MMA

It'll be nearly 1,000 days between trips to the Octagon for Stipe Miocic, but the former UFC heavyweight champ isn't approaching his scrap with Jon Jones any differently than his two dozen previous fights, telling us the mindset's to beat "Bones" Jones to a pulp!

Miocic joined Mojo Muhtadi on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and talked about his highly anticipated tilt with Jon, going down at UFC 295 on November 11 at Madison Square Garden.

"Finally here. This is a fight I wanted for a very long time, the only fight I wanted, and I finally got it. Nothing better than Madison Square Garden," Stipe said, adding "The venue is just amazing, pretty pumped!"

As for whether 40-year-old Miocic has been slowed down by age and time away from the cage, Miocic says he "feels good," and has simply "listened to his body more" as he's gotten older.

"Mindset's still I'm gonna go out there and do my thing and beat that ass!"

Of course, Jones has only one fight at heavyweight ... albeit, an absolutely dominating performance against one of the top title contenders, Ciryl Gane, at UFC 285 in March, where Jon won by 1st round submission.

Stipe says the fight was just too quick (only took JJ 2 minutes against CG) to extract much useful info -- how Jones will fight as a heavyweight -- as opposed to the lion's share of his career, which was spent in the LHW division.

"His last fight really didn't go that long. So it was very hard to judge what he was doing, but I mean, it's Jon Jones, man. He got a lot of tricks up his sleeves. Real good. He's veteran. He knows what to do."

But ... "I mean, I've had a lot of fights and I know what to do as well."

November can't come soon enough!

Forget Stipe Miocic ... Jon Jones apparently found a new rival at an ESPYs after-party Wednesday night -- 7-foot-4 Purdue hoops star Zach Edey!!!

The guys hit up The Pendry West Hollywood for the Talent Resources Sports bash in Los Angeles following the awards show ... and for some reason, Edey decided to test his reach against the UFC's best heavyweight.

The two traded a few jabs while cameras snapped away -- but don't worry, it was all completely in jest ... Edey's definitely too smart for that!!!

Following their impromptu shadowboxing session ... the fighter and the hooper posed for pics together -- and then partied the night away at an event that was packed full of celebs.

Damar Hamlin, Jamal Murray and Braxton Berrios were all there ... as were ESPN personalities Chris Berman and Hannah Storm.

They all had a lot to celebrate too ... as the ESPYs were a huge hit.

Brandon Royval believes he's next in line for a title shot at flyweight, welcome news for the UFC contender, who says he's clearly the best in the division after watching Alexandre Pantoja beat Brandon Moreno at UFC 290!

30-year-old Royval served as the backup to the co-main event between AP and BM -- training and cutting weight, in the event either of the competitors couldn't fight -- and while he hasn't been told he's next, Royval says his team thinks that's the case.

"I haven't been told necessarily anything," Brandon told us ... "As far as my management team goes, he's like, 'I'm pretty positive you're next, who else, you know? Which is pretty dope because me and Moreno have the same management team."

FYI, both men are repped by Iridium Sports CEO Jason House.

Of course, a rematch between Pantoja and Moreno is also on the table ... but as Royval points out, the guys have already fought three times (2016, 2018, 2023), and the score is 3 to nill.

Not to mention Royval doesn't believe the fight with Moreno was very close, saying he scored it four rounds to one for Alexandre ("I thought the judges f***ed up").

As for how a scrap would look between Royval and Pantoja -- despite losing to AP in 2021 via submission -- Brandon thinks he's got a big-time advantage, and it's his fight to lose.

"There's holes all over all their games," Royval said.

"Watching them fight, I'm like, 'Damn, this could be great for me. They could be walking into some dangerous shots and putting themselves in dangerous positions.'"

The takeaway, Brandon says ... "I know I could be both those guys."

With that said, if it sounds like there's beef between Royval, Moreno, and Pantoja ... that's not the case.

BR says he was touched emotionally by Alexandre's win ... that's how special it was to see him realize his lifelong dream of becoming champion.

