MMA

UFC star Jon Jones was arrested early Friday morning in Las Vegas for domestic violence and tampering with a vehicle, and is currently behind bars, TMZ Sports has learned.

Our law enforcement sources tell us they received a call from Caesars Palace around 5:45 AM. Cops responded to the hotel ... where they made contact with the UFC superstar.

34-year-old Jones was ultimately arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle, a felony.

Jones is in Vegas this week because his 2013 fight against Alexander Gustafsson was inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.

The fight was inducted Thursday night ... just hours before he was arrested.

It's not the first time Jones has been in trouble with the law. He's previously been arrested for DUI, among other crimes.

The circumstances that led to the arrest are not yet clear.

Israel Adesanya says it was his dream to fight in New Zealand -- the country in which he resides -- but now it'll NEVER happen ... 'cause the UFC star says the country's bureaucrats have treated MMA fighters like crap in the wake of COVID-19.

“You will never see me fight in New Zealand ever again, ever again,” Adesanya said on YouTube.

“All that money, they can get it from somewhere else. The rugby, the cricket, and all the others they’re f***ing giving exemptions to. But for me, you will never ever see me fight on these shores [again]."

FYI, 32-year-old Adesanya was born in Nigeria, but moved to New Zealand at the age of 10. He's lived in NZ since.

Izzy explained he's pissed because the NZ government -- which has very strict COVID protocols in place -- have allowed other sports teams exceptions to train ... meanwhile, he says MMA fighters like himself and Dan Hooker have been shut down by the politicians.

In fact, Israel, Dan and the rest of the City Kickboxing team previously set up a tent/bubble in Auckland where Hooker could prepare for his upcoming UFC 266 fight ... but they were forced to close up shop when police slapped them with a warning, accusing them of violating COVID protocol.

Now, because of the way they were treated, Adesanya says he'll never fight in NZ.

"That was one of my dreams, to headline a stadium in my backyard. That dream's dead in the water. That's just the way I feel right now."

But, Izzy didn't stop there ... he went on to accuse some people in New Zealand of being racists who don't like an outspoken Black man representing Kiwi people.

"They're racists, some of them are f***ing racists," Adesanya said.

After 6.5 years away, Nick Diaz is about to make his return to the Octagon, taking on Robbie Lawler ... but Dana White admits he doesn't know if the star from Stockton will fight again after UFC 265.

TMZ Sports talked to the UFC prez on Wednesday, days before Diaz is scheduled to fight for the first time since January 2015 (a no contest vs. Anderson Silva) ... and we asked if the comeback meant Diaz was back now as a full-time fighter.

"I don't know. I never know that either. We'll take it one fight at a time," Dana told us.

FYI, it's not the first time the men have fought. Diaz beat Lawler via 2nd round knockout way back in 2004.

Despite the long layoff, Nick's one of the most accomplished MMA fighters of all time... with wins over everyone from B.J. Penn to Frank Shamrock.

But, with over 2,400 days between fights, will it take time for Nick to reacclimate himself to the Octagon?

"Ring rust is absolutely real and especially when you haven't been in here that long, but you never know what to expect from the Diaz brothers. You know what everybody does though? On Saturday, they show up and they fight -- that's it!"

Valentina Shevchenko is also on the card ... where she's a MASSIVE favorite over Lauren Murphy.

Last week we asked The Bullet if she was interested in a trilogy fight with Amanda Nunes ... and she said she was definitely down.

We asked White about making Nunes-Shevchenko 3 ... and he warned that no one should overlook Woods.

"Obviously, you can't look past Lauren Murphy and start looking at Amanda Nunes again. Lauren Murphy has a lot of knockdowns and submissions in her career. So, when you have women that are that size that can actually knock out other women, it's impressive."

But, with that said, Dana made it clear he isn't against pairing arguably the 2 best female MMA fighters in the world against each other.

"Listen, Valentina Shevchenko is a savage. I mean, her and Amanda Nunes are two of the greatest female fighters to ever walk the face of the Earth and if she gets through Lauren Murphy on Saturday, maybe there is a fight for them down the road."

