UFC

The bantamweights are anchoring UFC 292 Saturday night -- with Aljamain Sterling and rival "Suga" Sean O'Malley fighting -- and the greatest 135er of all-time is breaking down the matchup!

"You're looking at pure dominance in grappling as a specialist or a knockout artist in Sean O'Malley, so that's a fun fight," UFC legend Dominick Cruz told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

"There's no way that this can't be fun!"

To make the fight even better, outside of the guy's incredible talents, there's also been a lot of trash talk.

"Especially because of the talking on the line. All the things O'Malley is saying, 'You're not gonna be able to hold me down. I'm gonna knock you down first,'" Dom explained.

"Well, now he has to prove that, we've all heard it. And Sterling has to prove he can get in there and not get knocked out. I mean they've all talked so much, that's what builds this thing. That's what makes this fun, and gets me excited about it."

Of course, 34-year-old Sterling is the champion, and 28-year-old O'Malley is the #2 contender, behind Merab Dvalishvili. Aljo and Suga have been talking trash to each other for years.

Sterling is in the midst of a 9-fight win streak and has beaten the likes of Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen. Some of the best fighters in the world.

Sean has only lost once in his career -- to Marlon "Chito" Vera in 2020 -- and last defeated Yan.

We also asked Dom about his future. He's injured, but not retired ... not at all. In fact, Cruz is still the 9th-ranked bantamweight and is eyeing another run at the belt once he gets healthy.

Max Holloway is crushed by what's happening on Maui, and the UFC star, born and raised in Hawaii, believes matters have been made worse by the government's response to the disaster.

TMZ Sports talked to a very emotional Holloway, 31, as he finished preparation for his UFC Fight Night scrap against The Korean Zombie on August 26. Although the fight is going down in Singapore, it was Maui that was very much on Blessed's mind.

"It's tough man. Everything that's going on in Lahaina now is heartbreaking."

As bad as things are, Max says he's seen incredible strength in the community.

"The amazing thing is how Hawaii can come together and pull through. The people of Hawaii are coming strong together."

Of course, Maui is in crisis. The death count is currently at 111, including children, but is expected to rise sharply, as over 1,000 people are still missing. Aside from the tragic loss of life, the area has been ravaged, with hundreds, if not thousands of structures -- homes, businesses -- burned to the ground.

Much of the affected area still hasn't been searched ... and Max says he's not satisfied with the government's response.

"Here, the state, the government at so many levels, I'm straight up going to say it, they failed the people of Lahaina and it's kind of heartbreaking," Holloway said.

"When it felt like they were lollygagging, too, after everything happened, the people, the Hawaiian people, the locals there are the ones that stood up, that took on the responsibility, and are helping, and are still helping as we speak. Man, it's just super heartbreaking."

Because it's clearly having such an effect on Max, we asked him if he considered backing out of the fight. But that wasn't going to happen, because Holloway believes this can be a distraction for the people.

"If I can take their minds off of it for a second, a minute, five minutes, whatever it is, I always go in there thinking Hawaii is on my back. I'm going in there a little bit heavier right now."

As for those people impacted, Max had a message.

"My main message to the families that are directly impacted, stay strong. We're all here for you guys. We're gonna keep this going for you guys. We're in for the long haul on this fight."

"This is just the beginning, and we know. The recovery is going to take a long time. Everything is gone, and we know this, and we're here for the long ride."

Dana White says he's sure Mark Zuckerberg wants to take a fight in the UFC -- and, get this, he tells TMZ he's definitely not opposed to making the Meta boss' wish a reality.

White joined Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" on Thursday to preview this weekend's big UFC 292 card ... but before he talked Sean O'Malley vs. Aljamain Sterling -- he spilled the beans on what he knew about the failed Zuck vs. Elon Musk matchup.

He said both guys were dead serious about brawling ... but when Elon wanted to go more of an informal route with the bout -- Zuck decided to pull away.

"He and I talk multiple times a week," White said of Zuckerberg. "And we had dinner last Monday. He's very serious about competing. And when he mentioned it, he said -- listen -- what he was saying in response to Elon was there are tons of professional organizations out there and this is the way this should be done, not in some backyard or whatever Elon was saying."

