MMA

"Dana White, if you're listening, this is a real message. Forget the cringe, forget the persona, this is straight-up me. I am the greatest combat athlete of all-time and I promise you, give me that opportunity, I will knock [Alex Volkanovski] out in less than 3 rounds."

That's 34-year-old Henry Cejudo making it crystal clear, he wants to un-retire and fight the UFC's featherweight champion, telling TMZ Sports he believes he'd KO 32-year-old Volkanovski in 15 minutes or less.

"Not only do I believe I can beat him, I know that I can stop him, dude." Triple C says.

"As much as I saw good things from Volkanovski, there still is a lot of holes. I believe my height will be a problem, because he is a couple inches taller than me. My speed, my wrestling, my experience, I've been in there with the best."

"Alexander 'The Average,' okay you had a great performance, it was a great fight, I just believe I have the 'it' factor to beat this dude, not only beat him, but stop him."

Of course, Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega at UFC 266 was a crazy 5 round war ... one that Alex won by unanimous decision.

Even Henry couldn't help but admit the fight was awesome.

"It was a great fight man. A great fight. 5 rounds, that's what a true mixed martial arts fight is. They showed striking, these guys wrestled, they showed submissions."

As for Cejudo's future, many people already consider Cejudo the most accomplished combat sports athlete ever. After all, Henry was a flyweight (125 lbs.) and bantamweight (135 lbs.) champ, in addition to an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling.

Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, and Amanda Nunes are the other fighters who have simultaneously been UFC double champs.

Simultaneous or not, no UFC fighter has ever been champ in 3 divisions ... which is exactly what Cejudo would become if he fought and beat Alexander.

Henry last fought in May 2020 ... when he beat Dominic Cruz via TKO with only seconds remaining in the 2nd round. He retired inside the Octagon following the fight.

Tekashi 6ix9ine might be on probation, but the dude isn't afraid to fire back if someone tests him out in public -- which is exactly what happened in Vegas this weekend.

The rapper showed up Saturday to the T-Mobile Arena for UFC 266 ... and as he was making his way in and past fans behind barricades -- he had a little face-off with someone who was NOT a fan.

Check out this video TMZ obtained of the altercation -- you see 69 ignoring the taunts from this dude, who's calling him a bitch and a ton of other insults. As he passes, the man appears to chuck something at his back, and it makes contact with Tekashi.

Eyewitnesses tell us it was the man's drink that he threw, and Tekashi circled back to look at him ... and to also a hurl a drink of his own. We're told it looked like coffee -- and it went splashing on others nearby. Security rushed in and broke it all up ... ushering T69 away.

No word on whether 6ix9ine was dealt with for this -- but sources on the scene say the guy who initiated it was, indeed, led away in handcuffs.

"I'm not trying to kill nobody. My whole thing is that I'm tryna break some faces, so come October 4, I'm going straight to this dude and I'm breaking his f***ing face."

That's 24-year-old Teofimo Lopez vocalizing his violent intentions ... telling TMZ Sports 28-year-old George Kambosos Jr. confronted his family in South Florida, while Lopez was battling COVID-19, and that's out of bounds -- so he must pay.

"From what I heard, because I wasn't in Miami, he was acting all big and bad and tough, I was over here having COVID and I was dying here in Vegas," Lopez says.

"I heard that he had screamed at my whole team, my whole family and cursin' at them while I wasn't there. He wouldn't have done that had I been there. So, it comes to show, like, that's just something that you don't do, especially with my mom, ya know?"

FYI, Teofimo (16-0) and George (19-0) are both undefeated. Lopez is the unified lightweight champion.

The bad blood originates from earlier in the summer ... when Lopez was forced to pull out of their originally scheduled June 19 fight because he caught COVID.

Kambosos was pissed, believing he sacrificed time with his family to train for the fight, but it never happened.

Things were said ... and Teofimo believes George took the trash talk to a place it shouldn't go -- families.

"This is the fight game, but when you take it to that next level, and I think everybody understands that family -- you don't ever cross that," Lopez says.

"I think that's where it comes down to and I just look at it now where I'm at the point where look, he has kids of his own so I'm praying for his health afterwards, but in the meantime, nah man, I'm trying to break necks."

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida -- a 13x BJJ World Champ -- just put the whole MMA world on notice, after notching his 1st win with a crazy impressive performance at ONE Revolution.

31-year-old Buchecha submitted Anderson "Braddock" Silva in Singapore using a North-South choke only 2:55 seconds into the 1st round.

Only hours after the ONE Championship fight (the card was 🔥), TMZ Sports talked to the BJJ great about his foray into a new sport.

"Man, it was something amazing. It's hard to describe with some words. I had a great career in jiu-jitsu. I have done so much in this sport, and I feel like I didn't have anything left to prove. So I moved my challenge, and I'm just 31 years old."

Buchecha's been fighting for almost his entire life ... but this is a new sport. So, was he nervous?

"I was pretty nervous because I didn't know what to expect. It was first time. But I was feeling great. Before the fight I was really calm. Then going to the arena I was really tense. Then I got there and was calm again. It was kinda like a roller coaster."

Now, it's likely his future competitors who are nervous ... especially when they hear this.

"Anything that I do in my life, I put my passion in it mixed with hard work," Buchecha says.

"That's what I did my whole career in jiu-jitsu and it really worked out well for me. I will have the same mindset for MMA."

Speaking of impressive debuts ... we also talked to 32-year-old fighter, James Yang, and his mentor, MMA legend Demetrious Johnson.

Remember, we spoke to Yang before the fight about his experiences as a teenager in a Shaolin temple in rural China.

Yang beat Roel Rosauro by TKO in the 2nd round ... but how did Mighty Mouse think his protégé looked?

Check out the clip!

Well, this is terrifying.

Tyson Fury has a short, yet super menacing, message for his rival Deontay Wilder ahead of their trilogy fight next month ... saying, "I'm gonna smash your f***ing face in, you prick ... how's that for a message??"

Of course, the two boxing superstars have been going at each other for years ... and it's clear the hatred is continuing to fill every ounce of Fury's being.

Deontay has vowed to get his revenge after his shocking loss back in February 2020 ... most recently saying, "I just want to beat Tyson Fury's ass."

The guys even had a pretty bizarre moment at a recent press conference ... when the two stared at each other for MINUTES without speaking before being pulled from each other.

Remember, Tyson and Deontay fought to a split draw the first time around in 2018, with Fury taking the rematch in 2020 ... which Wilder partly blamed on his extravagant entrance outfit.

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).