MMA

UFC rising star Cody "No Love" Garbrandt says he's lucky to be alive after being stabbed in a crazy bar fight before his UFC career ... saying he was forced to fight after a guy pulled a knife on him.

Garbrandt was telling Champions.co why he's tough enough to face Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 on Friday -- and recalled the bar fight he was wrangled into in a back country bar in Ohio a few years ago.

You gotta hear Cody tell the story ... it's crazy.

Ronda Rousey says she's laser-focused on crushing Amanda Nunes on Friday at UFC 207 ... and doesn't care about ANYTHING else ... the money, the media or her image.

We got video from the UFC of Ronda talking about her mindset going into the fight -- and she spells the whole thing out.

"I don't care about how this pay-per-view does. I don't care about how much money I make. I don't care about interviews and I don't care how I look," Ronda said.

"All I care about is winning my belt back on Friday night and that's it."

Wanna get high out of Nick Diaz's face?

Well, now you can because the UFC legend is now a marijuana pipe ... and he's stoked!

Nick hit up a head shop in Stockton, CA on Monday and found that artsy toner pipe designers had used his face -- and his brother Nate Diaz's face -- as the inspiration for some new glass.

He also found "Diaz Brothers" rolling papers.

Diaz was so excited he busted out his vaporizer and hit it right there in the shop.

Nick had previously said he considers himself the #1 stoner athlete in the world -- so, this is kind of like an honor.

Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's still on great terms with Brock Lesnar -- despite the UFC 200 PED drama -- but believes his days in the Octagon are probably over.

"I think his career is winding down but he's a freak of nature. Who knows ... maybe he'll give me a call and say he wants to do it again but I think he's ready to ride off into the sunset."

FYI, Brock is 39 years old and before UFC 200 he hadn't fought in the Octagon since 2011 when he lost to Alistair Overeem.

There's more ... we also asked Dana about another WWE superstar, CM Punk, and whether he would return to try to redeem himself after his disastrous debut earlier this year.

It's obvious Dana likes and respects CM ... but it doesn't seem like we'll see Punk back in the Octagon in the very near future.

Urijah Faber says he's just not into fighting anymore ... and his decision to call it quits in the MMA is 100% final ... meaning he ain't coming back ... EVER.

Faber announced his plans to retire in October ... saying last Saturday's UFC on Fox 22 fight would be his last.

He then waffled a little bit to TMZ Sports ... saying he wasn't sure someone wouldn't "piss him off" and bring him back to the Octagon.

But when we talked to him earlier this week -- AFTER the fight -- he made it clear, he can't go through the whole thing again ... and wants to concentrate on other things in his life.

The barrage of smack talk between UFC fighters Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz continues ... with Cruz telling TMZ Sports the only thing emptier than Cody's threats are his head ... 'cause he's dumb.

These two are scheduled to meet up at UFC 207 December 30th ... and have been destroying each other in the media, with the most recent shot coming from Garbrandt about Cruz's new beard.

Well, Cruz checked in with the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show ... and UNLOADED on Cody ... saying his insults are coming from a very small place ... his brain.

Be sure to watch "TMZ Sports" weeknights on FS1.

Dana White just sent a violent warning to Floyd Mayweather -- Conor McGregor will "kick [your] head into another planet and then he'll murder every one of [your] security guards."

Now this means war!!!

Amanda Nunes says Ronda Rousey UNFOLLOWED her on Instagram -- and made it so Amanda can't see what's going on her social media page ... which means she was BLOCKED!!!

It's a fight between two pretty boys ... and Mickey Gall says he's got the edge over his opponent, Sage Northcutt, in both looks AND talent.

Gall and Northcutt will face off at UFC on FOX 22 on Saturday ... and when we got Mickey out in NYC he joked that he's gonna get revenge for all fruit affected by Sage's "Apple Challenge."

Anyone betting on Ronda Rousey to beat Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 should be shakin' in their boots ... so says former UFC star Chuck Liddell.

TMZ Sports got the Iceman at LAX Wednesday and he painted a worrisome pic of Rousey -- who hasn't fought in more than a year.

