UFC

Sean Strickland's the UFC Middleweight champ today, but by the end of 2024, Brendan Allen believes the top of the division will look different ... he expects to be the titleholder!

TMZ Sports talked to 27-year-old Allen, the #10 ranked 185-pounder in the promotion, ahead of his UFC Fight Night main event scrap with #13 ranked Paul Craig on Saturday in Las Vegas ... a big fight for the rising star.

We asked Brendan for his assessment of the division.

"I think I'm the best in the world. It's up to me to prove it," Allen said, adding ... "I think Sean [Strickland] will be there for a little bit. Hopefully, ending of next year it'll be 'And new' for me. That's the goal. I don't care who's there when it's my turn. But obviously, the goal is 'And new' when I get my turn."

Allen, 22-5, is coming off a win over Bruno Silva in June ... his 5th straight victory.

35-year-old Craig had lost two in a row -- against Volkan Oezdemir (July '22) and Johnny Walker (January '23) -- before rebounding against Andre Muniz in July. Paul's 17-6-1 over his pro career.

Brendan also weighed in on Paul's decision to go from 205 lbs. to the 185 lb. division ... a move that could come around to bite Craig, according to Allen.

"I think the weight cut will play a role, but it's not the sole or main reason [I'll win]. I just think that I'm gonna be too good, too fast, too strong. He may be bigger, but I'm just a different guy when it comes to this weight class, and I'm gonna show just that.," Brenda told us.

We also talked to Craig ... who is going to do his best to (at least momentarily) stop the Allen hype train.

Forget running the UFC ... Dana White now looks like he could straight-up compete in the fighting org. -- and he says it's all 'cause of an 86-hour fast he did this week.

The 54-year-old revealed in a video on his social media page Wednesday night that he began his fast after UFC 295 on Saturday night ... and just a few days later, he's seen incredible results.

White explained in the clip that he began the no-food streak by doing nothing more than drinking water with electrolytes for 24 hours.

Then, the UFC honcho said he incorporated bone broth twice a day into his diet until the fast ended Wednesday morning ... and following it all, he clearly looked great.

But, White said his motivation wasn't exactly to get his 8-pack to pop ... rather, he told his followers he just wanted further help in preventing illnesses.

"Obviously i'm not a doctor," White said on X, "but i've been told by the experts that water fasting can help to significantly reduce the risk of cancer, alzheimers and a ton of other health issues."

Tom Aspinall doesn't want to twiddle his thumbs for a year waiting for Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic to fight -- the interim heavyweight champ says he respects the heavyweight G.O.A.T., but his time has passed -- and it's only right the two champs unify the belt!

TMZ Sports talked to Aspinall on Wednesday and asked about his plans moving forward.

"I want to fight Jon Jones, man. And this is no disrespect to Stipe at all. After a performance like Saturday night, who really cares about 42-year-old Stipe who has not fought for 3 or 4 years coming back and fighting Jon Jones. Ya know what I mean? I just knocked out the scariest dude in the UFC in a minute."

Of course, Aspinall only needed 1 minute and 9 seconds to dispatch of Sergei Pavlovich -- arguably the scariest guy in the division because of his incredible punching power -- at UFC 295, securing the interim title at Madison Square Garden.

Tom went on to make his case for the Jones scrap, saying, "I know it's like a big respect thing. Stipe is like the greatest heavyweight ever and Jon Jones is arguably the greatest MMA fighter ever. I get that. I completely get that, but it's also about relevance. It's also about excitement. It's also about what puts people in seats, what people are gonna buy pay-per-views, and I'm more exciting than anybody right now. I deserve a shot. I'm the champion."

Aspinall continued ... "Jon Jones is the champion. I'm not saying he's not. But I'm a champion as well and Stipe, and this is no disrespect to Stipe at all, I'm a massive fan of his, but Stipe at this point was guy who hasn't fought in three years and is coming off a loss."

Many people around the sport agree with Tom, but that doesn't mean it's a lock to happen. In fact, Dana White has said he intends to re-book the Jones-Miocic fight when Jon gets healthy.

Aspinall was only in the Octagon at MSG because the JJ vs. Stipe fight was scrapped over the injury.