"F***ing awesome job," Royval said of AP's performance, adding ... "The moments I've had with Pantoja outside the cage have been such beautiful moments. And that guy's such a good person. Same thing with Moreno."

Brandon continued ... "What a beautiful moment, man. And to watch him win and to watch his family go in and to hear him say what he said was such a beautiful, inspiring moment in my life."

Nicki Minaj's bite just might be as big as her bark on rap tracks -- judging from the hands she's throwing with her sparring partner/husband Kenneth Petty!

"The Pinkprint" rapper shared video evidence of her skills Wednesday, showing off her jab-cross combos and footwork, which all looked pretty convincing.

Nicki never flinched and maintained solid boxing form throughout ... and even finished with a roundhouse kick for good measure.

Y'know what they say about a family that fights together ... don't mess with them!!!

Nicki's workout music was an unreleased collab with JT, and you can hear both dissing rival females who don't stack up to their flyness.

The City Girls rapper was also in the building with Nicki, but didn't break a sweat outside the studio.

Nicki's cooldown wasn't anything to scoff at either ... she backed that thang up on Kenneth and called him Big Daddy!!!

"Anudda scratch"

That's Dan Hooker describing HIS BROKEN FACE ... another of the serious injuries he sustained during his war of a fight vs. Jalin Turner at UFC 290.

Of course, 33-year-old Hooker won the fight by split decision (both men showed amazing heart and skill) ... but didn't escape the scrap unharmed.

We knew Hangman broke his wrist ... in fact, Joe Rogan asked Dan about it in the Octagon after the fight, with Hooker now famously saying, "It's just a scratch!"

But, not the only scratch.

After getting checked by doctors, Dan was told he also suffered a facial fracture near his right cheekbone (likely from a huge head kick JT landed in the 2nd round). Hooker shared a photo of the X-ray on social media, and captioned the pic, "Anudda scratch"

Hooker, now ranked 10th in the lightweight division after the dub, will now have to rest up and heal before he takes another fight.

Boxer Otto Wallin spent 12 rounds in the squared circle with Tyson Fury ... and given that experience, the Swedish boxer believes Francis Ngannou has virtually no chance of beating the Gypsy King!

TMZ Sports talked to 32-year-old Wallin after the Fury vs. Ngannou bout was announced on Tuesday ... where we got Otto's thoughts on the matchup.

"Tyson is the best heavyweight fighter in the world in boxing. Ngannou might be the best at MMA at heavyweight. So this fight is gonna be at boxing so you obviously gotta favor Fury a lot. [Tyson's] fighting someone that's making his pro debut as a boxer really. It's a whole different sport, and as difficult as it'll be for Fury to go over to MMA, it's gonna be the same for Ngannou. So of course Fury's gonna be a big favorite."

Because Fury has an immense skill advantage in the boxing ring, Wallin believes Ngannou must use his strength to make the fight as ugly as possible.

"[Francis] can't box him really. He needs to really make it a fight. A dogfight. Take it to Fury. Rough him up," Otto told us.

"He's gotta go in there and use what he has. He's a strong guy, so try to push Fury around, and try to land punches that he can, cause he can't be there in a boxing match. He can't just stand a long distance and try to box 'cause then he's gonna be picked apart."

And, Wallin knows what he's talking about.

Remember, Tyson and Otto fought at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in September 2019 ... where Fury won by unanimous decision. But, that doesn't begin to tell the story of the fight ... which certainly could've been stopped because of an awful gash on TF's head.

His cut man did an amazing job managing the cut, and Tyson ended up winning a close fight. In fact, it's the last Fury bout that went to the judges. Since Otto, the Gypsy King has stopped heavyweight stars Deontay Wilder (twice) and Dillian Whyte (Derek Chisora, too).

As for his prediction, Wallin sees a knockout on the horizon.

Will his prediction ring true?

Donald Trump is one of the most polarizing people ever, but that wasn't the case at UFC 290 ... the former president received heaps of love from the packed crowd in Las Vegas, including celebs and fighters!

The 45th President of the United States was captured on video walking into T-Mobile Arena flanked by longtime friend, UFC president Dana White, escorted by a gang of Secret Service Agents ... where Trump received a raucous ovation.

