UFC

Brandon Royval believes he's next in line for a title shot at flyweight, welcome news for the UFC contender, who says he's clearly the best in the division after watching Alexandre Pantoja beat Brandon Moreno at UFC 290!

30-year-old Royval served as the backup to the co-main event between AP and BM -- training and cutting weight, in the event either of the competitors couldn't fight -- and while he hasn't been told he's next, Royval says his team thinks that's the case.

"I haven't been told necessarily anything," Brandon told us ... "As far as my management team goes, he's like, 'I'm pretty positive you're next, who else, you know? Which is pretty dope because me and Moreno have the same management team."

FYI, both men are repped by Iridium Sports CEO Jason House.

Of course, a rematch between Pantoja and Moreno is also on the table ... but as Royval points out, the guys have already fought three times (2016, 2018, 2023), and the score is 3 to nill.

Not to mention Royval doesn't believe the fight with Moreno was very close, saying he scored it four rounds to one for Alexandre ("I thought the judges f***ed up").

As for how a scrap would look between Royval and Pantoja -- despite losing to AP in 2021 via submission -- Brandon thinks he's got a big-time advantage, and it's his fight to lose.

"There's holes all over all their games," Royval said.

"Watching them fight, I'm like, 'Damn, this could be great for me. They could be walking into some dangerous shots and putting themselves in dangerous positions.'"

The takeaway, Brandon says ... "I know I could be both those guys."

With that said, if it sounds like there's beef between Royval, Moreno, and Pantoja ... that's not the case.

BR says he was touched emotionally by Alexandre's win ... that's how special it was to see him realize his lifelong dream of becoming champion.

"F***ing awesome job," Royval said of AP's performance, adding ... "The moments I've had with Pantoja outside the cage have been such beautiful moments. And that guy's such a good person. Same thing with Moreno."

Brandon continued ... "What a beautiful moment, man. And to watch him win and to watch his family go in and to hear him say what he said was such a beautiful, inspiring moment in my life."

"Anudda scratch"

That's Dan Hooker describing HIS BROKEN FACE ... another of the serious injuries he sustained during his war of a fight vs. Jalin Turner at UFC 290.

Of course, 33-year-old Hooker won the fight by split decision (both men showed amazing heart and skill) ... but didn't escape the scrap unharmed.

We knew Hangman broke his wrist ... in fact, Joe Rogan asked Dan about it in the Octagon after the fight, with Hooker now famously saying, "It's just a scratch!"

But, not the only scratch.

After getting checked by doctors, Dan was told he also suffered a facial fracture near his right cheekbone (likely from a huge head kick JT landed in the 2nd round). Hooker shared a photo of the X-ray on social media, and captioned the pic, "Anudda scratch"

Hooker, now ranked 10th in the lightweight division after the dub, will now have to rest up and heal before he takes another fight.

Donald Trump is one of the most polarizing people ever, but that wasn't the case at UFC 290 ... the former president received heaps of love from the packed crowd in Las Vegas, including celebs and fighters!

The 45th President of the United States was captured on video walking into T-Mobile Arena flanked by longtime friend, UFC president Dana White, escorted by a gang of Secret Service Agents ... where Trump received a raucous ovation.

After enough handshakes to put a campaign event to shame (including dapping up Raiders star Maxx Crosby), Trump and White made their way to their seats, Octagon-side.

The card featured a ton of great fights ... and a bunch of the athletes showed Trump love after their scraps, including Bo Nickal, who beat Val Woodburn by 1st round knockout.

After the KO, Bo climbed the Octagon fence and had a brief chat with DT.

Jalin Turner's corner also had a conversation with Donald ... with one of the lightweight contender's coaches asking him, "Mr. Trump, are you winning again? Are you winning again? Yes! Please! We need it!"

In between the fights, Trump also found time to hang with Israel Adesanya, "Suga" Sean O'Malley and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

Mark Zuckerberg is clearly taking his potential fight with Elon Musk seriously ... he revealed Tuesday he's already getting in training sessions with some of the UFC's biggest stars -- and he's looking damn good while doing it!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... both Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanvski flew to Zuck's crib in Northern California following Saturday night's UFC 290 showcase in Vegas -- and almost immediately, they got to work with the Meta honcho on the mats to prep him for a possible tilt with Musk.