It remains to be seen if the UFC honcho changes course and unifies the belts.

There's much more with the interim UFC champ ... we talked to Tom about how life has changed since Saturday night, how he plans to celebrate achieving his lifelong dream, and what did Pavlovich's power actually feel like?!

Steve-O está haciendo historia en la UFC, gracias al campeón de los pesos pesados, Jon Jones, ¡¡¡porque estamos seguros de que un cinturón de la UFC nunca ha sido emparejado con un martillo para romperle la oreja a alguien!!!

Echa un vistazo a este video de locos, si tu estómago puede soportarlo. La estrella de "Jackass" estaba pasando el rato con Jon en Albuquerque cuando se le ocurrió la delirante idea de que este le diera el golpe.

Se trata de una deformación de la oreja que los luchadores comúnmente obtienen en sus competencias, pero Steve-O tomó un atajo, colocando su oreja derecha debajo del cinturón de Jon y haciendo que él literalmente le martillara el cinturón.

Le costó unos cuantos golpes, pero como era de esperar, la oreja de Steve se convirtió rápidamente en un desastre que no paraba de sangrar 😱.

El estúpido truco forma parte de su especial de comedia "Bucket List", que se estrenó el martes, y Steve lo describe como una recopilación de cosas que no fue capaz de hacer en "Jackass".

Steve-O dice que trabajó en este proyecto durante cinco años y consiguió al comediante Bill Burr para la secuencia de apertura del especial, por el que gastó más de 150 mil dólares solo para la producción de esos 90 segundos de metraje.

Steve-O dice que intentó vender el especial a numerosas plataformas de streaming, pero era demasiado intenso, así que lo lanzó de forma independiente en su propio sitio web.

Steve-O is making UFC history, thanks to heavyweight champ Jon Jones -- 'cause we're pretty sure a UFC belt's never been paired with a hammer to smash someone's ear!!!

Check out the insane clip, if your stomach can handle it -- the "Jackass" star was chilling with Jon in Albuquerque when they came up with the crazy idea for Jon to try to give Steve cauliflower ear.

It's a gnarly deformation of the ear wrestlers and combat fighters commonly get from competition, but Steve-O took a short cut -- laying his right ear under Jon's belt and having Jon literally hammer the belt.

It took a few swings, but as expected, Steve's ear quickly became a bloody mess.😱

The stupid human stunt is part of his 'Bucket List' multimedia comedy special, which dropped on Tuesday -- and Steve describes it as a compilation of things he wasn't able to do on "Jackass."

Steve-O says he worked on this project for 5 years, and got comedian Bill Burr for the opening sequence, and he dropped more than $150k just on the production of that 90 seconds of footage.

Steve-O says he tried shopping the special around to numerous different streaming platforms, but it was just too intense ... so he just released it independently on his own site instead.

A major UFC advertiser once tried to strong-arm Dana White into taking down a pro-Donald Trump video off his personal social media page ... infuriating the CEO.

Dana's response?? "F*** YOU!"

White was recently a guest on Theo Von's "This Past Weekend" podcast ... when he relayed the shocking story.

"I posted a video for Trump. Right? On my personal social media, and one of our big sponsors called and said, 'Take that down.' Know what I said? 'Go f*** yourself. You vote for whoever you wanna vote for, and I'll vote for whoever I want to vote for.' That's how this works."

"I don't even care who you vote for. It's none of my f***ing business. But f*** you. Don't ever f***ing call me and tell me who to vote for!" White emphatically said.

Dana didn't name the company, but whoever made the ask obviously was clueless to who they were dealing with ... 'cause White and Trump are tight. The men go way back to White's early UFC days ... more than a decade before DT even considered running for office.

Even if his bond with 45 wasn't what it is, Dana's made it crystal clear he won't meddle in the political views of others, a belief that's seemingly become rare these days.

Theo also told a similar, politically related story involving now-Independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., who was also recently on Von's show.

While the ep did big numbers, clearly not everyone was pumped for RFK Jr.'s appearance ... namely Peloton.

Yes, the exercise equipment makers ... who according to the comedian, wanted their ad pulled from his ep.

"Peloton were the people who wanted the ad out," Von said.

