem. But I'm not dumb. Okay? I'm tough, I don't need to prove my toughness., but I'm not f**king dumb. I'm not gonna sit there and try to fight 50 dudes."

So ... Floyd Mayweather vs. Jake Paul this summer sounds about right!

Country singer Clay Walker is in hot water after getting caught on audio berating his bus driver ... but Clay tells us it went down a year ago, and it's all water under the bridge.

Clay starts by saying he could easily whup the driver's ass. The singer also claims the driver didn't show on time ... and Clay is PISSED.

It's pretty harsh ... and just when it sounds like all is said and done, Clay finds another reason to call him out.

While this is clearly an intense one-sided convo, Clay tells TMZ ... "This happened over a year ago, and it came at the end of a long, tough weekend. The bus driver and I reconciled immediately, and we are friends and stay in touch.”

FYI -- Clay's been in the country game since his debut record in the early '90s ... first topping the charts with his single, "What's It to You."

Raquel Leviss claims fellow "Vanderpump Rules" star Scheana Shay punched her in the face, -- and is threatening to do it again -- all over Raquel's affair with Tom Sandoval.

A judge granted Raquel a temporary restraining order after she claimed her 'VR' castmate Scheana -- who's also BFFs with Tom's ex, Ariana Madix -- attacked her last Thursday in NYC. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Scheana allegedly shoved Raquel against a brick wall and punched her in her left eye.

Raquel included photos of her bruised eye and cut face in her court filing. She's also afraid this could happen again -- she claims co-workers are telling her Scheana "doesn't regret the physical attack on me and would do it again if she found that further emotional distress was caused to our mutual friend."

That friend, of course, is Ariana ... and the timing of the alleged attack matches up to when we know the cast all found out about Tom and Raquel's affair.

In fact, Scheana and Raquel had just finished shooting an episode of "What What Happens Live" ... where they were getting along just fine. That shifted dramatically hours later.

Scheana even boasted on social media about supporting her friend ... she posted a pic of Ariana and herself with the caption, "Always got your back" ... followed by the punch emoji. Raquel included that IG post in her court filing.

As we first told you ... Raquel beelined it to a L.A. County court Tuesday and filed for the restraining order against Scheana, which the judge granted. She also filed a report Tuesday with LAPD ... both women live in Los Angeles.

Scheana must stay at least 100 yards away from Raquel, her home and her workplace ... which will make the 'VR' reunion show kinda sticky.

For those who don't watch the reality show ... Scheana is besties with Ariana, who saw her 10-year relationship with Tom crumble last week when she discovered her man was having an affair with another woman from the show.

Raquel and Tom have since apologized ... with Raquel saying she regrets hurting Ariana and explaining how she got herself into such a bad spot.

Now, Scheana is fully inserted into this mess. There's a hearing set for March 29, where Scheana and Raquel can have their say in court -- but the 'Vanderpump' reunion is supposed to be shot before that ... so, one of them won't be in the room.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's kids' Royal titles have been up in the air for months, but the Sussexes have now made their heart's desire clear -- they want their kids to be recognized as tied to the throne, which King Charles is now officially honoring.

H and M revealed Wednesday they christened their daughter, Lilibet, last week here in California ... during an intimate, private ceremony in Montecito. In the announcement, the couple noted Lilibet was blessed, and will henceforth be known, as "Princess Lilibet" -- a new update to how she's been referred to, publicly, up until now.

The young princess was christened by Rev. John Taylor, the Archbishop of Los Angeles as revealed by People Mag. Another interesting nugget ... apparently, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate were invited, but did not attend.

It's unclear when the invite was extended, but it was sent.

In light of Meghan and Harry now using their daughter's birthright title -- something she was legally afforded when Charles ascended to the throne -- Buckingham Palace has responded ... and says its website will also be updated with those titles for Lilibet and Archie.

While Harry and Meghan haven't said anything about their son, specifically, it seems BP is taking this move as clear evidence they want both their kids to enjoy their Royal titles ... so instead of calling them Master Archie and Miss Lilibet, they're now Prince/Princess, officially.

Charles hadn't said much about the titles -- there were reports he was eager to slim down the number of titles and to keep them inside the family (the working family, it seems) ... and that he was supposedly considering stripping Archie and Lilibet of their status. But, he never did it.

