MMA

UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich says she feels like she HAS to fight Paige VanZant after suffering serious injuries in an alleged domestic violence incident ... saying she NEEDS to send a positive message to other D.V. victims.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Ostovich was hospitalized with a broken orbital bone and other injuries after a violent Nov. 18 incident with her husband, Arnold Berdon, who is also an MMA fighter.

The injuries forced the UFC star to back out of her fight with PVZ ... but speaking publicly with a black eye for the first time since the incident -- Ostovich says the fight's back on 'cause she feels like she HAS to do it.

"I felt that it was extremely important to me to follow through with it and not only for me but for my daughter and other people that might be going through similar situations,” Ostovich told KHON2 in Hawaii.

"I want to take a stand against domestic violence and show others that it’s okay to come out and speak about it and not be quieted."

Ostovich continued, "I’m extremely grateful and blessed for my support system. My family, who has done so much for me and has kept me together and kept me strong. I feel like I have to do this."

"This is something that can’t be taken away from me. I want to use this big worldwide UFC platform to show people that don’t let anyone or anything come between you and your dreams and your career.”

For her part, VanZant tweeted earlier this week, "Yes we are going to war with each other in the cage, but I stand by her side with her ongoing battle at home. Let’s put on a fight and show these people how strong we are. #GirlPower #UFC."

Halle Berry just stepped into the gym with the most dangerous woman alive -- UFC star Cris Cyborg!

The two hooked up at Cyborg's gym in Huntington Beach, CA on Thursday for a training session -- and anyone who's ever worked out with Cris before knows she doesn't mess around!

So, why are they training together? Halle is starring in "John Wick 3" and she's been doing heavy MMA training for the role ... so it's possible she was working with Cris to prep for a fight scene.

Or maybe she just caught the MMA bug after all of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu work she's been putting in for the part.

Either way, Halle had a great time -- saying, "From the red carpet to the ring - so inspired by your tenacity, Cris Cyborg - can't thank you enough for your hospitality."

Cyborg is an aspiring action movie star too -- she starred in "Fight Valley" back in 2016 and was tapped for the sequel.

Conor McGregor is taking his punishment for a speeding incident in Ireland very seriously, showing a ton of remorse and ... JUST KIDDING, CONOR DOESN'T GIVE A FOOK ABOUT YOUR PUNISHMENTS!!!

Just a day after The Notorious One had his driving privileges in Ireland revoked for doin' 95 MPH in a 60 ... Conor joked about the whole ordeal with his adorable baby.

McGregor and little Conor hit the driveway in the baby's electric Mercedes ... and Conor giggled happily, joking, "I've found my new driver."

Conor's been pretty Teflon to everything that goes bad in his life these days ... and the loss of a driver's license for 6 months plus a measly $1,100 fine doesn't look like it's changin' a thing.

BTW ... now that Conor's car-less -- he's got some extra time on his hands to keep his training up ... and he's even making that a family affair too!

Oscar De La Hoya says Dana White should "shut the f*ck up" and stop worrying about Golden Boy Promotions -- and focus on his own company.

That's just part of the fiery statement the boxing legend issued in response to Dana White calling him an irresponsible "cokehead" for allowing Chuck Liddell to fight last weekend.

Remember, White was PISSED -- claiming Oscar cared more about money than Liddell's health and said all sorts of terrible things about De La Hoya.

Now, Oscar has responded ... saying, "Dana is so small and threatened by our success with DAZN and now in MMA that he is bringing up news from a decade ago to try to stay relevant."

"Boxing has entirely rejected him. And, MMA fighters are now realizing they don’t have to risk their lives just so he can get rich."

"Golden Boy and I are moving forward and are bigger than ever. Dana should shut the f*ck up and try to figure out how to save his own company."

The comment about DAZN is in reference to the $365 MILLION deal Oscar put together for Canelo Alvarez as part of a 5-year, 11 fight contract.

These guys clearly hate each other's guts -- and we're guessing this feud is far from over.

Great news for Rachael Ostovich -- the fighter has been cleared to get back in the Octagon after her domestic violence incident ... and now her fight with Paige VanZant is BACK ON!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Ostovich was hospitalized with a broken orbital bone and other injuries after a violent Nov. 18 incident with her husband, Arnold Berdon, who is also an MMA fighter.

Berdon was arrested and charged with felony assault -- he's pled not guilty. Family members have told us he will argue he was defending himself. Ostovich has obtained a restraining order against him.

