MMA

"It's the same as it was wrestling for me. I just wrestle against able-bodied people, and I beat able-bodied people. Now I'm fighting able-bodied people, and I'm gonna knock out able-bodied people. It's as simple as that. I'm a fighter."

Zion Clark is once again proving there's absolutely NOTHING he can't do -- despite being born without legs -- the former All-American wrestler tells us his next crazy accomplishment ... is taking an MMA fight!

"I'm trying to run this s**t up! It's not just a rinky-dink fight. This s**t's going on pay-per-view. This shit is a legit sanctioned fight," Zion told Babcock and Mojo on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1), adding, "It's gonna be big!"

There's a good chance you've seen or heard about the 25-year-old's incredible story.

Clark was born in Ohio in 1997 with a rare birth defect called Cadual Regression Syndrome which caused him to be born without legs. Zion was put up for adoption after he was born. He bounced around the foster care system.

In elementary school Clark was introduced to wrestling ... but he wasn't very good at first. In fact, he didn't win a single match for years. But, after meeting his H.S. wrestling coach, Zion and the man developed a bond, and ZC's wrestling ability improved dramatically.

As a senior, he finished 33-15 ... wrestling against kids who had four limbs. Clark then went to Kent State, where he continued his successful wrestling career.

Zion's now training for the 2024 Olympics ... where he'd like to wrestle. He's also gunning to compete in the Paralympics in wheelchair racing ... where he's one of the most elite racers in the world.

He's also known as the "fastest man on two hands" ... Zion was a track champ in high school, too.

Clark also recently set two Guinness World Records ... for highest box jump (record was 24 inches. Zion jumped 33) with the hands and most diamond push-ups (248 in under 3 minutes).

As for Clark's MMA fight ... it's scheduled to go down December 17. Zion says he doesn't even know his opponent's name ... that's how unbothered he is about the fight.

It's not that he isn't taking the fight seriously ... in fact, it's just the opposite. Zion says he's beating his ass in the training room, sparring with MMA stars like Rampage Jackson and AJ McKee.

Check out the clip ... Zion talks about training with those legends, and what we can expect when he steps in the cage for the first time in just a few weeks.

Alex Pereira says he's open to squashing the beef with Israel Adesanya after their UFC title fight in NYC this weekend ... but tells us he's not so sure Izzy feels the same way.

The 35-year-old, #4 contender and Izzy have some serious bad blood ... they previously kickboxed twice several years back. Since Pereira joined the UFC in 2021, many fans pinpointed this matchup as a future megafight -- and now it's here, and the beef is real.

"On my end, no problem but I don't think on his side everything that happened it's possible," AP said through a translator.

And, it sounds like Alex is right. The champ joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) last week and said he wanted to turn the scrap into a "horror movie."

As for the previous fights, Pereira twice defeated Adesanya (decision, KO) ... however, the fights were very close. In fact, many people believe Izzy won the first fight. In the rematch, Israel had Alex in trouble in the early rounds ... but was knocked out in the third round.

It should be noted ... the previous fights were in kickboxing, NOT MMA.

Despite this fight being in a different sport, Pereira says he's ready for everything.

"I'm ready for five rounds. Wherever the fight goes, it's hard to predict but I'm ready for everything."

Adesanya vs. Pereira is at the top of the 281 card ... but there is a bunch of other super compelling fights slated for tonight, including Michael Chandler vs. Dustin Poirier.

Mike and Dustin, much like Izzy and Alex, don't exactly love each other.

We recently asked Michael about the bad blood.

"I think there were some words exchanged, but ultimately bad blood, I think there's bad blood in every single fight whether we like to admit it or not because you got two guys or gals trying to climb the same mountain, heading to the same destination. This one's no different."

But, there's more.

We also chatted with strawweight champion Carla Esparza ... who despite holding the belt, is a big-time underdog to Zhang Weili.

Esparza says she's drawing inspiration from a very famous, albeit fictional movie character from Philly who was once counted out against a physically superior opponent from Russia!

"I feel a little bit like Rocky going into this fight versus Drago. Big strong, verse the little one with a lot of heart. Whatever. I'm going in there to do my thing and I'm excited!"

Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira is going down tonight at UFC 281 ... and not a damn person knows who's going to win.

