MMA

Post Malone says he has the perfect opponent for Wiz Khalifa's first real MMA fight ... and it's UFC all-time LEGEND Anderson Silva ... which has us at TMZ Sports asking an important question ...

Why does Post Malone want Wiz Khalifa dead?

Wiz has been training MMA at Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Performance gym for a while now, and he looks GREAT, but Posty's answer on who he should fight first left us scratching our heads.

"I wanna see Wiz and Silva. They got the same type of body type, long and skinny." Post said when we got him out in L.A.

Yes, that Anderson Silva ... the same one that ran off a 17-match winning streak in the UFC and is regarded by some as the finest MMA fighter of all time. That guy.

Post and Wiz have worked together for years -- as a matter of fact, Wiz was instrumental in the early success of Post's breakout hit, "White Iverson" -- so we're not sure when Post decided Wiz had to die.

On the other hand ... maybe Post really thinks Wiz could compete with Silva.

Say no to drugs kids.

You knew Wiz Khalifa could scrap in MMA ... but did you know he could box too???

It's true ... at least, now it is -- after the rapper got a private, 1-on-1 fighting lesson from Evander Holyfield!!!

The Real Deal and Wiz hit up Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Performance Center in L.A. recently ... and the "Black and Yellow" spitter got in a dope training sesh with the champ.

Evander gave him some pointers on his defense ... Wiz explained how he's put some weight on his skinny frame -- and Glazer was there to document it all.

So ... why were the two hittin' the mitts together in the first place??

Wiz has a song dedicated to the boxing legend called "Holyfield" -- so, seems only right Evander gave him some fighting pointers in return.

Wiz has told TMZ Sports in the past he'd take -- and maybe even WIN -- a pro-MMA fight if the money was right ... but the question now is -- would he do the same for boxing?!?

Stay tuned ...

Jon Jones is BACK!!

The UFC superstar just got his license to fight in California reinstated -- essentially clearing the way for him to fight at UFC 232 on Dec. 29.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Jones tested positive for the banned substance Turinabol (an anabolic steroid) before his fight with Daniel Cormier at the Honda Center in Anaheim in July 2017.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency meted out a 15-month suspension for Jones -- and the California State Athletic Commission said it would honor that punishment.

Even though Jon's upcoming fight against Alexander Gustafsson is set to go down in Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission won't license him unless he's clear in California.

The good news for Jon ... he appeared at a CSAC hearing on Tuesday with his attorney and the board voted 6-0 to reinstate him and granted him a temporary license.

Jones also paid his $205,000 fine.

After he was reinstated, Jon had a message to the California State Athletic Commission -- "Make sure you guys watch."

For his part, Jones has always insisted he never intentionally took the Turinabol -- claiming he's not a cheater.

At the hearing, CSAC executive director Andy Foster actually defended Jones -- saying, "I do not think Mr. Jones is intentionally a doper."

He added, "I just don’t believe it. If he is, he’s the worst doper in combat sports. He fails the one test he knows is coming."

Great news from Brian Ortega's camp ... the UFC star is improving by the minute after that bloody loss to Max Holloway this past weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Ortega suffered a broken nose and thumb during Saturday night's fight at UFC 231 in Toronto -- and his left eye was swollen shut. The doctor stopped the fight in the 4th round.

We spoke with Ortega's coach, Rener Gracie -- who's been coaching Brian since Ortega was 13 years old. The two are super tight and Gracie was working the corner during the Holloway fight.

Gracie tells us T-City was initially crushed by the loss ... and even apologized to his team at the hospital for letting them down.

But, Gracie says the apology was completely unnecessary -- telling TMZ Sports he's proud of the young fighter for the tremendous effort he displayed against "one of the best to ever do it."

Now, Gracie says Ortega is "doing much better" -- he's healing up and excited to getting back to work ... and tells us why the loss will ultimately be a GOOD thing for his career.

Conor McGregor or Max Holloway.

That's who UFC star Frankie Edgar tells TMZ Sports he wants to fight next.

"I'm hoping I get Max. I'm hoping Max sticks around at 45, and we get to finally get to square up. I think it makes the most sense."

Edgar is currently the #3 ranked featherweight contender behind Jose Aldo (#2), Brian Ortega (#1) and Holloway (Champ).

But, Dana White said this weekend he wants Max to move up weight classes ... so, if that happens, Edgar has his sights set squarely on the Irish superstar.

"I don't know, maybe Conor's free. Conor wants to get down and fight. We were supposed to fight a long time too. If I'm not fighting for the belt, then I guess Conor's the next best thing."

Neither matchup is all that far-fetched -- Edgar was scheduled to fight Holloway at UFC 222 back in March ... but "Blessed" was forced to drop out with an injury.

McGregor said in the past he offered to step in against Frankie ... but the UFC shut that down.

In other words ... both fights almost went down in March.

Jake Paul is firing back at Deji's claim he's "too p***y" for a rematch ... telling TMZ Sports he's got MUCH bigger opponents in mind ... and one of them is Conor McGregor's right-hand man!!!