Initially, it seemed Ostovich's injuries were so severe, she wouldn't be able to fight again in January -- but she got a second opinion which gave her the go-ahead to take the bout.

Now, Ostovich's manager, Brian Butler-Au, says Rachael has been cleared to fight again and WILL compete against VanZant on January 19 in Brooklyn.

As for Paige, she's fired up about the news -- tweeting, "FIGHT STILL ON!!!!! I couldn’t be more great full to @rachaelostovich."

Sorry, Logan Paul, you ain't gettin' a crack at CM Punk in the UFC Octagon -- Punk just slammed the door on the possibility ... and then dissed the YouTube star for good measure.

Logan's brother Jake Paul had been lobbying Dana White to make the fight happen -- claiming Logan is a real athlete who could compete with guys on the UFC roster, including Punk.

In fact, Joe Rogan said he was impressed with Logan's talent during his boxing match with KSI earlier this year ... and made it clear he thinks Paul would whoop Punk in the UFC.

Now, Punk sat down with MMAFighting's Marc Raimondi and told him straight up -- ain't happening.

"I’m not fighting Logan Paul."

Then came the shade ...

"I think this is one of the avenues where people will be like, ‘I don’t even know who Logan Paul is.’ Logan Paul is apparently a popular guy, but it’s not in any kind of avenue that I drive my car on. The only thing I know about him is he’s the guy who filmed the dead body in the Japanese suicide forest, which is don’t get me started on that, because I’ll say a bunch of stuff and then I’m sure somebody will make a YouTube video about it."

There's more ...

"When you fight somebody, when you enter into a fight camp, you have to spend a lot of time thinking about that person ... And, I’m not into sharing that much of my time and my headspace and my life with somebody that did something that I feel is so reprehensibly disrespectful to the people of Japan, who I love."

"They’ll always have a special place in my heart. So, no. I’m not fighting him. I have no interest to."

Dana White just went scorched Earth on Oscar De La Hoya -- blasting the head of Golden Boy Promotions as a "f*cking cokehead" who irresponsibly let Chuck Liddell fight Tito Ortiz this past weekend.

"I love Chuck Liddell and I don’t ever want to bad mouth Chuck Liddell,” White said on the "UFC Unfiltered" podcast on Tuesday.

"People even think I’m remotely bad mouthing Chuck Liddell, but the reality is -- first of all, I heard last week the cokehead ‘Oscar De La Weirdo’ is talking sh*t that I don’t have any place to tell guys when to retire."

"First of all, it’s called ‘friendship’ you f*cking cokehead."

"I’ve been friends with Chuck Liddell for 20 years and the reality is that Chuck Liddell retired when he should have retired. Eight, nine years ago, however long it was. And, Chuck Liddell’s almost 50-years-old and has no business fighting anymore."

"The fact that the state of California even let that fight happen is disgusting. Disgusting."

He continued ... "Chuck Liddell has an incredible legacy. He’s a huge superstar in this sport, so of course as a friend, anybody who claims to be a friend of Chuck Liddell and was anywhere near this fight is full of sh*t. They’re not a friend of Chuck Liddell. To let him go in and fight this fight is terrible."

Of course, Chuck was knocked out in the 1st round of his fight with Ortiz -- and after the bout, he told TMZ Sports he's not sure if he'll step in the cage again.

Clearly, he knows how Dana feels about the situation ...

Dana and Oscar have been publicly feuding for a while -- ever since Oscar blasted Dana for the Mayweather vs. McGregor boxing match.

Oscar said the fight could kill the sport of boxing.

Tito Ortiz wants Chuck Liddell to hang it up for good -- saying he doesn't want to give The Iceman a rematch after last weekend's beatdown and feels bad for digging a pretend grave in the cage.

Tito wrecked Chuck's face in a brutal 1st-round knockout Saturday ... and says it became crystal clear to him that 48-year-old Liddell needs to stop fighting already.

"Physically, I don't think he should [fight again]", Ortiz says ... "I’m not even going to say I will fight him again, because I don’t think he should."

In fact ... The Huntington Beach Bad Boy seemed to feel sorry for Chuck after the big knockout win -- apologizing for his grave-digging celebration and showering Liddell with praise.

"Chuck Liddell was a great champion, he was a great fighter, great man, great father, and I’m thankful he gave me the opportunity."

