TMZ Sports - Page 34

The 7th installment of "The Match" tees off on Saturday -- featuring golfing superstars Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth -- but aside from putting together a helluva foursome, the event has already raised more than $2.5 million for hurricane relief!

TMZ Sports talked to Bryan Zuriff -- just days before the event -- and while the 'Match' creator is absolutely pumped for the golf, he says he's most proud about the incredible amount of money they've raised for charity.

"What I'm really most proud of is the money we've raised. So far we've raised $33 million in our event, and we're gonna do great on this one. We're already north of $2 million for hurricane relief before we tee off."

Zuriff continued ... "The fact that we're able to help so many people with these events, and also make it profitable for the network, it's a testament to what we do."

The money from this year's match (which promises to be significantly more than $2 mil) will go toward hurricane relief. Florida has been hit hard by storms this year ... including Hurricane Ian.

Previous editions of "The Match" have benefited causes like COVID-19 relief and support of HBCUs.

As for the actual game ... it's Woods (unranked -- but, he's Tiger) and Rory (#1 in the world) against Justin (#8 in the world) and Jordan (#14 in the world). The 12-hole round -- "best ball" rules -- will be played at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL.

For example ... say the guys pull up to the first hole. Tiger shoots a 3, and Rory and 4. The Woods/McIlroy team would use their best score ... TW's 3. Same goes for Justin and Jordan.

As always, Charles Barkley will be part of the commentary team (if anyone can break down a swing, it's Chuck).

Past versions of "The Match" have featured superstars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Patrick Mahomes, amongst others.

The athletes on the pitch aren't the only ones getting some love at the World Cup this year -- the stunning fans in the stands deserve some shine, too!!

Of course, you've heard of Croatia's #1 backer Ivana Knoll by now, but there are plenty of other beautiful footy fanatics catching everyone's eye among all the countries participating in the event this year.

Iran may be out of the tournament, but they had a ton of support from their lovely fans in Qatar ... and we're sure they helped make the loss to the U.S. sting a bit less.

Japan also made a solid run ... and those who made the trip to watch their country had some fun in the crowd as well, blowing a kiss for the cameras while at the stadium.

The ladies of Argentina were on pins and needles during Argentina's close contest against the Netherlands ... but they'll be back in full force when they take on Croatia in the semis.

Leave your fancy schmancy garments at home, throw on your sportiest uniform and find the differences in these shots of all-star tennis player Naomi Osaka. Based on her rankings and playing style, it's obvious she's one to cause some serious racket!

The author was recently in New York City promoting her new children's book "The Way Champs Play," and she was looking casual-chic in a tie-dye pullover and a fire pair of Jordans. Can you rise to the occasion and locate the minor changes in the two shots?

CBS Sports journalist Grant Wahl -- one of the most respected soccer reporters in the country -- died while covering the World Cup, his brother announced Friday. He was 49 years old.

Grant was in Qatar when he passed ... and Eric Wahl believes foul play was involved, as he claims the reporter was receiving death threats over wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Eric says Grant had zero health issues ... explaining in a heartbreaking Instagram video, "I do not believe my brother just died. I believe he was killed."

As we previously reported, Wahl was detained for nearly 30 minutes after World Cup security on Nov. 21 ... after he showed up to Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar for the United States' first tournament game against Wales.

To show his support for the LGBTQ+ community in a country where homosexuality is illegal, he wore a shirt with a soccer ball and a rainbow pattern.

At the time, Eric praised his brother and denounced soccer's governing body ... saying, "Shame on @FIFA for losing all control over this corrupt World Cup."

Grant was live-tweeting the Argentina vs. Netherlands game just hours ago ... with his last post coming at 1:05 PM PT.

Eric says he spoke with Grant's wife, Celine, who says he collapsed at the stadium and was given CPR before being Ubered to a hospital, where he died.

Eric added Celine has spoken to Ron Klain, President Joe Biden's chief of staff, as well as the White House.

U.S. Soccer released a statement on Wahl's passing ... saying, "The entire US Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl."

"Here in the United States, Grant’s passion for soccer and commitment to elevating its profile across our sporting landscape played a major role in helping to drive interest in and respect for our beautiful game."

"As important, Grant’s belief in the power of the game to advance human rights was, and will remain, an inspiration to all."

