MMA

Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's fired up for the return of Miesha Tate -- but there's an "I Told You So" moment in this clip he's been waiting to drop for years!

Long story short ... Tate got her nose surgically repaired after her 2016 brawl with Amanda Nunes.

White says he strongly urged her to NOT go under the knife until after her MMA career was seriously over ... because when you're a pro fighter, there's a good chance it could get broken again!

Tate ignored White's advice and got the surgery anyway -- and now that she's returning in July to take on Marion Reneau after a 4-year layoff, Dana's dropping the ol' "I Told You So!"

"I told her don't do it, I'll fix your nose when you're done," White says ... "[but] she did it."

"Her and I haven't talked about this but big mistake and over the last five years obviously she's given her nose plenty of time to heal."

But, Reneau -- the #12 ranked bantamweight -- is a legit striker who will likely take some shots at Tate's sniffer!

White says Tate's a grown-ass woman and she knows what she's getting herself into -- and he's happy to have her back in the fold.

He also dropped some news about Amanda Nunes -- saying Julianna Peña has been "driving me f**king bananas" trying to get a fight with the champ ... and he's leaning towards making it happen.

"[She] will not stop terrorizing me that she deserves this fight. Amanda Nunes this, Amanda Nunes that, Amanda is ducking her, Amanda doesn't want her because the style doesn't match up well for Amanda ... so I'm thinking bout doing a Peña and Nunes."

There's more ... White also talked about this weekend's main event -- Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 -- and explained why Stipe could be the most disrespected fighter in MMA history.

"I think he's starting to wear that underdog role and own it," White said.

"I think there's a lot less pressure on him going in there being the underdog. The disrespect continues for the champ."

As we previously reported, the winner will get to face Jon Jones ... White says he'd love to make that fight happen in the Fall.

Israel Adesanya admits he "crossed the line" when he threatened to "rape" fellow UFC fighter Kevin Holland during a trash-talking session on social media ... and vows to learn from his mistake.

For context, Israel was responding to allegations Holland made earlier this month against him ... claiming the middleweight champ is a steroid user.

Adesanya responded in an Instagram story by saying, "Bro, I’ll f***ing rape you."

The comment was met with outrage from high profile people ... including New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, who said, "There is never a time to make flippant comments about rape. It’s just not something anybody should do."

Finally, on Thursday, Israel addressed the situation ... and admitted he messed up.

"Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line," Adesanya said on Twitter.

"I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention."

"I am still growing under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be more selective with words under pressure.”

Kamaru Usman. Israel Adesanya ... and Francis Ngannou?

The 34-year-old heavyweight contender tells TMZ Sports he badly wants to become the UFC's 3rd African-born champion with a victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 this weekend ... saying it would be his greatest accomplishment.

"That's what I'm thinking about all the time basically leading up to this fight," Ngannou says.

"I feel like losing this fight, I will disappoint a lot of people."

"The whole continent that are looking up to us -- being like 3 African champions [along with] Kamaru Usman and Adesanya."

Usman (from Nigeria) is the UFC's reigning welterweight champ. Adesanya (also from Nigeria) holds the belt in the middleweight division.

Ngannou -- who was born and raised in Cameroon -- adds, "We don't realize how big it is but we are talking about a continent of billions of people. It's huge."

That's a lot of pressure, no??

"Yeah, it's pressure but some problems are good problems to have," Francis says.

Ngannou is 15-3 as a pro and he's currently on a 4-fight win streak. He's looking to avenge a 2018 loss to Stipe, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion.

But, Francis is fired up about the rematch -- telling TMZ Sports he's confident he can smash Miocic and win the belt.

Afterward, he hopes to get the UFC to hold fights in Africa.

"I want the UFC to give it opportunity to all those African fighters who are out there training, to give their own piece of hope. Yeah, I want all of that."

Ngannou says there are all sorts of undiscovered talent ... they just need an opportunity to shine.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is unemployed ... but if the UFC legend is looking for a new gig, WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre says he'd be a helluva professional wrestler.

TMZ Sports talked to the former 2x WWE champ after the 32-year-old, 29-0 Khabib officially retired from the UFC last week.

Nurmagomedov is known for his fighting -- not his trash-talking -- so we asked the 'Monday Night Raw' star if Khabib would be any good in the WWE ring.

