UFC

Alexander Volkanovski is back on top ... and the newly crowned UFC featherweight champion says this title run is sweeter than the first!

36-year-old Volk joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports TV show" (airs weekdays on FS1) -- less than 48 hours after he regained the belt he previously held for over four years with a unanimous decision win over Diego Lopes. We asked the 145 lb. champ if it meant more this time around.

"Yeah, it does. It does, for sure," Alex said with no hesitation, explaining his mindset during his initial run-up to the title ... "While you're going through the process, you're just training and that's all you know."

President Trump gave RFK Jr.'s wife, Cheryl Hines, the cold shoulder, refusing to shake her hand as he made the rounds at UFC 314 in Florida Saturday night.

The Commander in Chief kicked things off by making a grand entrance to the event in Miami, entering the arena to thunderous applause with UFC bigwig Dana White and shaking hands with supporters.

When he finally got to RFK Jr. standing in the crowd, Trump gave a light hug to his Secretary of Health and Human Services, but then snubbed Hines.

Alexander Volkanovski is set to welcome his fourth child to the world later in 2025 -- and the UFC champ swears it's his last little one -- soooooooo, vasectomy?!

Volk says not so fast!

The 36-year-old, who recently announced he and his wife Emma were expecting their fourth little bundle of joy, joined Charlie Cotton on TMZ's "Big Down Under" podcast where he talked about makin' babies.

Cain Velasquez was recently moved into his new home for the foreseeable future -- Wasco State Prison -- where he posed for a brand new mugshot ... which TMZ Sports has obtained.

Velasquez, 42, who was sentenced to five years in prison for attempted murder on March 24, was transferred from the county jail near San Jose to the Cali state prison in Wasco.

When the UFC legend arrived, prison officials ordered Velasquez to pose for another mugshot ... and he appears serious and stoic.

Michael Chandler could walk away an MMA great today ... but the lightweight title contender believes he's still got a ton left in the tank, and he's intent on proving it when he steps into the Octagon against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314!

TMZ Sports talked to 38-year-old Chandler, who's coming off two losses, just days before his highly anticipated co-main event scrap vs. Paddy "The Baddy" ... slated to go down Saturday night in Miami.

"It's another opportunity for me to prove either I am who I say I am or I'm not. Do I still have it? There's a lot of questions that need to get answered. And I think the answers are going to be emphatic and the answers are going to be in my favor."

Aaron Pico is officially a UFC fighter -- and while the featherweight star is pumped -- he says the work is only beginning!

"It's a big day for me, honestly. I'm really happy," 28-year-old Pico told TMZ Sports.

"It's something that I've been working for my whole life. I wanted to be a UFC fighter since the beginning. But I got the job, but now the work isn't done. I have the biggest test ahead of me with these UFC guys. But I'm ready to fight them all."

Days after Henry Cejudo subdued a would-be hit-and-run driver, the MMA star's Arizona studio was burglarized ... and one of his prized UFC belts was stolen, in addition to a bunch of expensive electronics.

Sources tell TMZ Sports that 38-year-old Cejudo's Phoenix-area spot was targeted around 4:30 AM ... and one of his two belts was taken in the haul. Henry's podcast producer also lost valuables ... including multiple cameras, computers, microphones, and even his wallet.

"Everything's gone," Cejudo's collaborator, Dylan Rush, said Tuesday. "It sucks. I want to give up, but I won't. It's terrible."

Henry Cejudo is convinced his actions at a hit-and-run incident last week helped save the suspect's life.

The wild scene, of course, all unfolded on Friday night in the UFC star's Phoenix neighborhood ... when he says he saw a group of young adults in a vehicle careening down his block at around 80 MPH.

Cejudo told TMZ Sports on Monday the car went airborne after it hit one of his neighbor's sprinkler systems ... and then it crashed through one of his other neighbor's houses.

Conor McGregor just copped an insanely expensive Rolls-Royce Phantom ... with an eye-popping price tag of over $1.3 MILLION!!!

The UFC superstar hit up Instagram to show off the new ride this week, and it's sweeeeeeeet!

As for the specs of the whip, we're told the black Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII Diamond Edition features a V12 engine with a whopping 571 horsepower and a max speed of 155 mph.

UFC's Henry Cejudo is a great fighter ... and he is also a great neighbor 'cause he recently helped stop a hit-and-run suspect in his hood.

Here's the deal ... a speeding car crashed into the house right next door to Henry's in Phoenix last night -- and the visuals are wild!

The UFC star gave an interview shortly afterward ... and he said the driver of the car was going to book it after the crash and his neighbor tried to stop him, which is when the dude punched the neighbor.

Raul Rosas Jr. has experienced a lot of success early into his UFC career ... but he's now ready for the next step -- telling TMZ Sports he wants a top-15 opponent!!

We caught up with the 20-year-old bantamweight following his unanimous decision win in Mexico City last Saturday ... a performance he graded quite highly for himself.

"Good control, good everything and especially I push myself to keep staying in the fight," he said. "I'll give it an A because I would like to finish. I'm always looking for the finish, so next time, I'll fix these mistakes to be able to go out there and get the finish next time."

Brandon Moreno's heading into his main event fight, not with anger or aggression ... but instead with gratitude, telling TMZ Sports he's super thankful the UFC has given him the opportunity to fight at home!

"I'm just very grateful with the company, very grateful with the UFC to keep giving me these opportunities to show my skills to my country, you know, to Mexico. So I'm just enjoying the moment. I'm just enjoying the moment," the 31-year-old former Flyweight champ told us days before the scrap against Steve Erceg.

Erceg, 29 years old, is 12-3 as a pro ... and will be across from Moreno Saturday night at Arena CDMX in Mexico City.

Cain Velasquez has just been sentenced to five years in prison for his alleged role in a 2022 attempted murder.

A judge issued the order on Monday afternoon in a Santa Clara, Calif. courtroom ... roughly three years after the UFC legend was accused of trying to kill Harry Goularte, a man who allegedly molested one of Velasquez's close relatives.

Velasquez appeared in person for the hearing ... and wore a collared shirt and a dark-colored blazer. He spoke at the proceedings and expressed remorse -- as did members of his family. Some of Goularte's relatives addressed the court too, and asked the judge for a heftier sentence. Ultimately, Velasquez got five years -- though he was given credit for approximately three years of time served.

The Gracies, Nurmagomedovs, and Diazes have all been super successful families in MMA ... soon there may be another surname to add to the list -- Rosas!

20-year-old rising bantamweight star Raul Rosas Jr., 4-1 in the UFC (and 10-1 overall as a pro), says it's only a matter of time before there's a gang of his family in the world's top MMA promotion.

"I'm pretty sure this year that one or maybe two of my brothers are in the UFC. And next year for sure we see all four, including my sister," Raul told TMZ Sports.

Nate Diaz is off the hook in his nightclub battery case ... according to his attorney, the misdemeanor charge the fighter had been facing was dismissed this week.

The MMA star's lawyer, Ross Goodman, tells TMZ Sports ... after Diaz completed an impulse control class online, prosecutors dropped the battery count against him ahead of Thursday's scheduled trial.

The case, of course, stemmed from a run-in Diaz had with a Las Vegas nightclub employee back in August 2024.