TMZ Sports - Page 50

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.

Paul Wight is returning to the ring Wednesday night ... something that might never have happened if not for former NBA star Xavier McDaniel, the first person to tell the Superstar formerly known as Big Show to go into professional wrestling!

Wight dropped by the TMZ offices on Tuesday and sat down with Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show -- ahead of AEW Dynamite's Like A Dragon Gaiden Street Fight match -- where the guys discussed the 7-footer's start in the sport to his in-ring comeback.

The Wight the Wrestler origin story is pretty crazy.

Paul was a center on the Wichita State basketball team in the early '90s, but wasn't exactly Shaquille O'Neal on the court.

Because of his play on the hardwood, McDaniel, a Shockers alum who'd become an NBA star after being drafted with the 4th overall pick in 1985, gave Wight some invaluable advice ... and perhaps paved the way for him to become a titan in the wrestling industry.

"X was always pestering me, and he kept telling me I should go into wrestling. I said 'Man, listen, I'm gonna play in the NBA. That's what I've trained for since I was a kid. This is what I do,'" Wight recounted telling McDaniel (this story starts around the 14-minute mark).

"[Xavier] says, 'Man, you're gonna be the only 7-foot dude who gets cut by the Japanese team. He goes, 'I'm telling you what you need to do. You need to go into pro wrestling and be Andre The Giant's son.' He says, 'Man, you look like Andre. That's what you need to do.'"

"Xavier McDaniel saw the vision on the wall long before it ever happened."

Shortly after, Paul linked up with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff ... and the rest is history.

Now, Wight's wrestling again at 51 years old (it's been a bit since he's performed in the Squared Circle, though he's been signed to AEW since '21) ... and he's teaming up with Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Chris Jericho to take on Hobbs, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, and Brian Cage.

How much longer will he wrestle? Check out the full interview -- we asked him.

Nothing better than a little competition to make sure your hospitality and care team members stack up to other professionals in the biz ... just ask this year's athletes at the Housekeeping Olympics.

A fresh batch of hopefuls hit Vegas over the weekend for the 33rd annual IEHA Housekeeping Olympics ... which returned for the first time in four years due to the pandemic.

As expected, it was no clean sweep for participants, who came from all over North America to flex their domestic skills at Mandalay Bay's Michelob Ultra Arena ... which became a battlefield of brooms, beds, vacuums and buckets.

Competitors dazzled in tasks such as vacuum racing, bed-making and mop relay ... just to name a few.

IEHA Executive Director Michael Patterson believes the event brings to light the best practices, techniques, and innovations in the field while also buffing up the goal of showing the global impact of excellence within the cleaning industry.

Forget ketchup and mustard ... Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams topped his McDonald's burger with some McFlurry this week -- and, unsurprisingly, it had a ton of his fans grossed out.

Williams proudly presented the concoction on his Instagram page Tuesday ... showing that he put some Oreo-infused ice cream right on top of his McDouble in order to enhance the flavor of his lunch at the Golden Arches.

While some (very few) were in favor of putting the medley of wide-ranging flavors in between two buns ... most were in shock.

"Up until this point I've enjoyed his hard work getting back into the fold. With that said, trade him now," one wrote on X.

"Aight man lock him up now," another said.

Williams, one of the Lions' first-round picks in 2022, has yet to defend the way he eats his fast food -- though given the backlash, we wouldn't be surprised if a comment is coming shortly.

One of the most important pieces of memorabilia from Victor Wembanyama's NBA career -- a jersey he wore during his first-ever Spurs game -- has just gone up for auction ... and so far, bidders are showing they really want the item.

In its first day on the block, the threads that the 19-year-old phenom rocked in San Antonio's season-opener on Oct. 25 have already received 25 bids .... with a high $50,000 so far.

Experts at Sotheby's -- which is hosting the auction as part of its new partnership with the NBA -- previously anticipated the jersey would sell for between $80,000-$120,000 ... though if the early interest is any indication, it seems there's a good chance it could exceed that figure.

Of course, it shouldn't surprise many if it does ... given the start of Wemby's career.

The 7-foot-4 power forward -- who many have touted as the best prospect since LeBron James -- has tallied 19.7 points per game to go along with 8.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.4 blocks through his first 10 contests -- all historic numbers.

As for how he did the night he wore the jersey that's up for sale ... Wembanyama had 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and a block, although San Antonio ended up losing to Dallas.

The jersey -- listed as size 52 with a plus-4 length -- will stay up on the auction block until Nov. 21 ... giving collectors about seven more days to scrounge together all their change to make their best run at buying it.

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."

LeBron James didn't become the NBA's all-time leading scorer without his fair share of haters rooting against him, but he's still not above showing even them some love!!!

Take up-and-coming Detroit rapper Skilla Baby for example, who outed himself as a proud LBJ hater on a recent podcast appearance -- but King James is here for it.

Skilla started off by giving LBJ his props ... but soon flew off the handle with a laundry list of reasons he'd create a LeBron voodoo doll.

LeBron's "The Decision," his unpredictable jump shot and his penchant for playing with super-teams were all low points for SB -- but he really just sounded like a Pistons fan going hard for his team.

