MMA

Thursday is the 15th anniversary of that epic Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight that launched the UFC on a multi-billion dollar trajectory.

So, we hit up Forrest to talk about how it changed his life -- and the video is awesome.

Remember, Griffin vs. Bonnar was the main event finale of the very 1st season of the "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show competition -- and it's still widely regarded as one of the best (and most important) moments in MMA history.

Griffin won that 3-round war by unanimous decision and went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Looking back, Forrest says that night -- April 9, 2005 -- changed his life forever.

"I knew at the end of that I did not have to go to a day job. My job was now professional fighting," Griffin tells us.

"That's the bigger moment than winning the belts or fighting the best guy in the world or anything else. That’s the moment for me that really will always stand out."

Remember, 'TUF: Season 1' was aired the U.S. on Spike TV -- and was it was really the first time UFC content was available to the masses without a paywall.

Dana White has often credited the fight with launching the UFC to the next level -- but Griffin is still humble about his role.

"There were other people who laid the foundation for us and I got to help a little bit too."

"The history of MMA -- so many great people have gotten to offer so much to it, I’m really glad I got to offer my little keystone in it. With all the Chucks and the Royce’s and the GSPs, all the great people that changed the game. The Ronda Rouseys the McGregors, they turned it into a mainstream thing."

UFC star Anthony Smith -- who's beaten some of the best fighters on the planet -- says he fought off a man who broke into his Nebraska home this weekend ... and, "it was one of the toughest fights I've had in my whole life."

The story is insane ... around 4 AM on Sunday, Smith's wife heard a man in the house "screaming at the top of his lungs."

31-year-old Smith -- who lives in the home with his wife, 3 young daughters (8, 5 and 2)  and mother-in-law -- moved everyone to a room and decided to confront the intruder.

"I'm expecting that I'm gonna hear a gunshot or he's gonna stab me," Smith told ESPN's Ariel Helwani. ... "I figure I've got about two minutes before whatever he's got takes me out."

So, Smith charged hard and tried to subdue the man in his computer room -- but to Anthony's surprise, the man fought back ... HARD.

"No normal human is able to fight like that ... I'm by no means the baddest dude on the planet. But, he's a regular Joe and I had a hard time dealing with him."

"And he took everything that I gave him -- every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and kept fighting me."

During the scrap, Smith says his mother-in-law brought him a kitchen knife to use on the intruder -- but it didn't completely stop the guy.

Eventually, cops arrived and helped to subdue the intruder, identified as Luke Haberman -- who was already bloodied, beaten and cut up.

The craziest part of the story ... Smith says once Haberman was in custody, he apologized -- saying, "Hey man, I'm sorry."

What?!

"I'm not lying when I said it was one of the toughest fights I've had in my whole life," Smith said ... "I went into that fight ready to die."

As for Haberman, he was hospitalized and hit with a citation which requires him to appear in court in the near future.

Smith says the guy had been wreaking havoc in his neighborhood earlier in the night -- and broke into his home through an open garage door.

"I woke up in a guillotine-ish mood."

That's UFC star Brian Ortega explaining why he chose his trademark GUILLOTINE CHOKE as today's lesson for TMZ's Snapchat show "Fight School" ... and the video is awesome!

T-City joined Paige VanZant to train up our TMZ Sports producer, Lucas -- our human crash test dummy -- in the secret MMA gym in the TMZ office!

Not only did Brian drop all sorts of knowledge on us ... but he also let Lucas try out the move ON HIM!!

Did Lucas actually get Brian Ortega -- the #2 ranked UFC featherweight contender -- to tap?!!?

Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's thiiis close to closing a deal to host UFC fights on a private island -- where he would fly in fighters on private planes.

YES, THIS IS REAL!!!

The UFC boss tells us he's laser-focused on keeping the business alive during the COVID-19 pandemic -- starting with UFC 249 on April 18.

White says the location for that event is still top secret -- though he's locked up the mystery venue where it will take place for 2 months and plans on pumping out fights every week.

But, after that, White says he's planning to move the Octagon to the island -- where he will set up shop and host fights involving massive international fighters.

White says the deal for Fight Island isn't done yet -- but it's very close. And, no, we don't know what part of the world it's in.

White also revealed the rest of the card for UFC 249 ... which includes some pretty big fights including Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade and Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Greg Hardy will also be on the card as well as Ray Borg, Jeremy Stephens and more.

