TMZ Sports - Page 50

Gervonta Davis paid huge respect to Kobe Bryant during his fight at Staples Center on Sunday ... rockin' some Mamba-themed shorts and shoes for the big tilt with Isaac Cruz.

Davis entered the "House That Kobe Built" decked out in Lakers colors ... and stitched Kobe's famous #24 and #8 on his shorts.

Davis also sported some Kobe-inspired shoes for the match ... with his kicks resembling the Black Mamba's famous "Grinches."

And, after Gervonta beat Cruz by unanimous decision, he shouted out the NBA legend as well.

"L.A. we did it, baby!" Tank told the packed crowd, which included Magic Johnson, Kawhi Leonard and Dwight Howard. "Home of Kobe!"

It's fitting that Davis honored Bryant on the night ... considering he needed every bit of the Mamba Mentality to get through his bout with Cruz.

Fighting in the place of Rolando Romero, Cruz took it to Davis -- who had to battle through a hand injury to score the win.

Josh Jacobs hit the field in style on Sunday ... the Las Vegas Raiders running back rocked cleats honoring the late, great Virgil Abloh, who recently passed away at the age of 41.

The NFL allowed players to wear custom cleats in Week 13 to raise awareness and money for causes close to the players' hearts ... so Jacobs decided to honor the former artistic director of Louis Vuitton and Off-White founder.

As you can see, the cleat design was pretty dope. They were yellow and blue and featured the words "RIP Virgil" with Virgil's patented "Off-White" trademark.

The artist behind the cleats is I Am Luke Dangler ... who tells us he worked over 25 hours in over 4 days perfecting the design.

Virgil -- who was loved by many in the entertainment industry -- passed away in late November after privately battling cancer for years ... and it's clear that his death reverberated in both the fashion and sports world.

We've seen athletes in the NBA -- like Miami's P.J. Tucker -- show respect by wearing a pair of Off-White Jordan 5s with a special tribute on them.

Jacobs appears to be the first NFL player to wear cleats honoring the fashion icon.

"It's over?! Wait, shut up. Shut up!"

Jared Goff's model girlfriend Christen Harper had a priceless reaction to the Detroit Lions getting their first win on Sunday ... pausing her Sports Illustrated bikini photoshoot to celebrate the accomplishment!!

The Lions are now 1-10-1 after a 29-27 thriller at home against the Minnesota Vikings ...  finally getting in the win column after several heartbreaking losses throughout the 2021 season.

Harper -- Goff's GF since 2019 -- was in disbelief when she heard the news from a beachy location ... getting emotional as she watched the game-winning touchdown on a phone.

"You guys, this is their first win! You guys, this is crazy," Harper said in the video.

"This is going to make me cry ... That is the best."

As we previously reported, Harper first became an S.I. swimsuit model after entering the outlet's highly competitive "Swim Search" ... where people from all over the world audition to be part of an upcoming issue.

Harper was officially named an S.I. Swim rookie for 2022 in September ... and now that the Lions have avoided a winless season, this couple's got a lot to celebrate!!

Several members of the Toronto Argonauts went into the stands to confront fans on Sunday -- with one player actually throwing a huge haymaker at a man who got in his face.

The wild scene all went down at the end of the Argonauts' playoff loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, when a few Argos players leaped over some railing and got into an altercation with patrons.

According to witnesses, some fans had spilled drinks on the players, causing the initial commotion, and you can see in footage shot by bystanders, things quickly turned violent.

A fan dressed in Hamilton Tiger-Cats gear ran into Toronto defensive back Chris Edwards, who then threw a looping right hand at the man's face in response.

Argonauts wide receiver Dejon Brissett then jumped in to try to break things up, pushing the fan into a wall.

Fortunately for everybody involved, security quickly stepped in ... subduing the fan and allowing the Toronto players to return to their locker room.

Julianna Peña is less than a week away from the biggest fight of her life against Amanda Nunes ... and the "Venezuelan Vixen" has a message for the doubters, telling TMZ Sports she isn't satisfied just being here -- she's gunning to win.