We couldn't let Dana go without asking about Conor McGregor's (terrible) 1st pitch at the Cubs game earlier this week ... the epitome of the reason White says he ALWAYS says no when he's asked to throw the ceremonial pitch.

Knives pulled, hit with bottles. Spiders, snakes. No heat or Internet. That's just some of what MMA fighter James Yang -- Demetrious Johnson's protégé -- experienced while living at a Shaolin martial arts academy in China ... and he says that adversity helped prepare him for his first pro fight.

TMZ Sports talked to 32-year-old Yang ahead of his highly anticipated debut at ONE Championship's ONE: REVOLUTION later this week ... and James broke down his experience living in the temple as a 17-year-old, and it sounds scary.

"I was living in rural China, and it was out in the farmlands where we barely had any heat. We had no Internet, very bad. And, just the living conditions were just horrible. But, that adversity is something that made me who I am today. Some people would look at it as a bad thing, but for me, I looked at it as all beneficial."

Yang says at the time, foreigners weren't accepted in the region where he was living ... so venturing out of the temple grounds could get very dangerous.

"I seen guys get bottled in the head. I had knives pulled on me. These kinda things happen out there. But, it made me stronger. It didn't make me weak or anything."

If his time in China didn't already make him the most interesting MMA fighter in the world ... James also detailed his time spent performing with Cirque du Soleil.

Yang ultimately chose fighting over performing ... and has been training with Mighty Mouse at AMC Pankration in Washington.

Now, it's almost time for Yang -- a featherweight -- to fight ... and he's taking on MMA vet, Roel “Akiyama” Rosauro.

Rosauro last fought in January 2020 ... and won by unanimous decision.

Yang's fight -- as well as 3 title fights -- all go down Friday morning at 6:30 AM ET ... and is available live on Bleacher Report, B/R's YouTube Channel, and B/R's app.

In closing, we asked what fans can expect from his first MMA fight ... and James delivered an ominous answer.

"Brutal violence. That's it. Brutality."

Oscar De La Hoya is gunning for a fight with one of the greatest boxers of all-time, Floyd Mayweather, telling TMZ Sports he's got $100 MILLION for Money if he accepts.

And, he wants to fight this year.

We got 48-year-old De La Hoya leaving Rossoblu in L.A. with girlfriend Holly Sonders ... and we asked the boxing legend how he felt after being hospitalized with COVID.

"5 days of hell" is how ODLH described the virus ... but what he really wanted to talk about was returning to the ring.

"You know who I'm gonna call out for my next fight? Floyd Mayweather."

And, that's when Oscar threw out the crazy lucrative proposal, saying ... "I'll offer Floyd Mayweather $100 million."

Remember, De La Hoya hasn't fought since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2008 ... but was scheduled to return to the ring against Vitor Belfort earlier this month -- before he came down with COVID.

As for 44-year-old Floyd, he's been far more active. His last pro fight was against Conor McGregor in 2017, but he's had several exhibition fights since, including a June 2021 scrap against Logan Paul.

Of course, boxing fans will know Oscar and Floyd -- who had 10 division titles between them -- fought back in 2007 ... in one of the biggest fights of the decade. Mayweather defeated De La Hoya via a split decision.

Jason "Mayhem" Miller has officially been hit with felony domestic violence and resisting arrest charges, TMZ Sports has learned ... stemming from an incident where he allegedly roughed up his GF, and barricaded himself in a bathroom.

We broke the story ... Miller was arrested early in the morning last Friday, when cops received a call from a woman who was screaming for help. They rushed to the scene -- a home in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley -- and ultimately arrested Mayhem after cops say they found the woman with visible marks on her face and neck.

The L.A. County District Attorney filed criminal charges this week -- corporal injury to a spouse -- saying the MMA fighter "willfully inflicted corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition" on his girlfriend.

Because he has multiple prior convictions for violent crimes, if convicted, Miller could face a lengthier prison sentence.

He was also charged with felony resisting arrest.

And now we're learning more about what allegedly happened during the incident.

Our law enforcement sources tell us Mayhem locked himself in a bathroom and refused to come out ... so cops were forced to knock down the door, in order to contact him.

