MMA

Andre Berto says he wants to cross over from boxing to the UFC ... and he's 100% serious about it.

TMZ Sports spoke with Berto about Conor's return to the Octagon after losing to Floyd Mayweather ... and A.B. says he's gunning to follow his buddy back to MMA.

"Tell Dana (White) to call me. I'll go to the UFC. I wanna be the first fighter ever to be a world champion in boxing and then go get a world title."

Demi Lovato is becoming a much more dangerous person -- she just earned her blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ... after training her ass off for the past year.

The blue belt is one level above white belt -- and 3 levels away from being a black belt.

The singer was awarded her new rank Monday at Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Gym in L.A. -- where she's spent the past 12 months grappling with MMA superstars like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.

Glazer -- who owns the gym -- flew back to town specifically to present Lovato with the new belt and tweeted, "I'm more proud of the work [Demi] puts in with nobody watching than i am what she does with the world watching."

"Congrats on achieving your blue belt today in #bjj, YOU put the grind in!"

Most blue belts usually train for about 2 years before moving up to the next level, purple belt.

It's been a helluva past few days for Demi -- from belting out the national anthem for the Mayweather/McGregor fight to performing for the VMAs ... and now this.

With great power ...

Ever wonder what happens when UFC champions randomly bump into the guys they've been calling out?

That's exactly what happened to Tyron Woodley on his recent trip to Vegas ... when a visit to Freddie Roach's boxing gym turned into a random meeting with Georges St-Pierre!

You know -- the same Georges St-Pierre that T-Wood said is "scared" to fight him.

Our photog figured Tyron and GSP would've thrown hands ... but Tyron told us they were too busy breaking down Georges' upcoming fight with Michael Bisping.

Woodley's a UFC analyst on FS1 -- and GSP's a crazy nice dude (even for a Canadian) -- so we're not too surprised that's how it went down.

Conor McGregor beating Floyd Mayweather would be the biggest upset EVER ... this according to the man responsible for the most shocking upset in boxing history.

We talked to Buster Douglas with MayMac about to go down ... and he told us that Conor taking out Floyd would be waaay crazier than him KO'ing Mike Tyson back in 1990.

"I think his odds are a lot more tougher than mine," Buster told TMZ Sports.

"Conor is no boxer ... he has no boxing skills."

Buster says Conor's only shot is hitting Floyd with a "Hail Mary punch" -- but he expects Floyd to flat-out dominate.

FYI, Douglas was a 42-to-1 underdog when he knocked Tyson out.

Right now, Conor's about a 4-to-1 dog ... but over 90 PERCENT of bets are being put on him to upset.

Welcome to the Roast of Oscar De La Hoya ... hosted by Dana White!!

The UFC honcho is tearing Oscar a new one over comments DLH made this week on the "TMZ Sports" TV show on FS1.

Long story short ... Oscar tried to downplay his interest in a possible Conor vs. Canelo Alvarez match -- and Dana White wasn't having it. At all.

"He's WAYYYY down with that," Dana said ... "Don't feed into his bullsh*t."

And that's when White just began to unload on Oscar ... saying he used to be cool with the boxing legend until he began to publicly trash the Mayweather fight. Dana basically says the guy is two-faced.

What ensues is an expletive-filled rant about the Golden Boy ... and it's pretty hilarious -- unless you're Oscar.

Tyron Woodley ain't convinced Jon Jones took steroids ... but if he did and has to sit out 4 YEARS, Tyron says Jon would still come back and DOMINATE.

That's right -- Woodley told us Jones is such a boss, he could reclaim his belt even if he's benched through his prime.

"Jon Jones is the only fighter on the roster that it wouldn't be over for him. He's 3 or 4 years ahead of the curb right now, for the (205 pound) division."

"After Daniel Cormier, tell me one fighter who's gonna compete with Jon Jones."

FYI, Dana White estimates Jones will get suspended for his test failure ... but JJ could serve less time (or no time) based on how his appeal goes.

Mayweather/McGregor celeb fans are gonna be screwed out of prime Strip parking if they swoop in last minute ... because Vegas doesn't want the private jet s**t show that went down for Mayweather's last fight of the century.

You'll recall the famous pics of McCarran International Airport tarmacs choked with PJs in 2015 for Mayweather/Pacquiao. That traffic jam taught 'em a lesson. Airport sources tell TMZ, McCarran's implemented a reservation system.

The bad news for latecomers ... the lot's just about full. We're told McCarran is capping the number of birds allowed to park this weekend. Last minute arrivals will still be allowed to land, but will have to bolt after dropping off celebs.

That means anyone looking to flee at a moment's notice will be screwed. Ya can't call 'em to fuel up the jet, if the jet ain't even there. There is a plan B ... reserve parking at one of 2 nearby municipal airports.

Of course, they'd lose the joy of taxiing a G5 past Southwest jets packed with normies, and also would NOT be Strip adjacent -- but even filthy rich beggars can't be choosers.

Don't wanna pay for the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight? Get outta the country.

Seriously!!

A rep for the World Boxing Council tells TMZ Sports the entire country of Mexico will be able to watch Conor and Floyd duke it out fo' free Saturday ... 'cause 2 major TV networks have shelled out a ton of cash to show the fight on open TV.