White says every person involved in the fights -- from production staff to fighters -- will be screened thoroughly by a medical team before they will be allowed into the venue. White says safety is the highest priority.

White also talked about Khabib Nurmagomedov -- who was initially slated to fight Tony Ferguson in the main event at UFC 249 until the pandemic left him stuck in Russia. White says people should stop blaming Khabib for being out of the fight, there's nothing he could have done.

It's official ... Justin Gaethje will replace Khabib to fight Tony Ferguson in the main event at UFC 249 on April 18!!!

So, many questions remain -- like where will the event take place -- but so far, that's all we know.

There will be a fight. It will be live on ESPN+. Tony and Justin will fight for the UFC interim lightweight title (Tony previously held it, but was stripped when he injured his leg. Khabib then fought Al Iaquinta for the interim title).

As for the location, Dana White has only teased it will go down "somewhere on EARTH!"

No matter where the fight takes place, the UFC will most likely restrict fans from attending due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unclear who will call the fight.

As we previously reported, Khabib Nurmagomedov was all set to fight Tony -- but he's stuck in Russia and unable to fly out.

So, the UFC locked in Gaethje -- one of the most ferocious strikers in all MMA -- to go after Tony instead.

White has said there will be other fights on the card, but he has not revealed the names of anyone else signed on yet.

Cris Cyborg is a living, breathing MMA legend who paved the way for women in mixed martial arts ... but her next fight, well it ain't gonna be in the cage, 'cause she wants to box!!

TMZ Sports talked to the 34-year-old Bellator featherweight champ -- the only fighter in history to hold titles in 4 major MMA promotions (UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce & Invicta FC) -- and when we asked Justino who she planned to beat up next, her answer was surprising.

"I'm training a lot in boxing now. I was thinking about maybe I do my next fight in boxing," Cyborg tells us.

Over her 15-year professional fighting career, Justino has NEVER competed in a boxing match ... but that doesn't mean she's looking for an easy opponent.

"Me and Cecilia Braekhus always talk back and forth. But, you know, I'm training," Cyborg says.

"I think everyone is gonna be a very good match for me. It's gonna be a great fight. I like to challenge myself. I never look for the easy way. I like to train hard, and make the best fight for my career, for my fans."

Braekhus is a BEAST!! She's 36-0 and is hands down one of the scariest women in the world ... but Cyborg isn't intimidated.

"I always compete in everything, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, MMA, jiu-jitsu, grappling. But, I never got the opportunity [to fight] Muay Thai, I never got the opportunity to fight box. For me, it's gonna be an honor to fight her."

For the record, Cyborg says Bellator boss Scott Coker is cool with her move to pugilism ... and Cris says this move doesn't mean she's done fighting MMA.

But, before anyone beats each other up, the world has to beat coronavirus ... and Cyborg's doing her part to keep people healthy and fit by leading online workout classes during the quarantine.

Lose weight AND learn to beat somebody's ass ... all from the comfort of your living room.

Conor McGregor is going after Khabib Nurmagomedov again ... this time blasting The Eagle for "chickening out" of his UFC 249 fight with Tony Ferguson later this month.

"The fact of this matter is, both Tony and Khabib where engaged in a game of chicken here towards the fight bell," The Notorious said Thursday. "With Khabib chickening out first."

Of course, this is the FIFTH time the Khabib-Ferguson fight has been canceled over the years ... and Conor is now deeming Tony the winner after Khabib's latest withdrawal.

"Khab scurried out of the U.S to home, and amid the crisis. Very high risk," McGregor said. "Congrats Tony."

Nurmagomedov clearly ain't laughing at Conor's ribbing ... the UFC star said Wednesday he had legitimate concerns about fighting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, Khabib expressed frustration over the pressure he's been receiving to fight.

"Famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease," Khabib wrote, "to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight?"

Khabib added that he was super disappointed ... but it ain't like Conor cared.

"I am in shape to fight right now!" McGregor said. "At the beginning of all this, I said to myself -- I’m happy I don’t have an official fight booked."

"If I did, I would have consumed all the incorrect data to support me taking part in the bout, and I would have followed through, competed. And won."

The last time Conor fought Khabib back in 2018, it wasn't even close -- the Dagestani dominated McGregor and ultimately got him to tap out in the 4th round.

