MMA

Luke Rockhold has a message for Paulo Costa ... fight me, or stop running your mouth once-and-for-all -- and oh, stop being a bitch.

TMZ Sports talked to the 37-year-old former UFC champ at Churchill Boxing Club -- director Peter Berg's club -- in Santa Monica ... and we asked the MMA star about Costa's nonstop trash talk.

"July 2nd, international fight week. [A Costa fight is] what the UFC offered. I'm ready to sign the contract, you're making excuses. You're bitching about weight, you're bitching about the fight. Look, I'm right here," Rockhold says, adding, "Whatever the f*** you wanna do, come and step up. It should be an easy win, get yourself back in the limelight. Otherwise, you'd be a bitch running your mouth and walk away."

Of course, 30-year-old Costa, the #4 ranked UFC middleweight (though, he may have to move up to light heavyweight) has been trashing Luke, calling him everything from a guy with a fragile chin to "Luke RockOLD"

"If it's that fragile, come test it. Come and step up. I mean, [Costa] has no clout right now, he has nothing to stand on. He needs a win, he needs to get back in the favorite. He ain't in no f***ing contender ship,  f***in' fighting for the title."

"The motherf***er needs a fight, he needs a name and if he wants to f***in' do it, then let's do it. Otherwise, you're scared and you're a bitch and making excuses. I don't make excuses. I just come and fight."

FYI, Luke, who has beaten everyone from Chris Weidman to Michael Bisping, hasn't fought since losing to Jan Błachowicz in July 2019. It's not that Rockhold hasn't wanted to fight ... but he's dealt with several serious injuries.

But, now Luke is back, and ready to rock with Costa ... who has lost his last two fights (Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya).

He also weighed in on Khamzat Chimaev's meteoric rise to UFC stardom ... something Luke says he didn't necessarily deserve, 'cause he hasn't beaten anyone with a name.

"Who the f*** knows what Chimaev is capable of until he fights a real fighter?! He hasn't fought anybody either. I mean, he's talented for sure, but if he can withstand Gilbert [Burns] and get off his ass, get off his back, but I mean he's talkin' [205 lbs.], I mean c'mon. They offered you the fight versus me and you didn't take that fight so don't talk about 205 and [185 lbs.]."

Regardless, a fight with Khamzat would be down the line.

Dana White says Khamzat Chimaev will likely fight Colby Covington ... IF he can get past Gilbert Burns -- the #2 ranked contender -- at UFC 273 Saturday night.

The UFC honcho joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... and was asked if Chimaev, the #11 ranked welterweight, would get a title shot against Kamaru Usman if he were to beat Burns.

The short answer is no ... but the fight fans can expect is equally as awesome.

"In a perfect world, you know, I have a fight coming up on ABC," White tells us, adding ... "If Khamzat Chimaev should win, I would love to do a fight with him and Colby."

Covington is coming off a win against former-best-friend-turned-enemy, Jorge Masvidal.

Obviously, a lot has to happen (agreeing to date, money, etc.) ... and beating Burns is a monumental task (Durinho's beaten Tyron Woodley and Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson), but it'd be a massively popular matchup.

As for the actual fight between Khamzat and Gilbert, the excitement from fans is off the charts.

"Anything to do with Chimaev and Burns is outperforming the main or co-main by six to seven times. It's an interesting card."

FYI, the main and co-main events are both title fights ... featuring Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs. "The Korean Zombie" and Aljamain Sterling (C) vs. Petr Yan.

Chimaev hasn't lost a fight, ever (10-0 overall, 4-0 in the UFC) ... and has literally only been hit two times in four UFC fights. TWICE. Only one of the matches went past the first round.

But, Burns is the toughest test (though, Chimaev says it's MMA fighter Ikram Aliskerov) of his young career. Does Khamzat beat Burns and set himself up for a mega-fight with Covington ... and a possible title fight with Usman to follow?

Or, does Gilbert derail the very fast-moving hype train?

We find out Saturday night at UFC 273.

UFC middleweight Paulo Costa crossed the line when calling out Derek Brunson for a fight ... referring to the fighter as a gay slur -- and now, he's getting bashed over it.

30-year-old Borrachinha has been going scorched-earth on social media recently ... pulling out all the stops in hopes of getting Brunson to get in the Octagon with him.

Costa -- who is 0-2 in his past two fights -- seemingly mocked Brunson for being a former cheerleader ... posting a pic of La'Darius Marshall of the popular Netflix show, "Cheer" and captioning it," Derek F** Brunson. Fight me bitch."

Costa's Twitter followers rightfully called him out for the slur ... saying, "You’re gonna end up getting canceled" ... and "@ufc seriously? This is ok from an employee of yours?"