But, there's one fighter who not only faced the men (others have), he beat them both (something no one else has done) ... Jason Wilnis, former Glory middleweight champion. Wilnis is 1-0 against Israel (decision win, 2017) ... and 2-1 against Alex (decision win in 2015, TKO win in 2012).

TMZ Sports talked to Wilnis ... and we asked him to compare the two world-class fighters.

First, who hits harder?

"I can say, from my experience, that Alex Pereira hits harder, man. His punches aren't normal, man."

And, Wilnis says it isn't just punching power where AP has the edge ... he's got the overall strength advantage, too.

"The last time I fought [Pereira], he was so strong. You can see he put in work in the last years. He was too strong, too quick, so yeah, I think Pereira gives me bigger problems right now."

As for who's going to win, fans and experts alike are torn, and so is Wilnis.

"It's hard to say, man, but if I go for the experience, you know, Adesanya got the experience. He got the smarter moves but if I go for the hunger, the beast, it's Pereira. He's very hungry, so it's difficult to say," Jason told us.

But, when push comes to shove, he's going with Pereira, because Adesanya has already reached the MMA mountaintop, but Alex hasn't.

"I would say Pereira, man, for the hunger."

Of course, Adesanya, despite being the undisputed middleweight champ and a bonafide superstar, he isn't exactly lacking hunger ... and with teammate Alex Volkanovski, he may well be the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter on the planet.

"I want to make this a horror movie."

That's UFC champion Israel Adesanya, who joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... making it crystal clear he wants to do a lot more than simply defeat his rival Alex Pereira when the two striking savants battle inside the Octagon at UFC 281 in NYC.

"I want to be the first person he sees when he wakes up. I want to make sure I'm right in his line of sight so he's looking at me," the 33-year-old MMA superstar said.

Of course, Adesanya and Pereira are headlining the November 12th card -- with two title fights and a Michael Chandler-Dustin Poirier matchup -- which will go down inside Madison Square Garden.

Israel and Alex fought twice previously and Pereira won both times ... in 2016 (decision) and 2017 (knockout), but they were kickboxing, NOT MMA (overall, Izzy had a kickboxing record of 75-5, while Alex was 33-7.)

We asked Adesanya, who last fought and beat Jared Cannonier in July, if people were making too big a deal over the previous fights.

"100%, even though the way you defend is different, the way you attack is different. It's kinda stupid sometimes. No disrespect to kickboxing," Izzy said.

"I always felt my striking was better suited for MMA, for the glove size but also the way, the freeness of attacking, I can clinch someone and trip 'em down. I can elbow, things like that and I know he's good at stuff like that as well but I've been doing this a lot longer."

The reality is ... Adesanya rarely lost kickboxing, but he's never lost in his division in the UFC (sole L came against Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight).

Despite it being a much different discipline, Izzy says he did rewatch the fights.

"I've looked back at them and I've taken a few things away from them but it is a different fight. I'm not the same guy, he's not the same guy either, but again, I've been doing this a lot longer and people forget," Adesanya said.

"For me, I have reminded them. I always do when it's time. I remind people and show them how great I am. This is just another one of those times I have to do it."

Despite losing in the ring on Saturday, Uriah Hall is advising Le'Veon Bell to continue fighting, telling the former NFL star to ignore the haters telling him to quit!

If you missed it ... Bell -- who last played for the Bucs and Ravens in 2021 -- fought the ex-UFC star on the Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva card at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Bell and Hall went at it for four founds ... and Le'Veon lost by unanimous decision.

The trolls went after Bell following the loss, saying the sport of boxing is way out of the running back's league ... but Hall hopes Bell ignores the haters.

"Don’t you dare listen to the naysayers," Hall said on Sunday in a IG post, "and don’t you dare give up on your dreams."

"Only dare to do great things 👊🏿"

Bell thanked the former middleweight MMA fighter for the advice and for getting in the ring with him for his first professional fight.

"It was truly an honor to share the ring with you bro," the 3-time Pro Bowler said, "nothin but the upmost respect from me ✊🏾 true class, elite fighter, even better person 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾"

This loss for Bell surely doesn't mean his pro boxing career is over ... in fact, Bell told us his goal is to ultimately become a champion.

"Honestly, I'm trying to be the best, Bell told us last week, "I wanna be a champion at some point."

Kamaru Usman is planning to fight Leon Edwards in early 2023 -- in the Brit's home country -- but the Nigerian Nightmare ain't concerned about going into enemy territory ... 'cause he says the crowd will actually be on his side.

