MMA

Jake Paul says he's willing to get inside the Octagon against Jorge Masvidal for a UFC fight -- but first, he wants Dana White to do a few things.

The YouTuber just laid out his terms and conditions for a potential bout against Gamebred ... saying he wants UFC fighters to get what he feels they deserve.

In a public post to the UFC boss, Jake wrote ... "Happy new year @danawhite. Here is a real challenge for you… I will immediately retire from boxing and fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if you agree to (the following)."

You can read JP's letter for yourself, but to summarize -- he's asking fighters get a $50k minimum payout fight ... as well as more of the MMA giant's yearly earnings.

Jake claims UFC generated about a billion dollars in 2021 alone -- so essentially, he's saying $500 mil should be earmarked and divvied up among the talent themselves.

There's more ... Jake wants Dana to put a focus on healthcare for fighters.

If Dana implements these asks by March 31, JP says he'll retire from boxing and come on over for a 1-fight deal with JM.

As you may know, there's been a lot of talk about a would-be fight between these two -- with Masvidal himself stoking the flames and issuing a challenge, with certain caveats.

Ball's in Dana's court now!

Francis Ngannou is known for his striking and downright scary power ... and now the UFC champ tells TMZ Sports he'd like to box a top heavyweight like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder.

We talked to the 35-year-old, 16-3 (12 KO's) UFC star ... and asked him if he still had designs on hopping to the boxing ring.

"It's always been down the line. This is something I'm not taking my eyes off of. It's gonna happen, either way. Even if, when the UFC and I finalize a deal, the boxing part has to be into it because I can't see myself retire without boxing," Francis says.

FYI, Francis has 1 fight left on his deal with Dana White's organization ... a title defense against interim champ, Ciryl Gane.

But, Ngannou isn't looking to box a tomato can ... he literally is going straight to the top for an opponent.

"Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder. I would like to test myself to that level," Francis told us.

"It's not the same sport, although I'm the champion, I'm in the top in this division. At the end of the day, it's just about like trained hands, trained punches, having a good delivery system to produce bombs and I'm sure that if I deliver my own punch, it's pretty good, I can make some damage."

Of course, Fury -- the top heavyweight boxer in the world -- recently beat fellow great Wilder in one of the best heavyweight fights of all time.

Fury is likely to fight Dillian Whyte early next year. Wilder's next move is currently unknown. But, a Ngannou fight vs. either man would obviously be a huge event.

Former MMA fighter David Koenig's remains were found in a wooded area of Missouri last week, roughly two years after he went missing ... cops announced on Monday.

According to the Branson Police Department, a man searching for deer antlers on Dec. 22 discovered the skeletal remains ... and an ensuing investigation revealed they belonged to Koenig.

The ex-mixed martial artist had been reported missing back in early 2020 -- after his family and friends say he disappeared from a Peach Tree Inn in Branson and later sent disturbing messages asking for help.

Authorities say they searched for Koenig for "thousands of hours" following his disappearance.

Investigators said Monday Koenig's remains showed no signs of trauma ... adding that it appeared there was no "foul play" involved in his death.

"Nobody killed Dave. Nobody!" Koenig's mother, Tracy, wrote on social media on Monday. "He left the Peachtree on foot and never made it home."

She added, "Why he was in distress, and why he walked through the deep woods…..we most likely will never know. But he is GONE."

Koenig was 25 years old at the time of his disappearance.

Belal Muhammad wants to fulfill a dream he's had for a literal decade ... punching Colby Covington in the face!!

TMZ Sports talked to the 33-year-old fighter after his unanimous decision victory over perennial title contender, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson on Saturday ... and we asked Belal who he'd fight if the 170 lb. champ, Kamaru Usman wasn't an option.

"I always wanted to hit Colby in the face," Muhammad told us.

The 20-3 fighter continued ... "I've been calling for this fight for like 10 years now. Even before he was higher up there, before he was in the rankings, before he was all this. I just dislike that guy, hated that guy. Always wanted to punch him in the face."

33-year-old Covington is coming off a loss to Usman ... a rematch of their December 2019 fight. Both fights were exciting/action-packed ... but Kamaru won both.

Still, Chaos is the #1 ranked contender ... and eventually wants to get another shot at the title.

What if Belal doesn't get Kamaru or Colby?

Well, Muhammad also says he's down to scrap with Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal ... two guys with which he has some history.

Belal and Leon fought in March 2021 ... but the fight was ruled a no-contest after Edwards inadvertently poked Muhammad in the eye.

As for Masvidal ... Belal has issues with Jorge's management company, First Round Management, claiming he fired them back in the day, and now there's bad blood.

Let's do math, combat sports math with Nate Diaz's teammate and close friend, fighter Chris Avila ... who explains to TMZ Sports why he'll beat Tommy Fury, IF Tyson's younger bro accepts a fight.

