MMA

UFC superstar Cris Cyborg is a new woman -- she completed a court ordered anger management course stemming from her battery case with another UFC fighter ... and now she's in the clear!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Cyborg had cut a plea deal with prosecutors stemming from a May 2017 altercation with UFC fighter Angela Magana at a fighter retreat in Vegas.

Cyborg had been cited for battery for allegedly punching Magana in the face -- and faced up to 6 months in jail.

She initially pled not guilty --- but later accepted a deal in which she agreed to complete an "impulse control program" and stay out of trouble for 6 months.

Had she failed to hold up her end of the bargain, the judge could have locked her up for 45 days.

Fortunately, it won't come to that ... court records show Cyborg completed all of the terms, so the charge has been dismissed and the case is now closed.

If you're wondering what an impulse control program is ... it "teaches offenders to be accountable for their actions and provides participants with positive alternatives to inappropriate and impulsive behavior."

What do you give a UFC legend who just whooped Michael Bisping's ass? A HUGE painting that took 40 hours to finish.

18-year-old Shane Birenbaum -- a big GSP fan who's from Canada -- happened to run into St-Pierre while on vacay in Florida.

GSP and Shane chopped it up ... and the artist showed some of his work to the legendary UFC fighter.

St-Pierre was a fan ... and asked Birenbaum to create a piece of his own. The only instructions ... something dope.

Shane worked off of a photograph taken right before GSP put the hurt on Bisping.

We talked to Shane, who told us he delivered the art -- which took him around 40 hours to finish -- to GSP a few days after his birthday ... a belated bday gift.

It's unclear exactly how much dough GSP dropped ... but Shane says he'd normally charge between $2K and $3K for a similar piece.

GSP told Shane the painting will live at Tristar gym -- where St-Pierre trains -- 'cause it's too dope to hang on a living room wall.

Conor McGregor made a mistake when he attacked a UFC bus -- but it's not like he beat his wife, so fans should give him another chance ... so says MMA legend Bas Rutten.

"There's guys who beat up their wives. Guys who beat up their women," Rutten tells TMZ Sports ... "I think that's way worse, to me, than something like [the bus attack]."

A lot of people are still pissed at Conor for the bus attack in Brooklyn that injured UFC staffers and fighters ... but Rutten says, "We all did things like that."

"I mean, it's Conor McGregor ... He did a lot of good. He got caught up in the moment. Let him figure it out."

"Of course, he's gonna have to pay. He's gonna have to go to court and make everything right," Rutten says ... but Bas is confident Conor will survive that, too.

Tainted meat scandal be damned ... the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox says when it comes to boxing, Canelo Alvarez is the best in the world!

Well, what he really said was, "El mejor del mundo" ... yes, we're bilingual. You're welcome.

FYI, Fox was the Mexican Prez from 2000 to 2006 ... we didn't know he was a boxing fan.

Of course, the issue with Canelo ... dude tested positive for PEDs and backed out of the May 5 Gennady Golovkin rematch.

Alvarez blamed tainted Mexican beef for the positive test and insisted he never intentionally cheated.

Chuck Liddell already has his fight strategy for his 3rd scrap with Tito Ortiz -- "I'm gonna knock his head off."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the 48-year-old MMA legend is coming out of retirement to fight on a MMA card promoted by Oscar De La Hoya -- and can't wait to get back in the cage with his old rival.

"When it's all over with, it's gonna be 3-0," Liddell said ... bragging about the 2 wins he already racked up over Ortiz during their fights back in the mid-2000s.

"He's trying to convince himself he can beat me -- it ain't gonna happen," the Ice Man told us outside a launch party for Humbyl crptocurrency in West Hollywood Monday night.

Ortiz sees the fight going down in a different way ... just last week Tito says he plans to make a couple million dollars "kicking Chuck Liddell's ass."

Bellator stars Paul Daley and Michael "Venom" Page don't see eye to eye (they freakin' hate each other) ... and are rumored to be fighting in the near future.

Page -- 12 and 0 as a pro -- has a fight at Bellator 200 this weekend ... so TMZ Sports asked Daley -- a veteran fighter who's went into battle with guys like Tyron Woodley and Nick Diaz -- to send his rival a message ahead of the fight.

