UFC

Francis Ngannou says Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane is a great fight ... but what it's not?? A title fight, 'cause there's already an undisputed UFC heavyweight champ -- and it's him.

TMZ Sports talked to 34-year-old Ngannou on Friday ... ahead of tonight's interim heavyweight title fight between Lewis and Gane at UFC 265.

"It's just a contender fight. It's not an interim or whatever them guys are talking about. It's a contender fight. They're fighting for the #1 spot contender. It's not a title fight for me."

FYI, 36-year-old Lewis is the #2 ranked heavyweight ... and 31-year-old Gane #3.

So, not for an interim title in "The Predator's" mind ... but that doesn't mean Francis doesn't think it's a kickass matchup.

"I think it's a good fight. I like the fight. I like the styles. Opposite sides. It can be a fun fight."

Of course, "The Black Beast" has crazyyyy power (he's KO'd 20 MMA opponents) ...while Gane is an incredible athlete for a man his size, and has great fundamentals.

The winner will presumably face Ngannou sometime in the near future.

We asked Francis if he had a message for the rest of the division ... and he left us with this.

U.S. wrestling star Gable Steveson just won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling with an AMAZING last-second (literally) score ... in one of the most improbable wins in wrestling history.

21-year-old Steveson -- wrestling in the 125 kg. (275 lb.) class -- is an absolute BEAST on the mat. He won the NCAA title this year at the University of Minnesota ... as well as the championship at the Pan American Games. Gable hasn't lost a single match in 2 years.

But, Steveson was down late in the gold medal match against 27-year-old, #1 seed Geno Petriashvili from Georgia (country) -- a wrestler who'd won the last 3 titles in the division -- trailing 8-7 with only seconds remaining.

That's when Steveson -- named after U.S. wrestling legend Dan Gable -- displayed his incredible explosiveness and tenacity ... turning the corner on Petriashvili, scoring a 2-point takedown with .1 SECOND LEFT IN THE MATCH!!

(Video of the full match here)

Winning the way Gable did is so implausible ... and if you don't believe it, take a look at the reaction of Steveson's family and friends.

UFC legend (and former Olympic wrestler) Daniel Cormier couldn't believe the buzzer-beater, tweeting ... Ok wow "@GableSteveson this literally was the craziest finish to a match ever! Congrats my brother!!! Olympic champion"

Don't find the wrestling impressive? Take a look at this 275+ pound man flipping after the dub.

Derrick Lewis might hit like a ton of bricks, but UFC star Ciryl Gane says The Black Beast is NOT the most dangerous guy he's stepped in a cage with, telling TMZ Sports that honor belongs to Alexander Volkov.

We talked to 31-year-old Gane -- a perfect 9-0 in the cage (including 6-0 in the Octagon) -- about his UFC 265 main event fight with Lewis for the UFC's Interim Heavyweight Title ... and asked if this was the riskiest fight of his career.

"No, I don't think so. I think Volkov was more dangerous than him. Yeah, I think Volkov was more well-rounded at first, Volkov was taller, heavier, and more technical than him," Gane says.

If you're not familiar, 32-year-old Volkov is a problem in the Octagon. He's 6'7", and has has beat some of the best competition in MMA, from Alistair Overeem to Fabricio Werdum.

But, Lewis is also incredibly dangerous ... and has scary power. He's got 20 knockouts on his record ... and the last time he was in the Octagon, he put Curtis Blaydes to sleep.

Of course, a win would set Gane up for a scrap with Heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou ... but that fight will have to wait a few months 'cause Gane's expecting a baby!!

"I think I'm gonna rest a little bit. I don't know if you know, but I’m waiting for a second daughter."

Conor McGregor ain't letting gnarly leg surgery keep him away from a good meal ... the UFC star hit an L.A. hotspot for dinner Thursday night, and vowed to TMZ Sports afterward, he's on his way to a big recovery!

The 33-year-old -- who broke his leg during his fight with Dustin Poirier on July 10 -- was in great spirits while crutching around Craig's in West Hollywood.

You can see in the footage, he was moving pretty well despite having major surgery less than a month ago ... getting around a mob of people and into a car without much assistance at all.

As for the recovery the process, McGregor said it's all "doing good, doing good."

"Three weeks, three days -- it's been good," said Conor, who was feeling so well he even signed some autographs for fans. "It's been good."

