UFC

Dana White and the UFC are hosting one of their most ambitious cards ever at the Sphere on Saturday -- and that's saying something for a guy who built an entire "Fight Island" -- an event the UFC honcho tells us wouldn't be happening without Tom Brady!

White joined Babcock on TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) this week ... where he revealed TB12 was the inspo behind the first-ever Sphere sporting event.

"I went to the Sphere with Tom Brady. He invited me to come to U2 with him. Had Brady not invited me, I wouldn't even have been to the Sphere yet. It's almost like this was meant to be," the UFC CEO said of the mega event.

Think Merab Dvalishvili is a bad stylistic matchup for Sean O'Malley?! Suga couldn't see it anymore differently ... telling TMZ Sports he's a "nightmare matchup" for his UFC 306 opp!

"It's a big fight feel being at the Sphere," the 29-year-old bantamweight champ told Babcock of the UFC Noche event, going down Mexican Independence Day weekend at the amazing venue.

33-year-old Merab, the top 135 lb. contender, hasn't lost since 2018 ... and good matchup or not, Sean understands he can be a "dangerous" dude.

Jorge Masvidal is ready to get back in a UFC Octagon ... telling TMZ Sports he's eyeing fights with none other than Leon Edwards and Michael Chandler -- and one of the two has already responded!!

Masvidal spoke about his impending return to Dana White's org this week after being away from it all since April 2023 -- and he told us he's itching to get back.

For now, no firm return date has been set ... but he said he's hoping to be on a card sometime either at the end of this year or the start of 2025.

Travis Pastrana says Dana White wants to take "the best, most chaotic, craziest, short-attention span racing in the world" to new heights ... telling TMZ Sports the UFC honcho's vision for Nitrocross is like music to his ears!!

We spoke with the action sports legend ahead of Nitrocross' upcoming season -- which kicks off in Richmond, VA this weekend -- and he said it's gonna be a party the whole family can enjoy.

Nitrocross is pretty intense -- as Pastrana explains, the vehicles have more than 1,000 horsepower (more than any form of rallycross in the world), the courses have massive jumps and cars are flying all over the place.

Jeremy Stephens is gunning to improve his Bare Knuckle Fighting record to a perfect 2-0 next Saturday ... and the big question is, could a win propel him to a fight with former foe turned BKFC owner, Conor McGregor?!

TMZ Sports caught up with the 38-year-old fighter ahead of his second scrap with the promotion, against 6-2 Bobby Taylor. While Taylor has more experience fighting without gloves, Stephens doesn't anticipate much of a challenge.

"Body bag, not worried about the opponent, man," he said. "Just [going to] put him in a f****** bag. We're here to f****** hurt him, this is the hurt business. He's just an opponent, go in there and do my thing."

Machine Gun Kelly knew Sean Strickland wasn't about to "shut the f*** up," and the UFC fighter proved him right on Tuesday ... firing back at the musician with a wild social media post.

The former middleweight champion got wind of the Cleveland rocker/rapper's comments on the "Impaulsive" podcast episode released on Tuesday ... and despite MGK telling the controversial figure to kick rocks, he's not ready to tap out of their feud just yet.

"Getting lectured by a guy who drinks blood and wears a purse," Strickland said on X. "Dawg you had a mid life crisis and tattooed your entire body. The 'the x community of intolerance' yall I'd hang out with you toxic trolls any day over this c***."

Machine Gun Kelly is opening up about Sean Strickland after their run-in at a Power Slap event back in February ... warning the UFC fighter to quit running his mouth!

The Cleveland native swung by Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast to chop it up on a wide range of topics ... including the disdain between Kelly and Strickland.

At a point during the conversation, the topic turned to Strickland ... and it's very evident MGK is far from a fan of the former UFC middleweight champion.

Paige VanZant went all out for her most recent workout ... ditching her top for an upper body routine with her MMA fighter husband -- and it is all types of steamy!!

VanZant shared the training session with Austin Vanderford to her Instagram followers on Monday ... showcasing the two's impressive physical strength while adding a NSFW touch.

