UFC

Junior dos Santos dropped his last 5 fights prior to his Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA scrap against Fabricio Werdum ... but the MMA legend tells TMZ Sports the win over the former UFC champ has reinvigorated his career!

"Just the fact that [the fans] were willing, they were excited to see me fighting again," dos Santos told us days after his fight.

"It's the main factor for me that makes me motivated because I know I still have a lot of good performances left on me. We're always ready to put on a good show."

Of course, 39-year-old dos Santos beat 46-year-old Werdum by split decision during the main event of Jorge Masvidal's promotion, Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, which featured two former UFC champs battling it out sans gloves.

As for how much longer he'll fight ... here's what "Cigano" had to say.

"Right now I go to the gym and I see my performance, I see the love, everything is there. I want to keep going."

"As soon as I go to the gym or I'm fighting or something like that and I'm not delivering anymore, I'll tell myself, I'll see that, I cannot do this anymore. This is kind of dangerous for me ... but right now I feel great!"

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

We also talked to Junior about two of his former opponents ... Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. Both men have big-time bouts coming up ... Stipe vs. Jon Jones and "The Predator" vs. heavyweight boxing king Tyson Fury.

Laura Sanko tells TMZ Sports it's an absolute honor for her to now be an even bigger inspiration for women everywhere ... after she made history in the UFC by becoming the first female to ever call a PPV fight.

Sanko joined Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia last week  ... becoming the first woman to provide PPV commentary for the mixed martial arts promotion since Kathy Long at UFC 1 in 1993.

Sanko said she wasn't sure if she'd ever get the opportunity to do it -- but after it happened, she's been thrilled with the responses she's gotten.

"The reaction has been tremendous and I can't tell you how many women, female fighters, a lot of dads saying, 'My daughter looks to you as an example,'" Sanko said.

"It's not like I ever sought out to be some inspiration figure. It sorta just happened but I take that responsibility very seriously and it's surreal and a huge honor to get those messages."

Sanko did such a good job, Dana White called her the "Ronda Rousey of commentating" ... and now, she's hoping more opportunities will arise in the future.

As for the championship fight she helped call -- Israel Adesanya's memorable bout with Sean Strickland -- Sanko told us she isn't so sure a rematch is necessary there.

"I think a lot of people would like to see a rematch," she said. "Personally, if you're asking Laura Sanko, the fan, the individual, I'd like to see a different fight."

UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich -- the promotion's first-ever welterweight champion -- was arrested for allegedly driving drunk in Iowa Thursday morning ... after a witness said they saw the MMA legend driving his truck the wrong way down a one-way street.

Authorities in Bettendorf, Iowa received a call early Thursday morning for a man allegedly driving against the flow of traffic on a one-way street, before crossing an embankment and parking at a nearby gas station.

Once on the scene, police say they found 57-year-old Miletich asleep behind the wheel ... with the truck still in gear.

Cops woke him up, and Miletich admitted to drinking wine, according to an incident report. Police say Pat had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet, and reeked of alcohol.

They attempted to put Pat through a field sobriety test, but he refused. He also refused the Breathalyzer.

Given his alleged condition, and evidence on the scene that supported the accusation Pat was driving erratically, Miletich was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI), 3rd Offense, a class D felony in the state.

Pat was booked into Scott County jail at 6:16 AM. He was listed at 5'10" and 200 pounds.

Miletich was in custody for just short of two hours before being released at 8 AM after posting $5k bond.

If you're not familiar with Pat ... he's one of the first MMA stars. He took his first pro MMA fight in 1995, and went on to become UFC welterweight champion, fighting 39 pro fights along the way.

It was Pat's third arrest for driving drunk ... he was popped in 2019 and 2021.

The arrest comes as Miletich is preparing to return to the MMA cage. He's fighting 38-year-old Mike Jackson (of CM Punk fame) at Caged Aggression on October 14.

Sean Strickland is upset Natan Levy didn't really kick the crap out of his troll last month ... telling TMZ Sports if he had been in the same situation, he would've straight-up carved a "J" on the guy's forehead with his elbow.

Levy, who's Jewish, knocked the dog snot out of a social media heckler in Las Vegas in August after the guy had defended an antisemite in an exchange on X ... but Strickland says he wished the beatdown had gone even further.

"Like, if that was me, broken bones in the face, blood," the UFC star said. "But, Natan's a nice guy. I think we're gonna have to work on him to be a little bit more savage."

Strickland, who's teammates with Levy at Xtreme Couture in Nevada, said the troll's actions were so disrespectful, he would've tried to permanently scar the guy if he were wearing Natan's gloves.