McGregor also promised to make an epic comeback from the brutal leg procedure ... telling us, "It's going to be some recovery. It's going to be some recovery!"

As we previously reported, McGregor went under the knife for nearly 4 hours last month and needed a rod, plate and screws to fix the damage he suffered during his fight with Poirier.

But, McGregor has looked great in the days since the operation ... hanging with Justin Bieber, getting in lift sessions at the gym and now crushing some good food at one of L.A.'s best eateries.

Khabib is breaking his silence on Conor McGregor's ugly comments about the undefeated fighter's deceased father ... saying "The Notorious" flat-out has a bad heart.

Nurmagomedov joined "Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson" (and Henry Cejudo) ... when the topic turned to McGregor's now-deleted Tweet about Khabib's late dad, Abdulmanap.

"When [Conor] talked about this, only evil can talk about your father, wife, kids, religion. If you’re normal human, you’re never going to talk about this stuff," Khabib told the combat legends.

"For me, I think he post this tweet while drunk too much or something. Then the next day, he always delete these tweets. When he become normal life he says, ‘Oh, look what I did.’ Then he delete. This is my opinion what he do all the time."

In case you missed it (Conor deleted the message not long after posting), McGregor tweeted ... “Covid is good and father is evil?”

That was presumably in response to Khabib tweeting "Good always defeats evil" after Dustin Poirier beat McGregor in their trilogy fight last month.

Nurmagomedov had more to say about Conor, digging into his past mistakes ... including when he socked a man in a Dublin bar for turning down a drink of his Proper 12 whiskey.

“When someone is not with us, he is not even alive, this shows you what you have inside, this shows, like, how dirty you are. When you are one of the best in the world, and you come and you punch someone like 70 years old, like an old man, this shows your heart."

Bottom line, Khabib says he doesn't understand why someone close to McGregor doesn't speak up ... and tell him he's out of line.

"When you have parents and you have kids, how can you show yourself like this? I don’t understand why [Conor's] close people don’t tell him, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’”

"I’ve abandoned all hope, so you should too. [Khabib's] done. Believe me, I threw the kitchen sink at this kid, tried to get him to stick around and I think he’s done."

That's UFC president Dana White completely shutting the door on a Khabib return, telling TMZ Sports despite rumors swirling the undefeated fighter misses the sport, it simply ain't happening.

"I think he’s sliding into this coach’s role. You know, he went undefeated in his career and retired undefeated, and now he’s undefeated as a coach too. So, the guy has had nothing but success, he continues to be successful, and I think he’s moving on to that next chapter of his life."

But, Khabib's longtime coach, Javier Mendez, recently said his 29-0 fighter missed the competition.

But, last week Nurmagomedov straight-up told us an Octagon return ain't happening, saying ... "No. No. No. No. No."

It's only been 24 days since Conor McGregor shattered his left leg during the Dustin Poirier trilogy fight ... but The Notorious is already standing on the busted limb.

TMZ Sports has obtained a photo of McGregor outside of a Beverly Hills hotel ... rocking a walking boot, standing while chatting with a friend.

We're told shortly after the photo was taken, McGregor sat on his scooter and rode into the hotel gym -- where he put himself through a workout.

It's pretty damn impressive ... considering the injury only happened at UFC 264 on July 10.

Of course, Conor broke his left tibia and fibula ... and required a titanium rod, plate and screws to hold his shattered leg together.

Since the surgery the day after the fight, we've seen Conor do everything from working out to jamming out at a Justin Bieber concert (the 2 men also chilled together poolside).

To compare, Tiger Woods -- who also broke his tibia and fibula (amongst other injuries to the leg) in a February 23 car crash -- was still using crutches 155 days after his accident.

UFC star Sean O'Malley just brought the meaning of self-love to a whole 'notha level ... by getting a tattoo of himself on his neck!!!

The heavily tatted bantamweight fighter decided to add to his ink collection this week ... hitting up tattoo shop The California Dream in North Hollywood.

Romeo Lacoste -- owner of the shop -- posted photos of himself workin' on the 26-year-old on Instagram ... immortalizing his jump shot celebration after knocking out Thomas Almeida in March at UFC 260.

The piece is as detailed as it gets -- it even includes O'Malley's body art ... which means it's tats on tats!!!

