MMA

A Florida politician is throwing his full support behind Jorge Masvidal ... defending the UFC star over his alleged attack on Colby Covington, saying, "It's not like he beat up some kid on the street."

Manny Diaz -- a current FL state senator -- spoke with news station WPLG Local 10 about the allegations against Masvidal after the fighter appeared at a Ron DeSantis event on Wednesday evening ... and he made it clear, he's in Jorge's corner.

"Jorge is a fighter and, yeah, he ran into another fighter," Diaz said. "It's not like he beat up some kid on the street. I mean, look. It happens."

Masvidal is accused of attacking Covington outside of Papi Steak in Miami on March 22 ... punching him so hard that police say Covington told them the blows actually fractured one of his teeth.

Masvidal was hit with two felony charges over the alleged ambush -- but at DeSantis' event Wednesday, he didn't look like he had too many cares about the criminal case that's looming over his head.

In fact, one of the attendees at the event, Ophir Rahimi, told WPLG Local 10 that Masvidal looked normal and didn't talk about the alleged altercation with Colby. Rahimi, though, did note that it looked like Jorge's hand was damaged.

"You were able to see the hand was a bit swollen," Rahimi said. "There was a cut there. So I'm assuming that's the right hand that was used."

The only fighting star boxer Vasyl Lomachenko will do now for the foreseeable future is for his home country against Russia ... so says his manager, who tells TMZ Sports Loma will remain in Ukraine until the war ends.

Lomachenko has been in the war-torn country since February -- shortly after Russia's initial invasion -- choosing to forego a championship fight with George Kambosos Jr. to stick around and help his fellow countrymen in the war.

And, Egis Klimas, who manages Lomachenko's boxing career, told us out in L.A. on Wednesday the plan is for that to continue until all of the fighting in Ukraine stops.

Klimas, though, did ensure Lomachenko is staying safe while the war rages on.

"He's doing good," Klimas said. "He's in the safe place in Ukraine. He's in the corner. The place where he's at, it's not a war zone. He's not in a war zone."

Lomachenko last fought in the ring in December, beating Richard Commey via a unanimous decision. He was expected to fight Kambosos Jr. in June ... before the war caused Loma to pull out of the bout.

Kamboso Jr. has said he will remake the fight with Lomachenko after he leaves Ukraine -- and wished him the best while he fights for his home country.

Klimas, meanwhile, says Oleksandr Usyk, one of the other star boxers he manages who joined the forces in Ukraine back in February, has left the country and is in the process of preparing for his rematch against Anthony Joshua.

Jake Paul tells TMZ Sports he's dead serious about an MMA fight with Conor McGregor ... saying even in an Octagon, under UFC rules, he'd KO the Irish star.

Paul has called out McGregor a bunch of times over the last couple years ... but now, more than ever, he seems ready to make the tilt actually happen.

And, this time, he tells us he's willing to go onto Conor's turf to do it.

"Conor is on a downhill spiral," Jake said. "His limbs are all broken. So, stand-up game, I'm coming out and knocking him out, first round."

Paul tells us he and McGregor weigh the same now, and he's legitimately looking into leaving boxing for MMA to make the fight.

Jake also said he wants to throw down with McGregor in the UFC in order to try to persuade Dana White to give more of the company's revenue to fighters.

"If I win, then Dana has to increase the minimum of fighter pay," Jake said. "If I lose, then they can take all of the money and whatever and so be it."

"But, I know I can beat Conor."

If the matchup with Conor doesn't happen, there's still a chance Jake heads to MMA for his next fight regardless. He tells us he's been in talks with Bellator and PFL -- "and other MMA entities" -- to try to hammer out some kind of deal to potentially fight in a cage.

"You gotta expect that out of f***ing Colby Covington. He's a bitch for pressing charges. And, if I got a message for him it's 'snitches get stitches' around here homie. That's some bitch s**t."

That's 35-year-old rising UFC welterweight star Daniel Rodriguez going in on Colby Covington ... after the #1 ranked 170 lb. contender cooperated with police and pressed charges against Jorge Masvidal for allegedly attacking him and cracking his tooth outside a fancy Miami restaurant earlier this week.