UFC star Paige VanZant says a super fight between her and Ronda Rousey is DEFINITELY a possibility ... as long as Rousey is willing to shed some serious pounds to make it happen.

The two ladies haven't exactly been cool with each other ... being locked in a yearlong feud that started when Ronda got pissed that Paige congratulated Holly Holm on kicking Rousey's ass.

Seems like that beef has cooled off lately ... but when we got Paige out in L.A. Monday she said she's definitely down to feud with Ronda in the Octagon ... as long as it's at a fair weight.

FYI -- Paige fights at 115, Ronda fights at 135 ... according to VanZant, the magic number here is in the middle ... at 125.

It's not an impossible scenario. Rousey has a massive fight coming up against Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 ... but if she gets past that test, a fight with Paige -- one of the biggest names in the sport -- could be huge.

Conor McGregor wants everyone to know he still has BOTH of his UFC championship belts -- and ain't NO ONE gonna take 'em!

The problem ... obviously ... is that the UFC has said Conor relinquished his featherweight championship last weekend because he can only defend 1 title at a time. He's keeping his lightweight title.

But Conor sees it differently -- he believes the "title" belongs to whoever physically holds the championship belts ... and as long as he has both belts in his possession, he still considers himself the "champ champ."

In fact, he took his belts on a private jet flight Monday morning.

Rising UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov is FREAKING INSANE!!!!

Don't believe us? Listen to the man himself casually describe to TMZ Sports how he SPARS WITH LIONS as part of his training.

You heard us ... lions, like Simba and Mufasa except real and not animated ... meaning totally capable of ripping your face off at any minute.

He's conquered the wild before ... there's actually video of him wrestling with bears as a child ... but good news for all you Smokey's and Yogi's out there, KN says he's moved on to lions permanently.

If CM Punk wants to fight again ... he should take his talents somewhere OTHER than the UFC ... so says the man who beat his ass, Mickey Gall.

Gall is gearing up for his big showdown with Sage Northcutt at UFC on FOX 22 in December ... a fight he asked for after defeating CM Punk at UFC 203.

Couple things ...

1) Gall fires back at Sage's training partner, Tyron Woodley, who said Mickey bit off more than he can chew.

2) He delivers some health advice to CM Punk, who recently said he wants a 2nd fight in the UFC -- don't do it.

UFC rising superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov says he wants to HUMILIATE Conor McGregor -- and vows to "finish his hype" forever if Dana White gives him the chance.

TMZ Sports spoke to the fighter (who's currently in Russia!) and he explained the fight isn't about the money because "I have a lot of money."

Khabib says Conor simply rubs him the wrong way -- and he wants to punish the Irish superstar ... badly.

"I want to take him down, speak with him, slap him, make him nervous ... like, 'Hey, get up! Let's go! Where is your boxing?' ... play with him and make him give up. This is what I want."

"But I don't want to finish him 1st round, 2nd round, 3rd round ... I want to fight with him for 25 minutes like 5 rounds and I want to make him look very bad. And finish his hype."

Khabib also describes a backstage confrontation with Conor at UFC 205 -- and says he's no Eddie Alvarez or Tyron Woodley ... and would've destroyed CM on the spot if he hadn't retreated.

There's more ... Khabib also explains why he no longer gets into street fights (spoiler: it's because he's afraid he might kill someone).

Andre Ward has a great big NOT SO FAST for anyone who thinks UFC guys can't hang with pro boxers ... saying he actually sparred with Nick and Nate Diaz, and the dudes can throw hands ... FOR REAL.

Ward's in Vegas getting ready for his PPV throwdown with Sergey Kovalev on Saturday and took a little time to talk to TMZ Sports before the two lock horns.

Of course, we asked him who he'd pick in a mega-fight between Conor and Floyd ... and while he made it clear Floyd has the edge in a boxing ring, he told us he knows FIRSTHAND how hard UFC guys can hit.

"I spar with Nick and Nate Diaz ... those boys know what they're doing, they can throw their hands."

Get this ... Ward also says he'd like to see a truce in the whole MMA vs boxing war.