The three obviously worked out for a while -- 'cause check out the photos, they were drenched in sweat.

What's even more notable about the pics, though, is Zuckerberg's physique -- the dude is jacked!!

The 39-year-old flexed some big pecs, chiseled arms, and a six-pack in the images. He also added in a comment on the pics, "It's an honor to train with you guys!"

Adesanya, meanwhile, was impressed with the billionaire's work ... saying in his own comment on the photos, "No fugazi with Mark 🦈 This is Serious Business‼️"

Zuckerberg and Musk have not yet committed to a fight ... but both seem dead serious about getting after each other in a cage later this year.

Francis Ngannou once stared down Tyson Fury and told him he was going to "find out who the baddest mother f***er on the planet is" ... now, the answer may be closer than ever, 'cause the men are boxing in just over 100 days!

The fight, literally the biggest crossover in recent memory, is set to go down on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ... under conventional boxing rules, with three judges scoring the bout.

"Both fighters however are promising to meet in the middle of the ring, go to war and win by knockout in devastating fashion,” a release announcing the fight read.

Of course, 36-year-old Ngannou split with the UFC last year, and hasn't fought since January 2022, when he beat title contender Ciryl Gane. Francis signed a deal with PFL a few months ago which allowed him to take other lucrative fights ... like this one.

As for 34-year-old Fury, he's without question the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world and one of the best to ever step foot in a ring.

It's unclear if Fury's belts will be on the line vs. Ngannou.

The men, although mostly friendly with one another, have been going back and forth for years ... but it was just recently that the fight was agreed upon.

Odds have already opened for the fight, and as you'd expect, Fury is a sizeable favorite at -500 (risk $500 to win $100).

Alexandre Pantoja earned a hero's welcome, and that's exactly what he got at his gym, American Top Team, Monday afternoon -- less than 48 hours after defeating Brandon Moreno -- and the scenes from inside were awesome!

It all went down at ATT in Coconut Creek, Florida -- one of the top MMA gyms in the world -- where the entire gym, including King Mo, Kayla Harrison, and Johnny Eblen gathered to celebrate Pantoja winning the flyweight title.

Pantoja traveled around the gym, belt over his shoulder, while fighters and coaches wished the first-time champ congratulations.

ICYMI ... the 33-year-old fighter's clash with Moreno was arguably the best fight of 2023 so far (it won Fight of the Night, too). The battle went the full 25 minutes, and Pantoja was ultimately declared the winner by split decision.

As expected after a 5-round war, Pantoja was a little beat up ... brandishing visible bruises on his face.

But we're guessing he doesn't feel a thing ... as the veteran fighter is now on top of the MMA world.

Alex Volkanovski partied HARD after his dominant win at UFC 290 ... hitting a Vegas hotspot with none other than Shaquille O'Neal and NBA star Jamal Murray!!

The guys all met up at Encore Beach Club late Saturday night at Wynn Las Vegas -- just a couple hours after Volk's ultra-impressive third-round TKO of Yair Rodriguez -- and the trio got after it.

As O'Neal was DJing for a huge crowd that had gathered at the nightclub ... Volkanovski and Murray (the NBA star rolled up to 290 w/ Volk) hit the booth with the Lakers legend to rile up clubgoers as well.

The guys fist-pumped the night away ... and, at one point during the festivities, the 34-year-old fighter actually climbed onto the booth with his championship belt and danced his face off!!

A bunch of other celebs hit the scene to celebrate the big win too ... fellow UFC star Israel Adesanya took some time out to enjoy the moment with Volkanovski -- as did NBA players Trae Young, Myles Turner and Aaron Gordon.

Of course, Volkanovski deserved every bit of the reception ... his victory over Rodriguez absolutely cemented his status as one of the best to ever do it in the UFC.

Up next for Volkanovski (after he has arm surgery) could be a rematch with Lightweight champ Islam Makhachev or a matchup with contender Ilia Topuria ... but for now, it's clear he's super content enjoying the spoils of his victory.