"I'd do the same thing," D-Rod told us Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles.

Of course, Masvidal allegedly attacked Colby as he was leaving Papi Steak in South Florida Monday night. Police responded, and took a report for battery.

Days later on Wednesday, Jorge turned himself into a local jail around 10 PM local time, and was hit with several charges, including felony battery, which can carry a lengthy prison sentence.

Some fighters, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, believe Colby was out of line for going to the cops -- especially after some of the trash talk the men engaged in leading up to their UFC 272 fight -- and you can count Rodriguez in that group.

"I respect Khabib for that. He's always been that kind of fighter that doesn't disrespect, especially family. Trying to promote, trying to sell a fight is one thing. But, when you throw family in the mix, it's kind of personal. So, ya know, I'm not mad at Jorge Masvidal for this incident where he ran up on [Colby] in Miami."

It remains to be seen if fellow welterweight fighters will heed Khabib's advice and not fight Covington. However, it's almost impossible to imagine fighters passing on an opportunity to take on the consensus 2nd best 170 lb. fighter in the world.

We also talked to Daniel, 6-1 in the UFC, about his health.

Jorge Masvidal is in jail in Florida ... he's been arrested over his alleged attack on Colby Covington.

Jail records, obtained by TMZ Sports, show the 37-year-old UFC star was booked in Miami at 10:27 PM ET on Wednesday, where he posed for a mug shot.

The records show he was booked on two charges -- aggravated battery with a mask, and criminal mischief. His bond has been set at $15,000, the records show.

WPLG Local 10 News shot video of Masvidal as he entered the jail in cuffs. The footage shows he sprinted into the station without taking any questions from reporters.

As we previously reported, Masvidal has been accused of punching Covington twice as his UFC rival was leaving popular restaurant Papi Steak on Monday night.

In police documents, cops say Covington told them Masvidal hit him in the mouth and the eye -- causing him to fracture a tooth.

Cops also say Covington suffered an abrasion on his wrist and a damaged watch.

In video we obtained shortly after the alleged incident, Covington can be heard appearing to describe the attack, saying, "He's over here swinging, trying to come at me, and I ran ..."

Covington has yet to comment publicly on the incident.

Story developing ...

The moment Conor McGregor, driving his convertible Bentley, was pulled over by Irish cops for traffic violations was caught on video by a group of "Notorious" fans ... just minutes before the UFC superstar was arrested.

The video clearly shows 33-year-old Conor driving his $200K+ Bentley Continental GT neck-and-neck with another car on the Dublin highway ... when moments later sirens are heard, and a white squad car is behind McGregor.

It's unclear how fast Conor was going at the time of the video -- the two cars in the lanes next to him are going at the same rate of speed. Still, McGregor doesn't look like he's sweatin' the run-in with police.

The clip then ends ... but as we previously reported, Conor was taken into custody for several traffic violations. His pricey car was towed.

While at the station, McGregor was administered drug and alcohol tests, which he passed, according to his rep.

McGregor, who's still recovering from his broken leg, was later released on bail.

Although it's not the worst thing Conor's been accused of over the years, he could still face 6 months in jail, if convicted, according to the Irish Independent.

Conor McGregor wants to fight Kamaru Usman ... something UFC legend Clay Guida believes would be an enormous mistake that could actually lead to the ending of The Notorious' MMA career -- that's how bad the UFC vet believes McGregor would get beat.

TMZ Sports caught up with 40-year-old Guida at Commerce Casino in SoCal -- where he was supporting a buddy fighting in an Alta event over the weekend (Alta takes non-fighters and puts them through a rigorous training camp, before taking an actual fight!) -- when we asked about Conor, still recovering from the broken leg sustained against Dustin Poirier, after the world's most popular MMA fighter recently declared he wanted his comeback fight to be against Usman, with the welterweight belt on the line.

"Myself versus Usman for the 170 lb. title in my comeback fight is the one I'm eyeballing at the minute," Conor said during an interview with TheMacLife.

"Why cut the weight? I've already won the 155 lb. title. I got myself to a lightweight frame, but you know, I'm big now. I feel big. I feel strong. I feel healthy. I've got good energy. I'm coming back from a gruesome injury. I don't want to be depleting myself. There should be no need to deplete myself."