We're also told the alleged female victim hopped out of a window to escape Miller.

For the two felony charges, Miller is facing years in prison.

The former UFC fighter is also currently being investigated for an alleged bar fight where he's been accused of breaking another man's ribs ... an incident that allegedly went down only days before his arrest for domestic violence.

Talk about getting smashed up ... UFC fighter Devin Clark is going to be spending LOTS of time in the dentist's chair this week, because his teeth are a mess after losing a fight.

It's pretty gruesome ... Clark went the full distance against Ion Cutelaba, but it wasn't easy.  Clark was pummeled the first 2 rounds, and that appears to be when the damage was done.  Cutelaba smashed in the bottom row of Clark's teeth.

The fight, at the UFC Apex in Vegas Saturday night, almost ended after round 2. Clark told his corner his teeth were messed up and there was talk about throwing in the towel, but he came out for the third and final round.

Things got even worse in round 3 when Cutelaba bashed Smith's head into the canvas.

The decision was unanimous in favor of Cutelaba.

"Crazy that after 17 years we're back in it, we're still in the mix, fighting on a big card. All the fans are excited, so its nice to go out there and put on a show for the fans."

That's Robbie Lawler telling TMZ Sports about fighting Nick Diaz ... 6,386 days after first battling his fellow MMA legend at UFC 47 (we're at 266 now).

FYI, Lawler lost by knockout in the 2nd round.

We asked 39-year-old Lawler whether there's anything he can take from the 2004 fight ... but Ruthless Robbie said the fight happened just too damn long ago.

"Not too much [to learn], 'cause I mean I've evolved so much from that fight, learned so much from that."

To make prep even harder for Lawler ... 38-year-old Diaz hasn't fought since his no contest against Anderson Silva at UFC 183 in 2015.

But, Lawler doesn't expect a rusty or run-down Nick ... he believes he'll get a prime version of the fighter from Stockton, Cali.

As for Lawler's future (he's lost his last 4 against guys like Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos), we asked him if it's possible next Saturday will be the last time we ever see him in a UFC Octagon.

"Nah, it's not possible. I've been doing this for a long time. My body feels good. Just waiting for good fights that get me excited, and this is one of those fights. Nick Diaz is a big name, and this is gonna be a big event."

Logan Paul has clearly been benched from boxing because we just got this pic of him in Europe with a busted hand.

Logan was at the airport in Berlin Saturday, on his way to Reykjavik, Iceland. His right arm was covered in blue Plaster of Paris. An eyewitness says when he got on the plane he was posing with a large stuffed penguin and a footlong golden egg.

Logan doesn't have his next match scheduled, so he'll have time to heal. We don't know how it happened, the extent of the injury or the timeline for recovery, but it's definitely a problem. Logan, BTW, is a right-handed fighter.

Now it's always possible this is a stunt -- it's half the Paul Bros for cryin' out loud -- but this seems like the real deal.

Almost 3 years after badly losing to Max Holloway, Brian Ortega is back, fighting for the UFC's featherweight title against Alex Volkanovski ... and if he wins, T-City has revenge on his mind.

TMZ Sports talked to 30-year-old Ortega -- the #2 ranked 145-pounder in the UFC -- just days before he headlines UFC 266 against Volkanovski.

Brian is a slight underdog ... but most expect a very close fight. And, if he wins the strap ... Ortega knows who he wants next.

"[Fighting Max Holloway] would be ideal. I'm not trying to speak ahead, nor am I trying to get past Volkanovski, right, cause he beat Max twice," Ortega told us.

T-City continued ... "I'm not here to say I'm already celebrating. But, that would be ideal. I'm a better person, better fighter than I was when I fought him. And, watching his last fight, so is he."

"You always want that as a fighter, as a competitor, you always want that, to make that s**t square. Or to say, 'Yo dog, you legit got the best of me. Good s**t."

You may remember ... Ortega lost to Max via doctor's stoppage in the 4th round at UFC 231 in 2018. Brian, who kept coming forward despite eating an ungodly amount of punches (and breaking his hand, dislocating his thumb, among other injuries), would not quit.

