MMA

Robert Whittaker expected to fight Khamzat Chimaev in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but will instead face Ikram Aliskerov after Borz was forced out of the scrap with an illness that hospitalized him. So, much easier fight, right?!

Not so fast ... according to 33-year-old Whittaker himself!

"I am thankful for [Aliskerov] to step up to the plate to fight, and a lot of fans probably don't know how dangerous this guy is. And, in a lot of ways, this guy is more dangerous than Chimaev was, especially mentality-wise, because he has nothing to lose and only everything to gain," Robert told TMZ Sports earlier this week.

Conor McGregor is finally telling fans about the injury that forced him to pull out of his comeback fight against Michael Chandler on June 29 at UFC 303.

And ... it's a broken toe.

"We had a lapse in concentration and engaged in a training session without wearing the full protective gear and I hit the toe off the elbow and broke the toe clean," 35-year-old McGregor wrote on social media.

The fight was called off just over 3 weeks before the men were set to scrap.

Taylor Wily -- an actor and former sumo wrestler best known for his recurring role on "Hawaii Five-0" -- has died.

According to an anchor for local Hawaii outlet KITV -- who described Taylor as a family friend ... Taylor died Thursday. KITV did not provide a cause of death.

Television producer Peter M. Lenkov confirmed the news on his official Instagram account ... posting a picture with Wily from behind the scenes of a television show and telling his followers he's "heartbroken.".

Dana White's ripping cancel culture, saying it's stopping people from being their true selves in public -- and he's using an interesting metaphor to make his point ... gay people.

The UFC CEO sat down with Shannon Sharpe for an episode of his "Club Shay Shay" podcast ... and, they dove into people getting "canceled" -- something White says doesn't scare him one bit.

Watch the clip ... Dana says he only cares about the opinion of a small group of people -- his family and loved ones -- and everything outside of that's just white noise. He then launches into a comparison that's raising eyebrows among some ... but ringing true for others.

Fight off, party on!

Conor McGregor showed up in public for the first time since his big UFC 303 comeback fight was called off over an undisclosed injury -- and the UFC superstar looked no worse for wear.

35-year-old McGregor attended a movie premiere at his bar, The Black Forge Inn, in Dublin on Tuesday where they screened actor John Connors' new film, "The Black Guelph."

Conor McGregor is NOT currently receiving treatment for substance abuse, despite Chael Sonnen suggesting otherwise ... 'cause a rep for the UFC superstar tells TMZ Sports he's not in rehab.

The American Gangster dropped the bombshell allegation on his "Good Guy/Bad Guy" show with Daniel Cormier on Monday ... calling BS on Conor's claim that an injury forced him to back out of his fight against Michael Chandler.

The two hosts were discussing how both Conor and Michael have a history of promoting alcohol products ... and while Chael didn't mention the former champ-champ's name directly, it's clear that's who he was talking about.

Power slap star Sheena Bathory says she's gotten mixed reactions from some of her fans over her new BBL ... but she tells TMZ Sports she's happy with her new look -- despite what haters are saying online.

The 32-year-old got the butt work done in Florida on June 5 ... and when we spoke with her days after her big cosmetic surgery this week -- she said she's loving what she's seeing so far.

Bathory told us, though, that while she's received support and well wishes from many of her fans ... some have criticized her -- saying she looked fine previously.

Conor McGregor's UFC comeback has been put on hold -- the "Notorious" is OUT of his UFC 303 main event fight against Michael Chandler.

UFC honcho Dana White announced the devastating news late Thursday night -- just two weeks and a day before the scrap -- saying 35-year-old McGregor suffered an injury, and wouldn't be able to fight. The nature of the injury isn't known at this time.

38-year-old Chandler is also off the July 29th card ... as the UFC will now attempt to rebook the fight at a later date.

The People's Elbow apparently now needs an MRI ... 'cause Dwayne Johnson just revealed his famed body part suffered an injury on the set of his new movie this week -- and the wound looks gnarly.