"[Khabib's] so talented that I reckon he could make some noise, and if he can't make the noise himself, we’ve got Paul Heyman. We’ve got a few talented people who can carry the load when it comes to talking," McIntyre says.

"MVP has done a heckuva job for [Bobby] Lashley. Maybe that's another name to throw in the hat. But, [Khabib's] such an amazing performer in the UFC, and if he can't quite figure out that part, we’ll make it work."

Drew continued ... "We’re about enhancing the positives and hiding the negatives. I think the fans would be very excited to see him."

Of course, Heyman is Brock Lesnar's legendary, longtime hype man.

TMZ Sports has obtained new footage showing the desperate scramble to neutralize the gunman who fired shots into the air at an MMA event in Florida ... and it's scary stuff.

You can see in the video, people at the Bamboo Room on March 20 were scared and confused after an unidentified man in a red shirt pulled out a handgun and fired into the air in what appears to be an attempt to restore order when a massive brawl broke out in the crowd.

The video -- captured by Florida City Entertainment -- shows multiple people tried to confront the gunman ... but nobody wanted to get too close because the guy was waving around a loaded weapon like it was a loaf of bread.

Eventually, multiple armed security personnel drew their own weapons and confronted the man in a corridor near an exit.

But, before additional law enforcement officers could respond to the scene ... the man was kicked out of the venue and hasn't been heard from since.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ Sports it's still actively investigating the incident ... and released photos of the gunman in the hopes someone will step forward and identify him.

As we previously reported, multiple people were injured in a massive brawl that broke out at the RIZE Fighting Championship event in a chaotic scene that included people throwing punches and chairs.

THIS IS CRAZY VIDEO!!!

The fighting spilled into the stands at an MMA event in Florida over the weekend -- with punches and chairs thrown everywhere -- and culminated with someone firing a GUN twice!!!

... and TMZ Sports has the unbelievable footage.

Here's the deal ... the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident at the RIZE Fighting Championship event which went down on March 20 at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth Beach.

The event was promoted as a bantamweight championship match between Alexis Fernandez and Filipe Valentim -- but there was more action in the stands than inside the cage ... when fans started to attack each other!!

Unclear how the brawl started ... but as several groups of people engaged in fighting, one man opened up a bag, pulled out a handgun and fired it into the air -- apparently hoping the gunshot would scare everyone into behaving.

But, watch the clip ... there are people watching the fights on the balcony, directly above the shooter -- and it's a miracle no one was hit!

We heard at least one shot -- but cops say at least TWO shots were fired into the air.

Former Bellator middleweight champ Hector Lombard -- who also fought in the UFC -- was in the crowd at the event and captured the shooting on video.

"This guy just shot his handgun in the middle of a melee at an amateur show," Lombard posted on IG ... "Shameful and pathetic cowardly behavior ruined a great night of fights."

When officials arrived on-scene, paramedics treated multiple individuals who were injured in the brawl portion of the incident.

So far, no arrests have been made -- but officials say they've launched an investigation in hopes of identifying the shooter and finding out why the hell he thought it would be a good idea to pop off a couple of rounds with so many people in close proximity!

Brian Ortega says he might not be fighting for the title if not for the beating he took from Max Holloway ... 'cause the L opened his eyes to some major holes in his game.

TMZ Sports talked to the 30-year-old fighter -- the #2 ranked UFC featherweight -- days before he'll take on champ Alex Volkanovski at UFC 260 on Saturday ... and we asked if he's changed since his last title shot.

"I feel like I’m finally learning how to fight more, ya know. I feel like before, I was kind of just stuck with my old ways, and if it ain’t broken don’t fix it," T-City told us.

Remember, Ortega lost to Holloway at UFC 231 in December 2018 ... and it was a bloodbath. The Octagon-side doctor stopped the fight in the 4th round ... after Brian ate 290 significant strikes (244 to the head).

T-City -- who broke his nose and thumb in the match -- took nearly 2 years off after the fight. He returned to face the Korean Zombie -- Chan Sung Jung -- in October 2020.

Ortega won by unanimous decision ... and looked AWESOME.

So, did the dominating loss to Holloway actually help Brian?? Absolutely, according to Ortega.

