MMA

UFC honcho Dana White ain't exactly slamming the door shut on Greg Hardy -- telling TMZ Sports there IS a chance the ex-NFL star could fight in the octagon one day ... despite his issues in the past.

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

He later signed with the Dallas Cowboys -- but after a less than stellar season, they cut ties and he wasn't able to catch on with another NFL team.

Hardy pivoted to MMA and has been training with American Top Team. His first amateur fight is Nov. 4 -- and he told TMZ Sports his ultimate goal is to become a UFC champ.

So, when we saw Dana out in NYC ... we asked if he would ever consider working with Hardy and he didn't exactly say no.

Daniel Cormier wants ANOTHER crack at Jon Jones -- and he's calling for mercy when it comes to JJ's suspension so he can get another shot at his rival before he's too old.

Cormier is 38 -- and that's why he hopes USADA doesn't hit Jones with the maximum 4-year suspension for testing positive for 'roids at UFC 214.

"I would love for him to get another 1-year suspension -- then we can fight again."

G.O.A.T. recognize G.O.A.T.

Kobe Bryant just praised the hell out of Conor McGregor -- saying the UFC fighter is an absolute "animal" ... who's a "genius" in the octagon.

The Mamba was in NYC to promote his Body Armor sports drink at an event that included UFC stars like Cody Garbrandt, Dana White and Francis Ngannou ... when the topic turned to Conor.

"Conor's an animal, bro," Kobe said ... "I think his personality, I think his temperament, I think his style, on top of the genius nature in which he fights gives him a great opportunity to really propel the league to another level."

"I love everything about Conor."

Supermodel Adriana Lima could beat up Arianny Celeste in a real MMA fight.

For real.

At least according to UFC superstar Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Turns out, Joanna -- who's fighting Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 on Saturday -- is good friends with the Victoria's Secret model -- and notes that Lima has been doing hardcore boxing workouts for years and can REALLY throw hands.

And when a UFC champ like JJ gushes about someone's work ethic in the gym, you gotta respect that.

Joanna says Lima will likely never take a real fight because she makes too much money off her face -- but if she ever did get in the ring, she could definitely hold her own.

Dana White says he's trying to lock Conor McGregor in for his UFC return ... THIS YEAR ... telling TMZ Sports both sides are trying to make it work.

The UFC honcho was out in NYC promoting UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden when we asked about the return of the biggest MMA star on the planet.

Dana says his camp is talking with Conor and they want to make a fight before Dec. 31 -- which would be AWESOME.

What's not awesome ... Conor used a homophobic slur during a UFC event last month -- referring to a fighter as the homophobic F-word.

Conor has since apologized -- and White told us the use of the word is a problem in his sport that he wants to address and correct, ASAP.

Ex-NFL star Greg Hardy says he's going for it all in his MMA career ... telling TMZ Sports his ultimate goal is to be in the UFC, and he thinks he can be the heavyweight champ.

Hardy, who's making his amateur debut this weekend, has been training for over a year at American Top Team in Florida ... the same gym where bad asses like Tyron Woodley, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Amanda Nunes train.

You know his past -- Hardy was one of the best players in the NFL before his domestic violence case made him persona non grata in the league. Despite the fact he's a grappling newbie, Hardy says he wants it all.

"Honestly I would like to be in the UFC, and be able to obtain UFC gold."

There are some -- including FOX Sports' Jay Glazer -- who says Hardy's past should keep him out of the Octagon, but Hardy's plugging ahead, preparing for his first fight November 4 at Rise of a Warrior 21 against Joe Hawkins.

"I want to be champion of everything I can be. The world champion, best heavyweight."

He pop and locked during his brawl with Dominick Cruz -- but now UFC champ Cody Garbrandt says he's upping his dance game for UFC 217 ... with some Michael Jackson moves!

To get straight to the point ... Garbrandt says T.J. Dillashaw is a "piece of sh*t" -- and he wants to humiliate the guy in the worst way possible.

"If he gives me the chance to dance on him, I'm gonna make him act like a fool too," Garbrandt says.

If you need a reminder about Garbrandt's dance fighting skills -- check out the video below ... and imagine Cody MOONWALKING after landing a shot on Dillashaw.

Or a crotch grab? Or the Thriller dance? Could be very entertaining ...

T.J. Dillashaw is firing back at Cody Garbrandt for all the snake emojis he's hit him with ... saying his UFC rival should have a prostitute emoji 'cause Urijah Faber's his pimp!!

"Urijah's more his daddy (than his coach/teammate)," T.J. said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show. "He tells him what to do and how to feel ... he's just on his leash and he listens to him."

Garbrandt's been trashing Dillashaw ever since he left him and Faber's MMA team 2 years ago -- droppin' snake-mojis all over social media.

So, we asked T.J. what emoji he would give Cody -- and he went with a working girl ... so long as it came with a pimp emoji for Faber.

Ronda Rousey still loves fighting ... but she doesn't have to break arms to be in the scene.

The semi-retired UFC mega-star gave us the low-down on her latest project -- an executive producer gig for the docuseries "Why We Fight."

Rousey told TMZ Sports it's basically a look inside the mind of a mixed martial artist ... and what pushes people like herself to punch face for a living.

"It's not a normal profession or thing to do, but there's always something that drives you towards it and everyone always has their own story."

FYI, Ronda's also keeping busy in the gaming world (Assassin's Creed is her jam) ... and it's looking like she's about to jump ship to the WWE.

Floyd Mayweather "obviously" threw several rounds during the Conor McGregor fight in a "marvelous scam" to set up a rematch ... so says Hall of Fame boxing commentator Jim Lampley.

Lampley -- who's been covering the sport for 3 decades -- UNLEASHES on Mayweather as a scam artist whose essentially praying on "suckers."

But the biggest allegation ... Lampley tells TMZ Sports he's CONVINCED Mayweather intentionally tanked at least 3 rounds in the Conor fight and then carried McGregor to the 10th for show.

And anyone who thinks Mayweather is REALLY going to retire after pulling off that stunt is dead wrong.

"Why should he retire? He created a marvelous scam with this whole thing," Lampley said.

"He allowed Conor to quote 'win' 3 rounds so that the whole global MMA wish community could have something to latch on to. I think there's a decent chance there's enough suckers out there Floyd could maybe make another $150 million, why not?"

"It's all a set up."

UFC star Derrick Lewis says an Astros World Series championship would be HUGE for Houston ... 'cause it's exactly the boost his city needs after Hurricane Harvey.

"We need the money," Lewis told TMZ Sports. "All the bars and the sports stores ... hopefully we continue doing great things and they'll dish it back out to the city."

He would know -- in the weeks after the hurricane hit, "The Black Beast" went full Dark Knight, abandoning fight camp to rescue flood victims in H-Town.

Derrick says he ain't too concerned about this series, though -- 'cause the Dodgers won't take A SINGLE GAME from the 'Stros!

"I believe we'll sweep 'em, 4-0 ... mark my words."

Dodger fans obviously see the series going very differently ... including Blue Crew lifer Danny Trejo, who told us why it's L.A.'s year.

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?!