TMZ Sports - Page 50

Great news from Brian Ortega's camp ... the UFC star is improving by the minute after that bloody loss to Max Holloway this past weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Ortega suffered a broken nose and thumb during Saturday night's fight at UFC 231 in Toronto -- and his left eye was swollen shut. The doctor stopped the fight in the 4th round.

We spoke with Ortega's coach, Rener Gracie -- who's been coaching Brian since Ortega was 13 years old. The two are super tight and Gracie was working the corner during the Holloway fight.

Gracie tells us T-City was initially crushed by the loss ... and even apologized to his team at the hospital for letting them down.

But, Gracie says the apology was completely unnecessary -- telling TMZ Sports he's proud of the young fighter for the tremendous effort he displayed against "one of the best to ever do it."

Now, Gracie says Ortega is "doing much better" -- he's healing up and excited to getting back to work ... and tells us why the loss will ultimately be a GOOD thing for his career.

The Tennessee Titans have launched an investigation into Leonard Fournette's allegations that a fan was shouting racial slurs at him during Thursday night's game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville ... sources tell TMZ Sports.

We broke the story ... the Jacksonville Jaguars running back threatened to beat up a fan in the 4th quarter of his team's 30-9 loss in an incident caught on video.

Fournette later told The Athletic the fan had been shouting racist insults like "c**n" and "servant" -- though none of those words can be heard on the video obtained by TMZ Sports.

Now, sources tell us ... the team has launched an investigation to find out if other people seated in the area heard any of the alleged slurs. They're also working to identify the heckler so they can speak with him.

We spoke with the person who shot the video -- who is NOT the heckler beefing with Fournette -- who told us he did not hear any racist language.

The fan said he DID hear the fan hurling insults, but they were based on the score of the game.

Rap superstar YG says he's not choosing sides between Colin Kaepernick and the NFL ... saying he supports BOTH, and is explaining his stance.

YG sat down with Raquel Harper on "Raq Rants" and talked about his relationship with Kaepernick, including personal conversations he's had with the embattled QB about his protest.

The Compton native says he's 100% supportive of Kap and has told him so, but isn't boycotting the NFL -- as a matter of fact, he's been one of the most visible and vocal fans of the L.A. Rams all season.

"We African-Americans, we grow up looking as basketball, football and rap as our way to get out."

YG is essentially saying what a lot of people have pointed out ... that while he agrees the league is doing Kap dirty ... he feels it's up to him to support the young black men that are still playing and making a living.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade faced off on the court for the last time on Monday night ... and the biggest names in Hollywood had front row seats for the epic showdown.

It was a bittersweet moment for NBA fans ... LBJ and Wade have had some insane matchups over the past 16 years, so there was no way the biggest Laker fans would miss this one.

Wade's wifey, Gabrielle Union, had a courtside seat with her "L.A.'s Finest" costar Jessica Alba ... and Rams studs Brandin Cooks and Jared Goff also grabbed floor seats for the big game.

Other stars include Future, Kevin Costner, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington and Will Ferrell.

They picked a great game to go to ... with LeBron guarding Wade on a potential game-tying 3 in the final seconds of the game ... which he missed.

U.S. Olympic superstar Simone Biles says she's still traumatized from the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar ... and has sought professional help for treatment.

Biles appeared on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday where Robin Roberts asked her how she's been able to handle the emotional rollercoaster connected to the Nassar scandal.

"It's definitely not easy," Biles said ... "I have my ups and downs. I still go to therapy and I'm on anxiety medication now."

"I had a lot of ups and downs throughout the year and trying to figure out what was wrong, and so I go to therapy pretty regularly and it’s not easy but the people surrounding me are some of the best so it makes it a little easier."

Roberts thanked Biles for being so open about her treatment and said, "Bless you for taking care of you like you're doing."

Back in January, Biles revealed she -- like scores of gymnasts -- was abused by the former Team USA gymnastics doctor.