At any rate, LeBron got a kick outta SB's rant and quipped, "Crazy thing is I HATE ME TOO" with several 😂's.

Glen Powell's got a treat for ya ... some clothing-optional shots that provide more than a glimpse of what Sydney Sweeney had to work with while they filmed down under. Poor girl, right?!?

Armed with a wide-brimmed hat to keep things PG-13, the "Top Gun: Maverick" actor bares his ass in a scorching-hot photo shoot for "Men's Health" magazine.

Some of the mag's other sexy snaps showcase his fine-tuned abs while jumping rope, trampolining and doing dumbbell push-ups.

Yup, it's just about fitness -- that's the ONLY reason anyone's looking at these pics. 😉

Alongside Glen's butt-baring shenanigans, he also talked to the fitness bible about his dating life ... specifically referring to the rumors about Sydney and himself when he said, "When all that stuff happened, you know, publicly, it felt disorienting and unfair. But what I'm realizing is that's just a part of this gig now."

Remember, there was a lot of buzz earlier this year about an alleged fling with Sydney as they filmed their R-rated rom-com "Anyone But You" in Australia.

The speculation intensified when Glen and his GF, Gigi Paris, called it quits at the same time.

However, sources with direct knowledge told TMZ the pair were not together IRL ... and any flirting between Glen and Syd was professional, for the sake of promoting their movie.

Also, Sydney is still very loved up with her fiancé Jonathan Davino.

San Diego Padres chairman and owner Peter Seidler has sadly died at 63 years old ... the team announced Tuesday.

Padres CEO Erik Greupner shared the heartbreaking news on social media .... saying in a statement Seidler was "beloved" in the org.

A cause of death was not revealed ... however, Seidler -- a two-time cancer survivor -- had undergone health issues recently, revealing in mid-September he had needed a medical procedure in August that would force him to miss the rest of his team's 2023 games.

"Today, our love and prayers encircle Peter's family as they grieve the loss of an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend," Greupner said.

"Peter was a kind and generous man who was devoted to his wife, children, and extended family."

Seidler bought the Padres back in 2012 with his uncle, Peter, and Ron Fowler after they created the O'Malley Group.

Fowler was named the ownership group's executive chairman ... but in 2020, he transferred his role to Seidler. Fowler still remains as Padres vice chairman.

Outside of baseball business, Seidler was big on helping the homeless in San Diego ... joining the Lucky Duck Foundation as one of the board of directors.

"His impact on the city of San Diego and the baseball world will be felt for generations," Greupner said. "His generous spirit is now firmly embedded in the fabric of the Padres."

"Although he was our Chairman and owner, Peter was at his core a Padres fan. He will be dearly missed."

The Padres will allow fans to pay respect to Seidler at Petco Park's Home Plate Gate on Tuesday afternoon.

Tom Brady is so confident Michigan will roll over Ohio State in the next couple weeks ... he's betting a Super Bowl ring on it!!!

Well ... kind of.

The seven-time champ and UM alum made the wager with former Buckeyes star C.J. Stroud earlier this week on his "Let's Go!" podcast ... before quickly revealing he was just playing around.

"So," Brady said to the Texans QB on the show as the two signal-callers were bantering about their alma maters, "if Ohio State wins ... how about this, you get one of my Super Bowl rings."

Brady, however, then quickly made it clear he was kidding ... adding, "And if Michigan beats Ohio State, then you got to give me all your youth, your agility, your time in the 40 and all your future years in the NFL."

Stroud played along for a minute, telling the G.O.A.T., "All right, that's a bet. That's a bet," before he said, "I'm not going to take your Super Bowl rings, Tom! I'm not going to lie. That's yours, bro, I want to get my own."

Unclear if the two will ultimately make some sort of wager on this year's rivalry game ... given how confident both guys were when talking about their former squads on the pod.

The gloves were off as a fistfight nearly broke out between Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters General President, Sean O'Brien, on Capitol Hill Tuesday ... resulting in a stern scolding from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Tensions erupted when ex-MMA fighter Mullin read out tweets by O'Brien following a previous heated congressional hearing, in which he was labeled a "clown and fraud," among various other insults.

With his damning gaze firmly on his opponent, Mullin warns of a "time and place to run his mouth" ... and as "two consenting adults," they could "finish it here."

The duo urges each other to "stand their butt up" to duke it out leaving an agitated Sanders to keep the peace and remind Mullin of his responsibilities as a United States senator.

"God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress," Sanders says, clearly pissed about the showdown that was about to unfold.

Unrelenting, Sen. Mullin -- an Oklahoma Republican -- goes on to taunt his rival for "going quiet" ... only for O'Brien to hit back by likening him to a 12-year-old for challenging him to a cage match. Ouch.

Looks like Kim Zolciak is trying to chip away at her and Kroy Biermann's mountain of debt ... 'cause she's unloading some of her designer wear online in hopes of making a profit.

Kim listed handbags, shoes and more Tuesday -- but it ain't garage sale prices -- she's charging $5,900 for a Chanel Shearling bag, and $4,500 for a grey Louis Vuitton purse!!!