"I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on me and they think I'm a sacrificial lamb but I definitely think that, you know, I know that I'm definitely not a sacrificial lamb and everyone loves an underdog," Peña told us.

32-year-old Peña is the #3 ranked bantamweight in the UFC -- and has been all but demanding a title shot with the 33-year-old champ, Nunes -- because she truly believes she will get the W when they fight at UFC 269.

"I'm ready. I am in the zone. I have never felt more physically or mentally prepared in my life and it's my time. It just feels so great to know that I have literally left no stone unturned. I'm ready to go. I'm in the zone!"

Peña's been with the UFC since 2013 ... and has a professional record of 10-4. She's beaten some badass women like Jessica Eye and Cat Zingano.

Despite the impressive resume, Julianna's a big underdog against Amanda. In fact, bettors have to wager about $900 just to win $100 on Nunes.

And, it's not just the oddsmakers who doubt Peña can win ... 'cause Julianna told us she feels Amanda isn't taking her seriously.

"[Nunes] called me delusional. She said that I'm reckless. I don't think that she's taking me seriously at all and you know, that's fine."

The fallout from the Oxford High School shooting was at the forefront of the Detroit Lions' collective minds Sunday -- which made for an emotional moment after their big win.

The Lions won their first game of the season on Sunday in a thriller of a match against the Minnesota Vikings. Prior to this, their record was 0-10-1, meaning they hadn't won a single game all season.

Turns out, their victory meant more than just what appeared on paper ... and the team's QB, Jared Goff, made that clear in the post-game interview  -- making sure to point out that the game was dedicated to those affected by the deadly tragedy ... which claimed 4 lives.

Check it out ... he gets pretty emotional talking about what happened this week, saying sometimes certain moments are bigger than just sports ... and this was one of them.

The Lions coach, Dan Campbell, echoed that with his own remarks ... bestowing the game ball to the township of Oxford, and reading off the names of the deceased, among others.

Stunning revelation from New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor ... the former NFL MVP tells TMZ Sports he straight-up does not follow his ex-team anymore.

The 62-year-old unveiled the shocking fact about his life on a call with former Giants star Ottis Anderson ... asking his ex-teammate (and current business partner) who quarterback Daniel Jones is.

"Daniel Jones is the [what?]" Taylor said to Anderson during the interview. "You mean to tell me Eli is not the quarterback no more?!? Get the hell out of here!"

Unclear if LT's joking ... but the conversation was hilarious nonetheless, 'cause you can tell in the clip, LT legitimately doesn't know much about his former franchise these days.

In fact, Anderson revealed Taylor isn't familiar with the Giants' head coach, Joe Judge.

"He doesn't watch, I'm telling you," Anderson said of Taylor ... "We were talking earlier and we were talking about [Dave] Gettleman and Joe Judge and he said, 'Who? Joe Judge? You talking Joe Kid, the one that played Clint Eastwood?!'"

"I said, 'No, not Kid!'" Anderson continued. "He loves Westerns so he was talking about Clint Eastwood movies!"

Taylor tells us the last time he followed the Giants, Eli Manning was still the quarterback ... so it's been at least two years since the greatest defensive player of all-time kept up with his old squad.

Of course, it's easy to see how Taylor could lose interest ... the Giants have been a mess for years.

Now, one thing LT is clearly passionate about is his biz with O.J. ... Tridelix and Metro Business Solutions.

We talked to the Super Bowl champs about the proprietary technology ... and it's pretty cool!

Nikola Jokic is having an insane season, but Kenny "The Jet" Smith says the Nuggets superstar won't get his second-straight MVP if his team keeps losing ... telling TMZ Sports the award needs to go to one of the best players on the best teams.

Jokic is balling the hell out this season ... averaging 26 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and a player efficiency rating of a whopping 33.8.

The "Inside The NBA" analyst said despite the incredible numbers the 26-year-old is putting up, he can't call him the MVP of the league if his stats aren't resulting in W's for the Nuggets.