When we talked to Clay, we asked him for his thoughts on a Kamaru vs. Conor fight.

"That might be his last fight. Usman is on a whole another level right now. I think that would be a poor decision, physically, for Conor McGregor," Guida says, adding "I love [McGregor], he's pure entertainment. The guy's fun to watch, but Usman is on a different level right now."

But, no chance Conor wins that fight?? Clay doesn't think so.

"I think we've all seen Usman what he's done to Tyron Woodley who I thought was unbeatable, what he did to Colby Covington who I thought was unbeatable. He's the greatest welterweight, and GSP. Greatest welterweight of all-time."

So, Clay clearly doesn't want to watch Kamaru and Conor fight. But, he's got another opponent in mind for the Nigerian Nightmare.

And, it happens to be the world's top pound-for-pound boxer.

"I would be more intrigued to see Usman fight the boxer he's calling out. Canelo. Just because it's great for both sports, why not? Just like I wanna see Henry Cejudo fight Volkanovski. Those, I think, are great for wrestling, it's great for MMA. It's great for both sports."

BTW, the

We also talked to Guida -- whose 2009 fight with Diego Sanchez was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame a few years back -- when he plans on laying down his gloves for good.

And, good news for fans of Clay ... he ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon!

UFC star Colby Covington told cops Jorge Masvidal punched him in the face twice and fractured his tooth in an attack outside of a Miami hotspot on Monday night ... police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, show.

In the docs, cops say Covington told them as he exited Papi Steak restaurant, Masvidal "ran up to him from his left, and without notice, punched him with a closed fist two times in the face."

Cops in the report say Covington told them one punch landed on his mouth, while the other connected with his left eye.

According to the docs, cops say Covington heard Masvidal yell, "You shouldn't have been talking about my kids."

Several other males then allegedly tried to get involved, though cops say Covington told them he pushed one of the men away and ran back into Papi Steak, where he called police.

Cops say Covington told them he fractured his front left tooth in the attack, and also suffered an abrasion on his wrist. Police in the documents say Covington's watch was damaged as well.

Masvidal is listed as a suspect in the docs. The incident type is described as a battery/felony. Police added an investigation into the allegations is underway.

Jorge Masvidal yelled at Colby Covington and needed to be held back by several men following their alleged fight outside of a Miami hotspot on Monday night ... new video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows.

In the clip, you can see as Covington, wearing a tan shirt and grey pants, retreated back into Papi Steak, Masvidal -- wearing a hat and a black t-shirt -- screamed at him, "Don't talk about my kids!"

Masvidal appeared to be charging at Covington while yelling, though a couple of guys outside of the restaurant prevented him from getting to the UFC star.

Masvidal then appeared to say, "I got you, bitch," before he got into an awaiting car.

As we previously reported, sources say Masvidal attacked Covington after Colby had stepped outside of the restaurant following dinner with the Nelk Boys.

In footage we obtained of the aftermath, Colby can be heard saying, "He's over here swinging, trying to come at me, and I ran ..."

Later in the video, Colby asked social media star Bob Menery, "How would he know I'm here?!"

Covington has yet to publicly comment on the incident. Masvidal, meanwhile, has posted several videos appearing to poke fun at Colby over it all.

He also tweeted Tuesday morning, "Good morning to everyone except those that think talking about someone's kids is cool."

TMZ Sports has obtained video showing Colby Covington just moments after he allegedly fought with Jorge Masvidal outside of a Miami hotspot ... and you can see the UFC star was surrounded by cops.

The footage was shot at around 11:30 PM ET ... roughly half an hour after sources tell us Covington and Masvidal got into a physical altercation outside of Papi Steak in Miami Beach.

Colby ate dinner on Monday night with the Nelk Boys inside of the restaurant -- and we're told Masvidal did NOT eat at the restaurant.

Sources say as Colby was leaving the restaurant after dinner ... Masvidal allegedly attacked him outside.

In our video, you can hear Colby appearing to describe the alleged attack, saying, "He's over here swinging, trying to come at me, and I ran ..."

Colby can later be heard on the footage asking social media star Bob Menery, "How would [Masvidal] know I'm here?"

