UFC

Ex-UFC star Tim Kennedy -- who's also a U.S. Army Special Forces sniper -- is praising the police sniper who took out a bank robber with a close-range kill shot between 2 hostages.

Tim tells TMZ … law enforcement did incredible work here to preserve innocent lives and protect civilians, and anyone who thinks the sniper put the hostages at risk with such a daring shot has no clue what goes into a snipe like this.

Remember ... video shows the moment a Lee County Sheriff's Department sniper shoots through a computer monitor inside a bank, killing a robber who was using 2 hostages as human shields while communicating with a negotiator.

Conor McGregor's UFC comeback has been put on hold -- the "Notorious" is OUT of his UFC 303 main event fight against Michael Chandler.

UFC honcho Dana White announced the devastating news late Thursday night -- just two weeks and a day before the scrap -- saying 35-year-old McGregor suffered an injury, and wouldn't be able to fight. The nature of the injury isn't known at this time.

38-year-old Chandler is also off the July 29th card ... as the UFC will now attempt to rebook the fight at a later date.

"I lost my way. I began questioning everything."

That's Dominick Reyes speaking openly and candidly about his four-fight losing streak ... after starting his professional MMA career with 12 wins -- many dominant victories -- which were good enough to earn the UFC light heavyweight a crack at the title.

That opportunity came in late 2022 ... and many felt the LHW star won the fight and deserved to be crowned champ. The judges didn't see it that way ... and Dominick's first loss turned into an extended losing streak.

Seems Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is still very much on ... The Notorious just showed off a highlight package of his recent grueling training sessions -- indicating the massive UFC 303 tilt will go on as scheduled.

Of course, there had been some worry the June 29 main event might get scrapped ... after a press conference set for Monday in Ireland was canceled at the last minute without much explanation.

McGregor did issue a statement following the surprise call-off, expressing remorse for the situation -- however, his short apology lacked details ... causing many to wonder if his comeback attempt had been put on pause.

Power Slap star Sheena Bathory's bod is officially summer ready -- she just underwent Brazilian Butt Lift surgery ... and she said she's thrilled with the results!

The 32-year-old former bodybuilder -- who's also a mixed martial artist -- got the cosmetic procedure done on Wednesday in Florida ... transferring fat from her triceps and waist to her glutes in order to give them more volume.

Shortly after the procedure, she said she was in a bit of pain ... but on Thursday, she shared with her 200,000-plus followers on Instagram that she's loving what she's seeing post-op so far.

Drake might've lost the Kendrick Lamar beef, but the 6 God is looking to get back in the win column with his latest bets ... putting a combined $1 MILLION on the Dallas Mavericks and Edmonton Oilers to win it all this season!!

The musician took to Instagram early Thursday morning to show off his jaw-dropping receipts -- he unloaded 500k to win $1.375 million if Luka Dončić and Co. handle the Boston Celtics ... and another 500 stacks to earn $1.025 milli if the Oilers defeat the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

Drizzy explained his reasoning behind the bets ... saying, "Dallas cause I'm a Texan, Oilers are self explanatory."

Vicente Luque knows his summer fight with Nick Diaz will be a war -- and he says he's ready to flatline the Stockton-born MMA star -- but he's also savoring the moment ... as the 32-year-old welterweight says the 40-year-old actually inspired his fighting style!

Luque and Diaz are set to square off in the Octagon on August 3 in Abu Dhabi at UFC on ABC 7 -- Nick's first fight since he lost to Robbie Lawler in 2021 -- and Vicente says this will certainly be a career highlight.

"It's definitely a bucket list," Luque told TMZ Sports.

Dustin Poirier is on a long road to recovery after going toe-to-toe with Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 over the weekend ... revealing the extensive list of injuries he sustained during the fight.

"The Diamond" -- who lost to the champ via fifth-round submission on Saturday -- took to X on Wednesday to disclose the damage he's dealing with in the days following the bout ... and it sounds painful as hell.

"Nose is broken bad, rib is broken and my ACL is partially torn," Poirier said minutes ago ... while adding it's all part of "FIGHT LIFE."

"The Ultimate Fighter" coaches Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will fight at the culmination of the hit show -- and the flyweight champ has a venue in mind -- The Sphere!

TMZ Sports talked to 30-year-old Grasso -- who will debut as coach opposite rival Shevchenko on TUF 32 on Tuesday night -- where we asked the 125-pound title holder about the show and eventual trilogy fight with Valentina.

It's no secret the two female stars are fighting ... but the question is when and where.