"I would love to go to England and do this in England," Usman told Babcock when they sat down for the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1), adding, "I gotta lot of fans in England, a lot of my Africans, a lot of my Jamaican fans in England so I think it only makes sense."

Lots of fans in England ... as in, the crowd will be split 50/50, we asked.

"No, I think I have more fans in there than he would but it is what it is, going to the UK, doesn't matter. They don't help you fight. You gotta fight me. You gotta fight the Nigerian Nightmare when you're in there so that doesn't really make a difference for me," 35-year-old Usman said.

Of course, Kamaru lost his title to 31-year-old Edwards at UFC 278 in August. Usman was cruising, on his way to a relatively painless title defense ... that's until Rocky landed a perfectly placed head kick that turned the lights off for the champ.

Prior to the loss, Usman won 19 fights in a row ... many against the UFC's best, including Colby Covington (twice), Jorge Masvidal (twice), and many others. He also previously beat Edwards in late 2015.

After the fight, the internet did what the internet does ... and there were memes galore. Usman handled the loss graciously.

"I started wrestling in high school and I lost a lot until I started winning. Then I went to college wrestling and then I lost until I did win and then I started fighting, then I lost and started winning," Kamaru says, making the point ... everyone loses. It's how you bounce back.

And, after over 20 minutes of fighting this summer, Usman says both he and Edwards know who's the superior fighter.

Anderson Silva's fight with Jake Paul is still on -- the MMA legend has been cleared to compete in the boxing match, an Arizona athletic commission ruled Thursday night.

The big last-minute meeting was called after the website MMA Weekly posted an interview with Silva ... where the 47-year-old MMA G.O.A.T. admitted to being "knocked out" twice during a training session before the fight.

Anderson, who speaks English as a second language, quickly issued a statement saying he inadvertently used "knockout" instead of "knockdown." He also revealed the interview was almost 2 weeks old, despite just being released this week.

The Commission could've pulled Silva's license at any time ... so the meeting was a huge deal not just for Anderson.

Chairman Scott Fletcher said he was "completely comfortable" letting Silva fight ... after coming away satisfied with how well Anderson spoke when answering questions.

Commissioner Dr. Ara Feinstein, who's also a surgeon and ringside physician, reviewed Silva's neurological report and MRI, and saw no issues with the results.

"I was NEVER knocked out in sparring," Silva told us after the scandal broke, continuing ... "I misspoke in that interview as I sometimes do when interviewing in English and exaggerated the normal back-and-forth action that occurs in sparring."

"This sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview with MMA Weekly was done on Sept. 13 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn't recent."

Jake Paul's bad luck could strike once again -- his fight against Anderson Silva might be in trouble ... after the former UFC champ claimed he was knocked out twice during his last sparring session.

47-year-old Spider made the shocking comments in a video posted to MMA Weekly on Tuesday ... saying his workouts leading up to Saturday's fight in Phoenix were so grueling, he was KO'd twice.

"I'm training hard for the win," Silva told Jim Grieshaber. "I'm training with the good boxers, high-level, and five guys come to help me. "And the last sparring with [my partner], he knocked me out two times, and when I finish my training, I talked to my coach and even said, 'Coach, let me tell you something, why the guys knock me out two times?' And the coach said, 'You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war.'"

Silva's statement caught the attention of the Arizona Department of Gaming -- the organization that oversees professional bouts in the state -- which told MMA Fighting it is "looking into the matter."

Here's the issue -- due to Silva's age, he must undergo rigorous testing in order to be cleared to fight ... which includes disclosing his most recent knockouts and the amount of time he was unconscious.

Silva's coach, Luiz Carlos Dorea, adamantly denied the fighter's claims ... saying he is 100% ready for the fight.

No update has been provided so far ... but Paul is clearly expecting to scrap on Saturday -- tweeting out, "3 days" as he continues to count down to the big event.

If Silva's revelation ruins the fight, it'll be the third time Paul has been left without an opponent ... after Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr. were forced to back out.

Here's hoping it doesn't come to that.

Jake Paul is giving those picking Anderson Silva to win on Oct. 29 enough time to reconsider ... telling TMZ Sports they're going to lose all their money!!

We spoke with the Problem Child -- who's currently the betting underdog against the former UFC champion -- about his highly anticipated upcoming bout ... and despite having a ton of respect for his opponent, Paul tells us he's out for blood once they hit the ring.