Grant's last article on his Substack focused on Qatari officials' apathy toward the rash of migrant worker deaths surrounding the World Cup ... saying, "They just don't care."

Ukrainian Olympic hero Yuriy Cheban, one of the country's greatest and most decorated sports heroes, is auctioning off his 2 gold and 1 bronze medals ... with the money going to the war effort in Ukraine.

Cheban contacted SCP Auctions ... who put his 2008 Bronze (Beijing), 2012 Gold (London), and 2016 Gold (Rio de Janeiro) medals on the auction block. The medals will be auctioned off separately.

The proceeds are going to Olympic Circle ... an organization "created by sportsmen to help fight Russian occupants in southern Ukraine by funding defense and recovery efforts." OC says they provide everything from equipment to fight, to toys for kids as well as food for Ukrainians in need.

Cheban is one of the greatest sprint canoeists ever ... and it's the event where he won his medals.

Awesome prices for what most would consider a worthy cause ... but if you're interested, you're running out of time! The auction closes on Saturday.

The 2012 and 2016 Gold both have bids of $16k ... meanwhile, the bronze medal has a bid of nearly $7K.

Klay Thompson believes Draymond Green's attack on teammate Jordan Poole will eventually be nothing but a "blip on the story" ... saying the team will be farther away from the incident the more they win.

Klay spoke about the October practice altercation in an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews this week ... saying he wasn't too concerned about the impact it would have on the team's chemistry as long as they handled business on the court.

"It's unfortunate it got leaked, but those guys are all brothers, Jordan and Draymond," Klay said. "I knew, with time, like the old adage, time heals all wounds. I know winning and just having fun cures all."

"We're playing that brand of Warriors basketball again and once we continue to do so, I think it will just be a blip on the story."

It wasn't all gravy for the Dubs, though -- they were slow out the gate, going 3-7 to start the season ... and many wondered if the practice incident had anything to do with it.

But they've turned things around recently ... and are currently .500 and looking much better.

Klay also spoke about what his dad -- ex-NBAer Mychal Thompson -- thought of the altercation ... saying, "He tried to downplay it."

"I mean, he played in the '80s. They were fighting each other every other game. I've seen Larry Bird have to fight off three 76ers once. Dr. J and him choking each other. He's from a different generation."

Neymar might be bummed, but there's one person who's certainly thrilled with Croatia's massive win over Brazil at the World Cup ... with viral fan Ivana Knoll going nuts for her beloved team in the stands at the match!!

Of course, the model has made headlines throughout the tournament with her wardrobe choices ... which are quite a bit more revealing than Qatari clothing guidelines.

Ivana has been keeping the hot streak going as her guys continue to kill it on the pitch ... rocking a new sexy Croatia-themed 'fit to each game throughout the tournament.

Friday was no different ... with Knoll rocking a latex ensemble for Croatia's win in penalty kicks.

The party continued after the match ... with Ivana doing a sexy dance to keep the good vibes going.

As we previously reported, Knoll says she's been a big hit with the locals throughout the event ... and officials have loosened their stance on clothing as hundreds of thousands flocked to Doha for the World Cup.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship star Tai Emery is giving fans two big reasons to check out her fight ... telling TMZ Sports she might show her boobs in the ring again -- even if it means she gets fined!!

Emery -- whose OnlyFans page exploded in popularity when she went viral for flashing the crowd following her impressive BKFC debut -- spoke with TMZ Sports ahead of her next fight against Po Denman in Thailand ... and she says there's a chance she frees the nipple again on Saturday.

"If there's gonna be salute of t***ies back to me, guess what, guys -- you will just enable me to just flash even more," she says.

Emery, who charges $10 a month for fans to access her content, saw a 6,150% increase in revenue after pulling the stunt the first time ... but claims she was told she will be punished if it happens in Thailand.

"I will be in trouble," Emery said. "I will be fined. The last I heard was half a million to a million baht (Thailand currency), so I don't know what that conversion is in U.S. dollars, but yeah, I have 100% been warned and told it's a no-no."

FYI -- 500,000 baht equals about $14,405 ... so it's nothing to scoff at. But, Emery says she ain't making any promises.

"It's fine, but I can't control myself in moments like that. Everything else just takes over."