Conor McGregor is opening up on the scrapped UFC 303 press conference that was scheduled for Monday ... and while he didn't explain exactly why it was canceled, he did say it was the result of a number of problems.

Notorious and Michael Chandler were slated to talk some trash in Dublin to promote the June 29 event ... but just hours before it was all supposed to go down, the organization confirmed it was a no-go until further notice -- without providing any more information.

Now, Conor is shedding a bit of light on the situation ... saying, "In consultation with the UFC, today's press conference was canceled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control."

The main event at Saturday's UFC 302 was not fought in the Octagon ... it went down in the stands as two fans got into a vicious brawl, with one guy beating the snot out of the other!

Check out this video ... it opens with the two men arguing in the nosebleed section at Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center. What sparked the confrontation is anyone's guess, but the man with his hair in a bun ("Bun Man") keeps calling the other guy a "white boy" and begging him -- "Slap me!" For the record ... both guys are white.

Anyway, "Bun Man" starts screaming, "C'mon!," while smacking himself in the face.

10:46 AM PT -- Turns out Aaron didn't shade Donald Trump at UFC 302 Saturday night. Instead, it seems he got a little face time with the former prez -- posting a pic to IG where he's shaking his hand. So, seemingly no beef between them.

Aaron Rodgers seemed to diss Donald Trump in a very public way.

Aaron and Trump were both front and center Saturday night at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey.

At one point Trump, who got a thunderous ovation, walked right past Aaron, who never got out of his seat and never acknowledged the ex-Prez.

Donald Trump was in the building at UFC 302 Saturday night -- just 2 days later and 10 miles away from the NYC courtroom where he was convicted this week -- and the former president received a rousing standing ovation from the packed crowd!

Trump walked into the Prudential Center shortly after the main card kicked off, flanked by UFC honcho and close friend, Dana White, and a gang of Secret Service agents.

45 was shown on the big screen inside the Newark, NJ arena, and many of the near-17k MMA fans lost it!

Khabib Nurmagomedov wasn't in Islam Makhachev's corner for his last fight, but he will be Octagonside for Saturday's title scrap vs. Dustin Poirier ... and he's doing it for free!

TMZ Sports talked to Khabib and Islam's longtime manager, Ali Abdelaziz, this week ... and while all MMA fans are well aware of Nurmagomedov's exploits inside the cage, we asked about his talents as a coach -- and how it's impacted Makhachev's preparation heading into UFC 302.

"[Islam] had one of the greatest coaches you can ever have in your corner, Khabib. He's been coaching in the whole camp," Ali said, adding, "He had some of the best training partners you can ask for mimicking Dustin. We're fighting a dangerous opponent. You know, Dustin Poirier is a dangerous opponent, but I feel right now Islam is a hard guy to beat, you know?"

"And, he's going there for the kill. Everybody talks about Dustin Poirier, he's killed or to be killed. Tomorrow, Islam is going to be turned into a killing machine."

Typically, coaches receive a percentage of a fighter's pay ... but not Khabib, not this time.

"Khabib came to camp. He's not making money. He's not getting a percentage. He's spending his own money for his own flight just to help his brother."

Of course, Khabib, 29-0 (BTW, one of those wins came against Poirier), retired after beating Justin Gaethje in 2020 ... shortly after the tragic death of his father, Abdulmanap.

Since, Nurmagomedov has dedicated himself to coaching ... although he has stepped aside at times (he wasn't in Islam's corner for the Volkanovski fight at UFC 294).

Check out the clip. There's much more with Ali on Islam, Khabib, and some of his other star fighters.

Donald Trump's still got fans in the fighting community after he was found guilty in his hush money case ... with star athletes like Ryan Garcia, Michael Chandler and Tito Ortiz making it clear they got their guy's back.

The 25-1 boxer wrote a message on his Instagram and X account shortly after the jury found Trump guilty of all 34 counts in a NYC courtroom on Thursday ... saying, "You are about to witness the next president being elected while in jail."

"Trump will still win. He’s the only president I heard mention Jesus."

UFC star Sean Strickland just went off on Tom Brady ... calling the NFL legend a "p***y" in a crass rant filled with all kinds of homophobic and misogynistic language.

The former middleweight champion didn't hold back when he was asked for his thoughts on Brady's "The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady" at UFC 302 media day earlier Wednesday ... ripping the ex-Patriots quarterback for nearly a minute.

The fighter's beef with TB12 appeared to be over the way the former signal-caller expressed regret over some of the jokes about Gisele Bündchen and their family.