We talked to 28-year-old Avila in Tampa after he picked up a unanimous decision win over Anthony Taylor ... and he told us he wants Fury next and believes he has an advantage.

Why? Because they both faced Taylor ... and Avila tells us Fury struggled with a guy he easily handled.

"Tommy Fury got beat up by the guy I beat tonight which is funny. He obviously won but he did get beat up in that fight. It's light work. It's just another fight, Tommy Fury, don't be scared. You're a bitch and so is AJ McKee."

Fury did beat AT ... but Chris says he struggled more than he did in the fight.

Now, if the Fury fight doesn't happen ... Chris says he wants to box Bellator champ AJ McKee.

Avila and McKee's friends are beefin' ... and actually got into a mini brawl at an event the day before the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley fight.

"Although I fought Anthony, whatever his name is, he's a no-name. Don't ever bring up his name with my name again because he's a nobody," Chris says.

"But even though his boy, his teammate is AJ McKee, Bellator champ, he's next! He's next. He can come get inside the ring with me as long as it's not a bitch ass and he ain't scared. Bring it on!"

And Avila believes he'll win, easily ... 'cause "Size, experience, everything. Bellator f*****g spoon-fed that lil' bitch. He's a bitch."

Nate Diaz also made a cameo ... and addressed Jake Paul's callout of him after he knocked out Woodley.

"I was impressed by Jake Paul. I didn't see that coming. I was sure that Tyron Woodley was gonna win this fight, you know? But you gotta give it to Jake Paul. He made a statement -- a huge statement and he proved that he puts his money where his mouth is."

That's arguably the baddest man on the planet, UFC heavyweight champion and knockout machine, Francis Ngannou saying that even he was very impressed with the Problem Child.

Like many people, Ngannou expected 39-year-old Woodley -- with the experience of their summer fight under his belt -- to handle 24-year-old Paul with relative ease.

However, that didn't happen ... 'cause Paul knocked T-Wood -- the former dominant UFC welterweight champ -- out cold in the 6th round of their highly anticipated rematch Saturday night in Tampa, landing a huge power punch that flatlined the future UFC Hall of Famer.

Francis -- who's won 12 of his 16 pro MMA fights by KO -- says this should be a lesson to anyone who doesn't take 6-0 Jake Paul seriously ... you really should, or wind up fast asleep on the canvas.

"[Jake's] taking himself very seriously. You better take him seriously because he proved it."

We also talked to the HW champ about his upcoming UFC 270 fight with interim champ, Ciryl Gane ... a fight in which Ngannou is actually the underdog.

But, Francis flat out says he doesn't care what Vegas thinks ... and when January 22 rolls around, he plans on extending his win streak to 6!

Jake Paul is channeling his inner Godfather and making Jorge Masvidal an offer he can't refuse ... saying he will shell out $5 MILLION to get the UFC fighter to be his next opponent.

Fresh off his knockout win over Tyron Woodley, the Problem Child announced the offer on his brother Logan's "Impaulsive" podcast on Tuesday ... saying he's not all talk and REALLY wants to scrap.

Jake says Masvidal keeps shutting him down for 2 reasons -- he only fights the best, or he fights for the money ... so now, Paul is giving him the latter.

And, a LOT of it.

"Masvidal, I got an offer for you right now -- $5 million guarantee plus percentage of Pay-Per-View," Jake said. "Let's make it happen."

Remember, Jake called out Gamebred and Nate Diaz right after the win ... calling them "bitches" in the process.

The big obstacle, though, is that both guys are under contract with UFC ... and would need permission to take a fight outside the promotion.

He says he's down to take either UFC star in the ring ... calling it "light work."

"Diaz isn't good," Jake added. "Look at their records! Numbers don't f***ing lie, bro. I'm undefeated. Diaz literally wins two fights and loses one. Two fights, loses one. F*** that."

It wasn't always this bitter between the two -- back before the Ben Askren fight, Jorge was actually helping Jake train.

Is the money enough to get Jorge's attention?? Most likely. But, the real question is, if UFC honcho Dana White -- who ain't exactly the biggest Paul fan -- will sign off on the fight?

Junior dos Santos is trading the Octagon for a triangle ... 'cause we've learned the former UFC champ has inked a deal with Triad Combat -- and will fight early next year!

And, 37-year-old dos Santos' opponent?? Kubrat Pulev ... the 40-year-old boxer who's faced the likes of Anthony Joshua.

Pulev lost to the British star ... but he's got a 28-2 professional boxing record and just dominated MMA star Frank Mir in a Triad fight last month -- leaving him knocked out on his feet.

We're told the exact date isn't yet set in stone ... but the fight -- a mix of boxing/dirty boxing in a triangular-shaped ring -- will go down in late February.