Congrats!!

"Elon, you need me on your team, brother!"

That's retired UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal's message to Elon Musk ... offering to train up the $250 billion man for his would-be scrap with fellow billionaire and social media rival, Mark Zuckerberg.

"Elon, if you're watching this, I mean, we all know you're a smart dude, man. You're going to want as many options, missiles, if you're going to war, right, you're going to want the snipers, you're going to want everything. Give your boy a shot, man! I can show you some techniques to deal with these jiu-jitsu guys that they don't like."

"I'm not going to be teaching all this arm bar stuff," Masvidal said, continuing ... "I'm just gonna show you some techniques to break someone's face, man."

And, let's be real ... there aren't many people who have more combat experience than Gamebred -- from the streets to the biggest arenas in the world -- and that's why Jorge believes he could help Elon.

Of course, we've seen Musk working out with legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor John Danaher and BJJ black belt (and great podcaster) Lex Fridman ... but Masvidal believes he can help in ways they may not be able to.

"All those guys, you mentioned are studs but none of those guys have 50 pro fights and all the amateur fights that I got, all the street fights that I got. So no offense to none of them, because they're all great at what they do. Elon, you need me on your team, brother! That's who you need on your team."

Although he admittedly is Team Elon, Jorge has no beef with Zuck (even says he's "done some great things in this world") ... he just connected with Musk on a different level.

"The reason why I love Elon so much, this dude's a patriot, man. He's just a dude that's for America, that understands how our rules work, and he's not even like naturally American, you know? And understands how well this country works and what makes this country work, that's why I'm cheering for Elon."

There's much more with Masvidal.

Jorge's Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA promotion has been incredibly successful. In fact, Masvidal inked two former UFC heavyweight champs, the legendary Fabricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos are rematching (they fought at UFC 90 in 2008!) on September 8 in Jacksonville!

Talk about unlikely allies ... UFC star Michael Chandler believes Conor McGregor is getting an unfair shake when it comes to his reputation as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter!

"I  think Conor's getting a little bit of a raw deal when it comes to how much he was there or wasn't there [with his team]," Chandler told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

If you haven't seen the show ... Conor and Michael are coaching opposite one another on TUF 31, and a decent amount of time has been spent on The Notorious being absent for certain team activities, including weigh-ins.

But, Chandler says that's not really fair to Conor.

"Showing up for the weigh-ins isn't that big of a deal and they kept asking me about it so obviously I kept talking about it. I don't think the results would be any different, to be honest with you."

FYI, Chandler's team (made up of former UFC fighters looking to make a return to the promotion) is 6-0 against McGregor's squad (made up of prospects).

It's somewhat surprising to see Michael defend Conor. Things got physical between the men on last week's episode of the show, resulting in McGregor shoving Chandler, causing Dana White to sprint into the Octagon (can't fight for free!).

Michael walked us through the dustup with Conor and gave us an update on where things stand with the fight negotiations between the men.

There's more -- we also talked to Mike about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Some people like the fight, while others hate it. Count Mike in the group of people ready to grab their popcorn.

Alex Volkanovski says he's totally focused on defending his featherweight title against interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 ... but openly admits there's a fight he wants in the future -- a rematch with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev!

"Obviously I've got to go do my thing. I'm focused 100% on Yair, but obviously, I want that rematch," Volk told TMZ Sports.

"Then you've got guys like Ilia's [Topuria] name gets thrown out there, and whoever it is I'm gonna turn up cause I wanna be active, that's that. It's pretty simple with me. Ya know people aren't gonna be waiting long, but it just depends on who the UFC wants, but obviously I want that rematch."

Of course, Alex and Islam fought at UFC 284 in February, a fight AV lost by unanimous decision. However, that doesn't exactly tell the full story ... many fans felt Volkanovski actually won the fight, and should've been double champ.

First things first, Alex, who is a sizeable favorite (around -380), has to beat Yair if he wants to be double champ. On the other side of things is Rodriguez ... who won the interim title in a fight with Josh Emmett (also at UFC 284).

