TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ex-NBA player Royce White says he's already taken real steps to make his UFC dream come true -- telling TMZ Sports he's reached out to Dana White's team in the hopes of getting a real fight in the Octagon.

We spoke with the 6'8", 260-pounder to find out how he's transitioning from the court to the mat -- and why the 28-year-old believes he can be dominant.

"One thing I am is a supreme athlete, one of the best athletes in the world," White says.

"And, not just because I was drafted int the NBA or because I'm a good basketball player. But because, even for a basketball player, I was one of the most athletic, unique, talented, skilled, composed, skilled athletes in that realm."

Royce also says when it comes to throwing punches, he has an advantage over virtually every person who's ever stepped in the cage.

"I have one of the top 10 biggest sets of hands in the history of the NBA."

That fact checks out -- look it up.

As we previously reported, White was balling out in Canada -- but believes he can be a great MMA fighter and he's already been training with a top MMA coach out in Minnesota.

White says his goal is to become the UFC heavyweight champ -- and he knows he's got his work cut out for him ... with fighters like Brock Lesnar, Daniel Cormier, Stipe Miocic and maybe Jon Jones looking to stand in his way.

G.O.A.T. vs. G.O.A.T?!?!?

It's possible ... with MMA legend Demetrious Johnson telling TMZ Sports he's down for a 3-round boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

First off, DJ says Floyd is the one guy he would NEVER bet against in a fight -- "because he's just that good."

So, the respect is there.

But, now that Floyd's in the exhibition business -- where he's taking 3-round fights in Japan for roughly $10 mil-a-pop -- would Johnson be interested in testing his boxing skills against the best ever?

"Absolutely, I'll step in there and fight Floyd," 32-year-old Johnson said ... "3 rounds? Just boxing? I'll do that. It'll be fun! I feel like I'll do fine."

And, this isn't one of those hypothetical matchups either -- because as Johnson put it, "I think for Floyd Mayweather if it makes money sense, I think he would do anything."

Mayweather has already proven to be a big draw in Asia -- and with Johnson now fighting in Japan, his popularity is expected to skyrocket there too.

And, if DJ wins his March 31 fight against Yuya Wakamatsu at "ONE Championship: A New Era" -- it'll only help to create interest.

Shareef O'Neal is ALMOST ready to hit the hardwood again ... the UCLA star tells TMZ Sports he's just a month and a half away from a return to the court!!!

"I feel great," he says.

Shareef underwent heart surgery to correct an irregularity back in December ... and his post-op pictures showed just how serious the procedure really was.

But, when we got the 19-year-old leaving Staples Center on Wednesday night ... he was in good spirits -- and tells us his first workouts since the operation are just DAYS away.

In fact, Shareef says Shaq will play a BIG role in his gameplan for a return to the Bruins when he's cleared, telling us his pops, "knows basketball."

Ya think?!

Shareef was an elite prospect coming out of Crossroads H.S. in Santa Monica ... and he famously flipped his commitment from Arizona to UCLA late in his recruiting process.

The power forward was expected to be a key piece of the Bruins this season ... but his heart surgery sidelined him for his entire freshman season.

You're probably not reading this because you're still staring at Sage Northcutt and Eddie Alvarez's irresistible washboard abs ... so, we'll wait.

...

...

... Okay, ready?

HOLY CRAP, LOOK AT THESE GUYS!!! Sage and Eddie were out promoting ONE Championship in L.A. earlier this week ... when our camera guy was thirsty for some 6-packs.

The fighters happily oblige to show off their hard-earned bods ... but when we tried to pin them up against each other for an epic ab-off, say "new vs. experienced" ... they refused.

So, we'll take matters into our own hands -- on your left, you have the 23-year-old Northcutt (new) ... and on the right, you have the 35-year-old Underground King (experienced).

Check out what each guy has to say about each other (they're too damn nice for their own good).

WHO HAS THE BEST ABS!?!?! WE MUST KNOW.

6:00 PM PT -- Coach Williams did not return to the game in the second half, but school officials reportedly said he was feeling better after another bout with vertigo. UNC won the game, 81-79.

Scary moment in Saturday's College Basketball matchup between North Carolina and Clemson -- UNC's coach Roy Williams collapsed in front of his team's bench.