Dos Santos was released by the UFC earlier this year after facing a murderers row of opponents ... including Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.

Junior has always been known for his hands ... and clearly believes he ain't done.

JDS and Pulev aren't the only notable fighters on the card ... MMA legend 44-year-old Vitor Belfort, who recently beat Evander Holyfield, is fighting former light heavyweight boxing champ, 39-year-old Chad Dawson.

The 'Island Boys' -- the Florida twins behind that viral TikTok song -- are struggling to understand why haters are coming at 'em so hard ... after their hairy showdown with hecklers at the Jake Paul fight.

Flyysoulja and Kodiyakredd tell TMZ ... they expected a love fest this weekend when they strolled into Tampa's Amalie Arena, but instead quickly discovered some folks were pissed to see them in ringside seats.

The 'Island Boys' say they were there just there to watch the fight ... and they want to clear up any misconceptions about them picking fights to get clicks or clout chase.

The twins say they just want to be positive role models because a lot of kids watch their TikTok videos, and they don't want to be involved in fights ... they admit they're not perfect, but still don't get why grown folks are hating on them in public.

As we reported ... the 'Island Boys' were greeted with boos before Jake knocked out Tyron Woodley, and video showed at least one full beer being thrown in their direction.

Interestingly, they admit the beer tossing actually started on their end with one of their friends -- but the twins say they tried to shut it down immediately.

Despite how several videos made it seem, they say it wasn't everyone hating on them ... they just think the folks who had a problem drowned out the love some people showed.

The boys tell us they're just a couple of 20-year-olds going through life, trying to make it from nothing -- and whether ya love 'em or hate 'em, ya gotta admit they're on the pop culture map.

The man who Nate Diaz made flinch at the Jake Paul fight on Saturday is furious with the UFC star ... saying he now wants to KO the guy for embarrassing him.

If you missed it ... at some point during Paul's bout with Tyron Woodley, Diaz pretended to throw a huge haymaker at MMA fighter Carrese Archer in the stands.

The scene was captured on video ... and it showed Archer actually spilled his drink everywhere as he thought Diaz's punch was really coming in.

Security members broke everything up before it could escalate ... but now, Archer -- a bare-knuckle boxer -- says he's still so mad about it, he's gunning to knockout Diaz in a real fight.

"I've seen all the laughter -- everybody laugh, ha-ha," Archer said. "The same things that make you laugh make you cry. Nate Diaz is a bonafide female dog."

"He had the police with him, had the security protecting him and you gon' flinch at me and try to sucker punch me when I'm not paying attention?! And, y'all think this man's a gangster?!"

Archer continued, "I am a real street dog. I'm in the streets, believe that!"

Archer then called out Dana White -- who shared the video of the scene on his social media page on Sunday -- telling the UFC honcho to sign him for one fight so he can go after Diaz.

“I bet you won't think it's funny, you sign me for one fight and I knock Nate Diaz the f**k out in the first round," Archer said.

If Jake Paul's truly serious about taking an MMA bout after his huge KO win over Tyron Woodley ... he's got one of the best fighters in the ready to train him.

TMZ Sports talked to 26-year-old Bellator champ A.J. McKee in Tampa, FL on Friday ... and we asked the undefeated fighter about Paul saying he intends to take an MMA fight in the future.

"S**t, he better come train with me, but he can do good," McKee told us.

The 16-0 champ continued ... "If he wanna do it, he can do it. I think he's already shown his skills in what he can do in boxing, so if he wants to take it to a different lane, why not?"

If you missed Jake's comments ... he told the media on Thursday that he "100 percent" was going to fight MMA, saying, "I don't see why if I can do boxing at this high of a level that I couldn't do MMA at this high of a level."

In fact, later that same day, Jake told us he intended to fight and beat Conor McGregor in an MMA cage.

Paul said he going to train at AKA in northern California ... which happens to be the home gym of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier.

He's very likely kidding ... 'cause DC and Paul ain't exactly buddies. Remember, they nearly came to blows at a UFC event several months back.

Tyron Woodley is NOT retiring despite getting knocked out by Jake Paul ... telling TMZ Sports he plans to fight several times next year.

We talked to the 39-year-old UFC legend at Amalie Arena in Tampa after he was KOd by Paul in the 6th round of their rematch fight ... and asked if he'd hang up his gloves after losing to Jake for the second time, but T-Wood's adamant he'll be back.

"I didn't look like a fighter that was slow. I didn't look like a fighter that didn't have fight in him. I gotta make that choice. I already planned to stay super busy in 2022, and that doesn't change."

We also asked Tyron how he was feeling after the fight.

"I'm good. I'm healthy. Bummed obviously, I didn't wanna lose. I felt like I was winning the fight," Woodley said.