Yair, like Alex, badly wants this win ... and says he's ready to go to extreme lengths.

"I accept anything that comes with [the fight]. I understand the sport and more than being prepared to win this fight, I'm ready to f****** die, and that's one of the things you've got to be prepared for every time that you step in the cage," Rodriguez says.

"Many people go in there only thinking I'm winning, I'm winning. I go in there with many fears, but also I beat my fears every single day. So I'm ready to die."

There's more -- we also talked to the men scrapping in the co-main event, Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja, who are fighting for a third time.

Pantoja, the #2 ranked contender, beat the flyweight champion twice ... but those fights were years ago.

Moreno says he's out to prove ... a lot has happened since 2018.

Mark Zuckerberg apparently can't wait to get into an Octagon with Elon Musk to take shots at the billionaire ... he spent plenty of time Wednesday night throwing keyboard jabs at his nemesis -- as part of the rollout of his new app, Threads.

The Twitter rival made its debut right around dinner time ... and just a few minutes into its kickoff, Zuck took to the site -- which many are calling the "new Twitter" -- to go after Musk and his bird app.

First, Zuckerberg tossed shade at Twitter while explaining to Mark Cuban he hopes Threads is a more "friendly" area for people to interact.

"That's one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have," he wrote, "and we want to do it differently."

Later, the Meta founder told UFC fighter Mike Davis he's got hopes Threads will outgrow Twitter one day.

"It'll take some time," Zuckerberg said, "but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will."

There were some veiled comments from Zuck about a potential fight with Musk too ... while replying to new signups throughout the night, he consistently made references to winning "round one" of Threads. He also laughed at the prospects of the billionaire superfight being called "The Meta Threada." He spent a whole lot of time interacting with MMA stars like Jon Jones as well.

Zuck even appeared to get back on Twitter after an 11-year hiatus to get in another little ribbing at Musk ... with an account apparently associated with him tweeting out the Spider-Man meme.

No date has been set for the potential Zuck vs. Musk superfight -- there's a lot of hangups over the size discrepancy between the two -- but it's clear, the guys are more than content battling each other behind computer screens while it all gets sorted out.

If Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic ever actually fight, it'll be anything but a cakewalk for Bones, according to former champ Francis Ngannou ... who says the firefighter from Ohio is "still the most challenging guy" in the division, NOT the current champ!

"It's gonna be tough for Jones. I think we all don't give the credit that is due to Stipe. Stipe is not having enough credit. For me, he's still the guy at heavyweight. He's still the most challenging guy in the heavyweight division," 36-year-old Ngannou recently told us when we asked him if Jones would beat Miocic.

Of course, Francis and Stipe fought twice ... each winning one fight.

Miocic won the first fight at UFC 226 in 2018 by unanimous decision. The big guys rematched at UFC 260 in 2021 ... a fight Ngannou won by 2nd round knockout.

Stipe has not stepped in the Octagon since that night.

Despite the 27-month layoff, it's clear Francis believes Miocic is still the guy at heavyweight.

As for Jon, he's 1-0 at heavyweight after dominating title contender Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 earlier this year ... a fight the former light heavyweight champ made look easy.

Italians would riot in the streets if Rome's Colosseum staged a UFC fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg ... that's the prediction from a famed archaeologist over in Italy.

Darius Arya, a historian whose been on tons of TV programs about Ancient Rome, joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday from Italy's capital and we asked him about the Italian government contacting Zuckerberg about hosting his fight with Elon.

For Darius, the prospect of the billionaires doing battle at the same site as the ancient gladiators of old sounds super enticing ... telling us the Colosseum would come out on top of a list of potential venues, mainly because of its international fame as the ultimate arena of the ancient world.

Darius says there are inherent issues with staging a fight of this magnitude at the Colosseum, because it's a heritage site and tourist attraction ... and while he's confident it would never come to fruition, he's glad folks are talking about the venue and getting excited about history.

Logistics aside, Darius firmly believes Italians would take to the streets in protest if the nearly 2,000-year-old venue gets the green light to host the fight ... so that's another hurdle for Dana White.