Brian took almost 2 years to heal up ... but once he did, he looked fantastic in the Octagon, toying with Chan Sung Jung a.k.a. the Korean Zombie in October 2020.

Ortega admits he looks at the 1 blemish on his otherwise perfect resume (15-1) ... and it ticks him off.

"I'm competitive. I want to make s**t even. It does bother me."

Bottom line ... "Even if he f**ks me up again, or whatever. I'll fight you 100 times. I'm gonna get one."

Valentina Shevchenko -- the UFC's #2 ranked pound-for-pound female fighter -- tells TMZ Sports she is definitely down to scrap with Amanda Nunes for a third time ... in what'd be one of the biggest fights in the history of women's MMA.

We talked to the 33-year-old flyweight champion days before she's scheduled to fight Lauren Murphy at UFC 266 on September 25, and while Bullet clearly wants to continue dominating 125 pounds, she also knows another fight with the Lioness would be huge.

"I think if destiny puts this fight in front of us, most of us gonna do it. I'm kind of focused very much on my flyweight division and I just want to be better fight," Valentina says, adding, "and when [the third fight's] gonna happen, I'm here."

Of course, Shevchenko and 33-year-old Nunes previously fought twice -- in 2016 and 2017 -- in two tightly contested match-ups.

The first fight was at UFC 196 (McGregor vs. Diaz) ... where Nunes won by unanimous decision.

Valentina and Amanda rematched at UFC 215 (they were the main event) ... and Nunes again won -- this time by split decision -- in a razor close fight.

In fact, there are many people who believe Shevchenko won the second fight, and should've been crowned champ.

The 2 losses are Valentina's only defeats since late-2010. She's won 7 straight fights.

We also talked to Shevchenko about her future inside and outside the Octagon (she's got a movie coming out with Halle Berry and wants to continue acting).

UFC fighter Ryan Spann trains at the gym owned by ex-NBA star Deron Williams ... and the light heavyweight contender once sparred with the hooper -- AND GOT HIS BUTT KICKED!!

"Deron whooped my ass one day. I'm dead serious. You can call him and ask him," Spann told TMZ Sports.

Context? We talked to the 30-year-old, 6'5", 205 lb. fighter just days before he's set to face 6th ranked LHW, Anthony Smith ... and we asked the 11th ranked fighter if he ever rolled around with 6'3" Williams at their gym, Fortis MMA in Dallas.

"I was training for a fight, and coach was like, 'Deron, get in.' And, I already knew he hooped, and I knew who he was, but I never got to go with him," Ryan said, "I think it was my 2nd or my 3rd round with a fresh body, and you put Deron in, I was like, 'Oh s**t, nice, I get a round off.' Little did I know Deron used to wrestle. And, he was about 230 at the time."

FYI, Williams was a damn good wrestler as a kid. Long before he starred at Illinois, was drafted with the 3rd overall pick, or made any All-NBA teams, Deron was a state champion on the mats in Texas. He won titles as an 8 and 12 year old ('93 & '97).

So, Ryan and the 3x NBA All-Star sparred. How'd it go?!

"It wasn't until Deron was on top of me and me struggling to get up, and coach gonna look at me and say 'I've been working with him for the last couple of years. You thought you were gonna get this round off?'"

Shocking, on the surface, considering Spann is one of the most dangerous men in the world ... meanwhile DW, surely a good wrestler as a kid and great athlete in general, is a basketball player -- not a fighter.

Then it was time for a little payback ... in the form of a knuckle sandwich.

"He got me, but the next round I hit him with the right hand and he hasn't sparred me since."

So, would Deron -- who's only 37-years-old and hasn't played ball professionally since he was with the Cleveland Cavs in 2017 -- ever take a real fight??

Ryan says Deron was once pitched a fight with Pro Bowl defensive lineman turned UFC fighter Greg Hardy (we actually talked to Deron about this in 2018) ... but unfortunately, the scrap never came together.

UFC fighter Dan Hooker's fight against Nasrat Haqparast is in serious jeopardy ... with the lightweight begging for a visa to make it to Vegas for UFC 266 next Saturday.

31-year-old Hooker -- who is from Auckland, New Zealand -- sent out a public cry for help to the U.S. Embassy’s Kevin Covert on Twitter on Thursday.