But ... make no mistake -- Tito sure did love the result of fight night ... especially after all the smack Chuck talked in the lead-up.

"People have to understand that this is personal! It was completely personal."

As for Tito's future ... Ortiz claims he's probably done fighting -- but wants to stay in the fight game. In fact, he's already got plans to find the next Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

Khabib Nurmagomedov says he REALLY wants his next fight to be against Floyd Mayweather -- saying he's ready to prove all of the critics wrong.

And as for Conor McGregor ... Khabib says that guy was ALL TALK -- but ever since the fight, it seems Conor "forgot his tongue."

The UFC champ spoke with reporters for almost an HOUR at a press conference in Moscow on Monday and explained why he's dead serious about getting a shot with Floyd.

"Frankly, I think money-wise, and competition-wise, the bout against Mayweather would be much more interesting [than a UFC fight against Tony Ferguson]."

"It has always been very interesting ... Two undefeated fighters? It would be very interesting to see who wins."

Khabib admitted some people on his own training team don't think he has a shot to beat Floyd in a boxing match -- "Well, this motivates me."

As for McGregor, Khabib said a reconciliation with Conor might be possible down the line -- but not right now. He also said he's not sure if he would shake Conor's hand if they ran into each other on the street.

Khabib says he has not spoken with Conor since UFC 229 on Oct. 6.

During the fight, Khabib says Conor tried to explain that all the insults leading up the bout were "only business" ... but Khabib wasn't having it.

After the ass-whooping, Khabib says Conor didn't have much to say -- "Maybe he forgot his tongue at home."

Khabib also said he realizes he could have hurt himself when he jumped out of the Octagon to attack Conor's team.

"It just happened. And it was quite high. I could've easily have broken my leg. You never know how you are going to act in a certain situation. You have to control yourself."

"I don't take anything back. I did what I did. But if I were looking at this from a side, I can't condone such behavior."

As for Floyd, he previously told us he thinks the fight with Khabib will happen and predicts a 9-figure payday.

The saying "old habits die hard" was on full display Saturday night at The Forum when Tito Ortiz, 43, knocked out Chuck Liddell, 48, in the first round of their highly anticipated trilogy fight ... as the 2 UFC legends showcased decades of experience inside the Octagon.

We got Chuck after the loss in WeHo at Nightingale, chilling with his parents and friends. He was in good spirits and unsurprisingly didn't rule out a fourth fight with Tito.

Chuck's parents have different thoughts on their son's future in the Octagon.

This was Tito's first win against Chuck. The last time they squared off was 12 years ago. The long respite clearly didn't subdue their rivalry, because the two had been trash-talking each other for months leading up to this fight.

UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich is doing her best to get back to normal after her MMA fighter husband allegedly broke her face in a brutal attack ... and she wants all her fans to know she's doing OK.

Rachael was spotted in Hawaii Thursday for the first time since hubby Arnold Berdon was arrested Tuesday for attempted murder ... and she quietly thanked her fans for their well wishes and said she's all right.

Rachael is wearing dark sunglasses and it seems like she's a bit cautious, because her family admits they were a bit startled when the photog rolled up.

TMZ broke the story ... in court docs, Rachael describes the alleged beating in brutal detail, claiming her husband cracked her orbital after punching her repeatedly in the head, face and ribs.

Rachael was set to fight Paige VanZant in January ... but she's already pulled out after being diagnosed with a broken eye socket and other injuries.

The good news ... Rachael is out of the hospital and hanging with loved ones on Thanksgiving.

Floyd Mayweather was right to back out of his MMA fight with Tenshin Nasukawa ... 'cause the kid's the Michael Jordan of kickboxing and Floyd woulda got his ass beat -- so says a RIZIN star.

TMZ Sports spoke with Daron Cruickshank -- who was set to be on the same fight card as Floyd and Tenshin in their NYE tilt in Tokyo -- and he tells us Tenshin's no joke on the mat.

"He's like the Michael Jordan, over there, of kickboxing," Cruickshank says.

Of course ... Floyd bailed on the fight initially in part because he thought it was understood it would be solely a boxing match.

But ... Mayweather says the fight might be back on now that he's made sure it'll be hands ONLY.

Daron says that's a smart move by Money ... saying Floyd woulda gotten SMOKED if they allowed Tenshin's feet to get involved.

