TMZ Sports - Page 50

Matt Barnes just got a massive reduction in how much he'll have to pay Gloria Govan in child support for their twin boys.

Barnes -- who was paying Govan $20,000 a month -- will now have to pay just $7,500 per month. The two have 10-year-old twins, Carter and Isaiah together ... so it works out to $3,750 per kid.

The reduction comes on the heels of Barnes getting awarded sole legal and physical custody of the twins last month ... and an 18-month restraining order against Govan.

TMZ previously reported, Gloria was arrested the Friday before Labor Day after Matt claimed she put the lives of their twin boys at risk by allegedly flying into a rage in her car, blocking Matt and the kids from driving away from their school.

LeBron James just settled the G.O.A.T. debate, at least the way he sees it ... claiming the crown for himself thanks to the Cavaliers win against the Golden State Warriors for the 2016 NBA Championship.

James was chatting with a couple buddies on "More Than An Athlete" Sunday when the GS series came up. Without hesitation, LeBron says he knew winning that series made him the greatest player of all time.

You'll remember, LeBron's Cavaliers found themselves in a 3-1 hole that year and battled back to win it all in Game 7. LeBron burst into tears at the buzzer when celebrating with his teammates.

Warrick Dunn says the NFL missed a huge opportunity by picking Travis Scott for its Super Bowl halftime show ... saying it shoulda been an Atlanta artist instead.

The former Falcons RB tells TMZ Sports he's got no issues with the "SICKO MODE" rapper ... but says an ATL legend could have had a much bigger impact during the SB show.

"Atlanta has its own unique feel," Dunn says.

Warrick tells us the plan from the start shoulda been to have Outkast be the headliner -- with other ATL music legends like T.I. and Jermaine Dupri joining them on stage.

"You show them the flavor of the history of all the great music that was produced that helped propel young careers today."

Dunn added that show could have "Showed America what really good music could be."

Floyd Mayweather's fight with Tenshin Nasukawa is a complete joke and is nothing but a money grab ... so says Bob Arum, who RIPPED Floyd for even taking the fight.

"It is a non-event. It is not a sporting event," Bob tells TMZ Sports.

Arum was out at Craig's this week when he made sure to stop for our photog, to crap all over Mayweather's highly-anticipated New Year's Eve exhibition in Japan.

"That's pretty much a joke, isn't it? I think so. I think so. Because, it's not a real fight ... the people who are watching that nonsense are pretty well jerks."

In fact ... Bob tells us he thinks the ONLY reason the tilt is going down is 'cause Mayweather straight-up NEEDS the cash!!

"He needs money for Christmas and the New Year, and this is a good way for him to make some money. God knows Floyd always needs money!"

Khabib's manager tells TMZ Sports Floyd Mayweather has been texting him CONSTANTLY ... saying the boxing legend has been "begging" for a fight with Nurmagomedov!!!

"Me and him have been texting each other for the last month," Ali Abdelaziz says ... "He's very much begging for the fight."

Of course, the potential tilt has been talked about for months -- ever since Khabib and Ali called out the boxer after beating Conor McGregor back in October.

But ... seems Floyd is getting deadly serious about putting pen to paper on a contract for the scrap -- 'cause Ali says he's been blowing up his phone.

"If he say he did not, I'm going to put everything online. Don't lie, Floyd! Do not lie, Floyd!"

The holdup on Ali's end?? The money ... 'cause Abdelaziz tells us, "At the end of the day, if he want it, the fight is here. I like this fight. But, he has to come a little bit better. He knows what I'm talking about."

Post Malone is out here rapping Cowboys victories into existence -- and with a crazy win over the Giants, he celebrated in the best way possible ... making the other guy wear your team's gear.

The Texas native was at the Cowboys/Giants game Sunday in NY, where he was surrounded by Giants fans ... one of whom we're told he made a bet with. It was simple -- if my Cowboys win, ya gotta rock my Cowboys jacket. Well, they won all right ... in epic fashion.

With just about a minute left, Dak Prescott threw what you might call a Hail Mary down the field to Cole Beasley, who made an incredible catch in the end zone. At first, it looked like he was out of bounds and the pass was incomplete, but upon further review ... it was ruled a TD.

The Cowboys made a two-point conversion after that and went on to win it 36-35. Post, of course, was ecstatic ... and, of course, followed up on the bet by making the Giants fan put on his Dallas coat. In this clip, obtained by TMZ, you can see the guy was a good sport.

What's even crazier ... Post rapped about this exact same scenario happening in his new single, "Wow." ... almost down to a tee.