"I'm knocking this guy out," Jakey P says ... adding the fight won't last past five rounds. "I'm promising everyone that."

"Come back to this interview, everyone, after the fight, and they'll say, 'Wow, he predicted the future,'" he added. "I have a crystal ball in my room and I can see it."

Jake says he's excited to prove people wrong on Saturday night ... and has a message for those putting their hard-earned money on Spider.

"You shouldn't have done it. You should've invested into something else."

"And everyone who bet on me?? Good stuff, man. You're gonna have some dough, maybe a new car, maybe your rent paid."

Jake also dishes on those downplaying the fight considering Silva is 47 years old ... and he explains why it's actually an advantage for Anderson.

"Suga" Sean O'Malley is already a UFC star, but Dana White says he could reach Conor McGregor-like levels of fame ... as long as he keeps winning in the Octagon!

TMZ Sports talked to the UFC honcho just days before he headed back to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi ... where UFC 280 is going down Saturday afternoon (in the USA). O'Malley isn't shy about his desire to be a global star, so we asked Dana if Suga had what it took.

"100% and it's all about winning those key fights. He needs to win this fight this weekend against Petr Yan. He beats Petr Yan, watch what happens on Sunday," Dana said.

"It will be crazy, but yeah, Conor, on his way up, won all of the key fights he needed to win. It's not for a title or anything but Petr Yan is the number-one-ranked guy in the world."

Dana says, keeping with the McGregor theme, a win vs. Petr would be equivalent to Conor's epic KO of Jose Aldo in 2015.

O'Malley is 15-1, with his sole loss coming against Chito Vera in August 2020 (depending on who you ask, the loss was controversial). He's the #11 ranked bantamweight.

As for Yan, he's the #1 ranked 135-pounder ... and while he's coming off a loss to Aljamain Sterling, it was a very close fight.

Speaking of the champ, Aljo is also on the stacked 280 card. Sterling is fighting #2 ranked T.J. Dillashaw.

The guys aren't exactly friends. In fact, we spoke to Aljamain earlier this month, and he called T.J. "Pill.J DillaRoid."

We asked Dana if he felt confident Dillashaw wasn't taking any banned substances.

"T.J. is absolutely positively clean. These guys are all being tested by USADA and when you're coming off what T.J. is coming off of, I'm sure he's getting hard by USADA."

Of course, Dillashaw was popped for a banned substance, EPO, in early 2019. He received a 2-year ban from the sport.

There's more. We also talked to White about the main event, Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev.

There's a dream scenario amongst many fans. Oliveira beats Makhachev, and then Khabib Nurmagomedov comes out of retirement to avenge his brother's loss.

Possible?! We asked Dana.

"That's hilarious. I love it. Believe me, that would be everybody's dream scenario, including mine if he beats Islam," White said.

Dana also provided some caution to people who think Islam's going to roll right through Charles.

"[Oliveira's] one of the guys that's sort of slips under the radar and people don't realize it. He's on an 11-fight win streak. He's got the record for the most finishes in UFC history, he's got the most submissions in UFC history, tied for overall UFC post-fight bonuses. He has most Performance Of The Night awards in UFC history, most submissions in both UFC lightweight and featherweight history!"

"I mean the guy has records on top of records on top of records! It's incredible."

We also spoke to Makhachev earlier in the week ... and talked about all things Charles Oliveira, backup fighter Alex Volkanovski, and UFC 280.

No matter what happens between Anderson Silva and Jake Paul, 47-year-old Spider will NOT be retiring after their boxing match, the UFC legend tells TMZ Sports.

We talked to the MMA G.O.A.T. about his upcoming scrap with 25-year-old Paul -- going down on October 29 in Phoenix, AZ -- and asked Silva if this could be the last fight of his historic career.

"No, no, definitely not," Silva told us without hesitation, continuing ... "I don't know when I'm gonna stop. I know one day I will stop. But not now."

"I try to challenge myself every day, and especially right now my kid started fighting, and I help my kid."

Anderson, who will turn 48 in April, has been fighting professionally for 25 years and is arguably the greatest mixed martial arts fighter to ever grace a cage.

Silva last fought for the UFC in October 2020 ... when he lost to Uriah Hall by TKO.

Despite losing his last 3 fights in the Octagon, Anderson has looked incredibly sharp in the ring.