We spoke with the social media superstar -- who Forbes just named the 2nd-highest paid YouTuber of 2018 -- about Deji calling for a rematch of their boxing super fight from August.

Jake slams the door on another fight with Deji ... saying he wants a REAL challenge -- either Bellator star Dillon Danis or his internet rival FaZe Banks!!!

Now we know Jake has been calling out Conor for a while ... so maybe he's getting slightly more realistic going after Danis.

As for Banks -- if you follow YouTube beef (yes, it exists), you know there's a big history between the 2 ... from Jake accusing Banks of assaulting his assistant (which he later apologized for) to Banks now dating Jake's ex, Alissa Violet.

Jake says he's seen all the trash Banks has been saying on Twitter ... and tells us he's down to settle everything in the ring.

If Brian Ortega takes out Max Holloway this weekend, he's already got another big fight in his sites -- Khabib Nurmagomedov.

"We all have our bucket lists, right? And, my bucket list is to fight Max and fight Khabib," Ortega told the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show.

"Those are the top guys in the sport ... those guys are the top dogs."

In fact, Brian was at UFC 229 back in October when Khabib destroyed Conor McGregor and says it was essentially a scouting mission.

"I was watching the fight and we were there and all I could think of was, 'If I was in there, I would do this differently.'"

"And, that's kinda when you start realizing that maybe you should share the Octagon with him ... if you think you have the answer."

Ortega also says he already knows how the fight would play out if they ever get to square off.

But, before any of that happens, Brian takes on Holloway at UFC 231 on Saturday night.

Dana White says Rachael Ostovich is "totally cool" fighting on the same card as Greg Hardy in January ... despite his history with domestic violence.

There's been backlash over the decision to put Hardy on the Jan. 19 card considering Ostovich was JUST involved in a D.V. incident last month -- and claims she suffered bad injuries at the hands of her MMA fighter husband.

But, Dana White appeared on TSN in Canada early Thursday morning and addressed the issue head-on -- saying he will NOT move Hardy off the card ... and that Ostovich has "no problem" with the decision.

White explained that Hardy will be tied to the domestic violence allegations for the rest of his life -- but he's put in the work to rehabilitate himself and White feels he's a changed man who deserves a 2nd chance.

White says during his conversation with Ostovich, Rachael told him, "[Greg's] story is not my story and I believe in second chances."

Dana says having Rachael's support was a "key factor" in making the decision to keep Hardy on the card.

Ostovich will Paige VanZant that night. Hardy will square off against Allen Crowder.

UFC star Kamaru Usman says Dana White offered him a fight with Colby Covington next month ... and he's waiting on Donald Trump's favorite fighter to sign the contract.

Both fighters have been dying to get a shot at the welterweight champ Tyron Woodley -- and it seems the winner of the proposed January 19 bout would get their wish.

TMZ Sports talked to Usman ... who tells us Dana called this week and made the offer.

Kamaru ain't exactly confident the fight will actually happen ... saying Colby has refused to accept the match on 4 other occasions in the past.

So yeah, Kamaru and Colby hate each other ... and straight-up, Usman says Covington is scared.

If he accepts, Usman vs. Covington would join a bunch of solid fights on the first UFC event on ESPN -- including Paige VanZant vs. Rachael Ostovich and Greg Hardy vs. Allen Crowder.

Usman just dominated Rafael dos Anjos when they clashed on Saturday night at "The Ultimate Fighter" finale.

Covington's last fight was also against RDA -- Colby scored the "W" in a 5-round decision at UFC 225 back in June.

After the fight, Colby underwent surgery to correct a nasal issue. He visited Trump at the White House in August and took a pic with POTUS while Donald held the UFC interim welterweight championship belt over his shoulder.

We reached out to Covington for comment ... so far, no word back.

Greg Hardy's 1st UFC opponent says he has extra motivation to destroy the ex-NFL star -- telling TMZ Sports he wants to get the victory to honor Rachael Ostovich.

Hardy is set to fight Allen Crowder at UFC on ESPN on Jan. 19 -- the same night Ostovich will return to the Octagon after her domestic violence incident.

As we previously reported, Ostovich was hospitalized last month following an altercation with her MMA fighter husband Arnold Berdon, who was later arrested and charged with assault.

Some critics are upset with the UFC -- claiming the organization is tone deaf putting Hardy and Ostovich on the same card because of Hardy's past domestic violence issues.

FYI, Hardy was found guilty of domestic violence by a judge in 2014 -- but the conviction was thrown out in 2015 when he appealed to have the case go in front of a jury ... and his accuser stopped cooperating with prosecutors.

Dana White has previously told us he's spoken with Hardy about the incident -- but he's convinced Greg is a changed man.

So, how does Greg's new opponent feel? We spoke with Crowder -- who's fought against beasts like Curtis Blaydes and Justin Willis -- and he spelled it out for us.

"I definitely want to win this fight for [Ostovich]. I'm very against men beating women. And, I'm definitely not a woman, so he's gonna have a lot harder time with me then he did the last person."

UFC star, Brian Ortega returned to the TMZ newsroom this week -- and once again, he put a chokehold on one of our guys!!!