She's also asking $1,250 for a pair of her Gucci mink heels and $600 for her Balmain plastic heels ... so if ya want it, you better bring some serious dough.

The impromptu sale might not just be proof she's working off that debt -- it could also be another sign that things between Kim and Kroy are positive yet again ... kinda like a peace offering to her estranged hubby amid their divorce.

As we reported, Kroy was selling off some of his stuff to tackle their financial woes in the past, and he asked Kim to do the same. However, we were told she sold off some of her things and pocketed the cash for herself instead of helping pay off the debt.

She's also recently changed her IG handle to include "Biermann" as her last name, and they were out to dinner over the weekend to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary ... an outing you likely wouldn't do with someone you're actively divorcing.

Hopefully, Kim's new sale can help get them outta the hole ... and it better -- because her swag ain't cheap!

The NFL is giving unlikely Vikings hero Josh Dobbs the same love it showed Taylor Swift last month ... putting the quarterback all over its social media pages!!

The Shield leaned heavily into Taylor's presence at Kansas City Chiefs games amid her budding romance with Travis Kelce ... temporarily changing its bio and imagery to have fun with the whole ordeal.

The "Cruel Summer" singer had real estate on the NFL's pages for a bit ... but now it's Dobbs' turn to get the spotlight after leading Minnesota to its second win in two weeks.

Of course, Dobbs was thrown into the Vikes vs. Falcons matchup after joining the team days prior and didn't even know his teammates' names or plays, but was still able to come out with the 31-28 win.

His magic continued on Sunday ... when he helped Minnesota outlast the Saints, 27-19.

Given his surprising success story, the league decided it was time to hand Dobbs his flowers ... adding him to its banner and saying, "in Dobbs we trust" in the bio.

Cops in England say they have placed a man in custody this week ... after they claim the guy had a connection to the death of ex-NHL player Adam Johnson.

According to South Yorkshire Police ... the man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter on Tuesday -- 17 days after Johnson tragically died from injuries he suffered when Matt Petgrave's skate slashed him in the neck during an Elite Ice Hockey League game.

In announcing the arrest, cops did not say if Petgrave was the man they had in custody.

"Our investigation launched immediately following this tragedy and we have been carrying out extensive enquiries ever since to piece together the events which led to the loss of Adam in these unprecedented circumstances," SYP detective chief superintendent Becs Horsfall said of the arrest in a statement.

"We have been speaking to highly specialised experts in their field to assist in our enquiries and continue to work closely with the health and safety department at Sheffield City Council, which is supporting our ongoing investigation."

Johnson was playing for the Nottingham Panthers against the Sheffield Steelers in England when the tragedy happened.

Video from the arena showed as Johnson was crossing the blueline, Petgrave kicked his skate into the air ... and clipped the former Pittsburgh Penguins center in the throat. Blood immediately poured onto the ice -- and while Johnson was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, he sadly succumbed to his injuries.

Cops revealed Tuesday "a post-mortem examination confirmed he died as a result of a fatal neck injury."

"Adam's death has sent shockwaves through many communities, from our local residents here in Sheffield to ice hockey fans across the world," Horsfall said. "We know these communities will expect us to handle this investigation with the same professionalism, fairness and sensitivity as any other and request that members of the public refrain from comment and speculation which could hinder this process. Our thoughts remain with all affected by this devastating incident as enquiries continue."

The Panthers, meanwhile, had initially called Johnson's death "a freak accident."

The Buffalo Bills are shaking up the organization after their embarrassing loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football -- offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey just got kicked to the curb.

The Bills kept tripping over themselves in their 24-22 loss to the Broncos ... turning the ball over four times and struggling to put up points yet again.

The team decided it was time for a change on Tuesday ... sacking the former quarterback amid his second season as the leader of the offense.

Joe Brady -- who famously had success with Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers in their 2019 national championship season -- will take over for Dorsey.

The Bills were considered Super Bowl contenders at the start of the 2023 season ... but after starting 3-1 and putting up strong numbers on offense, the wheels started to fall off.

Buffalo has since gone 2-4 and now sit several spots out of the last Wild Card spot in the AFC.

Dallas Cowboys star cornerback Trevon Diggs is fed up with watching Stefon lose in Buffalo ... publicly pleading to get his brother off the Bills ASAP.

Trevon -- who's sidelined for the rest of the season with an ACL injury -- was live tweeting as he watched the Bills' 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football ... and after the game, he fired off his opinion on his brother's situation.

"Man 14 Gotta get up outta there 😫😭," Trevon said following Stefon's three-catch, 34-yard performance.

Of course, there's been no shortage of drama with Stefon during his time in Upstate New York -- he reportedly wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with quarterback Josh Allen after their sideline argument in the playoffs last season, when the Cincinnati Bengals booted the Bills in the Divisional Round back in January.

Both sides denied any bad blood ... but the Bills' issues certainly haven't gone away, as the former Super Bowl contenders currently sit at 5-5 with a tough remaining schedule.