"VICTORY Tattoo!! for @sugaseanmma 💪🏻💪🏻 ", Lacoste said on IG, "Had the pleasure of knocking this piece out (no pun intended) 😂."

"Thanks for coming in and the good time. More to come soon!"

We believe it -- just 2 weeks ago, O'Malley let rapper 6ix9ine tat his '69' logo on his right shoulder -- with the help from Tatu Panda.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is retired FOR REAL ... so says the UFC superstar himself, who tells TMZ Sports there's absolutely no plans of a comeback in the works.

The 32-year-old laid down his gloves after beating Justin Gaethje in 2020 ... but given that he's still in the prime of his career, many believed he'd eventually make his way back to the UFC Octagon.

In fact, his longtime coach, Javier Mendez, recently told Betway Insider that Khabib "misses" fighting, adding, "I guess you could say he wants to fight again."

But, when we got Nurmagomedov out at Catch in Los Angeles over the weekend ... he emphasized over and over and over again that he's done.

"No," Khabib said when asked if he'd return. "No. No. No. No. No."

Khabib is clearly keeping his promise to his mother ... agreeing to never fight again following the tragic death of his dad (and coach), Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.

Besides, The Eagle is obviously enjoying his post-fighting career as an MMA coach ... telling us he just flat-out loves it when his fighters win their matches.

Conor McGregor's healing process just got a lot more fun -- the dude is hobbling his way around Universal Studios while he's on the mend ... and looks to be having a helluva time.

The wounded UFC star was out and about Friday at Universal Studios in L.A., and he wasn't just standing idly by watching his kids and whatnot have a blast -- the guy was straight-up getting on rides as well.

Check out this video we got of CMG at the theme park, where at one point he was boarding "The Secret Life of Pets" ride ... limping his way over with the help of his crutches, and eventually plopping himself down. Not bad for a guy with a broken leg!

This just shows that despite being seriously injured, Conor is still living his best life and isn't letting the rubber bone moment put a damper on his plans outside the Octagon.

Besides this Universal trip, he's been cutting loose -- as much as he can, anyway -- with rehab stints alongside MLB players, poolside bro seshes with pop stars ... all while lugging himself to wherever he needs to go with the help of his trusty crutches.

It looks like he's also gotten some updated footwear too ... rocking a boot at the park instead of just the bandaging he's been wearing of late.

Pretty incredible considering just how gruesome the break was at the time. It speaks to Conor's toughness -- and at this rate, we kind of expect him back sooner rather than later.

"If I killed somebody in the ring, it'd f****ing make me very happy."

That savage statement came courtesy of 30-year-old, UFC middleweight contender, Sean Strickland ... who's fighting #8 ranked fighter, Uriah Hall.

TMZ Sports recently talked to the 30-3 Strickland and asked him if 36-year-old Hall would be off his mental game after Chris Weidman's horrific leg injury during Uriah's last fight.

Sean's response, hell no. Fighters fight ... and that's when he said he wants to murder an opponent in the Octagon.

Really, we asked ... you mean that?

"Oh, I love it. Absolutely. But, I'm okay, I accept that. Like, if Uriah hits me and maybe I have a brain aneurysm and die, you'll hear me saying, 'I’m okay, that's a good death,' Strickland told us.

"We’re all going to die sometime. You know, might as well end in a good way. We’re all going to the same place, man. It's either gonna be then or now. Just enjoy it."

😬😬😬😬😬

BTW, we also talked to Uriah Hall about Strickland (the men obviously have history) ... and it's clear the UFC star has his sights set on champion Israel Adesanya.

Conor McGregor certainly looks like a guy hellbent on resuming his fighting career ... 'cause he's already back in the gym, less than a month after gnarly leg surgery!!

The UFC superstar showed off some pics from his late-week workout on Friday ... and by the looks of the photos, it seems Conor ain't holdin' back much in the weight room.

The 31-year-old got in some quad work, some pull-ups and some shoulder exercises ... a truly remarkable feat, given what he went through just days ago.

As we previously reported, Conor went under the knife for nearly four hours on July 12 to fix a broken leg he suffered while fighting Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

The procedure was not a simple one ... docs had to place plates and screws in his lower leg to repair all of the damage.

Many wondered if it could be career-ending... but Conor's dropping major hints that he's eyeing a comeback -- writing on his social media page along with the workout pics, "There are no limits to what we can overcome."