"Like if it was me," Strickland said, "I would've tried to carve a big ol' f***ing 'J' in the forehead."

Of course, Strickland hasn't had much time to devote to the issue recently ... he's been preparing for a title fight with Israel Adesanya that will go down later Saturday night.

Themba Gorimbo won't give up his couch at the gym just yet ... 'cause even after Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson bought him a new apartment, the UFC star tells TMZ Sports he'll still be catching Zs on that sofa!!

"It belongs to me," Gorimbo said about his beloved furniture he famously rested on at his gym in Florida.

"When the fight camp kicks in, six weeks from the fight, I'll probably go back to the gym and sleep on that couch."

Don't get it twisted, Themba LOVES the apartment The Rock hooked him and his family up with earlier this year -- as a matter of fact, Gorimbo was sitting in the living room when we spoke with him.

But, that gym couch has sentimental value and serves as a reminder ... as it's the bed Gorimbo slept on during the start of his UFC career, before he linked up with the WWE legend.

Gorimbo added he still can't wrap his head around the great lengths Johnson has gone to help him out after hearing about how he only had $7 to his name.

"With the blessing that he gave me, you know, giving me a place to stay, and having to do everything that he's done for me ... for me, it's a blessing from God," the 11-4 fighter said. "It is really, really, really surreal."

Gorimbo says everything The Rock has done for him has made him more determined to become a UFC champion ... and it's also placed a target on his back amongst other fighters.

Gorimbo -- who won his last fight against Takashi Soto in May -- isn't fazed at all ... and is anticipating his next match in December.

"I believe that once we sign a fight to fight each other, I'm gonna beat you and I'm gonna win," Gorimbo said.

As sure as "one plus one equals two," Israel Adesanya says he's going to knock out Sean Strickland ... and if he runs his mouth during the fight, the UFC middleweight champion tells us he's going to straight up break his jaw!

"I do wanna shut him up and I'm gonna shut him up. I'm gonna break his jaw if he keeps talkin' to me while he's in there, trust. When you're talkin', you never know when a shot's coming, the jab can hit you while your mouth open and send your jaw to the back of your head," Izzy told TMZ Sports.

Of course, 34-year-old Adesanya and 32-year-old Strickland are headlining UFC 293 in Australia on September 9 ... and Izzy says Sean should just be thankful for the opportunity, and accept his ass-kicking.

"[Sean] should just thank me. He got his passport, he got the fight, he gets to travel out of the country for the first time, actually see the world instead of being a f***ing hillbilly and yeah, he should thank me. Should really appreciate the fact that I got him the opportunity and he's gonna get paid, he can buy his boat and then he can f*** off and make other opportunities."

Adesanya is coming off a massive win against his rival, Alex Pereira, at UFC 287 ... where he won his belt back in epic fashion with a 2nd round KO.

Strickland has won two fights in a row ... beating Nassourdine Imavov and Abusupiyan Magomedov in 2023.

Israel was originally going to fight number 1 contender, Dricus Du Plessis ... but he suffered an injury. Due to the circumstances, Sean, who is ranked 5th (behind Du Plessis, Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier, and Marvin Vettori), got the fight.

We asked Adesanya if Strickland deserved the fight.

"Do I think he deserves it? I think he's been in there long enough to earn it. To step in there with me, my ego says no. My ego says we're levels above. He knows it. I know but he knows he still has a chance of winning this fight. I just have to make sure it's the minimalist chance ever. That's my job," Adesanya told us.

The highly-anticipated Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk fight is all but cooked ... 'cause Dana White says the billionaire brawl is "probably" never going to happen.

The UFC honcho -- who got involved in negotiations after the two tech nerds agreed to take their beef to the cage -- was pessimistic when asked Thursday about whether the potential matchup would actually happen ... pretty much killing all hope of seeing the bout come to fruition.

“I never say never, but probably not," Dana told Charly Arnolt on "OutKick The Morning."

The fight would have undoubtedly been massive ... and there were even talks of hosting it at the Roman Colosseum.

Of course, Zuck said he was moving on from Musk last month ... claiming the Tesla CEO is all talk, no action, and never serious about duking it out in an MMA fight.

The hype has fizzled out since then ... as the two sides have calmed down their social media trash talk. Zuck said he's now focused on taking a REAL opponent -- and he's been training his ass off with some of the biggest names in UFC.

While it's a major bummer, White says the real losers in the situation are the charities that would've benefited from the event, as it would have raised a ton of money for good causes.

"Let me tell you who would win in that fight -- would be whatever charities were picked to donate the money to," White added. "They would be the absolute winners because I think that thing would do a billion dollars in revenue, and they wanted 90% of the money to go to charity."