He added that Zuck understood the fight would have to be sanctioned by an athletic commission, there would need to be proper medical testing and drug testing ... and when Elon didn't seem to get that -- he said Zuckerberg pivoted.

As for what's now next for Zuck ... White told the guys "I would say he is absolutely interested" in battling it out with a UFC fighter in White's org.

And, Dana said it's a possibility he makes it all happen.

But, until then, White's in Boston getting ready for a helluva fight on Saturday night between O'Malley and Sterling.

Vicente Luque, one of the best MMA fighters in the world is not only down with Mark Zuckerberg fighting in an actual UFC fight, but the welterweight title contender tells us he actually respects the way the Meta CEO has approached the sport.

TMZ Sports broke the story on Tuesday ... despite the Elon Musk vs. Zuckerberg fight falling apart, all signs point to the $100 billion man planning to take an MMA fight against a pro fighter in Dana White's promotion, and Zuck has the support of the boss.

But, how do UFC fighters feel about the inexperienced tech mogul, who started training Jiu-Jitsu during COVID-19, entering their territory, and could a fight like this actually be made?

"I definitely think [a Zuckerberg fight is] something that can happen. It does seem like he's really disciplined," Luque, the #10 ranked welterweight told us.

"He not trying just to hype all this stuff. He's trying to work the right way, build himself little by little from the ground up. And I respect that a lot."

Of course, Mark has trained with some of the best fighters in the world, including Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski.

As for who he'd fight, Vicente says ... "I think it has to be a fight that makes sense"

Luque added ... "I think it has to be a guy that has kind of like the same level of experience, you know, because competing in combat sports is something that is not only about the technique and the skills you have, it's also very mental. So I feel like that would be an important thing."

And, Dana's on board. After Zuck said he would "share details on my next fight when I'm ready," we contacted White, who clearly supports his friend's venture into the combat sports world.

"I have said since day 1 Mark is a very serious guy," Dana told us. "He loves the sport and is training hard. I believe he is serious about fighting in the UFC."

We also talked to Luque about his win over the legend, Rafael dos Anjos, last weekend in Las Vegas at UFC Fight Night.

Elon Musk says he isn't the one holding up a battle of the billionaires with Mark Zuckerberg ... claiming Tuesday the Meta honcho is actually the one who turned down a potential fight at Italy's Colosseum.

The Tesla exec took to X just minutes ago to explain his side of the situation ... saying after the two men had initially agreed to fight, Rome offered up one of the Seven Wonders of the World for the guys to scrap in.

But, according to Elon, Zuck just flat-out didn't want to do it.

"Zuck declined," Musk said emphatically.

That's when he said he offered to fight in Zuckerberg's backyard Octagon instead.

"I suggested his home as 'safe space,'" Musk said. "Tragically, he was ahem 'traveling.'"

Zuck, meanwhile, has offered up a completely different version of the situation, saying on Threads earlier this week that he was moving on from the battle ... because he didn't believe Musk was serious at all about the fight.

"I offered a real date," the 39-year-old said. "Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead."

He continued, "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously."

Mark Zuckerberg is hellbent on taking a fight in the UFC -- NOT with Elon Musk, but possibly with an actual UFC fighter -- and now, Dana White is more than insinuating it could actually go down!

As you know, Zuck's moved on from a fight with Elon, saying last Friday, " ... I'll share details on my next fight when I'm ready." So, he's got some plan for his "next fight."

He went on to say, "I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of their game," adding, "You do that by working with professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well."

Zuck said Monday, "I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously."

So, who are the "elite athletes" and "people who take the sport seriously?" It seems unlikely there's another Elon out there -- billionaire vs. billionaire -- and it doesn't make a lot of sense Zuck would involve the UFC for some amateur fight with a rando.

We know Zuck's been in communication with UFC Prez Dana White for well over a month and probably a lot longer, and Dana has 500 fighters on his roster who would love this kind of attention -- fighting M.Z.

Now there's no way Zuck would fight a UFC vet, but what about a fighter who just joined the org?

We contacted Dana with our connect-the-dots theory, and here's what he told us ... "I have said since day 1 Mark is a very serious guy. He loves the sport and is training hard. I believe he is serious about fighting in the UFC."

Notice Dana said "fighting IN the UFC." That more than suggests he'd be fighting someone on the INside, not the outside.