In fact, one could argue Charles has been playing things by ear as Harry and Meg have rolled out project after project -- culminating with him inviting them to his coronation, despite them bashing him and the institution. In response, they've played their own hand.

Looks like the Royals are trying to play nice ... at least from the outside looking in.

For more royal drama, tune into our podcast "Spilling Royal Tea," dropping every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts.

More "Vanderpump Rules" cast drama, and this time it's Raquel (Rachel) Leviss seeking court-ordered protection from Scheana Shay.

Raquel, whose affair with fellow 'VR' star Tom Sandoval was recently revealed, beelined it to court Tuesday and filed for a restraining order against Scheana ... according to online records.

It's interesting ... the filing comes in the wake of reports Scheana allegedly got violent with Raquel over her and Tom's cheating scandal. We can't yet confirm, though, that rumor -- and that's all it is at this point -- is behind Raquel's request for the restraining order.

For those who don't watch the reality show ... Scheana is best friends with Ariana Madix, who was in a relationship with Tom for 10 years until they split last week ... after Ariana discovered Tom and Raquel had been seeing each other behind her back.

It's unclear right now if a judge granted Raquel's request, or even what she's specifically alleging Scheana did to her.

Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars last year, and he may even be due for another round -- so suggests one writer who focuses on Black issues.

The Root's Candace McDuffie -- a senior editorial staffer for the G/O Media-owned online publication -- came on CNN to discuss the aftermath of Chris' Netflix special ... where he eviscerated Will and Jada Pinkett Smith for the hit seen around the world in 2022.

According to her, Chris was simply being held accountable by Will at the time for attacking a Black woman -- which McDuffie says is part of a larger pattern in this country, and which she says Chris has been guilty of in his comedy even before targeting Jada's alopecia.

As for how she feels about Chris' response nearly a full 365 days later ... well, the way she's talking here -- it almost sounds like she's just as angry with Chris yet again, saying he called Jada out of her name (he didn't once say her name, but did call her a "bitch" and refer to her as a "predator" in the special). In McDuffie's eyes, CR hasn't learned his lesson.

Don Lemon ever-so-gently pushed back on McDuffie, asking how she would respond to people who might say she's advocating for violence with this take ... and that Chris should, perhaps, be afforded a pass since he was going after Jada/Will in a stand-up comedy environment.

Her final thought is this ... as much pain as Will was in during the Oscars slap -- which Chris also addressed -- McDuffie feels like Chris was hurting just as much during his own special. She says there was more rage and resentment than there was humor ... from her POV.

Of course, this view isn't exclusive to McDuffie. There are many online who feel like Chris had the slap coming -- and even more who aren't happy that he continued to tear Will/Jada down for the sake of retribution and a laugh. On the flip side, just as many loved it.🤷🏽‍♂️

Angela Yee didn't paint "The Breakfast Club" as a great place for women to work while chatting with Tamron Hall ... but DJ Envy's rejecting her view, and, perhaps, reopening old wounds from December's abrupt breakup.

Envy denied Yee's claims she was the only woman on the staff during most of her time at 'BC,' noting they've had a female producer for years and even she replaced a different woman.

Yee was on "The Tamron Hall Show" last week and talked about her old show as a sorta "boys club" -- but on Monday, her former cohosts said the allegation diminishes the women who propelled the show behind-the-scenes.

Envy says he spoke to Yee directly on Sunday, and claims she owned up to misspeaking during the interview ... claiming she was referring to a lack of female cohosts, despite her saying the complete opposite during her confessional.

Charlamagne Tha God didn't have much to add to Yee or Envy's side, but thinks Tamron and her producers are out to fill the sensational void left due to the departure of Wendy Williams on daytime TV.

Envy says Yee will be clearing the comments up on her "Wake Up" show later today ... as they angered many women working at the station, including the Executive VP of Programming, who happens to be a woman, 🙈

Paddy Pimblett's beef with Jake Paul is still very much a thing ... and, uh, so much for not kickin' a guy when he's down!

The UFC star recently spoke to TMZ Sports, and let's just say he wasn't impressed with The Problem Child's performance during his 8-round, split decision loss to Tommy Fury last Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

"It seems to me like Tommy Fury was boxing bad against his last few opponents on purpose, know what I mean? Or Jake Paul's just a terrible boxer, even more worse than I thought. I was giving him more credit than I thought he deserved," Pimblett told us.