"I've felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams," Biles posted on social media back in January along with the hashtag #MeToo.

"I am not afraid to tell my story anymore."

Nassar is currently serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison for child porn -- and has been sentenced to up to 175 more years for sexually abusing more than 140 athletes.

Doesn't matter if a heckler hurled the n-word, pro athletes like Leonard Fournette need to WALK AWAY from trash talkers ... 'cause if they actually fight, a pro could literally KILL a loudmouthed normie.

That's the advice coming from Charles Barkley -- who's dealt with plenty of hecklers during and after his NBA career.

Chuck knows trash talk is all fun and games until things turn physical -- and that's when things can get way too real.

"If you hit a fan and hurt them, you might KILL them," Barkley explained ... "But the main thing, you just gotta walk away or they're just gonna sue ya."

"Listen, they would never say that to you and fight you in the streets, but if you hit them you're gonna lose a lot of money," Barkley added on his way out of Matsuhisa in L.A.

It's not just Fournette who's been heckled lately, huge NBA stars have been targeted too -- including Kevin Durant, Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell.

Steph Curry thinks the moon landing was a big hoax ... and now NASA wants to turn the NBA superstar into a believer ... giving him a personal invite to tour all the evidence that proves it all happened.

The Warriors All-Star and his teammates revealed their skepticism on the Ringer's "Winging It" podcast with Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore ... admitting they truly believe the moon landing in 1969 never happened.

A rep for NASA tells TMZ Sports they wanna put an end to all that talk ASAP ... inviting Curry to check out their lunar labs and all the evidence that proves it all really went down.

"There’s lots of evidence NASA landed 12 American astronauts on the Moon from 1969 – 1972," spokesperson Allard Beutel says.

"We’d love for Mr. Curry to tour the lunar lab at our Johnson Space Center in Houston, perhaps the next time the Warriors are in town to play the Rockets."

"We have hundreds of pounds of Moon rocks stored there and the Apollo mission control. During his visit, he can see first-hand what we did 50 years ago, as well as what we’re doing now to go back to the Moon in the coming years, but this time to stay."

Is Ben Simmons secretly the sweetest, sappiest boyfriend ever???

Maybe ... 'cause Kendall Jenner posted a SUPER romantic, handwritten love letter on social media Monday (but blacked out the name of the sender) ... and signs point to the 76ers point guard.

The letter begins, "Dear Kendall, We may be miles apart but my love for you grows stronger by the minute. My innermost feeling is of pure love for you."

"I will love you until death separates us. Right now this separation is killing me, but in my heart I know that nothing would come close to separating us."

It continues, "We are united into one forever, body and soul and I want you to know that I love you from the deepest part of my heart."

It's signed with, "Love," but Kendall blocked out the author ... which begs the question -- IS IT REALLY FROM BEN?!?!

Seems it could be ... the two have gotten super serious the last few weeks, ice skating, grabbing bites to eat and hanging out after Sixers games.

Plus ... Philly WAS just on a road trip in Toronto and then Detroit ...

So, is Simmons the author?? Here's a look at his handwriting -- you be the judge.

The sober streak is over for Dennis Rodman -- the NBA star admits he fell off the wagon and had started drinking again ... but now says he's still focused on cutting booze out of his life.

Rodman entered rehab after a DUI arrest back in January -- and has openly talked about the difficulties of going sober.

He slipped up in the past 2 weeks and hit the bar scene in Newport Beach, CA -- but tells TMZ Sports it was a mistake and he's now going back to AA meetings in the hopes of staying sober.

Rodman says he had stopped going to meetings because they got boring -- hey, at least he's honest.

But, after he started drinking again, Rodman reached out to his agent, Darren Prince (who's also battled substance abuse but is now going on 10 years sober) and his AA sponsor and asked them for help.

Rodman says he was ultimately convinced to go back to the meetings and already feels like he's making progress.