"I don't know," Menery responded in the clip. "You're all over the internet."

It should be noted, earlier in the night, Menery and the Nelk Boys posted video of Covington inside of the restaurant. Colby had been a guest on their "Full Send Podcast" earlier in the day.

We're told cops took a report at the scene. We've reached out to police for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

As for Masvidal's side of the story, he posted a video shortly after the alleged altercation, challenging Colby to show his face while saying, "If you talk that s***, you've got to back it up."

Paige VanZant -- one of the toughest women on the planet -- is putting everyone in the MMA community on notice ... saying she's not done with fighting, despite signing a wrestling contract with AEW.

TMZ Sports spoke with the 27-year-old former UFC star/host of "TMZ Fight School" on Snapchat ... and she says any talk of her leaving combat sports full-time for wrestling isn't the case.

In fact, she says she has a Bare Knuckle FC bout coming up later this year ... and has other promotions lining up to sign her when her current contract is up.

Paige says she is in awe at some of the offers she received ... calling them "life-changing."

As we previously reported, the Bare Knuckle fighter officially became a professional wrestler this month ... when she inked a deal the same night she surprised AEW fans by appearing at Dynamite.

The world of professional wrestling is a different kind of combat ... and Paige admits the jump from one sport to the other is a lot.

"It's a big difference, but I got plenty of time on my hands," VanZant said. "I like to stay busy. I have pro wrestling training, and then I have training for Bare Knuckle boxing as well."

UFC fighter Eryk Anders suffered a super GNARLY injury this week ... when he was chopping trees down with a chainsaw, and SAWED INTO HIS OWN FOOT!!

And, it's just as gross as it sounds.

TMZ Sports talked to 34-year-old Anders just days after he was forced to seek emergency treatment at a local hospital for the chainsaw injury.

"I was cutting down trees, and of course, I was on the last one, and I'm not a professional or nothing. It was a pretty big tree," Anders says, adding, "and I was cutting it and the tree leaned into the blade, so it kinda got stuck. With my other hand I reached up to push the tree, and I thought the chainsaw would keep cutting."

But, that's unfortunately not what happened.

"I guess I didn't have any pressure on the chainsaw to keep it moving in that direction and it kind of skipped off the tree and bounced off my foot."

Ouch.

How much did it hurt? We asked Eryk.

"I didn't even know I did it. Obviously, I felt the weight of the chainsaw land on my foot. I took a second. And, then the tree fell. So, I had to dodge the tree, so it was a big clusterf**k, all in the snap of a finger."

It goes without saying Anders is one tough dude. Not only is he a UFC fighter ... but he used to be a star on the University of Alabama football team, where he won a national championship under Nick Saban.

Thankfully, Anders was patched up by a doctor at the hospital (he needed 20 stitches) and is already back in the gym (maniac).

But, that's likely the end of Anders's logging career.

Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett -- two rising stars in the UFC -- threw punches and bottles in a wild hotel lobby altercation  ... and it was all over an offensive tweet.

The skirmish went down just days before UFC Fight Night in London ... where Topuria is slated to fight Jai Herbert, and Pimblett is set to face off against Rodrigo Vargas.

But it was Topuria vs. Pimblett on Tuesday ... as the 11-0 Georgian fighter confronted him for crossing the line in a Twitter exchange last year.

The video is pretty nuts -- Topuria walks right up to 17-3 Pimblett and appears to either throw an object or swipe at him. In response, Paddy throws a bottle.

The two then throw punches ... but nothing seems to connect before Ilia is pulled away by his team.

FYI -- "The Baddy" was called out for tweeting "Lad how stupid are these Georgians man ... no wonder the Russians terrorize their lives" in April of last year.

Paddy later deleted the tweet and apologized ... but it's clear Topuria hasn't forgotten about it, nor has he forgiven the 27-year-old.

Topuria, 25, posted the quick altercation on Instagram just minutes ago ... saying, "I warned you! This is what happens when you disrespect me and my country!"

"You saw me and wanted to greet me because you s*** your pants ... and you should thank my team because if it wasn’t for them separating me, I would have taken your head off."

Kevin Holland is basically Batman at this point.