The Rock said on his Instagram page Tuesday that he hurt the wing while filming some scenes for "The Smashing Machine" -- an upcoming flick all about the life of MMA legend Mark Kerr.

Dwayne didn't exactly clarify how he sustained the ailment ... although he joked, "Anytime your film is called 'The Smashing Machine,' well, you're kind of going to get smashed up."

6/7 -- 10:20 AM PT -- TMZ Sports talked to Jorge Masvidal's boxing coach Jorge Capetillo -- who was front and center (JC was rockin' the burgundy t-shirt) when things kicked off on Thursday -- and we asked him about the brawl ... including what led up to the melee, and whether he's okay after the fight.

Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal don't fight for another month, but the action was well underway at their press conference on Thursday ... with "Gamebred" getting in the middle of a violent scuffle.

It all went down in Anaheim just minutes ago ... shortly after Diaz stormed off the stage without doing a ceremonial face-off with his opponent.

Seems Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is still very much on ... The Notorious just showed off a highlight package of his recent grueling training sessions -- indicating the massive UFC 303 tilt will go on as scheduled.

Of course, there had been some worry the June 29 main event might get scrapped ... after a press conference set for Monday in Ireland was canceled at the last minute without much explanation.

McGregor did issue a statement following the surprise call-off, expressing remorse for the situation -- however, his short apology lacked details ... causing many to wonder if his comeback attempt had been put on pause.

Vicente Luque knows his summer fight with Nick Diaz will be a war -- and he says he's ready to flatline the Stockton-born MMA star -- but he's also savoring the moment ... as the 32-year-old welterweight says the 40-year-old actually inspired his fighting style!

Luque and Diaz are set to square off in the Octagon on August 3 in Abu Dhabi at UFC on ABC 7 -- Nick's first fight since he lost to Robbie Lawler in 2021 -- and Vicente says this will certainly be a career highlight.

"It's definitely a bucket list," Luque told TMZ Sports.

Dustin Poirier is on a long road to recovery after going toe-to-toe with Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 over the weekend ... revealing the extensive list of injuries he sustained during the fight.

"The Diamond" -- who lost to the champ via fifth-round submission on Saturday -- took to X on Wednesday to disclose the damage he's dealing with in the days following the bout ... and it sounds painful as hell.

"Nose is broken bad, rib is broken and my ACL is partially torn," Poirier said minutes ago ... while adding it's all part of "FIGHT LIFE."

"The Ultimate Fighter" coaches Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will fight at the culmination of the hit show -- and the flyweight champ has a venue in mind -- The Sphere!

TMZ Sports talked to 30-year-old Grasso -- who will debut as coach opposite rival Shevchenko on TUF 32 on Tuesday night -- where we asked the 125-pound title holder about the show and eventual trilogy fight with Valentina.

It's no secret the two female stars are fighting ... but the question is when and where.

Conor McGregor is opening up on the scrapped UFC 303 press conference that was scheduled for Monday ... and while he didn't explain exactly why it was canceled, he did say it was the result of a number of problems.

Notorious and Michael Chandler were slated to talk some trash in Dublin to promote the June 29 event ... but just hours before it was all supposed to go down, the organization confirmed it was a no-go until further notice -- without providing any more information.

Now, Conor is shedding a bit of light on the situation ... saying, "In consultation with the UFC, today's press conference was canceled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control."

10:46 AM PT -- Turns out Aaron didn't shade Donald Trump at UFC 302 Saturday night. Instead, it seems he got a little face time with the former prez -- posting a pic to IG where he's shaking his hand. So, seemingly no beef between them.

Aaron Rodgers seemed to diss Donald Trump in a very public way.

Aaron and Trump were both front and center Saturday night at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey.

At one point Trump, who got a thunderous ovation, walked right past Aaron, who never got out of his seat and never acknowledged the ex-Prez.