MMA

Ciryl Gane says despite what you might've heard, he has absolutely zero beef with Francis Ngannou ... and fully intends on showing respect to "The Predator" when they fight for the UFC title next weekend.

31-year-old Gane, the undefeated (10-0) UFC Interim champ is headlining UFC 270 against 35-year-old Ngannou, the UFC heavyweight champ next Saturday in Anaheim.

The alleged bad blood? Gane and Ngannou briefly trained together at the MMA Factory in France several years back (Francis recently told us it was less than 10 times), and things haven't exactly always seemed copacetic since.

In fact, a video recently made its way around social media showing Francis walking by Ciryl ... like he didn't exist.

But, Gane says everything's cool between the men ... there's zero ill will.

"I have no feelings for him. He's just like another opponent and that's it."

It's an intriguing matchup. Ngannou throws bombs ... and arguably has more power than any other fighter on the UFC roster. Meanwhile, Gane is 6'5", 250 lbs., but moves like a guy who weighs 75 lbs. less.

Francis recently told us he believes he'll knockout Ciryl within 10 minutes (2 rounds).

Giga Chikadze is the #8 ranked UFC featherweight, but believes he'll have a "C" for champ next to his name very soon, 'cause once he beats Calvin Kattar Saturday night, he says he absolutely deserves a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski.

... and he tells TMZ Sports that matchup would be a very one-sided affair.

We talked to the 33-year-old, 14-2 (undefeated in the UFC) fighter from Georgia (country) just days before his UFC Fight Night main event scrap with #5 ranked Kattar -- a fight he's favored to win (-235).

"I'm super excited, man. I've been asking for top 5 opponents since I got in the UFC. I was telling them, warning them that I'm ready for it. And finally, I got the opponent, and I'm very happy that my opponent is from a top 5 ranking," Giga told us.

We asked him if a win against Calvin should set him up for a title shot ... and there was zero hesitation.

"Absolutely. When I beat Calvin Kattar, it doesn't matter if it happens in 2 months, 3 months," Chikadze says, adding "I deserve a shot."

FYI, Alex is fighting Korean Zombie at UFC 273 in April.

It's an interesting matchup. The men have different bodies -- Giga is tall (6') and long, meanwhile, Alex is short (5'6") and stocky -- and fighting styles.

"[Volkanovski] has nothing against me. Nothing. I've been facing the short guys like him for all my whole life and making my living knocking these types of guys out," Giga says.

"There is no chance he can stand in front of me. He can't even catch me. Can't even touch me. I'm so giant for him, it'll be like David vs. Goliath but in a better way."

Make sure you take your seats early when Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane step in the Octagon on January 22 ... 'cause The Predator tells TMZ Sports he's putting the undefeated UFC fighter down inside 2 rounds!!

We recently talked to the 35-year-old heavyweight champ before his title unification bout with 31-year-old Gane ... and Francis made it clear he doesn't see the fight lasting very long.

"The knockout doesn't come when I search it, so I won't be searching for the knockout, but I don't see how we will end this fight without me knocking him out, maybe under 2 rounds," Ngannou says.

If you haven't seen Gane fight ... he's only been training for a few years. He's 10-0 ... and is the best moving heavyweight in the UFC.

To make the matchup even more interesting, Francis and Ciryl briefly (less than 10 times, per FN) trained together in France, but ain't exactly best friends these days.

It's not that Francis doesn't respect Ciryl ... 'cause he does. But, he believes his power will be too much for the smaller fighter to endure.

"Once again, this is the fighting business. This is not karate s**t, it's all about fighting and how to knock somebody out or take somebody out," Francis says.

Despite the bold prediction from the champ, Gane -- coming off wins over Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov -- is actually the slight favorite at most sportsbooks.

A mega-fight between the best heavyweight boxer alive, Tyson Fury, and the best heavyweight MMA fighter alive, Francis Ngannou, might actually go down ... 'cause both guys say they're all the way down to fight!

It all started last month when the UFC star told TMZ Sports he wants to step in the boxing ring with either Fury or Deontay Wilder.

"I would like to test myself to that level," Ngannou told us at the time, "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."

Well, Fury must've watched the interview ... 'cause he posted a fighting promo on his Twitter Thursday, featuring him and the 16-3 (12 KOs) MMA fighter.

"Who would like to see me fight this beast boxing rules UFC gloves?" Fury said.

Ngannou replied to the 31-0-1 heavyweight boxer ... saying the rules should be MMA style but would settle for boxing gloves as a favor to him -- but Fury wasn't having it.

"You want to come into my world calling me and Wilder out to a boxing match," Fury said.

"What I can guarantee you would be knocked out & also paid your highest purse to be so! So, have a think."

Ngannou didn't back down and vowed to go toe-to-toe anywhere and any style after his matchup with UFC interim HW champ Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.

"After I handle business on Jan. 22 I'll fight you," Ngannou said, "Under any special ruleset you want. In a ring, an Octagon or a phone booth."

AJ McKee has conquered the cage ... and now the Bellator champ tells TMZ Sports he wouldn't mind spending time in a ring boxing against arguably the 2 biggest combat sports athletes in the world.

Floyd Mayweather. Conor McGregor.

We talked to the 26-year-old undefeated MMA star at the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley boxing match in Tampa ... and we asked AJ about all things his combat sports career.

First, on boxing.

"I wanna test my skills against some of the best and that's why I've always called out Floyd. It's not like, 'Oh, I wanna beat Floyd.' I wanna test my skills in hand-to-hand combat with one of the best athletes in hand-to-hand combat," McKee says.

We then asked about McGregor ... and AJ says he's down to box the Irish superstar -- or anyone else.

"I'm down for anybody. If it's 145, 155, 170. In boxing, I'll go up 3 weight classes."

Of course, Floyd and Conor boxed in 2017 ... a fight Mayweather won by TKO. It was one of the biggest sports events ever. Floyd then went on to box Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa and Logan Paul.

Now, about McKee's day job as Bellator champ. We asked him where he goes from here ... after beating fellow badass Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, winning the promotions 145 lb. million dollar tournament.

"I would like to be double champ," AJ says.

"Becoming double champ is definitely bucket list. Be a champ-champ and then see where the path lies after that."

But, promotions aside -- UFC, Bellator, ONE, PFL -- who's the best 145 pounder on the planet?

McKee says he's all about finding out ... if that means scrapping with guys like Brian Ortega, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.

"Send the contract, bro. I'm gonna sign it. Cross-promotion, any promotion, backyard bully stuff. I'm just about the fight. I love to fight, outside of the money, the fame, the clout, clearly that's not what I do it for."

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.