You can't lose with Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, or Nate Diaz ... BUT, given a choice of the three opponents, UFC legend Chuck Liddell knows the fight he'd like to see.

Nate Diaz vs. The Notorious III!

TMZ Sports caught up with Liddell at LAX this week ... and asked him about Conor's next fight.

"All those would be an interesting fight but I think Nate Diaz, run it back to do it one more time. That'd be fun to watch."

Of course, McGregor's supposed to fight Chandler, who is coaching opposite him on "The Ultimate Fighter." Though, after Gaethje's win over Dustin Poirier a few weeks ago, Conor went at Justin on social media.

Then there's Nate ... who just lost a boxing match to Jake Paul. The guys have obviously fought twice in the past, with each man winning one. They've always said they want to complete the trilogy, which would arguably be the biggest in the promotion's history.

"It will be fun. I think it will be real competitive, I think it's a good one to come back to."

Out of the three options, Chuck makes it clear he wants Conor and Nate. As for how it'll go, The Iceman thinks it'll be a close fight.

Speaking of Diaz and Paul, we also asked Liddell if he bought what Jake was selling ... when he said he could beat Nate with 8-9 months of MMA training.

Chuck isn't so sure.

"That tells me [Jake] just doesn't understand the difference. He has no clue what the difference between MMA and boxing."

Liddell explained some of the challenges when going from boxing to mixed martial arts.

"It's funny [Paul] usually fights two weight classes below him, he likes to pick guys that are a lot smaller than him but Nate's a good jiu-jitsu guy, he's a good grappler and he knows how to fight MMA," Chuck told us.

"There's a different stance, everything changes. You add kicks, you gotta change your stance, you can't stand in boxing stance. I hit you so, it hurts so bad in the first round, you got one round to knock me out."

Mark Zuckerberg is tired of waiting for Elon Musk to get ready to rumble, so he's moving on -- so says the Facebook founder himself.

The techie billionaire announced Sunday he was throwing in the towel on the planning process, saying it was clear to him that EM wasn't serious about duking it out ... evidenced, at least in Mark's eyes, in all the excuses Elon has offered to postpone this thing.

MZ writes, "I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious and it's time to move on. I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead."

The backyard thing is new news -- and pretty eyebrow-raising if true. Mark adds, "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously."

Mark has kinda been teasing this move for a while now ... consistently refuting Elon's characterization of things, and alleging that the Twitter honcho was stonewalling on purpose.

In fact, it wasn't too long ago that Mark said he wasn't holding his breath for Elon -- and despite EM trying to hype up the fight just this past week (by mentioning the prospect of Italy as a venue), it sounds like Mark's throwing cold water on the whole thing ... calling BS.

It was a cool would-be event while it lasted, we suppose ... and time will tell if Mark pulling the plug like this will force Elon to actually commit -- but if he doesn't, it might be over.

Take a hard look at Aljamain Sterling when he fights Sean O'Malley at UFC 292 'cause it could be the last time Aljo competes in the bantamweight division ... the UFC champ tells us he wants to move up and dethrone featherweight champ Alex Volkanovski.

Whether or not it is his last scrap at 135 lbs., 34-year-old Sterling seemed to indicate he may not be around the Octagon much longer.

"I think [it could be my last at 135]. I think I go out there, dominate O'Malley the way I think I'm gonna dominate him, send that naked mole rat back to wherever he's from, the hole he crawled out of," Sterling told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

The bantamweight king continued ... "We set our sights on Volkanovski. Go up to 145, cause some terror there. Win the belt, become champ-champ, and then from there, possibly defend the belt one or two times and maybe that's all she wrote for the MMA career."

Of course, in order to be double champ, Aljamain must defeat Suga on August 19 in Boston ... a fight that's been talked about for years.

"It's cool to be going to Dana White's backyard and bringing in a good show. We're the headliners. We get to end the night, try to end the night on a good night, on a high night, and it's an opportunity for me to really make more history, get another bag, and rob the bank."

"I'm looking forward to robbing the bank vs. Sean O'Malley and showing Mr. High Fructose Corn Syrup why there's levels to this game."

If Sterling does ultimately retire from MMA in the near future, we asked him what he do as his second act.