"That was the best thing about it because [losing] showed me that there’s a flaw in your system. So now we have to fix that," Ortega said.

He added ... "The fact that you saw and notice that there is a flaw in the system, and luckily I was able to have a team, a new one, surround me and help me kind of cover all those holes, and guide me now on the right track."

Speaking of Max, the former champ recently told us he's "the cloud over [the Ortega-Volkanovski] fight" ... and Brian actually agrees.

"He's right. Alex wins, he has to fight [Max]. I win, I have to fight [Max]. Us three are a pain in each others’ asses that are going to keep being there."

WARNING: This is tough to watch ...

UFC fighter Julija Stoliarenko collapsed TWICE on Friday while trying to weigh-in for her fight ... and was ultimately taken away on a stretcher.

27-year-old Stoliarenko (9-4-2) was supposed to take on Julia Avila (8-2) at UFC on ESPN 21 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Stoliarenko had to cut weight down to 135 pounds for the fight -- and she didn't show up to the scale until there were less than 15 minutes left in her official weigh-in window, according to MMA Junkie.

When she first stepped on the scale, she was clearly woozy ... and stumbled backward before collapsing.

Medical personnel raced to Stoliarenko within seconds and provided aid.

She got back up a few minutes later and went back on the scale ... but collapsed a second time.

Julia sat up and began to drink fluids -- but was wheeled out of the weigh-in area on a gurney to seek further treatment.

The UFC has since confirmed the fight has been canceled "due to weight cut issues with Stoliarenko."

No word on her current condition.

Kamaru Usman isn't just looking to beat Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 -- he wants to make a statement ... telling TMZ Sports, "I want to put the nail in that coffin once and for all."

Usman -- the reigning welterweight champ -- already defeated Masvidal when they clashed on Fight Island back in July ... but it's worth noting Jorge only took the fight on less than a week's notice.

Remember, Usman's original opponent for UFC 251 was Gilbert Burns -- but he caught COVID and Masvidal stepped up on less than a week's notice to save the card.

Masvidal fought hard -- but it was obvious his conditioning wasn't great ... and Usman proceeded to maul him for 5 straight rounds, winning by unanimous decision.

Ever since that fight, Jorge has been saying he'd wreck Usman if given a proper training camp -- and his wish was granted.

Masvidal will now have 6 full weeks to prepare for Usman before they face off on April 24 and Kamaru says he's fired up!!!

"I am more than excited," Usman tells TMZ Sports ... "I'm blessed for the opportunity that Allah has given me and being able to go out there and do major things. I'm so thankful."

As for Masvidal's claim that he'll whoop Usman the 2nd time around ... Kamaru is clapping back at that, too.

"There's two things -- One, either he truly believes it which I have to take very very very seriously ... or he's just too stupid to understand what's happening right now."

"So, I gotta believe that it's the first one and I gotta take him at his word."

Usman says he knows Masvidal is dangerous -- but at the end of the day he's a "journeyman" fighter who peaked in 2019 ... and those days are long over.

"Now it's time to come back to reality. It's 2021. The ship has sailed my man."

There will be no 30th fight for Khabib Nurmagomedov -- the UFC superstar is "officially retired," following a face-to-face meeting with Dana White.

White previously told TMZ Sports he wanted to meet with Khabib in hopes of convincing the 29-0 fighter to "un-retire" and take a final, 30th fight. Khabib's late father had told people his dream was to see his son end his career with a 30-0 record.

But 32-year-old Dagestani had unexpectedly announced his retirement back in October after beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 ... Khabib's first fight since the death of his father.

Well, Dana and Khabib got together on Thursday to talk things out -- and despite a hard sell from Dana, Khabib will remain retired.

"29-0 it is," White posted along under a selfie with Khabib ... "He is 100% retired."

"It was incredible to watch you work [Khabib]. Thank you for EVERYTHING and enjoy whatever is next my friend.

Khabib will go down as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history -- smothering opponents with ease ... and never unanimously losing a single round!

Belal Muhammad says he's getting vision back after a nasty poke to his right eye on Saturday night -- and he's going scorched-earth on the man who caused the injury.

Muhammad was in the 2nd round of his main event fight against Leon Edwards at "UFC Fight Night" in Vegas when the ref stopped the fight due to the accidental injury.