"So, it would have been the biggest charity event ever held in history, especially for one night. It would have helped a lot of people."

Demetrious Johnson is one of the most accomplished MMA fighters ever ... and out of all the titles he's won and defended, the gold medal he took home at a high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tourney may be the most special!

TMZ Sports talked to 37-year-old Johnson days after securing the top spot on the podium at the Master 2 featherweight brown belt division at the IBJJF Masters Worlds ... where he went 6-0, outlasting the 40-competitor field.

"I just fell in love with it. The art of it. And, using the Gi as a tool to be able to strangle your opponent or be able to manipulate their body in certain ways has been fascinating to me," DJ told us.

As for where winning the gold medal ranks among his career accomplishments ... it's near the top.

"It's up there. Everything I've accomplished in my career, it's up there," Demetrius told us, adding ... "I haven't competed in a jiu-jitsu tournament since I was 18 years old, now I'm 37. To go be able to compete with my son in the same tournament, it's up there."

That's saying something when you've won 12 UFC title fights ... and 3 in ONE Championship.

DJ says he had such a great experience competing that he's without a doubt going to enter future tourneys ... as soon as his body heals up from injuries he sustained training and competing.

As for winning his entire weight/belt class was enough to earn DJ a black belt ... not yet!

"The way my professor views black belts, or belting people is based on potential, I still have so much more to learn, and he was like, 'You could get your black belt but you're not learning the steps you need to prepare yourself for that black belt.'"

"'You just won a tournament, congratulations. But, the tournament is done. You won it. We get back in the gym, we move forward, and continue our steps to better ourselves as the best athlete we can be or best jiu-jitsu players we can be."

Dillon Danis' incessant online trolling of Nina Agdal has driven Logan Paul's fiancée to the point of both suing Danis and filing for a restraining order against him to make it stop.

Agdal beelined it to court Wednesday to file docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, claiming Danis has posted "despicable" things about her more than 250 times since his fight with Paul was announced earlier this summer.

In her suit, she says she's suffered humiliation, emotional distress, and reputational harm ... alleging that one post Danis made on Aug. 11, in particular, violated federal and state law.

She says as part of the post, Danis threw up a sexually explicit image of her that was taken from "a romantic encounter" she had had with a person more than 10 years ago.

"Danis posted the photograph -- entirely uncensored -- from his X (Twitter) account, without Plaintiff's consent," Agdal wrote in the suit. "Later that day, Danis reposted the explicit photograph in order to maximize the number of views it would receive."

The 31-year-old model claims Danis only agreed to delete it after Misfits Boxing -- the org. behind the Oct. 14 Danis vs. Paul tilt -- threatened to cancel the fight unless he took it down.

Agdal added in the suit that many of Danis' other posts have upset her ... including a tweet he made on Aug. 28 that she says showed a video of her from more than six years ago where she talked about "her desire for intimacy during a period of celibacy."

She claims in the suit that the vid had been stored deep in her Snapchat archive ... "suggesting Danis had hacked [her] personal account or had obtained the private video from someone who had done so."

She's asking for unspecified damages in the suit but wants no less than $150K per violation of the federal law prohibiting the sharing of intimate images.

As for her TRO, she's asking a judge to bar Danis from posting sexually explicit images of her going forward ... in the wake of Danis' repeated threats to release further images that could be damaging to Agdal's reputation.

For Danis' part, he's been unapologetic over the posts throughout the past few weeks ... saying they've been helping promote his upcoming fight with Paul.

Danis took to Twitter to comment on the lawsuit, saying, "Nina Adgel has filed a massive lawsuit against me. She filed a restraining order against me and is seeking prison time, so the fight is in jeopardy if I’m in jail. This is actually wild but I won’t stop f*** the system come get me. Logan Paul is a dead man walking."

Jake Paul says Dillon Danis is doing exactly what Logan expected by spewing nonstop trash talk leading up to their boxing match ... telling TMZ Sports lines have been crossed, but at the end of the day -- it's only making his brother richer.

The Problem Child joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs on FS1) ... and he got into all things boxing, Betr ... and, of course, Logan's current arch nemesis.

In case you've been hiding under a rock, Danis has been unloading on Logan and his fiancée, Nina Agdal, on social media ... posting hundreds of pictures of the model with her previous boyfriends and other random men in an attempt to embarrass his opponent.

Many critics are going after Danis for bringing an innocent bystander into the prefight antics ... and while Jake agrees the former Bellator MMA fighter has sometimes gone too far, Logan is ultimately winning.