There's been concerts and other events on the Colosseum grounds over the years, mostly outside the arena walls ... and we've been told Elon and Mark would love to fight there ... but it sounds like Las Vegas might be a more likely fight destination.

As we reported, the Ministry of Culture reached out to Mark Zuckerberg about the prospect of staging a Musk vs. Zuck fight at the Colosseum, and Zuck passed it on to UFC's Dana White, whose people were in touch with the Ministry. A Zoom call was set for next week.

This will blow your mind -- an official from the government of Italy contacted Mark Zuckerberg about staging a UFC fight against Elon Musk at the most legendary battleground in the world ... Rome's Colosseum ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... the Minister of Culture reached out to Zuckerberg a few days ago about staging what could be the biggest fight in the history of the world in the most fabled fight theater in history.

Our sources say both Elon and Mark would love for the fight to go down at the Colosseum.

We're told Zuckerberg's people passed on the message to UFC Prez Dana White, whose people contacted the Minister.

As for the venue itself -- one of the 7 Wonders of the World -- there have not been large events held inside the nearly 2,000-year-old amphitheater in hundreds of years, and only a few hundred spectators can be seated in temporary seating within the theater.

Sir Paul McCartney performed inside the Colosseum in 2003 for an exclusive charity show before 400 people who paid up to $1,500 -- but other than that, all other concerts have been held just outside the structure.

It's unclear where a Musk vs. Zuck fight would go down -- inside or outside.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell us if you're gonna bet on whether this fight goes down ... wager that it's happening. We're told both Musk and Zuck are "all in," and have been negotiating with Dana about the details of a fight daily ... multiple times each day for more than a week.

The biggest obstacle is height and weight disparity, although both men have no issue with it. The question ... if the fight were to go down in Vegas -- which was the goal until the Colosseum offer surfaced -- the Nevada Athletic Commission would have to sign off. Given that Zuck is 5'7" and weighs 145, and Elon towers over him at 6'2" and weighs 230, it's a little problematic. Nevertheless, this would be an exhibition fight, so the rules might bend.

Now that Italy is interested, it opens up so many more possibilities.

Originally Published -- 6/29 9:39 PM PT

Elon Musk is already hitting the training mats in anticipation of his huge fight with Mark Zuckerberg ... throwing and slamming a famous black belt who recently trained with Elon's fellow billionaire.

Popular podcaster Lex Fridman says he had an impromptu training session with Elon on Monday, sharing a photo of Elon slamming him to the ground.

Lex, a black belt in jiu-jitsu, says he came away super impressed with Elon's fighting prowess.

"I'm extremely impressed with his strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground," Lex said. "It was epic. It's really inspiring to see Elon and Mark doing martial arts, but I think the world is served far better if they train martial arts but not fight in the cage."

Don't get it twisted, Lex wants to see Elon and Mark do battle ... just like everyone else.

Lex adds ... "That said, as Elon says, the most entertaining outcome is the most likely... I'm there for them, no matter what."

It's interesting to see Elon and Lex training ... Lex recently had Mark on his podcast, and they trained some jiu-jitsu.

In addition to Lex, Elon's accepted an offer to train with UFC legend Georges St-Pierre ... while Jon Jones recently offered Mark his services.

As TMZ Sports first reported, Dana White told us both sides are for real about getting in the Octagon together ... and now Elon's showing just how serious he is.

It was cloudy with a chance of Prime in Copenhagen on Monday ... 'cause Logan Paul and KSI's meet-up with fans came to an abrupt halt when they started getting rocked with bottles of their own drink line!!

The wild scene went down as the YouTube boxing enemies-turned-business partners were promoting their hydration beverages in Denmark ... when, for some reason, some members of the crowd decided they'd much rather chuck their handouts than consume them.

Now, the whole thing could easily be a publicity stunt to give Prime some free airtime ... and if that's the case, it worked -- 'cause here we are writing about it.

If you watch the video, it's clear the guys never felt they were in harm's way ... especially considering the security guards in attendance appeared to be smiling through the bottle attack as they moved the two social media stars out of the line of fire.