"If they did a kickboxing match, I think Tenshin would win. If they did a regular kickboxing match, Tenshin would win."

"But, in a boxing match, I don't think he would stand a chance."

Luckily for all of us ... it looks like we might get to see it go down after all -- 'cause Floyd says, "We're gonna make it happen."

TMZ Sports has obtained court documents in which UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich describes the beating she claims she took at the hands of her MMA fighter husband on Nov. 18 ... and it's horrific.

"After a night out with family, [Arnold Berdon] punched me repeatedly on the head, face, ribs, making me fall to the ground," Rachael says in her petition for a restraining order filed in Hawaii.

"I gasped for breath and escaped thru [sic] balcony. I coughed up blood, threw up sev. times. Cracked orbital."

In the docs, Ostovich claims Berdon had physically abused her in the past -- citing a specific incident on May 6, 2018 where he allegedly punched her in the legs repeatedly, leaving bruises.

Ostovich requested a restraining order against Berdon -- claiming he's a danger to her and their 5-year-old daughter.

The court granted the request and Berdon must stay 100 feet away from both of them.

As we previously reported, Berdon was arrested Tuesday for 2nd degree attempted murder -- a charge that carries up to a life sentence if convicted.

Berdon's family members have told us he plans to argue that he was defending himself on Nov.18 and did not initiate the violence.

Ostovich was scheduled to fight Paige VanZant in January -- but had to pull out due to her broken orbital bone.

Tito Ortiz is clapping back at the haters killin' him for steppin' back in the cage against Chuck Liddell ... issuing an invitation -- come to my gym and get your ass busted in real life.

TMZ Sports talked to "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" on Tuesday -- days before battling "The Iceman" for the 3rd time -- and asked him if he had a response to people saying he's too old and washed up to fight.

That's when 43-year-old Ortiz went off ...

"Those people are the guys who sit on the couch and they really don't do nothing," Ortiz told us ... "We call it computer tough guy stuff. Get in the gym and do something and see how hard it is to train."

Matter of fact ... Tito wants to bring in a crap-talkin' fan and see if he can hang in the gym.

"Come join me for a full day of training in my 3 sessions, and try to get through it, and see how slow I am. Or how easy I go. Man, I go and I battle like a beast when I train. I'm vicious."

UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich's MMA fighter husband has been arrested for ATTEMPTED MURDER days after allegedly breaking his wife's face ... and he's still behind bars in a Honolulu jail.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Ostovich -- who had to pull out of her scheduled January fight with Paige VanZant -- was hospitalized this weekend with serious injuries -- including a broken orbital bone -- after her husband allegedly assaulted her during an argument at their home.

Cops in Honolulu opened a domestic violence investigation earlier this week ... and now police officials tell us 27-year-old Arnold Berdon -- Ostovich's husband and father of her child -- was arrested Tuesday evening on suspicion of 2nd degree attempted murder.

Berdon -- a fighter himself who holds a 7-2 record -- is still in custody at the Honolulu PD main station.

He has not yet appeared before a judge ... where bail could be set.

If he is released ... Rachael's husband won't be allowed to contact Ostovich -- 'cause she got a restraining order ... barring contact.

For his part ... a family member of Arnold told us he intends to vigorously dispute in court any allegations he assaulted his wife.

Khabib Nurmagomedov only has 1 fight left on his UFC contract -- and if that final UFC fight is not a bout with Floyd Mayweather -- he'll schedule it himself when he becomes a free agent.

This is the plan according to Khabib's manager Ali Abdelaziz who says Khabib is still deadly serious about taking on Floyd in the BOXING ring.

Remember, Dana White slammed the door on Khabib boxing Floyd, while he's still under contract with the UFC ... claiming if Floyd wants a piece of the Eagle, it'll be in the Octagon.

Ali tells TMZ Sports ... Khabib will respect Dana's wishes while he's under contract, but, once his deal is up, they're willing to contact Floyd directly and hash out a deal for a 2019 fight date.

If Floyd does agree to an MMA fight, Ali warns the guy to save up for life insurance -- "because he’s not going to be walking anymore. He’s going to be drinking water [through a] straw."

Ali claims he isn't trying to go around Dana -- he wants to work with the UFC -- but clearly feels there's too much money at stake to blow off a potential Mayweather fight.

Floyd previously told us a fight with Khabib would "definitely" score him a 9-figure paycheck -- and Khabib's side would be significant too.