"Shit, I ain't got too much to say to him, because he's got to focus on the fight this weekend," Daley told us ... "Mike is gonna win that fight, and he should win it convincingly."

"If he struggles with Richols, then really, for his family's sake, he shouldn't sign the contract with me. That's my message with him."

Here's where it gets really good.

Paige VanZant tells TMZ Sports ... the boob job rumors are true -- and it's really no big deal.

The UFC star's chest has been the topic of some Internet debate recently ... even Michael Bisping weighed in on the issue on a podcast.

Now, Paige wants to set the record straight once and for all ... telling us, "Yep, I did get a boob job."

She continued, "I'm a girl and always wanted my own boobs. They never came so I bought them."

So, how will the new additions affect her day job? They really shouldn't ...

However, there was a fighter, Pearl Gonzalez, who was temporarily stopped from competing in New York in 2017 because of breast implants ... but the NY State Athletic Commission later cleared her to fight.

Rampage Jackson is putting an end to rumors he's headed to an MMA fight with 50 Cent -- telling TMZ Sports there's no way in hell Fiddy ever REALLY gets in a cage with him.

50 started trash talking Rampage earlier this month -- saying he's the superior "Jackson" and would wreck the former UFC champ if they ever stepped in a cage.

The rapper fueled speculation that the two were working on a deal when he posted a photo with Bellator president Scott Coker.

So, when we saw Rampage at LAX, we had to ask ... and Jackson told us straight-up he's INCREDIBLY ANNOYED by all the fight talk ... 'cause it's never happening!

"50 probably drinking too much of that champagne that he got," Rampage said ... "Who actually think 50 trying to fight?

"I just don't feel like 50 trying to step in no cage with me ... he ain't no fighter."

"I ain't trying to challenge him to no rap battles."

Rampage added ... "It's annoying as f*ck."

Tito Ortiz says he's 100% committed to making Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell III happen ... and when it does "it's gonna be the hugest fight in MMA history."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Liddell and Oscar De La Hoya told us they were working on finalizing a deal for the MMA legend to make his return to the cage ... and the desired opponent? Tito.

Ortiz and Liddell have history ... Chuck beat Tito in 2004 and 2006 -- and the guys have been rivals since.

Tito says the match -- "the fight that all the fans want to see" -- is all but set, with a target date of October or November of 2018.

For the people saying 48-year-old Liddell and 43-year-old Tito Ortiz are old and washed up?

"I feel healthy," Ortiz told us, "I'm the million dollar man. Let's make a couple more million kicking Chuck Liddell's ass."

How freakin' bad does UFC star Kamaru Usman HATE Colby Covington?

"If I see this beady-eyed, snake-head-lookin' dude in any room, my heart rate goes up. I just want to punch a hole through his head."

Yeah, that bad.

We talked to Usman -- the 7th ranked welterweight in the world -- the day before his headlining UFC Fight Night against Demian Maia in Chile.

Kamaru says the whole division knows he's the best fighter -- even champ Tyron Woodley -- but there's only 1 guy who gets his blood boiling.

Covington.

The beef goes back ... Usman once told us C.C. had "p***y-itis," and they almost came to blows before UFC 223.

So, if Usman leaves the Octagon with a W Saturday ... you know who's next up on the wish list -- and if it goes according to plan, there will be blood.

"I just want to punch a hole through his head."

He just turned 1 ... but Conor McGregor Jr. already has his own house!!

Yeah, it's a bouncy house ... but it's dope and it's all set up at the UFC fighter's massive Ireland estate.

Conor Sr. is getting in some quality father-son time before he goes back to fighting ... and it's pretty cute. He even pushes the kid on a swing and CJ loves it.

It's a different side of Conor ... much different than the raging maniac we saw in Brooklyn, when he went berserk on a UFC bus and injured several people.

Makes you wonder if Conor ... a master P.R. guy ... is using social media to rehab his image, especially with criminal charges still looming in NY.

If he does avoid jail time -- next up is likely a date with Khabib Nurmagomedov ... one of the most violent men on the planet.