"Yeah, [his numbers are good], but they're not winning," Smith said. They're not winning."

"Best record in the league. Best players get the rewards," Smith added. "Same way with him last year. They were the best team. He got the award."

Of course, Kenny is referring to Jokic winning his first-ever MVP award last season ... leading Denver to a 47-25 record.

Smith said that guys like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul would be at the top of his MVP list ... 'cause their teams all have great winning records.

But, all hope isn't lost -- Smith said Jokic and the Nuggets haven't even hit their peak yet ... and they've still got time in the second half of the season to figure things out as a team.

He also offered some advice to Joker ... telling the Serbian big man that if he wanted to secure the MVP award, the key is staying healthy for his team and winning more games.

If you thought Eli Manning flipping the bird on "Monday Night Football" pissed off America, just wait 'til you hear about all the people upset with Marshawn Lynch dropping f-bombs.

Just kidding.

Two total viewers throughout the country wrote in to the Federal Communications Commission after Lynch said "s***" and "f***" while hanging out with Peyton and Eli on their Week 7 broadcast of the "ManningCast" ... with one, in particular, going OFF in their complaint.

"NFL Player Marshawn Lynch made an appearance on 'Monday Night Football' with Peyton & Eli and repeatedly said 's***' and 'f***' on live prime time television," someone from Dahlonega, Georgia said.

"I had children in the room at the time and I am very upset that ESPN allowed Marshawn Lynch to repeatedly curse on live TV. I have an expectation when I turn on ESPN that I will not have to remove children from the room."

There's more ... "ESPN could have warned him of the rules for live television in advance, monitored his speech and conduct when he was on the air, and removed him immediately after the first curse word was uttered. This is totally unacceptable!"

The pissed viewer said the network needs to be "sternly punished for violating FCC regulations" ... although the FCC actually has no jurisdiction over ESPN or ESPN2.

The viewer even points out other times the "ManningCast" has had issues with swearing -- perhaps Eli's double bird or Travis Kelce's s-bomb.

The complaint continued ... "Issuing an apology from Peyton is insufficient because it can't take back what my children heard from Marshawn Lynch."

The other complaint -- from Greensboro, North Carolina -- was also passionate, but a bit briefer in getting their point across.

"The ESPN2 broadcast on Monday night was laced with vulgar words from Marshawn Lynch," it reads. "Peyton Manning apologized for it, but there is no place on this type of show at this hour for this language."

Tristan Thompson is in the throes of what could become a paternity dispute, but the newborn's mother isn't waiting for a judge to decide whether he's the daddy ... she's already given the baby his last name.

Maralee Nichols posted of photo of the baby, with the caption, "First came love, then came you ❤️ Angelou Kash Thompson."

Maralee went on to grouse that Tristan is not embracing the child, saying, "I want to thank everyone for your well wishes. Me and baby are doing great. Right now my heart and mind is on focusing on the baby right now. I am heartbroken that Angelou's father doesn't want to be in his life. I am hoping this lawsuit will bring us together and we can be a family."

It is interesting ... Maralee wrote, "First came love" ... clearly suggesting this was more than what Tristan has called it -- a one-night stand.

As we reported, Nicole claims the baby was conceived in Houston back in March ... around the time Tristan was in town to celebrate his 30th birthday. If she's right on the timeline, the baby was conceived when Tristan was still with Khloe Kardashian -- at least publicly they were together.

Nicole, who filed legal docs to establish paternity, claims she and Tristan were together for 5 months, and she also alleges he offered her $75,000 to stay mum on the baby ... with this threat -- he allegedly said he's retiring after this season and he will then become unemployed, so she'd get way less than the $75k he was offering.

She also claims, according to the Daily Mail, she had promised him a "birthday surprise" in Houston, which he knew meant birthday sex.

If this is indeed Tristan's baby, it would be child #3 for him.

Maralee is asking for child support and reimbursement for the medical expenses related to her pregnancy and birth.

The chef who told the NFL that Antonio Brown faked his COVID vaccine card is now planning to sue the Buccaneers star ... saying the wide receiver still owes him $10,000.