Williams went down to a knee with just a little under a minute left in the first half and had to be helped to the Carolina locker room. It's unclear what happened, but one of the announcers mentions he has a history of battling vertigo.

The UNC hoops' Twitter account also said he had a vertigo attack, and it's unclear if he'll return to the game.

The Clemson crowd cheered for Roy as he raised his hand as he was helped off the court ... but he appeared to be walking under his own power. Hopefully he's okay.

Khloe Kardashian's had a change of heart, because now she's saying Jordyn Woods should not be blamed for breaking up her family ... this is Tristan Thompson's doing.

Khloe just posted a series of tweets starting with, "This has been an awful week & I know everyone is sick of hearing about it all (as am I). I’m a rollercoaster of emotions & have said things I shouldn’t have."

She then adds this has been very painful because she was hurt by someone close to her who she loves and treats like a little sister -- Jordyn -- but ultimately ... this is all Tristan's fault.

It's interesting ... Khloe adds even though she was humiliated by Tristan cheating on her -- it wasn't as much of a shock this time around.

Now she says it's time for her to move on and count her blessings -- "my family, my health, & my beautiful baby True."

This is a near 180 from Friday when Khloe quickly called BS on Jordyn's story on "'Red Table Talk" and accused her of being a liar and home-wrecker. Jordyn admitted she shouldn't have gone to Thompson's house party, but claimed she didn't really cheat with him ... there was just a friendly goodbye kiss with zero passion.

Khloe later said they were equally to blame.

Kevin Garnett's divorce is not going to come cheap ... if his estranged wife gets what she feels she's due.

According to new legal docs ... Brandi Garnett is seeking $146,000 per month in spousal support, plus another $46k monthly in child support for their 2 daughters -- ages 10 and 6. Brandi says she has the girls 95 percent of the time.

Do the math ... and that's more than $2.3 million per year. Brandi says that's fair, though, because she claims KG's still hauling in at least $5 mil a year ... on top of having earned more than $300 mil in his NBA career.

Brandi's also asking for $300k in attorney fees immediately to cover the cost of the divorce proceedings so far and estimated future costs to hammer out an agreement.

There's more -- according to the docs, Brandi's requesting an additional $25k to retain counsel in another financial matter involving Kevin allegedly getting swindled out of $77 MILLION. As we reported, KG claims his former accountant worked with a crooked wealth manager to steal a fortune from him over several years.

Brandi filed for divorce from Kevin in July after 14 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Jon Jones says he's gunning to fight 4 TIMES in 2019 -- and wants to keep that pace as long as he can -- telling TMZ Sports he's already got some high-profile opponents in mind.

Israel Adesanya. Johnny Walker. Thiago Santos.

Yeah, Jones says he's down to fight 'em all ... right after he takes care of Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on Saturday.

Of course, people have been comparing Israel Adesanya to Jones ... saying the 29-year-old has a similar physique, fight style and fight IQ.

Jon's clearly aware of all the talk out there and says he's "got a feeling me and him will eventually fight each other."

"I'd be excited for that challenge."

Israel is on a pretty impressive run of his own -- he's 16-0 -- with big wins over guys like Anderson Silva, Derek Brunson and Brad Tavares.

He's also on track to fight Kelvin Gastelum for the UFC interim middleweight title at UFC 236 on April 13.

As for Johnny Walker, he's on an 8-fight win streak and has been creating all sorts of buzz for himself after a big victory over Justin Ledet at UFC Fight Night on February 2.

"My job is to knock 'em down as they come," Jones tells TMZ Sports ... "My job is just to be like a brick wall."

Jones says he feels bad for missing so much time due to outside-the-Octagon issues -- and wants to repay the fans by fighting as much as possible over the next few years ... 3 to 4 fights a year.

Seems ex-NHL star Petr Nedved is enjoying retirement ...

The 47-year-old hit the beach in South Florida on Friday with his smokin' hot model girlfriend, Nicole Volfova ... who (shocker) looks pretty good in a bikini.

Nedved -- the 2nd overall pick in the 1990 NHL Draft -- is in pretty good shape himself ... considering he last played in the NHL back in 2007.

Nedved played 15 seasons in the NHL -- most famously spending time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers.

He also won a silver medal with Team Canada at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Dude enjoys models -- he used to be married to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition model Veronika Varekova back in the early 2000s ... but they split in 2006.

His new girlfriend is 23 years old and like Petr, she hails from the Czech Republic.

