MMA

UFC rising star Sage Northcutt ain't afraid of no man ... even if that man is a heavyweight MONSTER that outweighs him by about 100 pounds.

Irish bodybuilder Blessing Awodibu posted a video of his grappling match with Super Sage ... which went down in September during Northcutt's trip to Shanghai.

Blessing looked good from the jump, but Sage got the best of the big man as the match went on.

Awodibu was a great sport -- saying the ring-work was "fun as f**k" and even calling Sage "a gentle giant."

Nothing about that looked gentle.

UFC fighter Lyman Good claims his multi-vitamin was tainted with an illegal steroid, causing him to fail a drug test -- and now he's suing the vitamin companies allegedly responsible for his dirty test.

TMZ Sports has obtained the lawsuit filed in New York ... in which Good claims he went to a Vitamin Shoppe store before his fight at UFC 205 and purchased Anavite, a multi-vitamin.

Good claims he failed his USADA drug test -- which came up positive for 1-andro ... an illegal anabolic steroid.

Good says he turned over all of his supplements to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for further testing and it showed Anavite secretly contained 1-andro ... despite the fact it was not advertised or properly mentioned on the label.

In his suit, Good claims the manufacturer -- Gaspari Nutrition -- intentionally added the steroids in order to "increase sales in the competitive dietary supplements industry."

Good is suing Gaspari and The Vitamin Shoppe (among others), claiming the store didn't honor its promise to "enforce strict quality assurance." He's seeking unspecified damages.

FYI, Good was ultimately hit with a 6-month ban for his positive drug test -- and he claims the whole ordeal has damaged his career.

A company spokesperson for The Vitamin Shoppe says, "It has come to our attention that the multivitamin, Anavite, by Gaspari Nutrition, has been alleged to contain an undisclosed ingredient."

"We take these issues very seriously and as a precautionary measure, we are removing this supplement from our stores and our website while we review this matter. Our customers' safety is our priority and we are committed to providing quality products they can trust."

We reached out to Gaspari, but they didn't have a comment.

UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson says size actually doesn't matter ... telling TMZ Sports he thinks he could actually beat Brock Lesnar, and he has a plan on how to get it done.

FYI -- DJ is 5'3", 125 lbs ... Lesnar is a damn monster at 6'3", 265 lbs, but when Johnson stopped by the "TMZ Sports" TV show, he laid out a plan of how he could chop the giant down and take him out.

Before you scoff, remember this man does the impossible, including an insane MID-AIR armbar that beat Ray Borg at UFC 216 ... something that we've never ever seen before!

We'll let Demetrious explain his plan of attack (it's pretty impressive and terrifying) and you can judge for yourself whether or not he could pull it off.

Greg Hardy's first MMA opponent has a message for the former NFL star ...

I'M GETTIN' THE W, SON!!

FYI, Greg's fight is on Nov. 4 at Rise of a Warrior 21 ... and we got the man who's gonna meet him in the cage -- Joe "The Legend" Hawkins -- to give us the low-down on their scrap.

Joe's got nothing but respect for Hardy ... but told TMZ Sports he ain't gonna take it easy on him.

"I’m gonna be incredible," Hawkins said. "I see the referee raising my hand."

Joe's also inviting Dana White to grab a ringside seat ... 'cause his goal is to make it to the UFC one day.

First, he's gotta beat Hardy ... who's also been training his ass off in camp.

How does the Conor McGregor clan get down with the Lord?

Fire dancers, fireworks and bass-thumpin' live music ... in celebration of Conor Jr.'s christening over the weekend.

It all went down at Luttrellstown Castle in Dublin ... where McGregor, family and friends took in some serious pyro at the after-party.

Conor Sr. was all smiles for his 5-month-old ... less than 2 months after his insane payday for boxing Floyd Mayweather.

If this is all for a christening ... can you imagine this kid's 1st birthday party?!

Georges St-Pierre UNLOADED on Michael Bisping in a backstage confrontation today ... warning the champ to never put his hands on him again after their UFC 217 media event in Toronto.

"Don't touch me, man! Don't touch me. I'm not afraid of you. I don't give a damn."

GSP is basically the nicest guy ever ... so what happened??

Well, at the end of their news conference, Bisping dangled his finger on Georges' chin when they faced off ... and GSP didn't like that at all, shoving Mike off him.

Bisping told St-Pierre to "keep your hands to yourself" when they saw each other in the back ... and that clearly set him off.

Got a feeling this won't be the last time these 2 go at it.

Dana White says he pulled Mark Hunt from next month's "UFC Sydney" card because "sometimes you gotta protect these guys from themselves."

White didn't specifically say the move was due to the article Hunt penned for the Player's Voice -- where he said he's been experiencing memory loss and slurred speech -- but it seems obvious that the article was the trigger point.

Hunt has been VERY upset about the move and trashed Dana on social media -- calling him a "piece of sh*t motherf*cker" and a "bald headed pr*ck."

Ronda Rousey still won't officially say she's headed to WWE ... but she sure made it seem like something's cookin' when we got her and hubby Travis Browne leaving LAX.

When our guy tried to get it outta her, Ronda came back with -- "If you were a real fan, would you really wanna know?"

Before adding that, "I enjoy it more that way, and I don't wanna ruin anything."

Interesting ... especially 'cause WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon recently confirmed Rousey's offer is still on the table ... and the UFC mega-star was in a promo with Ric Flair's daughter, Charlotte, just last month.

Tony Ferguson wasn't about to let a little infectious disease stop him from getting the W ... telling TMZ Sports he actually TARGETED the nasty staph infection on Kevin Lee's chest at UFC 216.