'Ultimate Fighter' star Tyler Diamond is giving the blow-by-blow about the violent incident at an MMA event where Nate Diaz slapped him in the face ... and it's nuts.

Diamond -- an undefeated fighter who's killing it on 'TUF' -- says he was at a Combate Americas event in Sacramento on Friday when he saw Nate get into it with his pal, Clay Guida.

Diamond says he got in the middle of the ruckus to try and break it up ... but Nate reached out and slapped him in the face before another guy in Diaz's crew followed up with a punch.

"I get punched from my left side by some big fat dude who don't pack no heat -- I would love to fight that guy, actually."

Diamond says a melee ensued but Nate's crew quickly realized they were outnumbered and retreated.

Now, the Sacramento Sheriff's Dept. says they took reports for a possible misdemeanor battery and will investigate the incident.

Diamond says he thinks Nate's a bitch -- but he doesn't want to prosecute.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... since there were no major injuries, the incident isn't really a high priority for cops.

Nate's camp had no comment.

Chuck Liddell is adamant he'd knock out Jon Jones if they fought during his prime ... but warns the UFC star that he's "still dangerous."

The Ice Man is fired up about his MMA comeback ... but says it's not a 1-fight situation -- he aiming to fight Jon Jones after he tears through Tito Ortiz.

"I gotta have high goals about my comeback," Liddell told Adam Glyn.

"I'm not wasting my time getting in shape just to beat up on someone I've beat up twice."

Jones went after Liddell on Twitter this week saying, "Old Chuck has been calling me out for years! I get it, I hold pretty much every record in the division."

"I normally try to respect my elders but if you want it come get it. Id literally fly you out to Albuquerque this weekend."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the 48-year-old UFC Hall of Famer hooked up with Oscar De La Hoya's new MMA promotion to fight Tito for a 3rd time. They're still working on the date.

As we previously reported, Chuck has been training like a maniac for years -- and we're told he's in great shape.

UFC fighter Raquel Pennington says she would have been "devastated" if her corner would have thrown in the towel during UFC 224 ... saying, "I'm glad they didn't let me quit."

Pennington's corner has been under fire for not throwing in the towel when she told them she had nothing left after the 4th round of her fight with Amanda Nunes.

Raquel says her corner team has been beating themselves up for talking her into fighting in the 5th round ... but she insists they only did what SHE wanted them to do.

"If I truly wanted out of there, I could have turned around [to the ref] and waved out of the fight," Pennington says.

In fact, she says her coach did give her the motivation she needed to get back out there ... and does NOT feel like her team ever put her in real danger.

Ex-UFC star Tim Kennedy said the reason he decided to get waterboarded was to show the world, "We're not a bunch of spineless cowards" ... and insists it didn't even hurt.

Kennedy -- a U.S. Army Special Forces sniper -- let his friends waterboard him for about 45 minutes over the weekend ... and live streamed it to show the world why it shouldn't be considered torture.

"It feels like you're drowning. It feels like it, but you're not," Kennedy tells TMZ Sports.

"Because the water is going down in the back of your eyes, up your nose, it's pooling in the back of your throat. You’re trying to hold your breath, but all that water is pounding at the back of your throat, so you can't hold your breath."

"It's uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel good. It's not like, 'Let's go get a spa treatment.' A little face massage. It's an uncomfortable thing. But, it's a very effective thing."

Kennedy is adamant waterboarding should NOT be considered torture -- and explained his point in graphic detail.

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is PRAISING Raquel Pennington's corner for talking her out of quitting after the 4th round at UFC 224 ... saying Raquel would live to regret it if she did.

Pennington was getting pummeled by Amanda Nunes during the championship fight Saturday night -- and told her corner, "I'm done. I want to be done."

Her coaches talked her out of quitting and they've been catching hell ever since ... with many critics saying they failed in their duty to protect Pennington's health since she lost in the 5th round anyway.

But, Faber is not one of those critics ... saying the corner did exactly what they were supposed to do -- motivated her to take advantage of her championship opportunity.

Plus, Faber points out ... "If she really wanted out of the fight, she could have told the ref."

Urijah says he would hope his corner would do the same exact thing if he was in Raquel's position -- because quitting on the stool is a decision fighters regret for the rest of their lives.