TMZ Sports - Page 28

Renato Moicano is not overlooking the skills of his UFC Paris opponent Benoit Saint-Denis ... saying he may one day sit atop the division -- but it ain't happening on his watch!

TMZ Sports caught up with the 11th-ranked lightweight contender ... days before he's set to take on 12th-ranked Saint-Denis in his home country of France, and while Moicano sees a bright future for the 28-year-old Frenchman, he's looking to derail his rise to the top.

"I'm here to stop him," Moicano said. "I'm here to get the W in Paris and to keep climbing the rankings."

Even Big Freedia admitted their bounce lost some of its spring when Lil Wayne was snubbed and denied the headline halftime spot in his hometown New Orleans Super Bowl ... and turns out the entire city is feeling the burn!!!

We interviewed Big Freedia on 'The TMZ Podcast' and word in the 504 streets is that everyone in New Orleans is sad for Wayne -- especially since he attempted to put things into existence months ago ... but ended up gutted when Kendrick Lamar got the nod.

Big Freedia told hosts Charlie Neff and Wyld Young there's still hope ... Kendrick could easily share stage time with Wayne in February and all would be right in the world ... and wards.

A promotional flyer for the Colorado Buffaloes' matchup against the UCF Knights was met with a ton of backlash on Friday ... with football fans wondering why the social media post wasn't kept in drafts in light of Hurricane Helene -- as it featured a star player knee-deep in water.

The Deion Sanders-led program's official X account shared the imagery at 12:30 PM PT ... in an attempt to signify 24 hours 'til kickoff from FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando.

The flyer was intended to be a play on star defensive back Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig's "Shark" nickname ... but considering what surrounding Southeast regions experienced over the past day, many users felt the theming of the promo was insensitive.

Joe Rogan thinks a Kamala Harris presidency would spell doom for free speech in America ... he says Harris and Tim Walz would have the feds increasing censorship online.

Joe warned a possible Harris administration would "clamp down more" on online speech, making the bold prediction Thursday on his popular podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" during a conversation about censorship on social media.

The way Joe sees it ... Harris and Walz have said "many wild things" about censorship, free speech and the First Amendment ... especially when it comes to platforms like Facebook and X.

Caitlin Clark just added an exclamation point to her stellar first WNBA season ... the league is naming her its Rookie of the Year!!

According to Shams Charania ... the W will announce the 22-year-old beat out Angel Reese for the honors at some point this postseason.

It, of course, shouldn't come as a huge surprise, as she tore up the league night in and night out -- all while helping guide the Indiana Fever to its first playoff berth since 2016.

Vince Carter broke in down tears after learning the Toronto Raptors have plans to retire his jersey this season -- and video of the emotional moment will no doubt have you reaching for some tissues.

The scene all played out earlier Friday in Canada ... where Raptors president Masai Ujiri was helping unveil a basketball court that a local foundation had helped renovate.

During the festivities, Ujiri announced he had a surprise for Carter -- revealing his team was going to hang the former superstar's No. 15 threads in its rafters at Scotiabank Arena.

Baker Mayfield's wife is providing an update after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast ... saying their family is safe and sound -- but her heart breaks for those less fortunate.

Emily Mayfield revealed their status in a social media post ...  saying it was terrifying to experience the unknowns leading up to the violent storm, and they ultimately decided to get the Buccaneers quarterback, their baby girl and their dog out of the Tampa area on Thursday.

"Our sweet, sweet community got pummeled, but even that doesn't compare to the people up North who took this storm head on," Emily said. "It's unfathomable."

Jillian Michaels has never sugarcoated her views on Ozempic -- but she's upping the ante, saying folks who care about their health should be seriously ticked off about the way their psychology is being exploited.

We caught up with Jillian Friday ... and she tells TMZ the weight loss drug is a distraction from real issues, pointing to the thousands of chemicals in our food that are poisoning us and making us obese in the first place.

Jillian also breaks down some stats from a recent study, pointing out how loads of people ditched Ozempic after a year -- one big reason being the weight plateau. Funnily enough, James Corden recently hinted at the same thing when he tried Ozempic himself.