Despite the newfound attention, Emery, who has a modeling background, says she's always going to be herself ... and is focused on the task at hand, defeating Denman.

"This is something anyone's career has been building to ... and I really truly believe my personality and my talents and athleticism," Tai said, "like this is the fit for me."

Soccer superstar Neymar was absolutely crushed after Brazil's devastating loss to Croatia on Friday ... breaking down in tears as his team was eliminated from the World Cup.

The match was as thrilling as it gets ... with Neymar breaking a 0-0 tie in the 106th minute, and Croatia's Bruno Petkovic responding by finding the back of the net for the equalizer in the 117th minute.

It all came down to penalty kicks ... and Croatia secured the dub 4-2 when Marquinhos' shot hit the post and bounced out.

Neymar was slated to go fifth for Brazil ... which means he never got a shot to score in PKs.

Neymar was understandably emotional following the loss ... sitting on the ground and crying as his teammates consoled him.

It's been an up-and-down tournament for the 30-year-old in Qatar ... he also shed tears as he sat on the bench with an ankle injury against Serbia at the start of the event, forcing him to miss time. He did, though, score two goals for Brazil, before bowing out on Friday.

Despite his overall massive success at the tourney over the years, Neymar hasn't brought home a World Cup championship for his country ... but there's always hope in 2026.

Freddie Gibbs' love for Tupac quickly turned into jokes during a recent visit to the popular basketball podcast "All The Smoke" ... after Matt Barnes outed a crew member whose mother once dated the late rap icon.

The crew member gave himself away off-screen by putting his head down when Matt dropped the bombshell ... derailing the convo with merciless jokes.

Freddie and Matt immediately launched on the guy ... with Freddie quipping the opening lyrics to Pac's classic sex romp "How Do U Want It" which was dedicated to the guy's mother.

Despite being in awe of Tupac and even owning up to emulating his shaved head, Freddie admitted his fandom for Pac would've shrunk if he was a teenager during such a relationship.

Stephen Jackson tried to keep the peace but Matt laid the jokes on even thicker ... claiming the poor guy had to suffer when Mr. "I Get Around" paid his house a visit. 🙈

Congrats are in order for Becky G and Sebastian Lletget -- the soccer star got on one knee and proposed to the singer on Thursday ... and she said, "YES!!!"

The couple shared the exciting news on Friday ... showing a picture of the FC Dallas midfielder getting on one knee and whipping out a massive diamond ring.

The Manhattan Beach location appears to have a significant meaning for the global pop star and athlete ... as she captioned the pic, "Our spot forever."

The duo started dating in 2016 ... after Becky's "Power Rangers" costar Naomi Scott, who is married to Lletget's old teammate, Jordan Spence, set them up on a date.

They've been inseparable ever since ... and Becky recently referred to Sebastian as her "best friend" in an interview with People.

"We've been together for over six years now and it's brand new in many ways because we're really embracing the shifts and changes that are happening in our lives, within ourselves and supporting each other in that," she said in October. "And you can't really force things. But recently things have really been aligning."

Floyd Mayweather pulled off the ultimate feint ... the boxing legend took friend, businessman Robert Smith to look at property -- at least, that's where the billionaire investor thought they were going -- but in reality, the 50-0 legend delivered Smith to his surprise 60th birthday party!

"When Robert walked into his house he was shocked to see us all there. He was really surprised and had no clue that his family threw him a surprise party," Mayweather tells TMZ Sports.

And, the Palm Beach, FL party was awesome ... the theme was James Bond: 0060, to commemorate Smith -- who Forbes estimates is worth around $8 billion -- for turning 60 years old earlier this month.

Everything from the decorations to the cake was Bond-themed!

Robert is a big collector of Bond writer Ian Fleming first editions ... hence the theme.

We're told only 60 of Robert's closing family and friends were in attendance ... and cell phones were taken at the door.

It's been nearly two weeks since Odell Beckham Jr.'s airplane incident ... and the superstar wide receiver is still scratching his head over the whole thing -- saying he has no clue why the situation escalated to the point he was escorted out by police.

OBJ spoke about the American Airlines fiasco during his appearance on Prime Video's "TNF In The Shop" on Thursday ... and he says he didn't do anything he hasn't done on every flight for his entire life.