"It's a long process and it's gonna take time to get over the hump," Rodman says.

Rodman has been to rehab before -- once in 2014 ... and he was also featured on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" back in 2010.

We spoke with Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, who tells us, "Dennis is the king of rebounds and he'll rebound from this too."

Someone get Ted Cruz some Charmin ... 'cause the senator from Texas just took a big ol' dumparoo on the NFL over the way the league handled the national anthem demonstrations.

Ted had touched down in D.C. when we asked if Congress should look into overseeing the way the league handled investigations ... in the wake of the Kareem Hunt situation.

But, Cruz pivoted during the conversation and brought up the national anthem demonstrations -- and important to note, he's been strongly AGAINST players like Colin Kaepernick who took a knee.

"I think it has been amazing watching the NFL do unprecedented damage to their brand and the way they handled the anthem protest I think was spectacularly harmful to professional football," Cruz said.

So, we asked if Congress should have stepped in and gotten involved (outside of President Trump's public critiques) ... to which Cruz replied, "At the end of the day, I trust the fans to exercise the appropriate check."

Trump had called for the league to fire players who repeatedly took a knee. Instead, the league has imposed no penalty for kneelers.

The Dolphins had one of the most EPIC walk off winning touchdowns in NFL history ... and Miami guard Ted Larsen laid out the block that made the TD possible.

But, how could the play have been even better?

WITH A FAT GUY TOUCHDOWN!!!

At least, that's what Larsen's saying ... 'cause the Dolphins OL tells TMZ Sports that while Kenyan Drake's play was amazing -- he says it coulda been even better if he got the rock.

"Obviously we scored and we won -- I would have selfishly liked if they had pitched me the ball or something like that!"

Larsen, sadly, didn't get the ball in the epic play ... but he DID throw the key block that sprung Drake for the final yards of the game-winner.

As for if he DID happen to get the ball ... Larsen says nobody else was gonna touch it, 'cause, "I was going to try to take it right to the end zone myself!"

And, when it comes to the celebration -- Larsen says he woulda done the exact same thing that Drake did!!!!

Which, as it turns out, Kenyan is REALLY regretting today ...

Kenyan Drake is admitting he REALLY screwed up in the "Miami Miracle" on Sunday ... 'cause of the historic football he threw into the stands -- he says he needs that thing back!

After the Dolphins RB pulled off the most improbable TD of the season -- completing a 69-yard game-winning score with no time left against the Pats -- Drake threw the ball about 30 rows up into the stands.

Turns out ... the Miami superstar and his team would kinda like to have that thing back.

"Yesterday was one of the most amazing moments of my life and I was glad to share it with all you guys," Drake says.

"But, I have a PSA. I threw the ball in the stands, and I would love to have it back."

So, what's Drake offering up in return for the piece of history??

Kenyan says cleats, gloves, a jersey and even tickets!!

Conor McGregor or Max Holloway.

That's who UFC star Frankie Edgar tells TMZ Sports he wants to fight next.

"I'm hoping I get Max. I'm hoping Max sticks around at 45, and we get to finally get to square up. I think it makes the most sense."

Edgar is currently the #3 ranked featherweight contender behind Jose Aldo (#2), Brian Ortega (#1) and Holloway (Champ).

But, Dana White said this weekend he wants Max to move up weight classes ... so, if that happens, Edgar has his sights set squarely on the Irish superstar.

"I don't know, maybe Conor's free. Conor wants to get down and fight. We were supposed to fight a long time too. If I'm not fighting for the belt, then I guess Conor's the next best thing."

Neither matchup is all that far-fetched -- Edgar was scheduled to fight Holloway at UFC 222 back in March ... but "Blessed" was forced to drop out with an injury.

McGregor said in the past he offered to step in against Frankie ... but the UFC shut that down.

In other words ... both fights almost went down in March.