Remember when Mark Wahlberg bet big money on the Cleveland Browns to win 6 games this season, and everyone laughed in his face??

Welp ... ya should've listened to the man, 'cause the movie star is lookin' like a damn genius now that Baker Mayfield and co. have secured 7 wins this season!!

Of course ... when we spoke with Marky Mark back in July, the Orange and Brown were coming off an 0-16 season, and still had Hue Jackson as head coach at the time, so 6 wins seemed nearly impossible.

But, Wahlberg's faith in the rookie QB paid off big ... and although he never revealed just how much he wagered, you know he ain't wasting his time with small bets.

At the time, Wahlberg told us he made 2 other big NFL bets -- picking both the Eagles and Patriots to get back to the Super Bowl ... and both of those bets are still alive!

Antonio Gates ain't sure he wants to hang up his cleats after this season ... 'cause the Chargers legend tells TMZ Sports he's having way too much fun to quit football!!!

A.G.'s 38 years old and it's clear he's WAY past his prime ... but when we got the tight end out in Bev Hills -- he says he's not ruling out playing another season in 2019.

"I'm having a lot of fun now. More fun than I had in my whole career to be honest with you."

It's interesting ... considering Gates has just 28 catches and 2 touchdowns this season -- but the Chargers are 11-4 and do still have a shot at the AFC's No. 1 seed.

Sounds like all that winning has Gates -- who nearly retired before THIS season -- thinking about playing another year with Philip Rivers -- even if he ain't ballin' like he used to.

"Right now, I'm just enjoying the moment, man. We in the postseason, we got a chance to the playoffs and win the championship. And, after that, I'll just see how it goes."

Andrew Berto says Tenshin Nasukawa has a huge chance ... the chance to ruin Floyd Mayweather's legacy FOREVER, all he's gotta do is go in there and beat Floyd.

Mayweather is 50-0 and has beaten everyone from Canelo Alvarez to Oscar De La Hoya ... but, according to Berto, that all goes out the window if he loses his December 31 exhibition match with Tenshin.

"It would tarnish it for sure. You cant be 50-0 fighting some of the best fighters in the world then get knocked out by some kid."

Berto faced off against Mayweather back in 2015, and says the chances that Tenshin gets the upset in Tokyo are SLIM ... but sees one strategy he can use to pull off the upset.

"Go in there and try to knock his head off, and if you throw a kick ... f**k it."

It's going down in a couple days, 3 3-minute rounds for an eight figure payday, a lot of fun, and maybe Floyd's reputation ... could it happen?

They were teammates and roommates ... but now MMA rising star Kayla Harrison says she's gunning to take Ronda Rousey's place as the greatest female fighter of all time.

"Ronda always used to call us 'Frenemies,'" Harrison tells TMZ Sports ... "I've always kinda had a chip on my shoulder. Like, anything Ronda could do, I could do better."

"She's always sorta been my motivation behind the scenes."

Kayla trained with Ronda every day for 7 years back when they were coming up in the judo world together ... but says they're very different people.

Harrison won 2 gold medals in her Olympic judo career -- one in 2012 and another in 2016. Now, the 28-year-old is focused on destroying people in MMA.

"I want to be the best fighter in the world. I want to go down in history as one of the most dominant female combat athletes there ever was."

Kayla is 2-0 as a pro MMA fighter, and takes on Moriel Charneski at the PFL 2018 World Championship on New Year's Eve at Madison Square Garden.

As for her next opponent, Kayla's manager Ali Abdelaziz says he's got his sights set on Cris Cyborg.

A Notre Dame fan became a human perch at the Cotton Bowl Classic after a bald eagle swooped down and landed on his shoulder.

The incredible (and probably incredibly painful) moment went down Saturday ahead of the Fighting Irish's game against the Clemson Tigers at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Sports Illustrated writer Ross Dellenger caught the landing on camera.

Somewhat surprisingly, the fan was able to keep his composure as the bird stood on him for nearly 20 seconds. It flapped its wings a bit as people whipped out their phones to take pictures, and the guy kinda seemed more giddy than terrified in the moment.

The eagle eventually flew away ... and obviously left the crowd wowed by its close encounter. For the record ... an adult bald eagle's talons can exert a force of up to 400 pounds of pressure per square inch when hunting. They're also really, really sharp.

Roy Jones Jr. says a new deal he inked with UFC to stream his boxing events won't just benefit his own sport -- it'll elevate UFC as well ... and it might make a potential fight between himself and Anderson Silva that much more likely to happen.