After enough handshakes to put a campaign event to shame (including dapping up Raiders star Maxx Crosby), Trump and White made their way to their seats, Octagon-side.

The card featured a ton of great fights ... and a bunch of the athletes showed Trump love after their scraps, including Bo Nickal, who beat Val Woodburn by 1st round knockout.

After the KO, Bo climbed the Octagon fence and had a brief chat with DT.

Jalin Turner's corner also had a conversation with Donald ... with one of the lightweight contender's coaches asking him, "Mr. Trump, are you winning again? Are you winning again? Yes! Please! We need it!"

In between the fights, Trump also found time to hang with Israel Adesanya, "Suga" Sean O'Malley and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

Mark Zuckerberg is clearly taking his potential fight with Elon Musk seriously ... he revealed Tuesday he's already getting in training sessions with some of the UFC's biggest stars -- and he's looking damn good while doing it!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... both Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanvski flew to Zuck's crib in Northern California following Saturday night's UFC 290 showcase in Vegas -- and almost immediately, they got to work with the Meta honcho on the mats to prep him for a possible tilt with Musk.

The three obviously worked out for a while -- 'cause check out the photos, they were drenched in sweat.

What's even more notable about the pics, though, is Zuckerberg's physique -- the dude is jacked!!

The 39-year-old flexed some big pecs, chiseled arms, and a six-pack in the images. He also added in a comment on the pics, "It's an honor to train with you guys!"

Adesanya, meanwhile, was impressed with the billionaire's work ... saying in his own comment on the photos, "No fugazi with Mark 🦈 This is Serious Business‼️"

Zuckerberg and Musk have not yet committed to a fight ... but both seem dead serious about getting after each other in a cage later this year.

Francis Ngannou once stared down Tyson Fury and told him he was going to "find out who the baddest mother f***er on the planet is" ... now, the answer may be closer than ever, 'cause the men are boxing in just over 100 days!

The fight, literally the biggest crossover in recent memory, is set to go down on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ... under conventional boxing rules, with three judges scoring the bout.

"Both fighters however are promising to meet in the middle of the ring, go to war and win by knockout in devastating fashion,” a release announcing the fight read.

Of course, 36-year-old Ngannou split with the UFC last year, and hasn't fought since January 2022, when he beat title contender Ciryl Gane. Francis signed a deal with PFL a few months ago which allowed him to take other lucrative fights ... like this one.

As for 34-year-old Fury, he's without question the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world and one of the best to ever step foot in a ring.

It's unclear if Fury's belts will be on the line vs. Ngannou.

The men, although mostly friendly with one another, have been going back and forth for years ... but it was just recently that the fight was agreed upon.

Odds have already opened for the fight, and as you'd expect, Fury is a sizeable favorite at -500 (risk $500 to win $100).

Alexandre Pantoja earned a hero's welcome, and that's exactly what he got at his gym, American Top Team, Monday afternoon -- less than 48 hours after defeating Brandon Moreno -- and the scenes from inside were awesome!

It all went down at ATT in Coconut Creek, Florida -- one of the top MMA gyms in the world -- where the entire gym, including King Mo, Kayla Harrison, and Johnny Eblen gathered to celebrate Pantoja winning the flyweight title.

Pantoja traveled around the gym, belt over his shoulder, while fighters and coaches wished the first-time champ congratulations.

ICYMI ... the 33-year-old fighter's clash with Moreno was arguably the best fight of 2023 so far (it won Fight of the Night, too). The battle went the full 25 minutes, and Pantoja was ultimately declared the winner by split decision.

As expected after a 5-round war, Pantoja was a little beat up ... brandishing visible bruises on his face.

But we're guessing he doesn't feel a thing ... as the veteran fighter is now on top of the MMA world.

Alex Volkanovski partied HARD after his dominant win at UFC 290 ... hitting a Vegas hotspot with none other than Shaquille O'Neal and NBA star Jamal Murray!!

The guys all met up at Encore Beach Club late Saturday night at Wynn Las Vegas -- just a couple hours after Volk's ultra-impressive third-round TKO of Yair Rodriguez -- and the trio got after it.