Paige -- sporting a pair of blue biker shorts -- opted to leave the top off to the side ... showing off her massive back tattoo while doing push-ups off her hubby's legs. Vanderford -- who also decided to go shirtless -- grabbed a handful of her booty while giving her support.

Forget Gatorade, Conor McGregor's road back to the UFC Octagon is apparently being fueled -- at least in part -- by beer!!

Check out footage TMZ Sports has obtained from the MMA star's sister's wedding earlier this month -- the 36-year-old nearly downed a whole pint of suds in a matter of seconds at Erin McGregor and Terry Kavanagh's ceremony out in Ireland.

Conor, of course, is currently trying to work his way back to the UFC following a three-year hiatus ... but it's clear he put a pause on his training regimen to celebrate his older sibling's nuptials in style.

Jared Cannonier may be outside what many consider a fighter's "prime years," but the 40-year-old isn't stressing Father Time ... telling TMZ Sports he's taking things one fight at a time, and still sees title shots in his future!

We caught up with the fifth-ranked UFC middleweight before his main event contest with 12th-ranked middleweight contender, Caio Borralho.

Cannonier -- who celebrated his 40th trip around the Sun in March -- says he isn't thinking about how much longer he plans on fighting.

Ronda Rousey is finally owning up to a mistake she made more than a decade ago ... formally apologizing for sharing a Sandy Hook conspiracy theory vid back in 2013.

The former UFC bantamweight champion infamously reposted the clip -- which questioned the authenticity of the tragic school shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six staffers -- to her social media page ... before almost immediately taking it down amid backlash.

She appeared to try to sweep it under the rug in the ensuing years ... but when her recent Reddit AMA thread was bombarded by comments about the controversy -- she took to X to officially issue a mea culpa.

UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland says Megan Fox ripped into him over previous comments he made about her children ... claiming the actress sent him a scathing social media message that was "f***ed up" -- even by his standards.

The former champion appeared on "Verse Us With Eric Nicksick" recently, where he shared a wide range of stories ... most of which contained his usual abrasive commentary.

At one point in the episode, Strickland -- who went into graphic detail about how big of a Fox fan he is -- explained his beef with the "Jennifer's Body" star ... saying the direct message she shot at him addressed how her kids were getting bullied online after he made transphobic remarks about their wardrobe.

Matthew Perry's doctors are getting punished professionally, Donald Trump's getting a fake endorsement and Mike Tyson's getting physical with Jake Paul ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live," Charles and Babcock have the latest on the Matthew Perry death case ... including the DEA stripping the doctors charged in the case of their ability to write prescriptions.

Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his UFC middleweight championship for the first time Saturday, submitting Israel Adesanya in the fourth round ... and he's celebrating the win in style, slamming beers, and wearing a mankini (not necessarily at the same time)!

The 30-year-old fighter left little to the imagination ... posing for the photo with the UFC title on his shoulder -- while wearing the South Africa-inspired thong with some of his buddies.

Du Plessis also celebrated the win by throwing back some beers with his contingent ... slamming a pint in record time!

UFC fighter Casey O'Neill is shouting out Olympian Rachael "Raygun" Gunn -- after a UFC 305 victory she busted out the Aussie's breakdance ... but it was way more mocking than tribute.

Casey defeated Luana Santos by a unanimous decision at UFC 305, which was held in Perth, Australia -- so, naturally, the Aussie fighter had to celebrate with an impersonation of her countrywoman ... AKA the most meme'd athlete of the Paris Olympics.

She fell to the mat, laid on her side and started doing Raygun's writhing move ... and even threw in her infamous kangaroo hop. Casey's version was hilarious, for sure, but only because she was NOT competing in the Olympics when she did it.

Dana White's all about a fair price ... handing out hundos to a fan who tried to give him rare memorabalia for free -- and, flexing a wad of cash while doing it.

The CEO and president of UFC was at Fanatics Fest -- a multi-day festival featuring some of the top athletes and sports personalities in the world -- when a fan came up to take a quick pic with him.

Turns out the fan -- a guy named Kenny Duncan Jr. -- is the founder of Celebrity Mint, a company that makes commermorative coins, shaped like trading cards, of legendary sports figures ... and, he offered a pure gold coin featuring Mike Tyson for free.