Kamaru Usman wants to go all "Deliverance" on Jorge Masvidal at UFC 249 -- saying he wants the fans to hear Masivdal "squeal like the pig that he is."

Both Kamaru and Jorge have said they're down to step up and fight in the main event at UFC 249 in April -- after Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he's stuck in Russia and likely won't be able to fight Tony Ferguson.

Masvidal has promised to "cut off" Usman's head if they do scrap -- but Kamaru, the reigning UFC welterweight champ, says he ain't afraid.

In fact, Usman says he LOVES the fact there will likely be no fans allowed at UFC 249 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) ... because he wants the fans to hear all of the sounds of combat.

"I want you guys to hear him squeal, squeal like a pig, like the little bitch that he is," Usman says.

"The weird sounds that he's gonna make once I'm elbowing and slicing up his face, once I'm dropping hammers on his face. I want you guys to hear that."

"Nobody in the stands no fans to cheer him on so he feels like he's somebody. nobody, just me and him."

"That's why I said I'll take that fight. I haven't been training but I'll take the fight because I wanted you guys to hear what I do to this guy inside."

This is awesome -- UFC star Dominick Reyes teaching us exactly how he landed those CRUSHING uppercuts on Jon Jones ... WELCOME TO FIGHT SCHOOL!!!

Dom hit up the secret gym at the TMZ offices recently -- where he told us straight up, "I definitely won" that fight.

Remember, 30-year-old Reyes took Jones the distance in their Feb. 8 matchup at UFC 247 -- a lot of people think he deserved to win that fight and got screwed on the judge's cards.

So, when Reyes hit up our gym -- he took our resident punching bag, Lucas, to class (with the help of "Fight School" host Paige VanZant!).

Ya gotta watch the whole ep on Snapchat -- Dom shows us how he baited Jones during the fight so he could land those devastating shots.

Tyron Woodley wants to save UFC 249 -- telling TMZ Sports he's willing to replace Khabib and fight Tony Ferguson ...

OR -- HOW ABOUT WE FINALLY GET THAT TYRON VS. COLBY COVINGTON FIGHT!?

"They need a big savior for this. Me and Colby, I think,  is a big enough fight to make to save the day," Woodley says.

As we previously reported, Khabib Nurmagomedov says he's stuck in Russia and most likely won't be able to fight Tony on April 18 ... which leaves the UFC looking for another main event.

Tyron says he's more than willing to battle Tony -- "Sh*t, I'll step in and get that fight."

But, if that doesn't work out, Tyron -- whose March 21 fight against Leon Edwards was postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic -- says he's got a better idea!

"[Colby], quit being a bitch. Quit talking sh*t if you ain't gon' do nothing about it. Step up and fight me, and get your ass beat."

In fact, Woodley even has a message for UFC honcho Dana White.

"Dana hit me up, man. You know I'm not always the motherf**ka that you call on last-minute notice but it's a new year, new leaf. And, ya know, I think I can really come out there and I'm not just sayin' it."

Francis Ngannou says if Dana White can lock down a location for UFC 249 -- the epic Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson card -- he will be there ... ready to beat the hell outta Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

The 33-year-old, 6'4", 260 lb. monster was scheduled to fight Rozenstruik -- a 32-year-old, undefeated heavyweight -- Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

Then, Coronavirus screwed everything up ... and the highly anticipated March 28th fight was put on ice.

But, that doesn't mean the men ain't gonna scrap ... 'cause Ngannou tells TMZ Sports that he is 100% fighting -- assuming the UFC honcho can find a place that's down to host the event.

"[Dana] said if they find a location, we will be on the card," Francis says.

Ngannou has even found a facility where he can lift and train with his coaches ... 'cause he's planning to step in the Octagon in less than 3 weeks.

"Since we are expecting some potential fight for April 18th, so we have to stay ready. So, we have a closed-door training. Just me and Eric Nicksick, my coach. So, we keep working out."

There's been a crazy amount of speculation about where 249 could take place ... Khabib's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently told us the UFC was looking at locations in Africa.

Francis says even he doesn't know where it'll happen ... but if there's a place that's safe, you bet your ass he'll be there.

"I don't know exactly where the fight will take place," Ngannou says, "However, what I do know is wherever it is gonna be, I'm gonna be there."

Please, please, PLEASE, Dana ... lock down a spot for these fights!!