TMZ Sports - Page 50

UFC champ Luke Rockhold says he's SHOCKED his UFC 194 fight with Chris Weidman wasn't stopped a lot sooner than it was ... saying it was pretty clear Weidman was done in the 3rd.

Rockhold joined the guys on "TMZ Sports" on FS1 (tonight at 9 PM PT, 12 AM ET) -- and said when he rewatched the fight, he noticed the end of the 3rd round was especially one-sided.

"Going back and looking at it now, it was pretty brutal ... the unanswered punches I was delivering ... I was just thinking in my head, 'Is this man gonna stop it?'"

Even Joe Rogan was surprised referee Herb Dean let it go as long as it did -- as Rockhold rained down on Weidman it was a flurry of devastating punches. The fight was ultimately stopped 3 minutes into round 4.

Rockhold says he was also confused in between the 3rd and 4th round -- because he wasn't sure if the officials were going to let Weidman leave his corner and continue the fight.

There's A LOT more on the show tonight -- make sure to check out the entire interview on "TMZ Sports" weeknights on FS1 at 9 PM PT, 12 AM ET.

The Game can finally settle his beef with Stitches without risk of ending up in jail -- he has an offer to step into a boxing ring ... and Stitches has already signed on the dotted line.

Damon Feldman is promoting the celebrity boxing event and tells us the fight would be 3 rounds, each being 90 seconds long. After the Miami K.O. of Stitches ... Feldman thinks there's enough interest that the purse could be as high as 7 figures.

Game has said the fact he's on probation is why his pal Wack 100 stepped in to take down Stitches the first time, but a celeb boxing match would keep him on the right side of the law.

No date yet for the fight, and no word if Game will bite.

It's hardly a rematch since Stitches barely got a step in, much less a punch -- but we're told he's taking the opportunity seriously, and might hire ex-champ Bernard Hopkins as his trainer.

He'll have his work cut out for him.

Derek Jeter didn't want his fancy male undies on gay people -- this according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports ... though Jeter says the allegations are pure BS.

Lance Armstrong says he wasn't "emotionally ready" for his come clean interview with Oprah back in 2013 -- and admits the result was a total and complete ass kicking.

Armstrong appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" to talk about the situation -- and was brutally honest about how poorly it went for him when he fessed up to cheating during his legendary cycling career.

"That was an ass whooping," Armstrong said.

Lance says he cherry picked the interview with Oprah because he wanted to get his side of the story out before the government did -- and thought he could minimize the damage to his image by going with the Big O.

"I think there's no defense for using that kind of language" -- Jason Collins on Rajon Rondo.

Collins -- the 1st openly gay player in NBA history -- was at LAX Tuesday when we asked for his thoughts on Rondo hurling a homophobic slur at an NBA ref earlier this month ... a ref who later came out as gay.

Conor McGregor's movie career is officially ON -- 'cause we're told the UFC's 13 second knockout king has agreed to a role in the new 'xXx' movie.

The Irish superstar has said that Hollywood has been knocking on his door for a while -- and Vin Diesel is a huge fan when it comes to putting fighters in his flicks (like Ronda Rousey in "Furious 7").

In fact, Diesel posted on Instagram Monday suggesting Conor was on board for "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage."

Now, our sources connected to the situation tell us ... Conor HAS verbally agreed to play a role in the flick -- though it's unclear how big of a part it will be.

Of course, things happen in Hollywood and Conor could always pull out -- but for now, we're told it's a go.

As we previously reported, Mark Wahlberg is also interested in the Notorious one for an upcoming project.

St. Louis Rams WR Stedman Bailey is making tremendous progress after being shot twice in the head last month -- walking and talking again and "getting back to himself" ... his agent tells TMZ Sports.

We spoke with Tony Fleming ... who tells us Bailey is out of the ICU -- but is still hospitalized ... recovering in a special physical therapy facility in Florida.

"He is getting his strength back and just taking it one day at a time. He is scheduled to be released out of the hospital on the 23rd."

Fleming tells us the 25-year-old has been extremely grateful for the support of his team ever since the Nov. 25th shooting.

"The Rams are great. They have been talking to the doctors like once every few days staying on top of it."

Fleming also says several team officials have come to visit.

Tom Brady is heaping EVEN MORE praise on Donald Trump -- saying he will continue to support the presidential candidate ... and hailing him as a pretty "remarkable" guy.

The New England Patriots superstar appeared on the 'Dennis & Callahan' show on WEEI and was asked straight up if he would stick with Trump even after his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S.

"Can I just stay out of this debate?" Brady joked at first.

"Donald is a good friend of mine. I have known him for a long time. I support all my friends. That is what I have to say. He’s a good friend of mine."