Who better to promote butt wipes than a guy named Cory "Poop" Johnson?!

That's what the guys at Dude Wipes thought -- and reached out to the Canadian Football League player to help push their personal hygiene line.

Of course, Poop -- a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts -- got his legendary nickname after a famous interview during his college days at Kentucky, where he admitted he poops like 5 times a day.

"I try to poop, like, 5 times a day, 3 times a day. It’s hard to keep weight when you’ve got so much going out," Johnson said at the time.

Enter, the guys at Dude Wipes -- which burst onto the scene after an appearance on "Shark Tank" where Mark Cuban made a $300k investment for 25% of the company!!!

We're told the Dude Wipes guys sent Poop a bunch of free products -- you can see the pics -- and the assumption is they'd like to have some sort of business relationship moving forward.

It's not a bad investment for Dude Wipes -- the 26-year-old is a pretty solid player with the potential to make the jump to the NFL if he balls out in Canada.

And, now that he doesn't have to worry about how to keep his booty hole clean, he can spend more time crapping all over quarterbacks.

Colin Kaepernick's ex-teammate, Brandon Marshall, says he views CK's settlement with the NFL as a victory for the QB ... explaining, "It showed that he had some good evidence."

Remember, Brandon -- who played college football with Kap at Nevada -- was one of the first players to take a knee and join in Colin's protest to put a spotlight on police violence against minorities.

While the terms of Kap's settlement with the NFL have not been made public, there are reports he got somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 mil ... and Marshall says that makes him "extremely happy."

"The fact that [the NFL] settled showed that [Kaepernick] had some good evidence. Whatever the outcome, I feel like Kap came out on top, so I'm happy for him."

Marshall says he knows Kaepernick still wants to play in the NFL -- and hopes teams can "let bygones be bygones and let him play quarterback."

Brandon says Kap is one of the hardest working guys he's ever met -- and he's confident he can still play at a high-level for a bunch of NFL teams.

Cleveland's already cold as hell ... and Jermaine Whitehead ain't helping, 'cause the Browns safety just dropped a big chunk of dough on some new ICE ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The ex-Auburn Tigers star is staying busy in the off-season ... adding 3 shiny new additions to his jewelry collection.

We're told JW hit up Luxe Jewelers in ATL for the job ... and this is all he copped --

Smaller tennis chain 10kt gold 19.50ct diamond -- $20k
Bigger tennis chain 10kt gold 30.00ct Diamonds -- $47k
Pendant 14kt 4.90ct round and Baguette Diamonds -- $12k

Add all that up ... and you got a $79,000 haul!!!

We're told each piece is one-of-a-kind specifically made for Whitehead ... and he LOVES the end product.

7:30 PM PT -- Larry Baer has released a new statement ... saying, “I am truly sorry for the pain that I have brought to my wife, children and to the organization. It is not reflective of the kind of a person that I aspire to be, but it happened and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that I never behave in such an inappropriate manner again.”

Pam Baer also released a 2nd statement ... saying, “I would like to clarify the events of today. My husband and I had an argument in public about which we are quite embarrassed."

"I took his cellphone. He wanted it back and I did not want to give it back. I started to get up and the chair I was sitting in began to tip. Due to an injury I sustained in my foot three days ago, I lost my balance. I did not sustain any injury based on what happened today. Larry and I always have been and still are happily married.”

2:36 PM PT -- MLB released a statement addressing the incident involving Baer ... saying, “Major League Baseball is aware of the incident and, just like any other situation like this, will immediately begin to gather the facts. We will have no further comment until this process is completed.”

2:09 PM PT -- Police are currently interviewing witnesses, including the person who shot the video, and are investigating the incident, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

1:47 PM PT -- Baer spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle about the incident ... saying, "My wife and I had an unfortunate public argument related to a family member & she had an injured foot and she fell off her chair in the course of the argument."

"The matter is resolved. It was a squabble over a cell phone. Obviously it’s embarrassing.”

San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer was involved in a physical altercation with his wife at a public park Friday ... with his wife screaming as he knocks her to the ground -- and it was all captured on video.

Multiple people witnessed Baer and his wife, Pam, in a loud verbal argument around noon on Friday at a park in San Fran. At one point, Larry was trying to pry a cell phone out of Pam's hands, which she clearly did not want to give up.