"My brother could've fought anybody, and he picks this kid who he knows is gonna make the fight massive," Jake said. "And right now, everybody wants to see the fight because of the things that are being said."

"So, all of that, all the pay-per-views are going directly into my brother's pocket, and that's why Dillon was picked. At the end of the day, Dillon's a puppet."

As for Paul's boomin' Betr business, he also talked about its new fantasy vertical, Betr Picks ... which is here just in time for NFL Week 1.

Jake explained Betr -- which also just launched in Virginia -- is way more than just a money-making opportunity for him ... as he's truly passionate about putting together the best possible user experience.

"Our goal is to make the product the best in the space, and the fans are the ones who are really gonna win here."

Sure, Terence Crawford's the undisputed welterweight champ, but out of his 40 professional fights, the only legit threat was Errol Spence ... so says Canelo Alvarez who tells TMZ Sports he respects the dude a great deal, but their resumes aren't comparable!

Obviously, Crawford (40-0) has been the talk of boxing since his TKO win over Spence on July 29, with many calling him the face of boxing, and the world's best pound-for-pound boxer.

Since then, Alvarez has been hounded with questions about whether he'd fight Crawford. We asked Canelo if he was tired of talking about Bud.

"No, look, like I always said, I respect Terence Crawford," Alvarez told Babcock. "He's a very talented fighter but he just won one big fight."

"If you see his record, he just beat one good fighter in Errol Spence. Other than that, I don't think he's beaten other great fighters like Spence."

Alvarez, on the other hand, has fought a bunch of beasts over his legendary career 59-2 career, including Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, and Gennady Golovkin. Up next is the undisputed super middleweight champ, Jermell Charlo, who he's fighting on September 30 in Las Vegas.

"Jermell Charlo is a great fighter, he's a talented fighter and he's undisputed in his weight class," Alvarez said. "It's going to be a good fight so I'm happy to be in this kind of fight, in the big fights."

"The fight is almost here so I'm excited. I'm excited because I feel great."

Jason "Mayhem" Miller has found himself in trouble with the law yet again ... this time, TMZ Sports has learned the former MMA star was arrested for allegedly choking a fan at a hotspot in Los Angeles.

Law enforcement tells TMZ Sports ... the incident happened on Aug. 29 at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood -- only a few months after Miller had been released from prison.

According to law enforcement, a fan had approached Miller to say hello, but a verbal confrontation somehow ensued. Things then allegedly turned violent -- with Miller being accused of putting the person in a chokehold.

We're told the altercation got so bad, security had to intervene and help the man break free from Miller.

Sheriffs were called to the scene, but Miller had already left by the time they arrived. An assault report was taken.

However, law enforcement says Miller showed up at the Sunset Marquis the next day ... and when someone called the cops after recognizing him at the venue, officers showed up and arrested him.

Miller was released from custody a short time after being booked. The case is still under investigation -- we're told detectives are still pouring over footage of the incident -- and charges are still pending.

Giga Chikadze's dad can apparently see the future.

The father of the 8th-ranked UFC featherweight fighter predicted his son would be champion the day he was born on August 25, 1988.

"Giga Chikadze was born here, son of Zaza. In this very hospital. My first-born son. The future World Champion in Judo, swimming. A good fighter and a good man," the proud dad said from outside the hospital in Tbilisi, Georgia (country) more than 35 years ago.

Now, Giga isn't champ -- at least not yet -- but he's a top-10 ranked fighter in the world's most popular MMA promotion.

"From that day, I've been the project of this. I'm UFC's future. I don't even know. They already decided for me what I would have to do, what I would be in the future when I grow up. It's funny we actually have the video," Giga told TMZ Sports.

Chikadze is coming off a unanimous decision win over Alex Caceres last weekend ... in his return to the Octagon following his first UFC loss (Calvin Kattar in 2022).

Caceres was ranked several spots below Giga ... and now he's looking for that to be reciprocated by the UFC by way of a top-ranked opponent like Max Holloway, with whom he shared a locker room at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

"It was definitely fun to share the locker room with him and I'd be happy and it's gonna be an honor if he would agree on this fight. Love the guy, he's such a nice guy, doing great stuff, great family, and all the stuff. Feel like we can do a nice event together. Maybe even a Pay-Per-View card on December 16."

Blessed is the #1 ranked contender ... in the division where Alex Volkanovski currently rules.

A win over someone like Holloway could set up a title shot for Giga ... who would then have the opportunity to prove his dad's clairvoyant.

Many athletes and celebs have stepped up in a huge way in the wake of the devastating wildfires in Maui ... and perhaps none more so than Bellator MMA star Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, who raised over $2 MILLION on Instagram!