"He’s always been so supportive of me -- for the last 15 years, since I judged a beauty pageant for him, which was one of the very first things that I did that thought was really cool. That came along with winning the Super Bowl. He’s always invited me to play golf. I’ve always enjoyed his company."

Floyd Mayweather still knows how to draw a crowd ... even in Dubai ... where fans streamed in from all over to catch a glimpse of the boxer during his $1 MILLION shopping spree at the Dubai Mall.

Check out the footage ... you can see crowds gathering all over the mall just to look at Mayweather -- who bought a crazy $1.1 million Hublot diamond watch during the shopping trip.

If Kobe Bryant wants to coach after his playing days are over, he's gotta run it by the boss -- his wife -- 'cause she has the final say ... so says Vanessa Bryant's BFF.

We spoke with Monica (the singer) who's married to Kobe's ex-teammate Shannon Brown -- they're besties with the Bryants.

Monica told us she thinks it would be dope if Kobe took up the clipboard after the season wraps -- but ONLY if Vanessa's down to spend more of her life in basketball arenas.

Mr. McGregor ... you ready for your close-up?

Mark Wahlberg says the UFC fighter could be a GREAT actor -- if he gets the right role -- and tells TMZ Sports he's already considering Conor for a role in one of his many many MANY projects.

Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone's butler did it -- he filed a lawsuit against her husband for mercilessly mocking his sexual orientation.

The butler in question, Carl Hajik, says he'd been working for Petra and James Stunt for about a year when a family dinner -- in the mansion they bought from Candy Spelling -- went off the rails.

Hajik says he accidentally tripped Petra's 1-year-old niece while serving Stunt chili oil for his pizza. Hajik says he apologized repeatedly before leaving ... but Stunt followed him to the staff room, spit in his face and yelled, "No one slams doors in my house!"

He says it got physical -- Stunt pushed him and continued ranting, calling him ... a "lady hater," who was "soft around the edges" and should be "wearing a dress."

Hajik says he immediately walked out of the mansion and resigned. He's suing for back pay and damages.

The Irish Consulate in San Francisco is charged with promoting Irish interests in the Western United States ... and Saturday night, those interests were trolling Jose Aldo and preventing hangovers.

In fact, just minutes after Conor McGregor knocked out Aldo at UFC 194 -- the I.C. in S.F. went to Twitter with a special message for all of the hard partying Irish fans who made it out for the fight.

BTW, earlier in the week, the Consulate sent out info about a 12 bar pub crawl in Vegas for all the visitors (for charity).

Donald Trump is campaigning for somebody else for a change ... Pete Rose ... claiming it's time for the Hall of Fame to finally LET THE GUY IN!!!

After MLB commish Rob Manfred announced he would NOT overturn Rose's lifetime ban for gambling on baseball ... Trump went to Twitter to sound off in support of Charlie Hustle.

"Can't believe Major League Baseball just rejected @PeteRose_14 for the Hall of Fame. He's paid the price. So ridiculous - let him in!"

Boxing superstar Gennady Golovkin says he's FIRED UP to fight Canelo Alvarez next year -- now that they've agreed to get in the ring -- but we're told fans are gonna have to stay patient.

With news that reps for both fighters have finally struck a deal to fight for the WBC Middleweight title -- GGG tells TMZ Sports, "I'm looking forward to the super fight with Canelo for the fans next year to show who is the best."

We spoke with GGG's rep who tells us, "The fight will most likely take place 2nd half of 2016."

"Both will have fights in early 2016, and then fight each other in the second half of the year."

As for where the fight will take place -- there's been speculation it could go down at a HUGE venue like AT&T Stadium in Dallas or Madison Square Garden in NYC.

GGG's rep says the two sides are still trying to work that part out -- "Going into 2016, this will be the biggest boxing event. It could be any of the biggest arenas in the country."

Sacramento Kings star Rajon Rondo swears he's no homophobe -- despite the fact he hurled gay slurs at a gay NBA ref -- saying the whole thing was out of frustration... not out of gay hatred.

Rondo was suspended earlier this week after he cussed out NBA referee Bill Kennedy on Dec. 3rd -- calling him a "motherf**king f**got" while storming off the court.

Kennedy has since come out as a gay man -- leading to a closer inspection into Rondo's verbal attack.

But Rondo insists he's not anti-gay -- saying, "My actions during the game were out of frustration and emotion, period!"

"They absolutely do not reflect my feelings toward the LGBT community. I did not mean to offend or disrespect anyone."

Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé has also weighed in -- saying, "Rajon's comment is not reflective of the culture of the Sacramento Kings organization or the world we want to live in."