As O'Neal was DJing for a huge crowd that had gathered at the nightclub ... Volkanovski and Murray (the NBA star rolled up to 290 w/ Volk) hit the booth with the Lakers legend to rile up clubgoers as well.

The guys fist-pumped the night away ... and, at one point during the festivities, the 34-year-old fighter actually climbed onto the booth with his championship belt and danced his face off!!

A bunch of other celebs hit the scene to celebrate the big win too ... fellow UFC star Israel Adesanya took some time out to enjoy the moment with Volkanovski -- as did NBA players Trae Young, Myles Turner and Aaron Gordon.

Of course, Volkanovski deserved every bit of the reception ... his victory over Rodriguez absolutely cemented his status as one of the best to ever do it in the UFC.

Up next for Volkanovski (after he has arm surgery) could be a rematch with Lightweight champ Islam Makhachev or a matchup with contender Ilia Topuria ... but for now, it's clear he's super content enjoying the spoils of his victory.

Congrats!!

"Elon, you need me on your team, brother!"

That's retired UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal's message to Elon Musk ... offering to train up the $250 billion man for his would-be scrap with fellow billionaire and social media rival, Mark Zuckerberg.

"Elon, if you're watching this, I mean, we all know you're a smart dude, man. You're going to want as many options, missiles, if you're going to war, right, you're going to want the snipers, you're going to want everything. Give your boy a shot, man! I can show you some techniques to deal with these jiu-jitsu guys that they don't like."

"I'm not going to be teaching all this arm bar stuff," Masvidal said, continuing ... "I'm just gonna show you some techniques to break someone's face, man."

And, let's be real ... there aren't many people who have more combat experience than Gamebred -- from the streets to the biggest arenas in the world -- and that's why Jorge believes he could help Elon.

Of course, we've seen Musk working out with legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor John Danaher and BJJ black belt (and great podcaster) Lex Fridman ... but Masvidal believes he can help in ways they may not be able to.

"All those guys, you mentioned are studs but none of those guys have 50 pro fights and all the amateur fights that I got, all the street fights that I got. So no offense to none of them, because they're all great at what they do. Elon, you need me on your team, brother! That's who you need on your team."

Although he admittedly is Team Elon, Jorge has no beef with Zuck (even says he's "done some great things in this world") ... he just connected with Musk on a different level.

"The reason why I love Elon so much, this dude's a patriot, man. He's just a dude that's for America, that understands how our rules work, and he's not even like naturally American, you know? And understands how well this country works and what makes this country work, that's why I'm cheering for Elon."

There's much more with Masvidal.

Jorge's Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA promotion has been incredibly successful. In fact, Masvidal inked two former UFC heavyweight champs, the legendary Fabricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos are rematching (they fought at UFC 90 in 2008!) on September 8 in Jacksonville!

Talk about unlikely allies ... UFC star Michael Chandler believes Conor McGregor is getting an unfair shake when it comes to his reputation as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter!

"I  think Conor's getting a little bit of a raw deal when it comes to how much he was there or wasn't there [with his team]," Chandler told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

If you haven't seen the show ... Conor and Michael are coaching opposite one another on TUF 31, and a decent amount of time has been spent on The Notorious being absent for certain team activities, including weigh-ins.

But, Chandler says that's not really fair to Conor.

"Showing up for the weigh-ins isn't that big of a deal and they kept asking me about it so obviously I kept talking about it. I don't think the results would be any different, to be honest with you."

FYI, Chandler's team (made up of former UFC fighters looking to make a return to the promotion) is 6-0 against McGregor's squad (made up of prospects).

It's somewhat surprising to see Michael defend Conor. Things got physical between the men on last week's episode of the show, resulting in McGregor shoving Chandler, causing Dana White to sprint into the Octagon (can't fight for free!).

Michael walked us through the dustup with Conor and gave us an update on where things stand with the fight negotiations between the men.

There's more -- we also talked to Mike about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Some people like the fight, while others hate it. Count Mike in the group of people ready to grab their popcorn.