Steven Ruiz spelled it all out to TMZ Sports this week ... saying after the NFL ruled he wasn't lying about Brown's bogus vaccine card --- he's planning to move forward with a lawsuit against AB.

"The game plan now is to file a lawsuit and take it from there," Ruiz said. "People provide a service and you've got to pay for it. That's it."

As we previously reported, Ruiz said he cooked for Brown regularly this past year ... but when it came time to pay a bill for it all, AB balked.

Ruiz said Brown owed him $10K, but he couldn't get the cash from the football player -- even after talking with Brown's attorney.

So, Ruiz ended up going public with his claims that Brown had sought and obtained a fake vaccine card and then later submitted it to the NFL.

The league investigated the claims ... and said it found Brown did misrepresent his vaccine status, and then suspended him three games without pay, costing him over $100K in lost salary.

Ruiz tells us if Brown had just paid up, he probably would've stayed quiet.

"If he had just probably paid me, you know what? He probably would still be getting paid in the NFL right now," Ruiz said. "He'd probably be playing the games that he could be playing and none of this would have even happened."

Great news! UFC president Dana White is officially COVID-19 free ... telling TMZ Sports he tested negative for the virus, and he's crediting Joe Rogan's suggested treatment plan of monoclonal antibodies, NAD drip, vitamins, and Ivermectin for the swift recovery.

"I feel incredible! Today is day 5 since testing positive for COVID, and [Friday at 9 AM], I tested negative for COVID. Thank you, Dr. Joe Rogan!"

Dana tested positive for the virus after a Thanksgiving day family gathering ... and immediately contacted the JRE host for advice.

Of course, Rogan beat the virus in a matter of days ... but it wasn't without controversy.

He (also) took Ivermectin ... a drug that some media outlets incorrectly classified as livestock medication (there are animal and human versions of the drug).

But, Dana -- who is fully vaccinated -- says Joe is very well-informed ... and most importantly, his plan works.

"Joe Rogan is a brilliant guy and he talks to the most brilliant people out there. He studies, he does his homework on all this stuff, and it's a fact that this works."

And, work it did -- the UFC honcho tells us ... "Monday I did what Rogan told me to do. Tuesday I had my taste and smell back."

White says if you think his case was a fluke ... the treatment also worked on his wife, daughter, and 80-year-old mother-in-law!

We didn't only talk about viruses ... we also chopped it up about UFC 269 -- which is only a week away (Dec. 11).

Lightweight champ Charles Oliveira is fighting Dustin Poirier ... the man many believe is actually the best in the division.

Amanda Nunes is also fighting Julianna Pena (the "Venezuelan Vixen" told us "Lioness" isn't taking her seriously). "Suga" Sean O'Malley, Cody Garbrandt, and Geoff Neal are also on the card.

We asked Dana which fight he was looking forward to -- outside of the marquee matchups at the top of the card -- and he told us he expects a lot of violence when Josh Emmett and Dan Ige do battle on the prelims.

We also talked to White about Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev ... and he told us he's working on booking the 4-0 fighter an opponent now that Diaz shot down the fight.

If you missed it, earlier this week the superstar from Stockton told us he wouldn't fight "Borz" because he was a rookie who wasn't on Diaz's level.

Gervonta "Tank" Davis was paying close attention when champ Teofimo Lopez lost his belts and undefeated record last weekend ... telling TMZ Sports he learned a valuable lesson, don't underestimate your opponent!

"Just a mistake he made," Davis says, "Going in there thinking someone's a slouch."

Tank added ... "That just taught me to never go in there thinking I won already and I didn't."

Of course, 24-year-old Lopez, the former unified lightweight champ, lost to George Kambosos Jr. last weekend ... in what was a major upset.

It was Teofimo's first fight since he was on the other side of a shocking upset ... when he beat Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020.

Back to 27-year-old Davis -- who is a perfect 25-0 (24 KO) in the ring -- a record he'll put to the test when he steps in the squared circle with 23-year-old Mexican boxer Isaac Cruz this Sunday on Showtime PPV.