Alvin Kamara was singing -- and the girls were swooning ... 'cause after the Saints beat the Bucs on Sunday, A.K. hit up a restaurant party and SLAAAYYYYED some R. Kelly!!

It all went down at Morrow's in New Orleans -- where Kamara popped by after taking down Tampa Bay to get on the mic for some karaoke.

The star RB's song of choice? R. Kelly's "12 Play" -- and while we only got a snippet of his vocals in the vid ... dude had the crowd (full of girls) swaying!!

It's interesting -- Alvin and the Saints played IN Florida on Sunday morning ... so, pretty impressive the dude made it out to crash the bar's shindig when he got back to Louisiana.

Then again ... the Saints DID lock up the NFC South with the win AND took over first place in the NFC with the Rams' loss.

9:42 AM PT -- Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone says he's spoken with Fournette, who claims the heckler had been shouting "racial slurs" at him and that's why he reacted the way he did.

When asked if there were any witnesses to back up Fournette's claim, Marrone said, "I trust the player."

9:39 AM PT -- Matt Stafford's wife, Kelly, has just weighed in ... PRAISING Fournette for "the way he stood up for himself."

Kelly noted, "'Fans' probably said way worse things to him ... but yet he will lose money because he responded."

The message -- Kelly is sick of players like Fournette getting heckled by people in the stands.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette was so rattled during the loss to the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, he got into it with a fan ... and threatened to beat the guy's ass.

TMZ Sports has footage of Fournette on the sidelines in the 4th quarter of the Jags' 30-9 loss at Nissan Stadium in Nashville ... where the RB angrily tells the fan, "Listen, you're too old for that. I will beat your ass!"

Two men who appear to be Jaguars staffers grab Leonard and try to walk him away -- but minutes later, Fournette begins to jaw at the fan again ... repeating his threat.

"Facts, you're too old for that," Fournette says while sitting on the team bench ... "You're too old for that. Chill out. I'm not worried about you. You want to come down here?? I'll whoop your ass."

The Jags lost the game and Fournette was only held to 36 rushing yards on 14 carries.

Fournette has been irritable lately -- just a few weeks ago, he was ejected from the Buffalo Bills game for fighting Shaq Lawson ... and then tried to continue the scrap in the stadium tunnel.

Fournette was hit with a 1-game suspension for the Buffalo incident -- and later apologized to "the fans and kids out there."

"Was totally out of character was in the heat of the moment in a important game," Fournette posted on social media ... "emotions got the best of me apologize again to you all."

Fournette has never been afraid of a fight -- back in college, he got into it with LSU offensive lineman Garrett Brumfield outside of Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

LSU officials insisted the guys were just messin' around.

But, one thing's for sure ... if Fournette threatens to beat your ass, he's willing to back it up.

Halle Berry and Cris Cyborg's friendship is gettin' serious ... 'cause the two had a "girls' night out" Saturday -- watching a fellow female DOMINATE a major boxing match!!!

The odd couple has been kickin' it quite a bit recently -- just a few weeks ago they were in Cyborg's gym in Huntington Beach for an MMA training sesh.

But, this weekend, they took things to the next level -- watching Claressa Shields beat the daylights out of Femke Hermans during the final HBO boxing event Saturday at the StubHub Center in L.A.

The actress and the UFC superstar had all-access passes (duh, they're very famous) ... and they even posed with Shields after the ass-whooping.

"#GirlsNightOut," Cyborg wrote on social media ... "thank you @claressashields and @halleberry for making the last @hboboxing event such an incredible night of memories!"

Added Halle, "Congrats on your win @claressashields ... and thanks @criscyborg for the invite!"

The two have become good friends recently -- seems Halle has turned to Cyborg for some MMA training for her roles in 'John Wick 3' and "Bruised."

As for Cyborg ... she's got a huge match against Amanda Nunes coming up at UFC 232 on December 29 -- and it can't hurt having Halle Berry in your corner for that!!!