This didn't sit well with Dana.

"Peloton sells stationary bikes and they have a problem with Robert F. Kennedy? F*** you, Peloton. Who the f*** are they? Are you f***ing kidding me? F***ing Peloton calling bitching about Robert Kennedy."

Bill Burr's wife doesn't seem to be a fan of Donald Trump's -- that is, assuming this middle finger she fired off was for him ... and it very well may have been.

Nia Hill accompanied her comedian husband to the UFC 295 event Saturday night at NYC's Madison Square Garden -- and during one of DT's on-camera moments on the jumbotron ... she flipped the bird, which many have taken to be directly targeted for Trump.

Frankly, it's hard to tell if this F-U was, in fact, intended for The Donald or not. It looks like Trump is in the same aisle as them, but slightly angled ahead of them as they're seated.

Nia throws up two single-finger salutes right at the UFC team pans to them ... but it seems like she's perhaps doing it straight to the camera itself, as opposed to DT who's to her right. Whatever her intention was, right-wing Twitter certainly took it as an insult to the ex-Prez.

As a result, he's getting a ton of hate from conservatives ... 'cause they see his wife's would-be gesture toward Trump as a reflection of his own politics -- even though he holds that pretty close to the vest.

Burr occupies this nebulous comedy space ... at times, he comes out swinging against "wokeness" but also rails on right-wingers just as much. Dude's an enigma, for sure -- and more importantly, there aren't many interviews he's done where he straight-up craps on DT.

Now, he's in the crosshairs of MAGA loyalists ... who are still very much with 45. The UFC crowd also appeared to welcome his presence ... as he rolled in with Dana White, Tucker Carlson and Kid Rock.

La esposa de Bill Burr no parece ser fan de Donald Trump, es decir, suponiendo que el insulto del dedo del medio era para él... y la verdad, es que no sería raro.

Nia Hill acompañó a su marido para el evento de la UFC 295 sábado por la noche en el Madison Square Garden de Nueva York, y durante uno de los momentos en cámara2, ella mostró el dedo de al medio, cosa que muchos han interpretado como un insulto para Trump.

Francamente, es difícil decir si este insulto fue, de hecho, destinado a Trump o no. Parece que el expresidente está en el mismo pasillo que ellas, pero ligeramente inclinado hacia delante mientras están sentadas.

Nia hace dos gestos justo cuando el equipo de la UFC las pone en cámara, pero parece que lo hace directamente a la cámara, en lugar de a Donald, que está a su derecha. Cualquiera que sea su intención, en Tuiter se lo tomaron como un insulto al expersidente.

Como resultado, está recibiendo una tonelada de odio por parte de los conservadores, porque ven el gesto de su esposa hacia Trump como un reflejo de su propia política.

Burr ocupa este nebuloso espacio de comedia y se lanza contra la "wokeness" (exceso de progresismo), pero también se ensaña con los derechistas. El tipo es un enigma y lo más importante, no hay muchas entrevistas donde se refiera en malos términos a Trump.

Ahora, él está en la mira del grupo MAGA (Make America Great Again). La UFC también parecía darle la bienvenida, y aparecieron con él Dana White, Tucker Carlson y Kid Rock.

The Iceman won't be showing his icicle on OnlyFans anytime soon ... 'cause even though fellow former UFC fighter Paige VanZant is making a killing by ditching her clothes, Chuck Liddell tells TMZ Sports he's simply not about that life.

PVZ has been making a fortune on the subscription platform ... recently revealing she raked in more dough in one day than she did throughout her whole MMA career.

We spoke with the former champ out at LAX this week about Paige's thriving new venture ... and he's thrilled for the fighter-turned-model.

"That's awesome, that's good for her. I'm excited for her," Chuck told us. "I'm glad she's doing it. She's a cool girl."

While Liddell has nothing but love for Paige, he says he won't be following in her feet pics footprints.

"No, but thank you, though," Chuck said with a laugh.

All silliness aside, we talked about UFC 295 and the big matchup between Jiří Procházka and Alex Pereira ... and he spills on who he's got in the interim light heavyweight bout.