We're told Televisa and Azteca will both air the fight so viewers won't have to cough up the $100 for Pay-Per-View -- but there's a bit of a catch.

The fight won't air live, so fans will have to wait a couple hours to see it.

Things got real heated between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi at a fight media event in Vegas moments ago -- with Paulie getting right in Conor's face, teasing him about his balls.

Paulie kept repeating to Conor, "Did you bring your balls?"

Conor reached out and put his hand on Paulie's shoulder and said, "You got your ass whooped. Get over it."

Paulie is furious with Conor for releasing a sparring video from his training camp which showed him knocking Paulie down in the ring.

Paulie claims the video was edited to make him look bad. Conor's camp says that's BS.

Paulie will be part of the Showtime announcing team working the Mayweather fight -- but Showtime says it's not worried about slanted coverage.

Demi Lovato has signed on to sing the national anthem at the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight on August 26 ... Showtime has confirmed.

Lovato is a HUUUUGE fight fan. She's not only a regular at UFC fights, but also trains MMA at Jay Glazer's gym in Los Angeles.

She also just released her new single, "Sorry Not Sorry," last month -- so the timing is great for her.

Also, Diddy and Mark Wahlberg are making a $200k bet on the fight (doubling down on their Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight bet).

Diddy has Floyd. Mark has Conor. Mark lost the first bet and paid the money to charity. Guessing it's the same plan for this fight.

WARNING: This is pretty gnarly. And bloody.

UFC star Paige VanZant tore a massive bloody hole in her foot -- and the photo is pretty graphic.

23-year-old VanZant didn't say how it happened ... but with rumors she could return to the Octagon at UFC 216, it's likely she opened the gash during a training session.

Pretty gross ... but this kinda stuff happens.

UFC 216 is scheduled for Oct. 7 -- and reports say PVZ will likely fight Jessica Eye.

Conor McGregor's former sparring partner says he's down to put their beef aside and train the UFC superstar ... but there's a catch.

Chris van Heerden -- former IBO welterweight champ -- and McGregor sparred in May 2016, but parted ways after video surfaced of them training.

Conor's most recent partner, Paulie Malignaggi, quit Thursday under similar circumstances ... when photos leaked appearing to show P.M. getting knocked to the canvas.

CVH says he talked to Malignaggi Thursday night about what really went down ... and understands why he wants the full sparring video released.

Van Heerden says he's willing to let his grudge go and step back inside the squared circle with the Notorious ... but it's gonna cost him some of that fat $100 million paycheck.

With Wladimir Klitschko calling it quits, there's another fighter who wants to step up and take on boxing superstar Anthony Joshua -- Stipe Miocic!

Wlad and Joshua had been working on a rematch after that great fight back in April -- but WK announced his retirement early Thursday morning ... so those plans are off.

But Stipe wants to take his place ... and with Conor McGregor fighting Floyd Mayweather, he clearly thinks there's a chance.

"Looks like your schedule is wide open," Stipe told Joshua on social media ... "No excuses, let's dance! #BaddestManOnThePlanet."

Stipe -- the UFC heavyweight champ -- is 6'4" and 240 lbs.

Joshua -- the unified heavyweight champ -- is 6'6" and 250 lbs.

Floyd Mayweather is expecting to make more than $300 MILLION from his fight with Conor McGregor ... which would break down to more than $8 MILLION per minute in the ring.

The boxer spelled it all out for Showtime's "All Access: Mayweather v. McGregor" -- explaining why no other professional athlete in the world is more bankable.

"I mean, am I the highest-paid athlete out there? And just coming back? We not talking about no contract. We not talking about no contract for no 4 years, or no contract for no 5 years. I can do it in 36 minutes. $300 (million) or better. In 36 minutes."

Not a bad deal.

As for Conor, the UFC fighter is expecting to rake in around $100 mil for the August 26 superfight -- but it'll be largest payday an MMA fighter has ever made ... so he's not complaining either.

Tyron Woodley says Georges St-Pierre is ducking him because he "doesn't want to come in and take the concussion" -- in other words, "HE'S SCARED."

Woodley called out GSP after his UFC 214 title defense against Demian Maia ... but Dana White shot the fight down, saying St-Pierre will face Michael Bisping instead.

Tyron says the politics have nothing to do with it -- it comes down to GSP being too afraid to get in the Octagon with TW because he's afraid of getting hurt.

Woodley says St-Pierre wants guys like Conor McGregor, Nick Diaz, and Bisping 'cause they can't deliver the same kind of blunt force trauma he can.

Seems the war between Tyron Woodley and Dana White has cooled off ... with the UFC president telling TMZ Sports they finally talked things out after blasting each other in the media.

It all started after UFC 214 -- White ripped Tyron's performance against Demian Maia. Woodley fired back demanding a public apology from White or else he would "start leaking some sh*t that people don't want to be out in the wind."

We reached out to White to see where things stand and he told us, "Woodley and I talked and he said he was just pissed and upset and didn't mean it."

We also spoke with Tyron who says, "We good."