"I wasn't sure what it was -- something protruding from his chest," Tony said.

So, logically ... "I was like, 'Well sh*t, just aim for that sh*t.'"

Don't get it twisted -- T-Ferg told us he was super sketched out once Lee confirmed it was staph ... and has taken about 50 showers since the fight.

Bottom line -- staph is disgusting ... and Tony's a savage.

Demetrious Johnson says Ray Borg's lucky he tapped out when he did at UFC 216 ... 'cause he was SECONDS away from breaking the dude's arm in two!!!

After catching Borg in that EPIC flying armbar, the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show asked DJ if he cut Borg a break by not snapping the limb ... out of professional courtesy.

But if you thought DJ was being merciful, think again.

"No, no, no -- I was trying to break it the whole entire time," Johnson said ... "I'm breaking your arm if I get the chance."

DJ says Borg tapped right before he could get the arm in perfect fracture position.

The good news -- "I didn't hear any popping, so he should be fine."

Gotta watch the entire interview tonight on FS1 -- we also talked to DJ's wife about why she was "nervous as hell" going into the fight. It's great stuff.

Hey, WWE -- want a bigger, scarier version of Ronda Rousey?

Look no further ... 'cause women's MMA giant Gabi Garcia says she's down to step inside the squared circle!

"I love the show, I love watching WWE, so why not?" Gabi told us at LAX.

Don't get it twisted -- the Brazilian says she's not even close to being done fighting ... but tells TMZ Sports pro wrestling is a definite possibility if Vince McMahon's interested.

He should be. Garcia's got the skill -- she's a 10-time jiu-jitsu world champ -- and she's FOR SURE got the size at 6' 2'', 200-plus pounds.

But for now, she's focused on finding her next opponent.

Girl, guy ... doesn't matter to Gabi.

Michael Bisping's teeth have taken a real beating during his 13-year MMA career -- with serious damage to 20 of his chompers -- but now he's renovating his entire mouth.

TMZ Sports was with The Count as he hit up the prestigious Roxbury Institute in Bev Hills where Dr. Thomas Connelly was about to begin reconstruction on Bisping's busted up grill.

Connelly -- who's worked on some of the biggest stars in Hollywood -- says Bisping needed major work that could run up to $80,000 at some of the higher priced dentists in town.

Good news for Mike ... Connelly says Bisping's mouth will be good as new in a week and there is NO concern that the procedure will affect his preparation to fight Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 in Nov.

Smile!

Tyron Woodley is friends with Andre Ward ... but the UFC champ says he's down to put that aside to scrap with the boxing superstar -- if the price is right.

"I'd honestly rather train with Andre Ward ... "BUT if it's an opportunity to make money, I can't see Andre or myself turning it down," Woodley told TMZ Sports.

Tyron doesn't seem to be hurtin' in the wallet these days -- he flashed us a sample out on Rodeo Drive -- but the goal is clearly that Conor McGregor money.

Chuck Liddell's got a message for all the big-name boxers trying to transition to MMA ...

DON'T DO IT -- unless you wanna embarrass yourself.

"Guys coming from boxing -- stay there," Chuck told TMZ Sports ... when we spoke to the UFC legend about Andre Berto trying to take his talents inside the Octagon.

The Iceman ain't throwin' shade at Berto ... he's just keepin' it real on guys pulling a reverse Conor McGregor ... cause it's A LOT harder to go from boxing to MMA.

If Conor fought Floyd Mayweather in a non-boxing match, for example ...

"Floyd wouldn't have made it out of 1 round -- not kickboxing, not MMA, not a street fight -- not 1 round," Liddell said.

Chuck did have an important piece of advice for boxers trying to make the switch ... but he still thinks it's a bad idea.

Sorry, Andre.

MMA fighter Sergio Da Silva -- who fought at "Bellator 180: Sonnen vs. Silva" in June -- was arrested Thursday for allegedly robbing a bank in Queens, NY ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the 31-year-old is accused of single-handedly busting into a Citibank in Queens on August 24th and making off with thousands of dollars in cash.

One source tells us the loot is estimated at around $50,000.

We're told cops believe it was Da Silva who put on a ski mask and jumped over a glass counter in the teller area during the incident. He allegedly claimed to have had a gun and said he would shoot people.

We're told cops were able to identify Da Silva by his fingerprints at the scene -- and tracked him down and arrested him Thursday morning. He lives right around the corner from the bank (same street).

Conor McGregor is toasting whiskey to Floyd Mayweather -- saying he's a solid fighter who won their match "hands down."

Conor also says he thinks Floyd could hold his own in an MMA cage.

It's all part of a long statement Conor issued on the fight on Wednesday night, which also explained why he ran out of gas in the 10th round.

"Getting to 12 rounds alone in practice was always the challenge in this camp," Conor admitted.

"We started slowly getting to the 12 and decreasing the stress in the rounds the closer it got to 12. I think for the time we had, 10 weeks in camp, it had to be done this way."

"If I began with a loaded 12 rounds under much stress I would have only hit a brick wall and lost progress as a result and potentially not made the fight. A little more time and we could have made the 12 cleanly, while under more stress, and made it thru the later rounds in the actual fight."

As for Floyd's fighting skills, Conor says he has a new respect for The Best Ever.

"Congrats to Floyd on a well fought match. Very experienced and methodical in his work."

"His experience, his patience and his endurance won him this fight hands down. I always told him he was not a fighter but a boxer. But sharing the ring with him he is certainly a solid fighter."

"Strong in the clinch. Great understanding of frames and head position. He has some very strong tools he could bring into an MMA game for sure."

"Here is a toast of whiskey to everyone involved in this event and everyone who enjoyed it!"