Jiri Prochazka admits Alex Pereira is a good freakin' fighter, but is he the most dangerous man he's ever faced? Prochazka doesn't think so.

TMZ Sports talked to the 31-year-old, #1 light heavyweight contender ... and we asked Jiri if Alex presented the biggest challenge to him over his 10+ year pro-MMA career.

"I will see that when I face him. I will feel that who is he. But what I've saw with his style, I think I've fought with more dangerous guys."

Surprising ... until you look at the opponents he's shared an Octagon with over the years, including Glover Teixeira (submission win, 2022), Volkan Oezdemir (KO win, 2020), and Dominick Reyes (KO win, 2021).

But, as good as those fighters are, none possess the crushing knockout power of Poatan (8-2, 6 KO) ... especially when it comes to his vicious left hook. Alex has put many men to sleep with that shot over the years.

We asked Jiri, a dynamic striker in his own right, if he believed he could win a stand-up battle against Alex, assuming things don't go to the ground where Prochazka would seemingly have the advantage.

"Yes, yes. 100 percent yes," Prochazka said without any hesitation.

Of course, the guys are fighting for the belt held by Jamahal Hill ... who ruptured his Achilles a few months ago.

We asked Jiri what it'd mean to him to once again have the UFC championship belt wrapped around his waist ... and he was at a loss for words.

"I can't talk about it. You will see that in Madison Square Garden, and I believe in that."

As for Pereira, we talked to him, too ... and let's say he sees things going a bit differently.

Tom Aspinall admits he won't be at his cardiovascular peak for his upcoming title fight -- he wasn't planning on being in an Octagon Saturday night -- but the UFC star says he's healthy enough to leave The World's Most Famous Arena as interim heavyweight champ!

TMZ Sports talked to 30-year-old Aspinall, the #4 ranked UFC heavyweight, days before his scrap with 31-year-old Sergei Pavlovich, ranked the #2 contender, during UFC 295's co-main event at Madison Square Garden ... and we asked the fighter from the UK how close he'd be to 100 percent.

"I can't lie and say I'm at my fittest ever because I'm not. But also there's been times when I haven't had a fight that I've been way further away than what I am now. I've still been training. I've been training every day," Aspinall told us.

Tom added ... "Two and a half weeks is enough time to switch on your mind. To get in the mode of fighting, to mentally prepare yourself. I'd say I'm around 80 to 90%. I feel good."

Of course, Aspinall got a phone call from the UFC on October 24 ... with news that Jon Jones wouldn't be able to fight Stipe Miocic after suffering a serious injury to his pec. Tom was offered an interim title fight against Pavlovich, who had already been contracted to serve as the backup for the original Jon and Stipe fight.

Despite Sergei having been in camp already, and Tom not ... he said yes, and here we are!

We asked Aspinall how difficult a decision it was.

"It wasn't really a tough decision to be honest. I don't know why. I think for anybody else it maybe was. That's the fight that I wanted. That's the fight I've been asking for. I wouldn't be asking for it if I felt like I didn't want it.

"Obviously, in an ideal world, I would've liked longer to train. I would've liked longer than the short amount of time, but I believe everything happens for a reason, and I believe it's gonna help me somehow, whatever that is I'll find out Saturday. And I'm very much looking forward to it!"

Pavlovich is one of the scariest fighters in the promotion. He's only lost once as a professional and has won 6 UFC fights in a row. His last loss was to now-retired MMA legend Alistair Overeem in 2018.

Segei's known for his incredible knockout power ... finishing 83% of his fights by knockout.

Aspinall's no slouch, either. He's 13-3, and an incredible athlete ... especially considering his massive frame (he's 6'5", 262 lbs.). Tom's beaten the likes of Marcin Tybura, Alexander Volkov, and Andrei Arlovski since joining Dana White's promotion in 2020.

Adding to the massive moment ... the fight's going down at MSG, where legends like Muhammad Ali have fought over the decades. Aspinall's from Manchester, but we asked him if he cared about UFC 295's distinguished location.

"I personally know that Madison Square Garden is the most prestigious arena in the world for a combat athlete. I think that's globally known. There are two places that I wanted to fight being a UK guy, I always wanted to fight in the O2 Arena. I've headlined the O2 three times now," Aspinall said.