There's more -- "Aside from being a bigoted and just low IQ middle school level insult, it's pretty rich coming from a guy who got styled on then literally humped by a dude who did Naruto hand signs."

The latter tweet is referencing Paulo's loss to Israel Adesanya ... who then humped his back after the 2nd-round TKO.

FYI, Costa and Brunson are currently (both) the 4th ranked UFC Middleweight ... so a fight between the two would seem to make sense.

Conor McGregor clearly ain't too worried about his dangerous driving case in Ireland ... the UFC star was seen smiling ear-to-ear and talking fighting outside a Dublin courthouse following a hearing on the matter.

McGregor showed up to court early Thursday morning amid accusations that he drove dangerously in his pricey Bentley Continental GT on March 22 -- and he didn't seem all that concerned about the case after appearing before a judge.

The 33-year-old -- wearing a fitted suit, white shirt and tie -- smiled big for photogs who had camped outside the courthouse, and he even discussed a potential return to the Octagon with some of the photogs.

"Just straight back into training, my man," McGregor said when asked for a comment on the case.

"I'm looking forward to getting back into the Octagon."

McGregor also shot down a potential fight with Henry Cejudo, who he's been bickering with on social media, adding that he's looking to come back to the UFC and fight at 170 pounds.

As for his legal issues, the hearing on his case reportedly lasted just minutes.

Floyd Mayweather ain’t done just yet … TBE is returning to the ring in May for an exhibition boxing match on a literal helicopter landing pad in Dubai, TMZ Sports has learned.

The 45-year-old undefeated fighter will take on "Dangerous" Don Moore -- 18-0-1, 12 KOs -- in an 8 round exhibition fight on May 14.

The event is being called "The Global Titans Fight Series" ... and FM's holding down the inaugural card.

And, Mayweather isn’t the only legend on the card.

46-year-old MMA G.O.A.T. Anderson Silva, who previously boxed pro fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June 2021 ... a fight he (surprisingly to many people) won.

Spider also boxed Tito Ortiz last year ... where he knocked out the former UFC champ.

Silva is boxing Brazilian star Bruno Machado.

Former boxing champ Badou Jack (25-3-3, 15 K) is also on the card.

The location of the boxing matches is pretty awesome. The fighters will box outside on the Burj Al Arab Hotel, one of UAE's top hotels.

It'll be the first time Floyd returns to the ring since boxing YouTuber turned boxer Logan Paul on June 6. No winner was declared because the fight was an exhibition.

It's unclear if Floyd's fight with Moore will be judged.

Sergey Kovalev is the latest pro fighter who wants a piece of Jake Paul ... the ex-boxing champ tells TMZ Sports he's down to fight the YouTuber after his next scheduled match.

"Fight with Jake Paul? I'm ready," the 39-year-old former light heavyweight champion said. "And I will knock him out."

Paul has insisted he wants somebody with a name brand for his next bout -- and while Sergey might not have the biggest social media following, he certainly has the resume Paul is looking for.

"Krusher" is 34-4-1 in his 39 career fights -- and has a win over boxing legend Bernard Hopkins on his resume. He's also fought Canelo Alvarez and Andre Ward in his impressive career.

Kovalev says he's all for trying to add Paul to that list of opponents -- saying he'll be happy to try to make the fight after he returns from his long layoff against Tervel Pulev in May.

"Let me make my comeback fight," Kovalev said, "and then we can do any fight."

He added, "Any day."

Aljamain Sterling says he'll employ a special move during his rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273 ... the Will Smith slap!!

TMZ Sports talked to the 32-year-old UFC bantamweight champ about a week before his second fight with heated rival, 29-year-old Yan, the interim champ.

"I am a certified weapon right now, and ready for battle, and I can't wait to go out there and unleash these tools, and put a little beatdown on this guy that he's been deserving for well over a year at this point, and move on to the victim," Aljamain told us.

Of course, the men fought in March 2021 ... a fight that Aljo was losing, but ultimately won when Petr blasted Sterling with a blatantly illegal knee. But, because Aljamain was losing on the cards and fading in the fight, he's dealt with endless crap online, and as you'd expect, that's bothered the starfighter.

"That's the most frustrating part of this whole thing. It's not being able to compete to shut these guys up," Aljo said.

He even compared himself to a caged animal who isn't able to retaliate because he's chained ... but Sterling says the cage door opens at UFC 273.

"Those chains come free April 9 and I get an opportunity to finally put my hands on this guy, and it's gonna be so rewarding to see the shock in people's eyes when I'm out there and I finally get to put my hands on him and see who is really who."

Sterling, the champ, is a big underdog against Yan ... something Aljamain has taken notice of.