FYI -- Auckland is currently experiencing widespread COVID-19 outbreaks ... which has led the government to require folks to stay home and remain in bubbles.

Hooker tweeted at Covert in hopes of getting his situation handled ASAP ... saying, "Hi Kevin, apologies for messaging on here but it’s a last resort."

"My visa is with the US embassy here in NZ as I fight next week in Las Vegas on #UFC266 Update today is it won’t be approved until next week due to lock down which will cancel my fight. Please help."

"The embassy has my passport and all the completed documentation, all I need is it to be processed and returned," he added.

"This is an absolute last resort."

Hooker is slated to fight 26-year-old Haqparast --who is 5-2 since joining the UFC in 2017 -- on September 25.

Brian Ortega vs. Alex Volkanovski and Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler are also on the card.

The embassy responded to Hooker's tweet by asking him to reach out to them directly ... so it seems they may be on the case.

Jason "Mayhem" Miller allegedly broke a guys ribs in a bar fight just days before his domestic violence arrest, TMZ Sports has learned.

Our law enforcement sources tell us they recently responded to a fight at a San Fernando Valley bar. When they arrived, the altercation was over, and we're told no one wanted to press charges, so everyone was allowed to leave.

However, the next day, one of the people involved in the brawl went to the hospital ... and was diagnosed with several cracked ribs.

We're told at that point, cops took an incident report for felony battery. They're expected to turn the case over to the L.A. district attorney sometime in the near future ... and they'll decide whether or not to charge Mayhem for the bar fight.

Of course, we broke the story last week, Miller -- who has a long history of trouble -- was arrested for felony domestic violence after a woman accused the fighter of roughing her up early Friday morning.

During the domestic violence arrest, Mayhem didn't go easy, with cops using a taser in order to slap the cuffs on him.

Police said the alleged victim had injuries to her face and neck.

That case is still active ... and depending on what the D.A. decides, Miller could be hit with more charges from a totally separate alleged incident.

Anderson Silva knocked Tito Ortiz out cold, but there's no bad blood between the MMA legends ... 'cause the day after, Spider gave his 1st class plane ticket to The Huntington Beach Bad Boy's GF -- so she could sit with her man.

46-year-old Ortiz posted a video on social media thanking 46-year-old Silva for the sweet gesture.

"The biggest thing I think Anderson Silva has ever done to me, I'm very thankful. He just actually gave up his 1st class ticket for Amber to sit here," Ortiz says.

"The flight's messed up, the airline, Jet Blue, messed up. But, Anderson Silva gave up his seat for Amber to sit next to me."

Tito's GF is Amber Nichole Miller ... one of the original UFC Octagon girls.

Of course, Anderson flatlined Tito towards the end of the 1st round of their Triller fight (full fight replay available on FITE) on Saturday ... catching Ortiz on the ear when a quick, left hook, sending him to the canvas, face first.

Tito ended his video with a final thank you to Silva.

"Anderson Silva, you're the man, dude. Thank you very much. Amazing man. Nothing but respect."

Derek Brunson admits he lost to Israel Adesanya, fair and square, but says he wasn't right before the 2018 fight -- his last loss -- and now he wants to run it back with Stylebender, promising a different result.

"I'm not gonna discredit Izzy. He did a great job in the first fight. But, after looking at the fights, my coaches were like, 'Are you okay? What's wrong? Cause that ain't you,'" 37-year-old Brunson tells TMZ Sports.

Derek says he couldn't train for 2 weeks before the Adesanya fight ... as he was dealing with a hurricane that disrupted his routine. The time away from the mats made DB rusty.

Brunson also says he stopped lifting weights in the lead-up to the fight ... in an effort to increase his cardio. However, Derek says the strategy backfired in the fight.

Bottom line, Israel won, but Brunson says that won't be the case next time.

Since takin' the L, Brunson's been on a rampage -- winning his last 5 fights -- with dubs over Edmen Shahbazyan (his 1st loss), Kevin Holland and Darren Till, in addition to 2 others.

Adesanya's likely going to fight Robert Whittaker later this year or the beginning of next year.