Silva starched Tito Ortiz in September 2021, but the really impressive feat came against former boxing champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ... who lost to AS by a split decision in June 2021.

Of course, Chavez's dad is arguably the most respected Mexican athlete ever.

As for Paul, he's 5-0 in the ring, with 4 knockouts. The first Tyron Woodley fight was the only bout to go the distance.

Despite the age difference, Silva is actually a slight betting favorite for the fight ... airing on Showtime PPV.

Bottom line, Silva clearly loves fighting, and walking away isn't even on his mind at this time.

T.I. will be stepping into an octagon for an MMA showdown with popular vlogger and anti-gang activist Charleston White ... that is, if Charleston gets his wish, after he and Tip started beefing over his son King Harris.

Charleston issued the fight challenge Tuesday ... which he claimed would be the last straw in a string of disses that have been festering for a couple of days.

According to Charleston, he and T.I. hopped on the phone last night to potentially resolve their differences, but that convo crashed and burned and here we are.

He wants T.I. to wear an eyepatch during the fight, presumably to stack the odds in his favor ... and he's also calling for "judge" Steve Harvey to referee the entire spectacle.

The Texas-based YouTuber went on to mock Tip's urban legend status ... teasing him for his "Motivation" lyrics ("I'm 5'9" with the soul of a 6'4" n***a")

He also wants to add some family ties to the fight card ... offering to have his son fight King as well as any other relatives sitting on the sidelines, willing to duke it out.

The malarkey began earlier this week when Charleston claimed he alerted Atlanta D.A. Fani Willis of King's video, where he threatened to beatdown the vlogger next time he stepped foot in the A-Town.

Le'Veon Bell is either insane or extremely confident ... the former star NFL running back will be fighting MMA star and former UFC fighter Uriah Hall in his pro boxing debut.

Bell will be fighting Hall on the same card as Jake Paul and Anderson Silva -- under "The Problem Child's" MVP promotion -- going down on October 29th in Arizona.

The fight will be fought at 195 lbs. ... and neither man can weigh over 200 lbs. on fight night.

30-year-old Bell is coming off an exhibition fight against Adrian Peterson in September, where he KO'd the 37-year-old running back in the fifth round.

Le'Veon -- who last played football with the Tampa Bay Bucs -- looked pretty impressive that night ... dropping AP with a vicious right hand that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Now, it appears Bell is ready to take that next step (well, like 10 steps) -- and will get in the ring against 38-year-old Hall, one of the most dangerous men in combat sports.

Hall was a top 10 ranked UFC Middleweight ... and beat Anderson Silva, and Gegard Mousasi, amongst many others.

Hall announced in August he was retiring from the UFC.

Bellator star Aaron Pico says he needs surgery after separating his shoulder in the first round of his Bellator 286 fight Saturday, telling TMZ Sports he'll likely be out 4 to 6 months.

"I'll be having surgery soon," the 26-year-old Bellator fighter says, adding ... "I'm just having some numbness in my fingers right now, and they're just waiting for the numbness to go away, and then immediate surgery. They say I'll probably be out 4 to 6 months, so it's not that long."

Of course, Pico, the number 4 ranked Bellator featherweight, dislocated his shoulder throwing a hook within 30 seconds of the first round of his fight with Jeremy Kennedy. Miraculously, Aaron was able to survive nearly an entire round with his shoulder dangling.

In-between rounds, Aaron directed his coach -- who obviously isn't a doctor -- to pop his shoulder back into place. Unfortunately, they didn't have any luck. That's when the ringside physician came to the cage and ultimately stopped the fight, despite Pico pleading with him to fix the injury and let him continue.

Aaron addressed fans who've attacked his coach for trying to get the shoulder back in the socket. He also tells us why the ringside doc wouldn't just pop the shoulder back in place.

Officially, Aaron lost the fight ... but the fact he was able to scrap 4+ minutes with a serious injury is insane, and goes to show how tough he is.

Shockingly, Pico says the injury didn't hurt ... at first.

"I just felt stuck, like something was blocking it, but I wasn't in pain," Pico says, adding he immediately left the cage before Kennedy was announced as the winner because he recognized he needed to get to the hospital.

Then the adrenaline wore off ... and well, it hurt, bad.

"Then when I got to the back, the pain really set in, and then when I got into the ambulance, I can handle pain, but I started to shed a few tears because I was like this thing is the worst pain I've ever been in."