Of course, one judge scored the fight 75-74 (4 rounds apiece, but Jake had a 10-8 round in the 8th), while the other two had it 76-73 (6 rounds to 2 for Tommy).

"Tommy won anyway and I thought it wasn't a split decision, either. I thought it was a unanimous decision. He won most rounds."

Now, the 28-year-old speaking out against Paul isn't new -- remember, the two stars went back and forth last year after Pimblett suggested his fight against Anderson Silva was fixed.

Jake even offered Paddy $1 million if the UFC fighter could beat him in a 5-round sparring session. That hasn't happened, yet ... so we asked Pimblett if he's still down to do it.

"Yeah, if he wants to," Pimblett said. "I don't give a f***. I'll spar with anyone."

In the meantime, Pimblett's getting into the fitness business, releasing a workout supplement, Paddy “The Baddy” Everything Ultimate Pre-Workout with ABE that's only sold at The Vitamin Shoppe ... and he's stoked.

"It's my lil' boost of coffee in the morning to wake me up and make me get up and actually get out and see the day," Pimblett said.

T.I. says the recent beef between him and Boosie Badazz over a scrapped project is no more ... telling us Boosie knows he messed up by dragging his fellow rapper over snitching claims.

We got T.I. leaving The Cheesecake Factory in Bev Hills Thursday, and he starts our convo by laughing off the drama ... before telling us straight up "someone misspoke" -- that someone being Boosie.

He says Boosie's aware what he said wasn't accurate, and it'll be dealt with behind closed doors ... as Tip puts it, "The way it should've been in the first place."

He also tells us why he isn't focused on getting the music out there -- mainly, this stuff is bigger than a handful of tracks.

As we reported, T.I. clapped back at Boosie last month after he said he ditched their collab project, believing T.I. snitched on his late cousin to avoid a gun charge.

Tip wasn't having any of it -- accusing the rapper of not being truthful and claiming to have docs that proved he never snitched.

The social media war between A.J. Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster ain't over yet -- the two NFL stars just revisited their heated post-Super Bowl beef ... with the Philadelphia Eagles receiver unloading on the Kansas City Chiefs champ for mocking his team on social media again.

It's been more than two weeks since JuJu dropped his first troll jab on the NFC champs ... when Brown got pissed over a Valentine's Day shot at his teammate, cornerback James Bradberry.

But JuJu wasn't done dancing on the Eagles' grave ... 'cause he participated in a skit shading Brown and other Philly players this week -- and his own mom even acted in the vid.

Once Brown got wind of the clip, he made his reaction crystal clear ... and he's sending some serious warning shots toward JuJu.

"You really need somebody else to play with," Brown tweeted at JuJu. "Don't let that ring get you beat tf up. Because I'm with all the dumb shii. I'm not gone speak on it no more.."

Turns out Brown ended up speaking on it again 15 minutes later ... reposting a DM he sent to JuJu's inbox.

"I don't play them kids games, if you wanna see me , I'm with it," he said. "You better go to Cabo and enjoy your ring and stop f***ing with me. Leave me off all your TikTok shii p****."

Chris Rock is finally ready to talk all about the infamous Oscars slap -- he'll address it during a live comedy special ... which, coincidentally, comes just as Will Smith accepts an award for the first time since that night.

The comedian's Netflix special will be live-streamed Saturday night, and The Wall Street Journal reports when Chris did a set to prep for the event ... he opened up about Will's infamous attack.

Chris said, "The thing people want to know ... did it hurt? Hell yeah, it hurt. He played Muhammad Ali! I played Pookie!" -- referring to each of their respective roles in "Ali" and "New Jack City."

Of course, it's unclear how much of those specific words will end up in the final product, because Chris is performing his set live ... but even Netflix says he'll talk about the incident.

Talk about odd timing -- as promos for Chris' special are everywhere, Will was on stage Wednesday night in Beverly Hills for the African-American Film Critics Association Awards. He accepted the Beacon Award with "Emancipation" director, Antoine Fuqua.

Will made no reference -- joking or otherwise -- to the Oscars incident, and instead spoke only about playing the escaped slave, "Whipped Peter," and said it was the "most difficult film of my entire career."