Here's the deal ... the last time Ortega was here, he taught us the proper way to execute a rear-naked choke and used Lucas to demonstrate.

This time, Ortega wanted to teach us a few tricks about how to put a guy to sleep in a street fight ... once again, Lucas volunteered his neck.

Ya gotta watch the clip ... Lucas taps out even faster than Conor McGregor at UFC 229!!!

Of course, Ortega will get a chance to fight someone his own size when he takes on Max Holloway at UFC 231 in Toronto, for the Featherweight title on Saturday, Dec. 8.

Don't worry, Lucas is fine!

TMZ Sports has obtained injury photos of UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich -- taken in the wake of the domestic violence incident with her MMA fighter husband ... and they're brutal.

The photos show damage to Rachael's face, body, arms and head -- including a black and blue bruise under her right eye.

We spoke with a member of Rachael's family who tells us the photos reflect the "truth" of what really went down that day.

As we previously reported, Ostovich claims her husband, Arnold Berdon, savagely attacked her during a dispute at their home in Hawaii on Nov. 18.

Ostovich claims she suffered a broken orbital bone (eye socket) during the altercation and pulled out of her scheduled UFC bout with Paige VanZant. She has since gotten a second opinion from a doctor who cleared her to fight.

Berdon was arrested and charged with 2nd degree assault. He has pled not guilty and family members have told us he will argue self-defense.

Ostovich filed a request for a restraining order against Berdon -- and court docs show the judge granted the order after Berdon agreed to stay away for 20 YEARS.

Berdon is due back in court on Dec. 18.

Conor McGregor claims UFC fighter Michael Chiesa shouldn't be able to sue him for intentional infliction of emotional distress because he wasn't the intended target in his NY bus attack.

We broke the story ... Chiesa sued Conor over the injuries he suffered from the April 5, 2018 incident at Barclays Center where McGregor threw a steel dolly at a bus packed with UFC fighters and staffers, including Chiesa.

Chiesa was hit by shards of glass and suffered cuts to his face that were so bad, he was forced to pull out of his UFC 223 bout against Anthony Pettis.

Now, McGregor has filed a response to Chiesa's suit admitting his conduct was "unquestionably inappropriate," but should not be considered "outrageous."

So, why does that distinction matter? Because proving "outrageousness" is essential for collecting damages when it comes to intentional infliction of emotional distress.

McGregor also argues that his actions were "clearly not directed at [Chiesa] at all" -- which the judge should consider in evaluating the "outrageousness" of the incident.

Conor has publicly acknowledged that his target was Khabib Nurmagomedov -- who was also riding the bus that day.

Conor had flown into New York from Ireland to attack Khabib after the Russian fighter got into it with one of Conor's friends days before the bus attack.

In his court docs, McGregor also claims Chiesa has failed to prove that he suffered any real emotional distress from the incident -- noting that he's a "seasoned combat sports fighter" ... and therefore should be used to physical trauma.

McGregor was arrested for the incident and later pled guilty to disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to 5 days of community service, and ordered to complete an anger management class.

Floyd Mayweather ain't gonna like this ...

George Foreman tells TMZ Sports it doesn't matter if Money goes ANOTHER 50-0 ... he'll never consider him the greatest boxer of all-time -- 'cause he ain't a heavyweight!

"If Floyd Mayweather goes out and gets a real beer belly and comes back and challenges the heavyweights, I'll call him all that," George tells us.

"But right now, he's thin as a rail."

Floyd's 50-0 and owns victories over Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley and just about every other great fighter of this era ... and even has a win against one of the UFC's best too (sorry, Conor).

But, Foreman clearly doesn't care ... telling us ya gotta beat the BIG boys to wear the GOAT crown.

"He's got to say, 'I'm one of the best.' That's all he can say."

If you think Khabib has NO CHANCE to beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match, one of the biggest underdogs in sports history is here to tell you ... YOU'RE WRONG ... and he's proof.

We talked to James "Buster" Douglas in NYC, the man who stepped into the ring back in 1990 as a 42-1 underdog to Mike Tyson, and WON ... and he told us not to count out Khabib.

"Anybody got a chance, anything can happen."

We know what you're thinking, Buster was a boxer and Khabib is primarily a wrestler, but BD doesn't care, he thinks Khabib's combat sports pedigree make him a threat.

"He's an athlete."

BTW -- the fight between Khabib & Floyd is still just talk, but both sides have said they're interested and willing to do it for the right price.

Mayweather is getting older and Khabib did drop Conor with a big right ... so maybe Buster's right.

Manny Pacquiao says fans are still pissed off about the Floyd Mayweather fight leaving a bad taste in their mouths ... and there's only one way to fix it.

Rematch.

TMZ Sports spoke with Pac-Man about his plans after his big fight with Adrien Broner in January ... and Manny's calling out the retired boxing superstar to give the fans what they want.

Although it's been well over 3 years since their first fight in 2015 ... Manny says he's constantly getting asked about Mayweather's doings ... and wants to finally put it all to rest.