"Maybe I start boxing after," Aljo said, laughing.

Jake Paul can train nonstop for the rest of his life, but there's no way he'll come close to beating Nate Diaz in an MMA fight -- so says former UFC champ Rafael dos Anjos, who tells TMZ Sports The Problem Child will NEVER beat the MMA legend in his own sport!

We caught up with RDA ahead of his big matchup against Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night on Saturday ... and considering dos Anjos once beat Nate in the Octagon, we had to ask about Jake calling out Diaz for a rematch in the PFL SmartCage.

Of course, Jake previously said on Logan's "Impaulsive" podcast he'd be able to handle Nate in an MMA fight if he had eight or nine months of training under his belt.

But dos Anjos thinks Jake needs to be brought back down to earth.

"Nate is a fighter," dos Anjos said. "He got good jiu-jitsu, he has that mentality, the fighter mentality. It's a real fight. When you go to the ground and elbows and knees -- it's a different game."

"I think Jake Paul can train as much as he wants, he don't beat Nate Diaz in an MMA fight."

As for his fight with Luque, RDA said he's expecting a war ... and doesn't see it being left up to the judges.

We also spoke with Luque about the matchup ... and he said it's an honor to go up against dos Anjos because he's a bona fide legend in the sport.

Claressa Shields resigned with PFL ... and as the boxing superstar prepares to get back in the MMA cage, she says she's getting some tips from the one and only Conor McGregor.

"Conor McGregor inboxed me," Shields told TMZ Sports.

"Conor actually gave me some of the best advice today actually. He was just like 'Don't take away from your boxing. You need to get comfortable being on your back and comfortable with your wrestling.'"

Shields, who signed a multiyear deal with the MMA promotion this week, went 1-1 in the cage under the PFL banner in 2021. In the ring, she is regarded as one of, if not the best female boxer in the world.

Any struggles Claressa has had in MMA resulted from being taken down ... and that's something she intends to work on with The Notorious, himself.

"That's an honor and that's a privilege for me, so thank you to Conor McGregor for that, and I look forward to working with him some."

Claressa says McGregor's not the only one who reached out ... and as she's "reconstructing [her] whole team," Shields says she's also been in contact with Cris Cyborg.

"[Cyborg's] one of the toughest and roughest female combat fighters in the world and she reached out. I may do some work with her. I don't know."

As for when she plans to get back in the cage, Claressa says ... "I know it'll be next year, I don't know if it's February, March, or a little bit after that. I just really wanna hone my skills."

We also talked to Shields about Jake Paul (who coincidentally) is also signed to PFL. But, if you thought that'd mean Claressa wasn't coming for "The Problem Child," you're mistaken.

Shields says she is down to fight Paul ... and she's sure she'll beat him.

"I would really fight Jake Paul in a fight, honestly, and I would win. He knows that. He knows that."

Mark Zuckerberg is refuting Elon Musk's Friday morning claims ... saying no details of their potential fight have been finalized at all -- adding that he still wants Dana White involved in the process.

The Meta boss unloaded his side of the story on Threads on Friday afternoon -- just a couple hours after Musk told his 156 million X followers that a bunch of the particulars of the future billionaire brawl were now set in stone.

In one of his tweets ... Musk said the tilt will go down at "an epic location" in Italy. In another, he said all of the action will be live-streamed on X and Meta.

He also said White and the UFC are now out of the planning process, insisting, "The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations."

Zuckerberg, though, made it clear he hasn't agreed to any of those stipulations just yet ... writing in posts on his social media app, "please assume anything [Musk] says has not been agreed on."

"Not holding my breath for Elon, but I'll share details on my next fight when I'm ready," he added. "When I compete, I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game. You do that by working with professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well and create a great card."

Zuck then said he's still training like a mad man for the potential bout -- showing off a photo of him working in his backyard Octagon.

The two businessmen initially began the process of setting up a fight way back in June ... when Musk floated the idea of a cage match following the revelation Zuck's Threads was in the works.

Elon Musk says the fight with Mark Zuckerberg is officially on -- he announced Friday the billionaire brawl is all set to go down at "an epic location" ... though he added the two won't face off for a while, 'cause he needs minor surgery first.