10:00 AM PT -- Jorge Masvidal spoke outside the courthouse ... just minutes after accepting a plea deal in the Colby Covington battery case. Beef squashed?? Not exactly! 😬

Jorge Masvidal struck a sweet deal with the district attorney prosecuting the Colby Covington case ... the retired UFC superstar pled no contest to misdemeanor battery, and will not serve a minute behind bars, or on probation, TMZ Sports has learned.

As a result of the plea agreement, the two felonies Jorge faced were dropped, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, according to Masvidal's attorney, Bradford Cohen.

We're also told there is no stay-away order in the plea.

According to the DA's office, the case was "adjudicated guilty," though Masvidal never admitted guilt, according to Cohen.

Masvidal had been facing over a decade behind bars.

Of course, the incident happened in March 2022 outside of Papi Steak in Miami Beach ... where Colby was having dinner with the Nelk Boys. When CC left, Masvidal was outside waiting, and the attack was on.

Covington told police Masvidal punched him twice, breaking his tooth, and even causing an alleged brain injury.

The fight outside the steakhouse came just weeks after Colby beat Jorge by unanimous decision at UFC 272 ... pitting the former best friends-turned-enemies against one another.

Colby hasn't fought since UFC 272 ... meanwhile, Jorge retired in April 2023 after fighting Gilbert Burns. Masvidal then launched his own fight promotion, Gamebred.

This never happened coding ... Mark Zuckerberg tore his ACL training MMA, and was forced to go under the knife, delaying a real deal fight Zuck had scheduled for early next year!

The Facebook founder shared several photos from his hospital bed Friday afternoon ... announcing he's suffered a serious injury to his left leg.

"Tore my ACL sparring and just got out of surgery to replace it. Grateful for the doctors and team taking care of me. I was training for a competitive MMA fight early next year, but now that's delayed a bit. Still looking forward to doing it after I recover. Thanks to everyone for the love and support," 39-year-old Zuck wrote on Instagram.

The bit about the upcoming fight is news, too. No one ever publicly announced Mark scheduled a mixed martial arts bout.

A bunch of MMA stars wished Zuck well after hearing about his injury, including former UFC champ-champ Henry Cejudo, who wrote ...  "Speedy recovery Mark! 🙏"

Through training, Zuckerberg has befriended many of the world's top fighters like Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski.

FYI, the ACL, or the anterior cruciate ligament, is a band of tissue that connects your thigh and shinbones together and is a common injury among athletes.

Of course, Zuckerberg and Elon Musk spent months negotiating terms for an MMA fight, though it never came to fruition. The billionaires blamed each other for the breakdown.

Earlier this week Musk went on Joe Rogan's podcast and again reiterated that he would fight Zuckerberg "anytime, anywhere, any place."

ACL recovery typically takes around 9 months, give or take, to return to competition post-surgery.

Until then, Mark's likely not fighting anyone.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, the biggest fight that never happened, ain't dead just yet ... 'cause the billionaire X owner says he's still ready to beat up Zuck!

52-year-old Musk joined Joe Rogan's JRE pod on Tuesday ... when the convo turned to the fight with the 39-year-old Facebook founder. For the first time, Elon explained, from his perspective, why negotiations broke down, torpedoing the bout.

“Italy actually was willing to let us use the Coliseum,” Musk told Rogan.

“I was like, well, can’t turn that down. Then I was like, well, if it’s going to be in the Coliseum, I like UFC and everything, but we don’t have tons of ads in UFC branding on the Coliseum 'cause it’s a place of great history. You don’t want to have it be all like NASCAR. And then Zuck pulled out.”

Of course, talk of the fight between the two ultra-wealthy moguls started around the time Zuck launched his X-competitor, Threads. Elon tweeted he was "up for a cage match," and Mark responded, channeling Khabib, saying ... "Send me location."

And, we were off ... unfortunately, a deal never materialized, and Zuck accused Musk of screwing around with no intention to actually fight.

"[Zuckerberg] accused me of not being serious, and I said, ‘Listen, at the end of the day, I’ll fight you any place, anywhere, under any rules,’” Elon told Joe.