The fight was declared a no-contest -- and Belal was rushed to a doctor for treatment.

Muhammad tells TMZ Sports ... there was no major damage to the eyeball, "just a really bad scratched cornea and the lid."

Belal says he got stitches -- but they're expected to come out within 5 to 7 days.

But, Muhammad isn't mad about the injury -- he's pissed he didn't get the chance to showcase his skills for 5 rounds against the #3 ranked welterweight ... a fight that could have been HUGE for his career.

Now, Edwards -- who won the 1st round on all 3 of the judges' scorecards -- is publicly saying he's not interested in a rematch and would rather have a title shot ASAP.

Muhammad says that's total BS -- telling us he took the fight on 3 weeks' notice and deserves another shot at a main event fight with Edwards.

"If you're a man -- if you're a real contender -- if you think you're a real champion, you've gotta beat everybody. So, you gotta beat me and then earn your title shot."

Muhammad continues, "You think you earned a title shot off a no contest? That's like the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"You don't deserve a title shot, you deserve another rematch."

Muhammad says he was "just getting warmed up" when the eye poke happened -- and he's convinced he would've earned the "W" had it not happened.

UFC star Leon Edwards says he's going to beat the snot out of Jorge Masvidal ON SIGHT -- whether it's in the Octagon or in the street.

... and he's not kidding.

That bad blood between the two fighters goes back to May 2019 -- when they clashed backstage at a UFC event, resulting in Masvidal socking Edwards in the face multiple times.

Or as Masvidal described it ... he hit 'em with a "3 piece and a soda."

29-year-old Edwards -- the #3 ranked UFC welterweight -- felt the attack was basically a flurry of unprovoked cheap shots ... and now he's hellbent on revenge.

"What happened with me and him, that's away from fighting. That's street stuff," Edwards tells TMZ Sports.

"So, if that's what he's about, we’ll do it that way."

Of course, Edwards would rather get PAID to fight Masvidal -- so, he's hoping the UFC puts that bout together. But, if not, they're still gonna scrap.

"You best get your ass in the Octagon 'cause it's either on the street or in the Octagon but you're gonna get it."

"Wherever you want it, you choose, in the Octagon or on the street, I'm good to go either way."

But, before that fight happens, Edwards -- who's on an 8-fight win streak -- is set to take on Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 187 on Saturday.

Edwards is confident he'll run through Muhammad -- setting himself up for a shot at the welterweight title

What's interesting ... Edwards hasn't lost a fight since 2015 -- and the last man to beat him is the reigning welterweight champ Kamaru Usman.

We also talked to Edwards about Khamzat Chimaev -- who Leon was supposed to fight on multiple occasions.

But Khamzat -- one of the most exciting young fighters in the UFC -- has been battling COVID and there's a timetable set for his return.

"As far as Khamzat, I kinda put him behind me because he's only had 2 fights, 3 fights in UFC," Leon says.

"He got little health issues now so I wish him well, wish him full recovery, that's number one. If he works his way up the division then for sure, I intend to fight him."

"You know I contracted COVID a little over a week ago ... and uh, s**t ain't been going f**king good for me."

That's UFC rising star Jamahal Hill explaining why his main event fight against Paul Craig has been postponed -- detailing a bloody bout with COVID-19.

The 29-year-old undefeated fighter (8-0) is coming off a big victory over Ovince Saint Preux and was slated to headline the big UFC on ESPN card on March 20 against the #14 ranked light heavyweight Paul Craig (14-4-1).

But, Hill revealed he was recently diagnosed with coronavirus -- and it's taking a heavy toll on his body.

"I started out with a fever and I've been dealing with all types of symptoms ever since then," Hill said in an emotional video posted Wednesday ... "Chest tightness, chest congestion, my breathing is off."

"Even as recent as yesterday, I was coughing ... I coughed up blood. I coughed up, spit some mucus out and it was blood inside of it."

Despite his condition,  Hill sounded off on Craig for the way he broke the news to his fans on social media ... when Craig said, "Fight has been cancelled due to Hill pulling out."

Hill felt Craig's description made it seem like he had a choice -- when in fact, the decision was out of his hands the moment he tested positive for the virus.