Musk made the revelations in a series of early morning tweets ... explaining he and Zuck have just finalized a bunch of the details about their upcoming tilt.

First, the Tesla honcho said the fight will no longer be put on by Dana White and the UFC -- saying it all will now "be managed by my and Zuck's foundations."

He also said after recent talks with the Prime Minister of Italy and the Minister of Culture ... they've agreed the match will happen on Italian soil. It's unclear, however, if that means Rome's Colosseum -- as has been rumored for months now -- or somewhere else.

When it comes to how fans will watch the action, he said it will be live-streamed on X and Meta ... and "everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all."

Finally, Musk tweeted all of the profits from the fight will go to veterans.

"Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy," Musk added.

The fight night date is still unknown ... though Musk said he'll need a bit more time to prepare, 'cause he's undergoing surgery soon to fix an issue with his shoulder blade.

"Recovery will only take a few months," he insisted.

Logan Paul is firing back at the critics of his ultra-popular Prime Energy drink ... saying he and his partners have done nothing wrong when it comes to the beverage -- while insisting its sister product is actually way better for consumers than Gatorade.

The WWE Superstar joined Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" to give the 411 on his drinks straight from the horse's mouth ... and he brought along a bevvy of props to make sure his points were heard.

You'll recall ... Paul's energy drink came under fire earlier this year after United States Senator Chuck Schumer questioned whether it should be allowed due to its high caffeine content, but, the Maverick took aim at the critique Wednesday -- saying the bashing just makes no sense.

Paul said at 200 MG of caffeine per can, his Prime Energy drink actually features the same amount as Celsius and Gatorade's Fast Twitch. He also said it comes in with 100 MG less caffeine than Bang's similar energy drink.

As for the allegations that he and his team have been targeting teens with the beverage ... he said that, too, was just simply not true.

While he did say most of the advertising his company does is through social media -- he said those under the age of 18 make up only a small portion of his social media following. He also reiterated that his Prime Energy drinks say specifically on their labels that they're for those 18-years-and-older.

When it comes to the energy drink's sister product -- Prime Hydration -- Paul spoke glowingly about that beverage too ... touting its low sugar content.

"One 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade has 34 grams of sugar in it," he said. "To put that into perspective, one bottle of Prime only has two grams of sugar in it."

If Logan Paul needed any more motivation to kick Dillon Danis' ass in October, he has it now -- the Bellator fighter went full savage mode by posting a fake nude image of The Maverick's fiancée, Nina Agdal, on social media ... just days after their fight was announced.

Danis has been on a tear on X all week -- he started posting pics of Nina with her past boyfriends, Leonardo DiCaprio and Reid Heidenry ... before going a bit too far in trying to get under Logan's skin.

Danis shared a NSFW edited pic of a topless Nina to his page on Wednesday ... and while Agdal has posed nude in the past, he was immediately met with backlash as it was a clear attempt to humiliate his opponent.

"dude this is f***ed up," influencer Alissa Violet replied. "are you ok??"

"way too far. she has literally nothing to do with this. just beat him in the ring god d***."

Danis responded by bringing up Violet's history with both Paul brothers ... doubling down on his decision to bring Agdal into the beef.

Dana White revealed he recently had a meeting with Italian officials about holding the Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk fight at the historic Colosseum in Rome.

The UFC honcho provided the update during his appearance on Mike Tyson's "Hotboxin'" podcast this week ... saying he did, in fact, talk to the folks in Italy about bringing the billionaire brawl to one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

"I actually did have a meeting with the Minister of Culture's team in Italy to actually hold that fight in the Colosseum if it would happen," White said. "We're talking."

TMZ Sports broke the story back in June -- sources told us administrators in charge of the landmark location initially reached out to Zuckerberg, who then connected them with Dana's people.

The Ministry of Culture's Office claimed at the time there had been "no formal contact" between the two sides ... but we were told there were conversations that occurred, and now White is confirming it himself.

As for the fight, White believes it can rake in more than a billion dollars in revenue ... saying it's an event everyone in the world wants to see.

"Think about how big that fight is -- two of the richest, most powerful guys in the f***ing world are gonna fight on the biggest stage ever," Dana said.

"Who the f*** doesn't wanna see that fight?? ... That's the kind of fight your f***ing grandmother would watch that fight."