As for who'd win the fight, Elon's clearly heard the people who say Mark would kick his ass because of his jiu-jitsu experience. He doesn't agree.

“I’m like 50% heavier than him,” 6'2", 240-ish lb. Musk said.

“I’ve got my patented 'walrus' move. I just lie on him. A walrus doesn’t need martial arts training because it’s really big.”

Bottom line ... the fight may be on life support, but Elon's indicating there's still a chance it goes down, and he says he's ready to crack right now.

“I don’t need any time, no time at all."

Elon Musk y Mark Zuckerberg, la pelea más grande de la historia, no es una idea que quedará en el olvido ¡porque el multimillonario propietario de X dice que todavía está listo para golpear a Zuck!

Musk, de 52 años, se unió al podcast de Joe Rogan el martes. La conversación giró en torno a la pelea con el fundador de Facebook, de 39 años. Por primera vez, Elon explicó por qué las negociaciones se rompieron y terminaron por detener el combate.

"Italia en realidad estaba dispuesta a dejarnos usar el Coliseo", dijo Musk a Rogan.

"Yo estaba como, bueno, no puedo rechazar eso. Luego me dije, bueno, si va a ser en el Coliseo, me gusta la UFC y todo, pero no pondremos toneladas de anuncios de la marca UFC en el Coliseo porque es un lugar histórico. No quieres que sea todo como la NASCAR. Y entonces Zuck se retiró".

Por supuesto, se empezó a hablar de la pelea entre los dos magnates ultrarricos en el momento en que Zuck le lanzó amenazas su competidor por X. Elon tuiteó que estaba "listo para un combate en jaula", y Mark respondió: "Envíame ubicación."

Por desgracia, el acuerdo nunca se materializó y Zuck acusó a Musk de hacer ruido sin la intención de luchar en realidad.

"[Zuckerberg] me acusó de no ser serio, y yo le dije: "Escucha, al final del día, voy a luchar contra ti en cualquier lugar, en cualquier lugar, bajo cualquier regla'", dijo Elon a Joe.

En cuanto a quién ganaría la pelea, Elon ha escuchado claramente a la gente que dice que Mark le patearía el culo por su experiencia en jiu-jitsu. Él no está de acuerdo.

"Soy como un 50% más pesado que él", dice Musk, de 1.90 m y 80 kilos.

"Tengo mi movimiento "morsa" patentado. Me tumbo sobre él. Una morsa no necesita entrenamiento en artes marciales porque es muy grande".

En pocas palabras, la lucha puede estar peligrando, pero Elon dice que todavía hay una posibilidad de que esto pase y dice que está listo.

"No necesito tiempo, nada de tiempo".

Jon Jones is on the road to recovery after going down with a serious injury ahead of UFC 295 ... showing off his bandaged-up pec following surgery last week.

Bones was forced to back out of his big heavyweight championship bout against Stipe Miocic after he tore his muscle right off the bone in a training session ... postponing the highly-anticipated matchup until 2024.

Jones wasted no time fixing his ailment by going under the knife ... and on Tuesday, he posted a video revealing Steri-Strips -- which are used to hold incisions together -- near his shoulder.

Jones didn't talk in the short clip ... but he really didn't have to -- you can tell by his facial expression he's just as bummed as everyone else about not being able to fight on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden.

In the meantime, Sergei Pavlovich will now take on Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title at the Garden ... which will be the co-main event alongside the Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira fight.

Jones also shared a post-op vid last week ... confirming he had gotten the procedure done and was ready for the next steps in his comeback. Dr. Neal ElAttrache -- who recently worked on Aaron Rodgers' Achilles -- performed the surgery.

Stipe claims he wasn't asked to stay on the 295 card ... but either way, he's ready to get the title back from Jones when the time comes.

"The fight being canceled, it sucks," Stipe said. "No question about it. Unfortunately, that’s just the game we’re in. It happens. Like I said, I hope he’s okay. You want to be the best; you’ve got to beat the best. I want that belt back. It’s my belt. It’s going to happen."

Dana White said it will take eight months for Jones to get back to 100%, but orthopedic surgeons like Dr. David Abbasi say he could be back in half the time.