The UFC star just took matters into his own hands and stopped a crime dead in its tracks -- AGAIN -- this time, subduing a gunman at a sushi restaurant.

The 29-year-old welterweight was at Ra Sushi in the Highland Village of Houston around 11:30 PM on Monday ... when witnesses say someone entered the restaurant and fired a gun into the air.

But, while most of the folks in attendance ducked for cover, three customers -- including Holland -- rushed to stop the alleged shooter.

One of the heroes, Patrick Robinson, spoke with ABC 13 about the heroic effort ... saying, "We were eating and the next thing you know, a gunshot just popped off. So everything paused and then everybody started running to get down under a table."

"We got him down, apprehended him, got the gun away from him and the bag that he had."

By the time cops arrived, the 24-year-old suspect was already subdued and had his weapon taken away!!

The suspect is now facing charges of possessing a stolen gun and discharge of a firearm, the outlet reports.

Remember, this isn't the first time Holland -- who just beat "Cowboy" Oliveira at UFC 272 -- put his MMA skills to use outside the Octagon. Last year, he helped stop a carjacker just days after competing at UFC Fight Night!!

Get this guy a medal.

Kayla Harrison says she happily resigned with PFL -- but only after company execs proved they were serious about making a super fight with Cris Cyborg, the undefeated MMA star tells TMZ Sports.

31-year-old Harrison -- a 2x PFL tourney winner -- has made it clear she wants to fight the best (think Cyborg and Amanda Nunes) ... so when Kayla recently hit the free-agent market, she talked to Bellator and UFC.

But, the 12-0 fighter says the PFL bosses convinced her they could put together a Harrison-Cyborg fight in the near future.

"PFL and I talked in depth about that and they let me know in no uncertain terms that they are gonna -- Cyborg only has two fights left on her contract, but also I know that they're very open to talking with Bellator," Harrison tells us.

"They're very open to co-promoting, cross-promoting, streaming, Pay Per Viewing, CBS, ESPN, they're open to all of it."

36-year-old Cyborg -- who's only lost twice since turning pro in 2005 -- is laying her title on the line, fighting Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279 in April. But, after that, it's clear Kayla believes there's a path to make the fight.

And, Harrison, a 2x Olympic gold medalist, believes she's ready ... and has been for some time.

"To be frank, honestly, and blunt, I am ready now to test myself. I feel like I've been held back by my coaches, by my advisors for a while. I've been ready, I've been chomping at the bit, I've been ready to go out there and test myself."

Along with the new deal comes a whole bunch of money, too (PFL described it as a “historic new contract”). But, Kayla says the cash comes second to her legacy.

"After talking to [PFL Founder] Donn Davis, I do feel really hopeful. I think that he really wants to make the [Cyborg] fight happen. I think that's he's innovative, I think that he knows that this is very important to me."

Paige VanZant is a professional wrestler now -- the ex-UFC star just signed a contract with All Elite Wrestling ... and is set to begin her training ASAP!!

PVZ literally signed her contract in the ring during an appearance at "AEW Dynamite" on Wednesday ... after coming out of the crowd and attacking wrestler Tay Conti from behind.

The run-in caused Conti's boyfriend, "Spanish God" Sammy Guevara, to lose his TNT championship to The Men of the Year's Scorpio Sky.

"Wanted to give the world one more reason to hate on me 💋😉 PVZ TAKING OVER!!!!," VanZant wrote on Twitter after announcing the news.

Of course, Paige is no stranger to the AEW crowd -- she's made several appearances since debuting alongside Jorge Masvidal in September ... and got a huge pop from fans on Wednesday.

The terms of the deal have not been revealed, but AEW prez Tony Khan expressed his excitement over the new addition ... saying, "It’s official! @paigevanzant is ALL ELITE!"

You'll recall, Paige made a name for herself as a combat fighter ... going 5-4 in UFC before signing a massive deal with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in 2020, where she posted an 0-2 record.

The former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant's future with BKFC is unclear, but it seems Paige is now focused on wrestling ... and it's only a matter of time before we see her compete inside an AEW ring.

The move shouldn't come as a complete surprise -- Paige previously told TMZ Sports back in 2018 she was hoping to take her talents to the squared-circle.