Odell explained he purposely booked the flight because it was a 787 with bed seating for first-class passengers ... and he had every intention of catching some Zs as he headed to L.A to see his son before kickstarting his tour to meet with NFL teams.

Beckham admits he was knocked out with his seatbelt off during a 40-minute delay ... and only woke up when a flight attendant approached him.

"They woke me up to tell me that they couldn't wake me up," OBJ says.

Of course, the airline crew told police Odell was going in and out of consciousness as they tried to get him to buckle his seatbelt ... and they feared for his health.

Beckham says the staffers' side of the story doesn't make sense ... especially if he was really experiencing a medical scare.

"They said I was unconscious and unruly or whatever words that they used. And I'm like, 'If that's the case, why is there six police officers surrounding me and not six paramedics or EMTs?'"

Ultimately, Beckham says there's a silver lining ... because he will be sure to prevent any incidents moving forward, which he proved when he took a private jet last week.

A pair of NBA legends showed big love for Brittney Griner after her release from Russia on Thursday -- Dwyane Wade opted to use fashion to make his statement, while Steph Curry made his in an emotional speech.

Wade showed up the Rams vs. Raiders game at SoFi Stadium in L.A. rockin' a Griner tee ... and he displayed it proudly throughout the contest.

The shirt featured Griner in her Phoenix Mercury #42 jersey ... with the words, "We Are BG" printed on it as well.

The 3-time champ made sure his social media followers knew he had the WNBA star's back ... sharing a bathroom selfie with the Griner gear on full display.

Curry, meanwhile, glowed about Griner's return while delivering a speech at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards in San Francisco.

"We are glad she's home, we're glad she's reunited with her family," Curry said. "It's a constant reminder for everybody continuing to use their platforms to speak on issues that are meaningful and can move the needle."

The Warriors guard also expressed gratitude to President Joe Biden for his part in getting Griner home ... but urged people to not forget about the others who have been wrongfully detained overseas as well.

"Thank you to President Biden's administration for being a part of that fight," Curry said. "But, it's also a reminder that we all need to stay engaged in the fight to protect American citizens at home and abroad who are wrongfully detained, and we can continue to be engaged in that fight."

"BG, we love you," Curry added. "We are always with you, BG.”

Brittney Griner's signature locs are no more ... and, according to her attorney, it's all 'cause Russian prison temperatures were causing brutal hair freezing.

Maria Blagovolina, who repped the WNBA star in her trial in Russia, told ESPN on Thursday the 32-year-old got the haircut two Sundays ago ... after her 'do kept freezing following prison showers.

Blagovolina said rather than deal with the issue for an entire Russian winter, Griner elected to chop it all off.

"It's very cold in there and every time she washed her hair she got cold and would get a chill," Blagovolina said. "She should have waited until New Year's Day."

Griner had donned long hair for YEARS ... rarely ever letting the flow get shorter than shoulder-length.

The basketball player looked ecstatic nonetheless while leaving Russia on Thursday -- smiling with the new haircut while telling at least one person on her plane that she was "happy."

U.S. official John Kirby said Friday after Griner touched down in San Antonio that she's in "very, very good spirits" and "appeared to be, obviously, in good health."

Griner is now expected to be checked out by medical personnel in Texas ... before returning home to Phoenix.

Baker Mayfield's Rams debut had a Hollywood ending -- he led L.A. to a come-from-behind victory in improbable fashion over the Raiders on "Thursday Night Football."

Mayfield and the Rams were down early and went into the half trailing Las Vegas, 13-3.

But, with a few minutes left in the 4th quarter, Mayfield, down 16-3, took a page out of Tom Brady's book, erasing a 13-point deficit ... just as TB12 did against the Saints on "Monday Night Football."

With 15 seconds left in the game, Baker connected with wide receiver Van Jefferson for the game-winning touchdown, capping off an eight-play, 98-yard drive.

Naturally, Mayfield was pumped over the W ... and cameras captured him headbutting his teammate, defensive back Robert Rochell on the sideline out of excitement.

After the game, head coach Sean McVay gave Baker a game ball for his performance ... before turning over the floor to the 27-year-old for a victory speech.

"Good f***ing job, man, that's the way to fight to the f***ing end," Mayfield said after his teammates mobbed him in the middle of the locker room. "I'm happy to be home, man."