During the struggle, Larry knocks Pam out of her chair and onto the ground -- you can hear her screaming, "Oh my god. Help!"

You can see Baer walking away from the altercation with the phone in his hand -- while telling his wife, "Stop. Pam, stop."

Pam continues to repeat, "Oh my god. Oh my god."

In between video clips, the person who shot the footage tells us he got involved and helped break up the altercation. Another witness corroborated that.

Witnesses tell us police were not called to the scene. Unclear if they were contacted after the altercation. We're reaching out.

We spoke with Pam on the phone who told us, "We were having a family fight about someone in my family and that's it."

We've also reached out to Baer's camp for comment. So far, no word back.

Baer has been involved with the Giants organization for decades. He was named chief operating officer in May 1996, team president in October 2008 and CEO on January 1, 2012.

According to the Giants website, Baer and Pam co-chaired the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation Campaign Committee in support of the new hospital, which opened in 2016 as Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

The couple has 4 children together.

Originally published -- 03/01/19 1:03 PM PST.

Wanna see a ridiculous farmer's tan???

Good ... 'cause PGA Tour pro Drew Nesbitt stripped down for a golf shot Friday -- and dude has CLEARLY spent way too much time in the sun with his shirt on.

The partial nudity all went down on the Par-4, 6th hole of this week's Honda Classic in Florida ... when Nesbitt's drive off the tee leaked left and tumbled into the water.

Fortunately for Drew -- and fans of farmer's tans everywhere -- his ball was still technically in play ... so he ditched his shirt, rolled up his pants and smacked it outta the water.

The shot ended up pretty good ... and Drew was able to save par.

The whole ordeal actually ended up being worth it for Nesbitt ... the clutch water save helped him make this weekend's cut -- so he's got two more rounds of golf to play this weekend.

Camille Kostek won't be hard to spot in Mexico this weekend ... 'cause Rob Gronkowski's insanely attractive girlfriend is rockin' a neon yellow bikini ... and TMZ Sports has the pics!!

The NFL superstar and S.I. Swimsuit model are hangin' in Cabo San Lucas with friends Eric and Jessie James Decker ... and although it's only been a short time, there's already tons of heat.

Camille posted a pic of her bikini of choice -- it's highlighter yellow and brilliant --- and this time around, Gronk got his own matching trunks!!

Of course, the couple is known for posting sexy pics together wherever they go -- who can forget their awesome trip to Jamaica last year for Camille's birthday?!

It's great to see the couple keeping their tradition alive in Cabo ... and (fingers crossed) we'll get a shot of the foursome together here soon.

Gronk is coming off a Super Bowl win and Camille will be in the next SI Swim issue dropping in May ... so it's tough to argue against these 2 being the hottest couple out there right now.

9:30 AM PT -- Khloe's not buying Jordyn's story for a second. She just tweeted, "Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you're going to try and save yourself by going public ... at least be HONEST about your story." She's also fully blaming Jordyn for the break-up with Tristan.

Jordyn Woods is telling her side of the Tristan Thompson cheating scandal, telling Jada Pinkett Smith ... everyone has the wrong idea about what went down.

As you know, Kylie Jenner's former BFF spilled the beans while recording 'Red Table Talk' earlier this week, and the episode just dropped on Facebook.

Jordyn admits she shouldn't have gone to Tristan's house party where the alleged cheating went down -- but denies making out with him. Her version of the story is she did sit next to him and drape her legs over him while sitting on a chair. She describes it as innocent fun.

As for the "kiss" ... she says the only lip-to-lip contact came as she was leaving his house early the next morning. She says Tristan kissed her on the lips, but says there was zero passion.

TMZ broke the story ... Jordyn was accused of making out with Tristan Thompson over Valentine's Day weekend, and the saga has been spiraling ever since. She's been ousted from the Kardashian family business, and recently moved out of Kylie's guest house.

On top of all that, Jordyn's facing potential legal repercussions from the Kardashians if she violated an NDA with what she says to Jada. So, we know the Kardashians and their lawyers are watching this closely.

We know why Jordyn ran to Jada and co. to tell her side of the story ... she's close with the Smiths, and thought they'd be able to give her a fair shake.

As for Khloe and Tristan ... they've both been relatively quiet about the latest cheating scandal. There's no telling how they'll react after seeing Jordyn speak her piece.