Drew Sidora is laying out exactly why she's calling it quits with her estranged husband, Ralph Pittman, accusing him of cheating, abuse and messing with her finances.

In an amended divorce complaint, obtained by TMZ, Drew says she simply cannot take Ralph's "continued blatant disrespect and mental abuse any longer."

She goes on to accuse Ralph of being a serial cheater during their marriage -- even claiming some of the women he's allegedly had affairs with have rubbed it in her face -- sending her screenshots of their "sexts" with Ralph.

That's not all ... Drew also says Ralph has recently gotten physical with her, claiming last month he grabbed her phone out of her hand, causing her to fall to the floor. She says Ralph yelled at her, saying he pays the cell phone bill so the phone belongs to him.

She says when Ralph got physically aggressive, she even considered leaving Atlanta and flying with her 3 minor children to Chicago where they'd feel safe.

She also says at one point, he withdrew a "large sum of money" from her account.

Drew says she and Ralph tried counseling, but it didn't work. In fact, she states after leaving a counseling session, Ralph asked her to give him a "heads up" before filing for divorce and that no matter what happened, he'd let her file first.

Interestingly enough, both Drew and Ralph filed for divorce on the same day -- February 27 -- she beat him by just one hour in filing.

Drew's asking for primary physical and joint legal custody of their 2 kids.

If Jake Paul and Tommy Fury don't run it back, there's one guy who's already lining up to be TNT's next boxing opponent ... and it's none other than Logan Paul.

Logan expressed his wishes in a sit-down interview with the Problem Child on the "BS W/ Jake Paul" podcast (recorded the day after the Fury fight) ... and he admitted the result had him wanting to, as their mom put it, "kill that kid."

Logan initially asked Jake what he was planning to do in the ring following the loss ... and he made it clear he wants a rematch with Tyson's little bro.

But if Paul vs. Fury II doesn't work out ... Logan's ready to step in and avenge the family name.

"If you don't [have a rematch], I'd like to handle that," Logan told Jake. "That was like, my first instinct, obviously."

"He's my little brother. F*** that. Inflatable arm ass, motherf***er. F***."

Jake then joked that they could both avenge each other's losses if he were to go up against the Maverick's former nemesis, KSI ... and they could "start an Avenger movie."

But as of right now, it sounds like Tommy will grant Jake a rematch ... and the two will add another installment to their rivalry.

There's more in the interview -- Jake said he predicts the Tommy fight had more than half a MILLION Pay-Per-View buys ... which would explain his claim he made $30 million for one night of work.

Maino is maintaining his now viral throat grab of YouTuber Buba100x was completely planned ... and, in fact, he says his theatrical performance should be his big break in Hollywood!!!

We caught the BK-bred lyricist fresh off his guest hosting gig on Angela Yee's 'Way Up,' and he tells us Buba100x intentionally failed to post the choke out ... in order to make folks think it was authentic. No one would flaunt themselves getting genuinely beat down ... right?

The incident happened a couple of weeks ago during the most recent Daniel's Leather fashion show ... Maino is seen slowly losing his temper as the vlogger continues pressing him to try on his chain, only to see the rapper grab him firmly by his throat!!!

Maino says jaws were dropping at the party because he and Buba100x sold it so well.

Social media users haven't reacted kindly to Maino's actions -- prank or not -- but he assures us he's not worried about backlash because that's what the internet does ... no matter what.

What Maino's not opposed to, is extending his stay on 'Way Up' to a more permanent situation.

He says Angela called him an on-air "natural," and having that kinda finesse is vital for a radio career.

Maino was caught in 4K disciplining popular YouTuber, Buba100x after one too many questions about his chain ... but the Brooklyn rapper is claiming it was all for clicks and views!!!

The melee went down at the Daniel's Leather fashion show earlier this month ... as Buba100x and Maino were conducting his typical TikTok style of interviews.

Buba100x made a crack about "beating Maino's ass" ... which immediately aged terribly when the Brooklyn rapper grabbed the jokester by his throat after his fuse was lit!!!

Further footage shows Maino pinning Buba100x down by his neck while reminding him of the consequences of ruffling his feathers!!!

Maino's co-hosting on Angela Yee's new show 'Way Up' this week ... and there's no way they were ignoring this topic, which was addressed head-on.

Maino claims he was 100% acting in the clip and wanted to sell the prank by making it look real with his angry emotions.