"I know the Vegas oddsmakers got me as a big underdog. This is what everyone wants to go out of their way to tell me. I don't give a s***, at the end of the day, I bet on me. And, I know that betting on me is right. I bet on me the last 6 times and I've won every single time," Sterling said.

Lastly, we asked Aljamain if he had a message for Yan ... and he dropped the A-list actor's name while threatening violence against Petr.

"When they lock that door he's gonna get 'Will Smith'd.' I can tell you that. He's gonna get Will Smith'd. And, after that, it's gonna be a lot worse than what Will did to Chris Rock. It's gonna be a beatdown."

If Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman had any bad blood ... the beef has officially been squashed, 'cause the pound-for-pound king/welterweight champ is helping train "Durinho" for his fight with Khamzat Chimaev.

TMZ Sports talked to 35-year-old Burns just a week and a half before his highly anticipated fight with Chimaev at UFC 273 ... and when we asked the #2 ranked fighter if he brought in any special training partners, he dropped this bomb.

"Usman came a couple of days to help out," Burns said, "He was helping me a couple of times, not training with me but kinda coaching."

"Very high IQ and very good advice. Was good to have him around."

FYI, 27-year-old Chimaev has risen to stardom in the blink of an eye. He's 4-0 in the UFC (10-0 overall) and has literally been hit less than 5 times in his entire UFC career.

Of course, Kamaru and Gilbert were once good friends and training partners at Sanford MMA in Tennessee ... but as Burns rose the ranks in the welterweight division -- where Usman is the champion -- and became a top contender, the Nigerian Nightmare left the gym.

KU and GB finally fought in February 2021 ... and good, tough fight that Kamaru won by TKO.

Any bad blood is clearly long gone ... and Usman, being a caring friend, wanted to help prep Gilbert for one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year.

Here's what's interesting ... there's a good chance Kamaru and Gilbert will fight each other again, and soon.

That's why Burns dropped this movie analogy on us about his relationship with Usman.

"That's Rocky and Apollo," Burns said.

UFC legend Stephan Bonnar revealed his home was "burned to the f***ing ground" in a horrible fire this week ... but in at least a modicum of positive news, he says he was able to salvage some of his famous MMA memorabilia from the wreckage.

The 44-year-old shared a video of his Nevada home after a fire ravaged it earlier this week -- and, sadly, he said the flames completely gutted the place.

"No more casa," the former fighter said in the footage. "Lost everything in it."

But, Bonnar said after jumping through a window and scraping up his legs in the process -- he was able to find some of his old UFC gear and save it from the rubble.

Bonnar showed off gloves from his Hall of Fame fight with Forrest Griffin -- as well as a couple other cool items from his fighting career, including a signed jersey from the athletes he competed with on season 1 of "The Ultimate Fighter."

Bonnar then sent well wishes to everyone from the show who's had a rough past few months.

"It's been a f***ing s*** year for me too," Bonnar said. "So, all right. Peace guys, I'm out."

As we reported, the Henderson Fire Department knocked down the flames about an hour after the fire started at Bonnar's place, but were unable to save it from being destroyed.

The felony strangulation charge that Chael Sonnen was hit with following his alleged meltdown at a Las Vegas hotel last year has been dropped ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to court records, prosecutors declined to move forward with the battery by strangulation count that they had previously charged Sonnen on last month.

The records show five other battery charges -- all misdemeanors -- against Sonnen were dropped as well.

We've reached out to the Clark County District Attorney's office for comment on the decision -- but so far, no word back yet.

Sonnen is still facing five misdemeanor battery charges in the case after officials claim he absolutely lost it in a hallway at the Four Seasons Hotel on Dec. 18.

As we reported, Sonnen is accused of beating up several men and one woman in a fit of rage inside the hotel.

According to police docs, Sonnen told officers at the scene he had no recollection of his alleged actions -- explaining to them that he had taken a sleeping pill and "could not recall" anything after that.

Sad news for Stephan Bonnar ... the UFC legend's family says its Nevada home was destroyed in a fire this week.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the Henderson Fire Dept. received a call for a residential fire at 2:40 PM on Monday ... and when help arrived on the scene, fire and smoke were visible from outside the home.

Due to high winds and the closeness to the neighboring homes, the first responders called on the Clark County FD for backup in order to get the blaze out. The fire was extinguished nearly an hour later.

The fire dept. says two adults, one child and four dogs were removed from the home. Luckily, no injuries were reported ... and no one was transported to the hospital.

Bonnar's wife, Andrea, shared the news on her business' Facebook ... saying, "I am just jumping on to let you know our house burned today and we have lost everything."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Stephan Bonnar was part of arguably the most important fight in UFC history -- the season finale of the Ultimate Fighter 1 against Forrest Griffin. Stephan lost by decision, but the fight was so incredible, the UFC gave both guys contracts.

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 ...