It was just last week that Pico, along with best friend and fellow Bellator star AJ McKee, came to the TMZ office and sat down with Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and vowed to be champion one day soon.

Aaron's injury may have delayed his goal ... but it did anything but derail it.

In fact, he's already thinking about his return ... and ideally, he'd fight the guy at the very top of the division, Patricio Pitbull.

"If I'm being selfish, of course, I'd like to go straight for the title, but I believe Jeremy Kennedy deserves a rematch."

"If I need to fight him again, I will. If they want me to fight for the title, it's all good. I have nothing but respect for Kennedy. He didn't know my shoulder was out and he came to fight. Tough guy, s**t happens. There's nothing you can really do.".

AJ McKee and Aaron Pico are two of the most talented fighters in all of Bellator, but barring an absolutely life-changing amount of money, you will NEVER see them in a cage together.

27-year-old McKee and 26-year-old Pico stopped by the TMZ offices this week and sat down with Babcock for the "TMZ Sports" TV show ... to promote their Bellator 286 scraps, going down Saturday night in Long Beach, CA.

During the convo, the guys, friends for nearly their who lives, ranked #1 (A.J.) and #3 (Aaron) challengers in the featherweight division, were asked if they'd ever fight each other in a sanctioned bout.

The short answer ... nope.

"No, we wouldn't do it. We've talked about this before and we said this, 'Listen, if it ever came down to that, it's gonna be years and years from now. Those zeros better add up,'" Pico said.

Aaron continued ... "I'm gonna say 'Hey AJ, is your son gonna be taken care of for life? Are you gonna be taken care of? I'm gonna be taken care of?' But right now, there's so many people for us to smash. I just don't think so."

McKee then broke down the history of their friendship ... and it's not just two guys who occasionally train each other -- they're basically family.

"You gotta go in there with the intent to hurt your brother. Legit known each other since we were 3, 5 years old. Too many fish in this pond."

Aaron chimed in ... "It goes deeper than that. We've been friends. My mom would go and pick him up from his house, you know, we'd all have sleepovers. My dad talks to his dad a lot."

So, barring a huuuuuge check, it ain't happening.

"It'd have to be a lot of zeros. A lot of zeros. His family's taken care of, my family's taken care of. After, we can sit by the pool with a drink and just laugh," Pico said.

There's much more ... we also talked to the fighters about their 286 matchups (McKee's fighting Spike Carlyle at lightweight, Pico's fighting Jeremy Kennedy at featherweight).

Pico also told a touching story about his early career struggles ... when the prospect, an accomplished wrestler AND boxer, lost two fights in a row (Aaron hasn't lost since).

A win Saturday night in LBC could earn Aaron a title shot ... and complete his comeback.

Many people believe Khabib Nurmagomedov is the greatest MMA fighter ever, but ... future Hall of Famer Tyron Woodley isn't one of 'em!

T-Wood was a guest on "BS w/ Jake Paul" -- the Problem Child's new show on betr (Jake and Tyron are cool with each other despite earlier beef) -- when the topic turned to Tyron's best fighters.

First, the fighters that made the former UFC welterweight champs cut:

Jon Jones ... "Best fighter we've seen whether he's fought consistently or whatever the case."

Anderson Silva ... "I would say is the G.O.A.T. because he did it in a really respectful way," Woodley told Paul, adding ... "He beat people without being able to talk the shit that everybody else did."

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson ... "is the most well-rounded fighter we've ever saw."

GSP ... "I f**k with Georges St-Pierre because he was very respectful all the time."

Tyron also praised MMA vet Carlos Condit ... who he called his "favorite fighter to watch" back in the day.

What about 34-year-old Khabib, who finished his career with a blemish-free, 29-0 record ... and racked up wins over Edson Barboza, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Conor McGregor??

Surely impressive in the Octagon, and someone Tyron respects a good deal ... but Nurmagomedov isn't one of the greats in his eyes.

"[khabib] on my top 10 list? Probably not. I f**k with Khabib. I like him, I respect him a lot. I think he's a good fighter. I think his type of fight for that weight class (lightweight), nobody could do that besides Sean Sherk back in the day, but like, he was just really aggressive, but I didn't see the wrestler with good hands fight him so I couldn't really jump on that train."

Nurmagomedov retired after defeating Gaethje in October 2020. Since setting his gloves down in the Octagon, fans have clamored for a match with former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira ... whom some believe has the tools to beat Khabib.