"I'm looking toward going in there and putting on a show. It's the biggest fight of my career," Tank says.

"Just be ready. I'm ready. Give the fans what they want to see."

Tank's last match was back in June ... when he defeated Mario Barrios, becoming the WBA regular lightweight champion after moving up in weight class.

Davis also addressed Kambosos ... who told us he was the best lightweight fighter in the world this week -- a sentiment with which Tank doesn't agree.

"He's supposed to feel like that. I mean, he just won," the Baltimore native says. "Maybe he was in the heat of the moment."

"But, there's a lot of lightweights to show him that he's not the best."

Tiger Woods says the only lift he was able to do following his horrific car crash earlier this year was bench press -- and he claims he hit it so hard, he was able to put up 255 pounds!!

The golf superstar made the revelation to Golf Digest this week ... saying in the weeks after he busted his leg in the infamous L.A. wreck back in February, all he could do to stay fit was get underneath iron and bounce it off his chest.

"I got to where I was doing like 250, 255," Woods said.

Of course, that's not exactly Aaron Donald or James Harrison numbers in the weight room ... but, remember, Tiger only weighs 185 pounds -- and he's 45 years old!

To give even more context to how impressive the feat is ... Woods -- who was notorious for his weight lifting back in his prime -- says the most he's ever been able to bench was 285.

Tiger, though, says his bench numbers have gone down now that he's gotten healthier ... explaining he's able to incorporate far more lifts into his routine, so the bench has taken a back seat.

"Now that I'm doing other things -- more functional stuff," Woods said, "I've gone away from benching."

Oxford High football player Tate Myre -- who died heroically attempting to stop the tragic school shooting -- will be remembered when #2 Michigan takes the field in the Big Ten Championship this weekend ... with the team wearing a jersey patch in his honor.

Michigan made the announcement on Thursday ... saying, "Our uniforms will feature a special logo during Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game."

Myre's initials and jersey number will be featured on the patch ... as well as a heart for each of the four victims of the tragedy.

"The shape is of Oxford's 'Block O', meant to honor all victims, survivors, and community members," the team added.

"I was told that everybody in that school was running one way, and Tate was running the other way," Myre's football and wrestling coach Ross Wingert told the Detroit Free Press.

"I know Tate chose to do what he thought was right and he made the ultimate sacrifice."

The 16-year-old had interest in playing at the next level -- just days before the tragedy, Myre was at the University of Toledo football game as a potential recruit.

There's currently a petition to rename the Oxford football stadium in his name, which has reached over 202,000 signatures.

"We are proud to represent that state of Michigan and all of its communities," the team said.

Oxford H.S. is an hour north of UM. The Wolverines will face #15 Iowa in Indianapolis on Saturday for the Big Ten title.

Tristan Thompson is allegedly about to become a dad x3, this time with a woman out of Houston who claims she got pregnant after a brief fling with the NBA star ... and now wants him to pay up in the form of child support.

Maralee Nichols claims she's due to give birth to a baby boy today, December 3, according to new docs obtained by The Daily Mail. Nichols says the baby was conceived in Houston back in March ... around the time Thompson was in town to celebrate his 30th birthday.

The DM reports Thompson admits to having sex with Nichols several times at the hotel ... and previous to meeting up she had promised him a "birthday surprise" which he knew meant birthday sex.

If Nichols' timeline is accurate, Tristan was still publicly with Khloe Kardashian at the time he and the expecting mom hooked up.

One thing up for debate -- how long the fling lasted. Tristan reportedly says it was only a one-night stand, but Nichols says the two had been together off and on for around 5 months prior to the March hook-up.

As for Tristan and Khloe, they broke up in May, shortly after a woman named Sydney Chase made allegations she and Tristan had hooked up. Both Tristan and Khloe have publicly supported each other since the split and are often seen co-parenting their daughter True.

The baby boy would be Tristan's third known child.

Nichols is asking for child support and for Tristan to cover her pregnancy-related medical expenses.