"Find the way!"

McGregor has stayed in great spirits since the injury ... laying poolside with drinks, rehabbing with MLB star Ronald Acuna, and even hanging with Justin Bieber.

UFC superstar Amanda Nunes has tested positive for COVID-19 ... and her fight against Julianna Pena next weekend at UFC 265 is off.

The UFC is planning to reschedule the title fight once Amanda is 100% healthy.

Nunes and Pena were scheduled to be the co-main event of the August 7 event ... on a card that also features a highly anticipated heavyweight matchup pitting Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane against each other.

The events going down at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX.

It's a matchup 31-year-old Pena -- who has wins over Cat Zingano and Jessica Eye -- has been champing at the bit for ... previously telling us she was the GOAT's "kryptonite."

Interesting to note, back in June 2020, Amanda -- who's currently on a 12-fight win streak -- speculated she may have battled COVID ... saying she experienced all of the traditional symptoms, and was in bed for several days.

Nunes says her wife, UFC contender Nina Nunes, was so sick they took her to the hospital.

No word yet on whether the UFC will replace Nunes-Pena with another fight.

Story developing ...

WARNING: This is NOT breakfast material ... so finish your eggs and toast now before we get into it.

Done?? Okay, good.

UFC star TJ Dillashaw is showing off the WILD cut he suffered during his return to the Octagon on Saturday ... and it's pretty damn gross.

Of course, TJ hadn't fought in more than 2 years after getting popped for PEDs in 2019 ... but showed no signs of ring rust after beating Cory Sandhagen in a split decision at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

But, the former bantamweight champ didn't escape unscathed -- Dillashaw got a massive gash on his eyebrow that required quite the patch-up job.

The injury happened in the second round as Sandhagen punched TJ above his eye ... which immediately started to bleed.

Referee Herb Dean even had to intervene to let a doc check out Dillashaw's cut before resuming action.

Despite the gnarly sight, TJ was calm about the whole thing ... saying he's opened the same cut before, so it's no biggie.

Tyron Woodley should be VERY concerned about his upcoming fight against Jake Paul ... so says Gilbert Burns, who tells TMZ Sports he thinks Paul has a shot to destroy the MMA star.

The bout is set to go down in Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Aug. 29 -- and it will be Paul's 4th boxing match -- and Woodley's first.

And, according to Burns, don't be surprised if the YouTuber is the one who walks away from the ring victorious.

"Jake Paul is really proving himself as a hard worker, a great boxer, heavy-handed," Burns said. "He's very big ... I don't see an easy fight for Tyron Woodley."

Burns knows a thing or two about that ... remember, the Brazilian MMA fighter beat Woodley pretty good in a UFC match back in May 2020 -- winning by unanimous decision.

Woodley went on to lose his next two fights after that ... and it's all got Burns really wondering if the fighter can pull out the win over Paul.

"I see the pressure's on Tyron Woodley," Burns says. "He has to win that fight. Otherwise, it's going to be a horrible way to recover from."

As for if Burns has any tips for Paul, Gilbert says the key to beating Woodley is pressure and the counter punch.

"The one thing that I learned for Tyron Woodley, he's very afraid to get tired," Burns says. "I think Jake's go-to stay calm, put pressure on him, watch out for that right hand, but at the same time when the overhand right comes, it opens a lot of things."

Burns continued, "I got to watch this one close, but I'm not that confident that Tyron Woodley's gonna pull that one-off."

Gervonta "Tank" Davis is a proud Baltimore native -- and the star boxer loves his city so much, he just got it tatted all across his upper back!!!

Of course, the Maryland city is where Davis started down his road to stardom ... learning to box there at just 7 years old.

And now, the 26-year-old champ is deciding to give a major salute back to his hometown ... hitting up his go-to guy, celeb tat artist Josh Levario, for some awesome B-more ink.

The tat came out HUGE ... with the word "BALTIMORE" spanning from Davis' left shoulder all the way to his right.

The piece also came out impressive as hell -- considering Levario (who also did Tank's movie icon tattoo) tells us it only took 3 hours to get done.

Gervonta has already been honored in the past by the city of Baltimore, with Mayor Jack Young once presenting him a key to the city.

Perhaps the new tat persuades Young to give him even more?!?