We got the 6-time boxing champ at LAX Friday on the heels of a joint announcement Roy and Dana White rolled out just hours earlier -- UFC Fight Pass will stream up to 72 pro boxing events put on by Roy Jones Jr.'s Boxing Promotions company ... for 3 years!

Roy certainly seems jazzed about the news, telling us it's a partnership that he and his pal, Dana, have been circling for a while ... but only took about a month or so to hammer out on paper once everything was in place. He says it's a win-win for both sports.

Now for the juicy part ... we ask if he still thinks he'll get in the ring one last time to fight Spider himself, as he'd previously expressed interest in doing this past January.

Check out his response ... sounds like he's still waiting on DW to sign off, but ya gotta think this new contract can only help the cause.

Bebe Rexha is calling out a married football player in a big way ... telling him to stop hitting on her.

Bebe doesn't say if he's an NFL player, but the intimation is certainly there -- she says he has an obligation to be a role model, so presumably he's somewhat famous.

The singer posted, "Do you ever have that one guy that always comes in and out of your life ... And they are cheaters waste your time." This makes it sound like she's hooked up with him before.

Bebe makes it clear the guy has a family -- a wife and 3 kids. She says he texted her, "When will I see you my friend!" ... to which she responded, "I'll be performing on new Year's Eve. On NBC. Happy New Year's my friend."

Apparently the NFL player asked when he could see her again in person, and she said, "I'll be performing in San Jose in January."

Short story ... she's one step from naming the guy if he doesn't back off. We're guessing he got the message.

The brutal decision wrestler Andrew Johnson was forced to make didn't have to end the way it did, because dreadlocks can be reattached ... but not in his case, because we've learned all the hair that was cut off was thrown in a dumpster.

Fact is ... dreadlocks can be reattached in a number of ways. It's a process that typically takes a few months to complete, but it's doable. Dreads can be fused together, even after some are cut off.

We're told almost immediately after the referee for Andrew's wrestling match gave him the impossible ultimatum, the dreads were swept up -- no questions asked -- and thrown in the trash.

Sources connected to Johnson's family tell TMZ, Andrew has done nothing with his hair since it was butchered at the meet. He's gotten a bunch of offers from various hair care professionals, but so far he's made no decisions.

As we reported, Andrew and his family have not decided whether to pursue legal action against the referee or the school. They're waiting for the results of the investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General's Division on Civil Rights.

Even the President of the United States has issues with his cable provider ...

Donald Trump has a bone to pick with DirecTV -- after he ordered a UFC fight back in July ... but didn't get to see how it ended.

According to Dana White, Trump REALLY wanted to see UFC 226 -- Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic -- and ponied up the $65 to order the pay-per-view on DirecTV.

But, Dana says some "Presidential stuff" went down during the July 7 event, and Trump had to step away from his TV.

A few days later, when Trump finally got some free time to finish the fight -- White says the fight was already gone from his DVR ... and he couldn't watch the end on demand.

"So, he said, 'If I paid for the fight, shouldn't I get to watch the rest of the fight whenever I'm ready to watch it again?'"

Dana says he sees Trump's point and thinks POTUS is probably right ... but it's a beef the President needs to settle with DirecTV.

Of course, Dana and Trump are longtime friends -- with Dana even giving a speech for Donald at the Republican National Convention back in 2016.

Daniel Cormier is proving why he's the champ in AND out the Octagon -- the UFC star footed a $300 dinner bill for a woman who's battling Stage 4 cancer.

Pete Guzman and his mom, Rosario, were eating dinner at Sapporo Japanese restaurant in Monterey, CA on Thursday when in walks his favorite MMA fighter, Daniel Cormier.

Cormier was with his own family -- and, as fate would have it, they were seated with Pete and Rosario at the hibachi table.

Pete tells TMZ Sports ... Cormier and his fam couldn't have been nicer people. They had a great conversation and even posed for pics afterward.

And, since it was Rosario's birthday, the Cormiers busted out their singing voices for a rendition of "Happy Birthday."

When the time came to pay the check, the wait staff told Pete and Rosario their bill had already been covered ... by the reigning UFC heavyweight champion of the world!

"My mom was loving every second of it," Pete tells us.

Oh, and get this ... Pete says Cormier didn't know Rosario was battling stage 4 cancer (she never mentioned it at the table). But, the gesture provided so much happiness during this difficult time.

To top it all off ... Cormier even gave Rosario a handwritten birthday wish and autograph!!

C'mon ... even Jon Jones has to give Cormier props for this one!!!!