Alex Volkanovski says he's totally focused on defending his featherweight title against interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 ... but openly admits there's a fight he wants in the future -- a rematch with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev!

"Obviously I've got to go do my thing. I'm focused 100% on Yair, but obviously, I want that rematch," Volk told TMZ Sports.

"Then you've got guys like Ilia's [Topuria] name gets thrown out there, and whoever it is I'm gonna turn up cause I wanna be active, that's that. It's pretty simple with me. Ya know people aren't gonna be waiting long, but it just depends on who the UFC wants, but obviously I want that rematch."

Of course, Alex and Islam fought at UFC 284 in February, a fight AV lost by unanimous decision. However, that doesn't exactly tell the full story ... many fans felt Volkanovski actually won the fight, and should've been double champ.

First things first, Alex, who is a sizeable favorite (around -380), has to beat Yair if he wants to be double champ. On the other side of things is Rodriguez ... who won the interim title in a fight with Josh Emmett (also at UFC 284).

Yair, like Alex, badly wants this win ... and says he's ready to go to extreme lengths.

"I accept anything that comes with [the fight]. I understand the sport and more than being prepared to win this fight, I'm ready to f****** die, and that's one of the things you've got to be prepared for every time that you step in the cage," Rodriguez says.

"Many people go in there only thinking I'm winning, I'm winning. I go in there with many fears, but also I beat my fears every single day. So I'm ready to die."

There's more -- we also talked to the men scrapping in the co-main event, Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja, who are fighting for a third time.

Pantoja, the #2 ranked contender, beat the flyweight champion twice ... but those fights were years ago.

Moreno says he's out to prove ... a lot has happened since 2018.

Mark Zuckerberg apparently can't wait to get into an Octagon with Elon Musk to take shots at the billionaire ... he spent plenty of time Wednesday night throwing keyboard jabs at his nemesis -- as part of the rollout of his new app, Threads.

The Twitter rival made its debut right around dinner time ... and just a few minutes into its kickoff, Zuck took to the site -- which many are calling the "new Twitter" -- to go after Musk and his bird app.

First, Zuckerberg tossed shade at Twitter while explaining to Mark Cuban he hopes Threads is a more "friendly" area for people to interact.

"That's one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have," he wrote, "and we want to do it differently."

Later, the Meta founder told UFC fighter Mike Davis he's got hopes Threads will outgrow Twitter one day.

"It'll take some time," Zuckerberg said, "but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will."

There were some veiled comments from Zuck about a potential fight with Musk too ... while replying to new signups throughout the night, he consistently made references to winning "round one" of Threads. He also laughed at the prospects of the billionaire superfight being called "The Meta Threada." He spent a whole lot of time interacting with MMA stars like Jon Jones as well.

Zuck even appeared to get back on Twitter after an 11-year hiatus to get in another little ribbing at Musk ... with an account apparently associated with him tweeting out the Spider-Man meme.

No date has been set for the potential Zuck vs. Musk superfight -- there's a lot of hangups over the size discrepancy between the two -- but it's clear, the guys are more than content battling each other behind computer screens while it all gets sorted out.

If Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic ever actually fight, it'll be anything but a cakewalk for Bones, according to former champ Francis Ngannou ... who says the firefighter from Ohio is "still the most challenging guy" in the division, NOT the current champ!

"It's gonna be tough for Jones. I think we all don't give the credit that is due to Stipe. Stipe is not having enough credit. For me, he's still the guy at heavyweight. He's still the most challenging guy in the heavyweight division," 36-year-old Ngannou recently told us when we asked him if Jones would beat Miocic.

Of course, Francis and Stipe fought twice ... each winning one fight.

Miocic won the first fight at UFC 226 in 2018 by unanimous decision. The big guys rematched at UFC 260 in 2021 ... a fight Ngannou won by 2nd round knockout.

Stipe has not stepped in the Octagon since that night.

Despite the 27-month layoff, it's clear Francis believes Miocic is still the guy at heavyweight.

As for Jon, he's 1-0 at heavyweight after dominating title contender Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 earlier this year ... a fight the former light heavyweight champ made look easy.