Devin Haney's clearly still not over how his superfight with Ryan Garcia went down earlier this year ... as TMZ Sports has confirmed he's now suing the star boxer over it all.

The 25-year-old pugilist filed the lawsuit against his nemesis in New York on Friday ... alleging Garcia committed battery and fraud in the leadup to -- and during -- their big April 20 tilt at Barclays Center.

You'll recall, Garcia won the fight after knocking down Haney multiple times ... but the outcome was later ruled a no-contest after officials said Garcia had Ostarine in his system.

Caitlin Clark is speaking out against the gross mistreatment of WNBA players this season ... saying no one should have to tolerate racist and hateful comments being hurled in their direction.

The W has seen a large increase in popularity after the former Iowa guard entered the league in April ... but it's clear some of the new spectators crossed way over the line when supporting their teams and players -- to the point where the org. and its players and coaches have had to address it numerous times.

After her Indiana Fever was eliminated from the playoffs earlier this week, Clark was asked about inappropriate fan behavior in her exit interview ... and she said the people who act out aren't really fans at all -- they're "trolls."

The Chicago White Sox are on the verge of making MLB history -- losing a modern-day record of 121 games -- and former Detroit Tigers infielder Brandon Inge is all too familiar with playing for a historically bad team -- telling TMZ Sports it's up to the players to make sure they don't have their name etched into infamy.

We sat down with the former MLB All-star -- and a member of the 43-119 Tigers in 2003 -- and asked him about what it's like playing for a team where wins are as rare as a triple play.

"It was different," Inge said. "To put it in perspective, you're playing a sport that is something you dreamed about doing your whole life, and you're doing it on the biggest stage. So yes, that's kind of awesome, but at the same time, no one likes going out and losing that many games, losing at all for that matter."

Magic Johnson says Bronny James simply isn't ready for the NBA just yet ... claiming what's truly best for LeBron's son is to spend a season developing his game in the G League before joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Hall of Famer shared his take on the father-son duo during his interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Thursday ... and while plenty of folks are interested in watching the James Gang take the court together in 2024-25 -- he thinks the experiment should be put on ice for a year.

"If I'm Bronny, I would tell my dad, 'Just let me play in the G League all season so that I can develop,'" Johnson said. "He needs playing time. He doesn't need to be sitting on the Laker bench and not playing."

Terrell Suggs is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025 ... and T-Sizzle wholeheartedly believes he's a first-ballot HOF'er!

Suggs, a 7x Pro Bowler, joined "The Pacman Jones Show," where he chopped it up with his fellow former NFL star on Adam's new BetOnline show ... and Pac didn't waste any time.

"Don't you think you deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer?" Pacman asked Suggs.

Shohei Ohtani punched his ticket to the playoffs for the first time in his career ... and the Japanese superstar partied like it on Thursday -- commemorating the moment with his Dodger teammates, wife and adorable pup after winning the NL West championship.

Los Angeles secured its 11th division title in 12 seasons after a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres ... and after taking some family selfies with Mamiko and Decoy, it was time to take an alcohol shower with the squad.

It was the first locker room celebration of Ohtani's career -- he never sniffed the postseason during his six seasons with the Angels -- so naturally, he committed a party foul by not sporting protective goggles for the boozy bash.

NY Giants star rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers is letting fans know he's okay after suffering a scary head injury in the fourth quarter of the team's Thursday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.

The moment occurred with 3:30 remaining in the contest and Big Blue down by five. Facing a fourth down ... Giants QB Daniel Jones tried to hit Nabers on the sideline to keep the drive alive.

However ... Nabers couldn't hold onto the pass -- with his face smacking the turf and seemingly knocking the 21-year-old out cold.

The Cowboys won the fight on the field and one of the bigger ones off of it as well on Thursday night ... as a Dallas supporter absolutely pummeled a Giants fan in a tiff at MetLife Stadium during the big game in New Jersey.

The chaos erupted early in the evening ... when a man in a Troy Aikman jersey got so upset with a Lawrence Taylor supporter -- he began beating the hell out of the guy.

Check out footage filmed by a bystander ... the Cowboys fan pulled the dude's Giants jersey over his head, and then unleashed a flurry of right hands.