"It's my health," Hill said in his video ... "My health is in question. That's gonna get my undivided attention. That's my work. That's my job. My job is to make sure my body is okay and my body is good and able to perform and do what it does."

"So for Paul Craig to even sit up and say I pulled out and even make it seem like that like its any type of fear in my heart. That's disrespectful as f**k to me and you gonna feel that s**t. Real talk."

“[Yan] threw a fight-ending knee and it hit me in the side of the head, a shot I didn’t see, and if you think I’m faking that, let me do that to you. Please let me do that to you."

That's bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling clapping back at the "clowns" and "jokers" who accused Funk Master of pretending to be hurt during his UFC 259 title fight -- all to steal the belt.

TMZ Sports asked the 31-year-old fighter how he was feeling physically after Petr Yan blasted him with the illegal knee.

"I was a little cloudy, I’m definitely better today. I couldn’t even drink the night of cause I was worried about my head. I felt nauseous. I ended up throwing up later that night."

Sterling went to the hospital the night of the fight -- and has since seen a doctor -- and now must wait to be cleared to begin training again.

As for his future fight plans, Sterling says he's interested in a fight with former champ-champ Henry Cejudo ... but 1st wants to rematch Yan.

And, Aljo says after 4 rounds with Yan -- he's never been more certain he can beat the Russian fighter.

“If anything, I think my confidence got better from this," Aljamain says.

"Everyone made him out to be this guy that was the boogeyman, that he hits super hard, that he’s in your face the whole time, when I was the one backing him up the whole time.”

And, about all those Oscar Award memes on social media ... Sterling sent a closing message to the haters.

“For anyone trying to say I quit, I never quit in anything that I’ve done in my life. Oscar, whatever you guys wanna say, I know who I am. I don’t have to prove anything to nobody."

“It’s unacceptable, obviously. It's heartbreaking to hear what [Meghan Markle] went through, what she’s still going through.”

That's Leon Edwards -- one of the baddest MMA fighters alive -- who is also a Black man that was raised and still lives in the United Kingdom ... commenting on Markle's shocking allegations during her interview with Oprah.

Of course, Markle told Winfrey that someone in the Royal Family had conversations about baby Archie's skin color ... implying it might be too dark for the role of Prince.

TMZ Sports talked to 29-year-old Edwards -- who moved to England as a 9-year-old -- about the allegations of racism made by MM.

“[Meghan's] a new mom, know what I mean? Just got married. This should be a fun time in her life. Should be enjoying her family, enjoying her baby, but this is what she has to deal with," Edwards says.

"I think that’s part of the UK. There's racism, but it’s very hush racism, right? It’s not like in America, there’s blatant racism sometimes. But, in the UK, it’s like very down low racism, but it's there, and it's sad to see in 2021.”

We asked Leon if the Royal Family was in need of major changes given the allegations ... and he said it's absolutely time.

“You can’t keep an old monarchy in 2021. You can’t do that. They need to come up to date with the times. Hopefully, like I said, I wish [Meghan] well, and she can get through it.”

BTW, Edwards has a huge fight Saturday against Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 187. We talked to him about his next move ... and whether he still has beef with Jorge Masvidal.

UFC star Andrei Arlovski -- the former heavyweight champion -- says he has NO PLANS to retire at age 42 ... and wants to keep bangin' away until he's 45!!!!

Arlovski made his UFC debut at UFC 28 back in 2000 -- 21 YEARS AGO -- and has been fighting consistently ever since.

He won the UFC heavyweight title in 2005 -- and has been in wars with superstars like Francis Ngannou, Stipe Miocic, Frank Mir, Stefan Struve, Alistair Overeem ... you get the picture.

But, Arlovski's coming off a 2nd round loss to 27-year-old Tom Aspinall -- his 10th loss in his last 16 fights -- begging the question ... is he considering hangin' up his gloves???

"Oh, f**k no," Arlovski told us while out shopping in Beverly Hills ... "If the UFC doesn't kick me out, [I'd like to fight] probably like 2, 3 more years. We'll see. Why not?"

In fact, Arlovski is still calling for tough opponents -- "Someone tough and young!"

By the way, since Andrei has fought both Stipe and Ngannou -- we asked for his prediction on who will win that massive heavyweight title fight at UFC 260 later this month.