As for his performance in the ring ... Woodley believes he was winning the fight up until he dropped his hands right before the knockout, and it's eating him up.

"One f***ing hand drop. And I'm looking at it, why did I drop my hands? That's driving me crazy."

Woodley -- who looked sharp, especially early on -- was clearly more aggressive this time around ... moving forward for much of the fight.

And, Tyron says you might not just see him in a boxing ring, 'cause he wants to take several different kinds of fights in 2022.

"I just wanna do four different forms of combat sports. One being boxing, at least one time. One MMA, for sure. And just finish out like a winner."

Everyone says they hate the 'Island Boys' -- the Florida twins behind that train wreck of a TikTok "song" -- and it turns out lots of those haters were waiting for the boys in the crowd at Jake Paul's boxing match.

The brothers did NOT get a warm welcome Saturday night in their home state -- as soon as they entered Tampa's Amalie Arena and walked to their ringside seats, the boos started raining down.

Now, we're not saying they had targets on their backs, but Flyysoulja and Kodiyakredd's bleach-blond spiky faux locks make 'em stand out in any crowd -- and after the boos came actual booze. Several objects were hurled their way, including at least one full beer.

We all know, stadium beers ain't cheap ... so you gotta really hate to toss one of those. Then again, we present exhibit A.

The 20-year-old twins dropped their poolside freestyle back in October, which instantly went viral ... and not because people were loving it.

Still, the Island Boys persisted ... cranking out an official music video this month to go with the nonsensical bars they dropped -- and yeah, that's a viral hit too.

Unbelievable.

If you ever had any doubt about Jake Paul's skills in the boxing ring, the guy just flatlined a UFC legend -- beating Tyron Woodley in the 6th round of Saturday night's matchup.

Of course, Jake was initially slated to go against Tommy Fury, and he had a message for the "Love Island" star after putting Tyron on the canvas.

Check the video -- Jake celebrates the major win ... and says he's ready to face Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz to follow up -- calling them bitches in the process.

The win is by far the best of Jake's career -- he took the fight on less than a month's notice after Fury backed out.

The knockout was beautiful. Jake faked to the body, forcing Tyron to drop his hands. Then Paul came over the top with a right that landed flush on Woodley’s ear, sending him falling to the canvas. It was clear Tyron was out, so the referee didn’t count … the fight was over.

As for Woodley, he looked sharp up until the KO. The future UFC HOFer was far more aggressive ... and landed some nice, powerful punches.

Now that Jake erased any doubt this time around vs. Woodley, it seems likely a Paul vs. Fury fight will be in the works.

It all went down at Amalie Arena in Tampa .. and Jake's definitely gonna celebrate his ass off tonight.

Jake Paul knows Tommy Fury will be glued to the TV when he faces off against Tyron Woodley on Saturday ... and that's why he tells TMZ Sports he's planning to troll the hell outta TNT before his big fight.

You surprised??

We spoke with the Problem Child before his big rematch with the former UFC champ ... and asked if he thought his original opponent would be tuning in.

"100%," Jake said. "Tommy, you know, this could've been you."

"I have a message to send to him during my walkout. People will see my message for Tommy Fury while I'm walking out. It's pretty funny."

Now, Jake is known to be a world-class troll, even when it's time to rumble -- remember, this is the guy who wore a basketball chain and had matching music for his entrance before the Nate Robinson fight.

We also talked all about the upcoming fight ... and Jake says he can't wait to silence his critics again.

"I'm feeling really good," he added. "To me, it doesn't matter who I fight and this is an opportunity to right my wrongs. Last fight, obviously, I still won. But now, I wanna knock him out. That's a big opportunity to show people how much better I've gotten since then."

We also spoke with Tyron ... and he's guaranteeing to knock Jake out and make that extra money.

The fight card -- also featuring Deron Williams and Frank Gore -- is set to go down at 6 PM PT on Showtime.

Welp, the fights were supposed to be tomorrow ... but, fighters gon' fight.

Nate Diaz, UFC fighter Nick Maximov, Chris Avila and the 209 crew nearly came to blows with Bellator champ A.J. McKee, Anthony Taylor, and their guys on Friday ... and we got the vid.

Of course, 28-year-old Avila is fighting 32-year-old Taylor Saturday night in Tampa ... before Jake and Tyron square up for a second time.

There's a history here -- both guys fought in Bellator in 2020, with Taylor getting the win.

There was pushing and shoving just minutes ago ... but thankfully, it doesn't appear any punches were thrown, and nobody was hurt.

It actually adds even more juice to undercard bout ... 'cause the guys clearly don't like each other.

During the press conference on Thursday, Taylor clowned Avila for the way he talks, saying he was trying to imitate the Diaz bros.

If you aren't familiar with Chris ... he's been one of Nate's closest friends for years.