TMZ Sports spoke with the Honolulu native this week as the area is still reeling from fires that killed at least 115 people, with hundreds still unaccounted for. The people who fortunately escaped with their lives are still dealing with property loss, in some cases everything, including their homes.

"We have hit the $2.6 million mark and this is just on Instagram alone," Macfarlane said.

"The beautiful thing that I love so much about this fundraiser is that it wasn't big corporations or big huge donors, it was literally people."

Macfarlane also gives credit to a few celebrities for sharing the fund, including Bretman Rock, Meghan Trainor, and Jason Momoa.

Now, the challenge is getting the money to those who need it ... which can be a difficult job.

"I haven't raised that much for my nonprofit before so I am collaborating with other agencies to make sure it's distributed equitably and efficiently."

Macfarlane also revealed she's teamed up with Bellator to replace gym equipment and training gear at local dojos. They're also inviting a family to Ilima-Lei's upcoming title fight in San Diego.

Speaking of her fight with mentor Liz Carmouche (Bellator 300 on October 7), Macfarlane says it's a bout she's always wanted but hasn't been able to enjoy the lead-up to the event because of the situation in Hawaii.

"It was a super scary time and it was actually weird timing because [the fires] happened the day that we announced my title fight," Macfarlane said.

"I just couldn't be happy. I couldn't be excited for this super awesome fight that I've wanted for so long just because of what was going on."

Rose Namajunas is the 2nd-ranked strawweight in the UFC, but the former 2x 115 lb. champ is moving up to fight a top flyweight, and she tells us she feels amazing and doesn't plan on going back to her old weight class.

"I'm definitely healthier," Thug Rose told TMZ Sports of the difference between making 115 and 125 lbs. ... as she preps to fight #3-ranked flyweight Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night in Paris on Saturday.

Rose hasn't fought since May 2022 ... when she lost to fellow contender, Carla Esparza, by split decision. Physically, Namajunas feels a lot better a year and change later.

"I did think the weight cut started to get a little tougher each time, even the last cut it was like my eyes were sunken in like 'Ooh this is not super healthy.' I don't think it highly affected my performance, maybe it did, maybe it didn't, I have no idea but I'm definitely super excited to feel healthy going in there and actually eating more, lifting more, just feeling strong."

As for whether she'd go back to the division where she's so highly ranked ... probably not.

"I highly doubt I would ever go back down unless there was a really good reason to. Unless I go into this fight and something totally just like, 'Oh man these flyweights are way bigger and stronger than I expected' but I highly doubt that."

Rose continued ... "I train with flyweights. I have a good feel for that. Even in my amateur career, I fought in flyweight, too. Unless it's totally a surprise and a shock to me, I see myself staying here."

Of course, if RN stays at 125, that would likely mean there won't be a third fight between her and Zhang Weili (Rose defeated the Chinese MMA star twice) ... though Namajunas didn't entirely shut the door on the trilogy.

If it does happen, it'll be down the road.

For the time being, Namajunas -- who isn't ranked in the new division -- is getting one of the best in the world in Fiorot (she hasn't lost a fight since 2018). We asked Rose if she expected a title shot straight away after a win.

"No, I'm not really putting any expectations on anything. I'm just hoping and praying for the best performance that I can give, give glory to God and just let Him do the rest. If that happens, that would be a dream come true."

If she were to get a title shot, it could mean a scrap between Rose and Valentina Shevchenko, who is fighting to win her belt back vs. Alexa Grasso in a few weeks.

UFC fighter Natan Levy is hoping bullies everywhere take serious note of his recent beatdown of an internet troll ... saying on Tuesday he wants anyone who's even thinking of spewing hate speech going forward to know "words have consequences."

Levy absolutely mauled a smack-talking social media user named Ben recently ... after the guy had defended noted antisemite Nick Fuentes in an exchange on X.

Levy, who's Jewish, met the dude at his gym and pounded on him for several minutes -- forcing the guy to tap out.

Eventually, he got Ben to say on camera following the sparring sesh that six million people were murdered in the Holocaust -- an atrocity Ben didn't previously acknowledge.

When Levy joined Harvey and Charles on Tuesday's "TMZ Live" to talk about it all ... he said he was pleased with how it turned out with Ben -- and now, he wants others to keep the incident in mind before they hit their keyboards with similar nonsense.

"The big lesson I wanted to teach this guy -- and hopefully everybody who is watching -- is words have consequences," he said. "Actions have consequences."

"If you say something, you better stand behind it," he added, "'cause this hate turns into hate in the real world. So we need to cut it off."