TMZ Sports - Page 50

Rener Gracie is MMA royalty -- a member of the legendary Gracie family which created Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

But, he's also a fashion designer -- and he tells TMZ Sports his business went CRAZY a few weeks ago when he made a deal on "Shark Tank."

Rener is the creator of Quikflip -- which started as a hoodie that transforms into a wearable backpack.

The 35-year-old martial artist was a hit on "Shark Tank" -- and ended up making a $500,000 deal with Lori Grenier.

Now, Rener says the exposure from the show has resulted in a MASSIVE sales increase -- and coupled with his new famous and powerful business partner, he's ready to take over.

After weeks of issuing "no comment" statements regarding Tyreek Hill's criminal child abuse investigation ... prosecutors are now saying there is NO ongoing probe into the Chiefs star.

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced back on April 24 that after weeks of investigating child abuse accusations, he could not charge Hill or his fiance, Crystal Espinal, with a crime.

Then, after disturbing audio -- which appeared to show Hill and his fiance arguing over their son's injuries -- leaked a day later ... KCTV (which had been leading the Hill coverage) said the DA had re-opened its investigation.

Several attempts to confirm those reports with Howe and his office were met with, "We have no comment at this time," responses.

But now, Howe appears to be saying prosecutors NEVER reopened the probe, telling The Kansas City Star, "It is not an active investigation,” and adding that comments he made at his April 24 news conference "still hold true."

It's big news for Hill -- as the Kansas City Chiefs only decided to suspend Tyreek after reports said the criminal investigation had been reopened after the audio files leaked.

In fact, head coach Andy Reid himself appeared to be under the impression the investigation was reopened, telling that to reporters at a pre-draft press conference in April.

But, it appears that was never the case, with Hill's attorney, Trey Pettlon, telling the K.C. Star, "It’s my understanding the criminal investigation has been closed for quite some time now."

"And obviously there’s been some misinformation about that, but it is closed.”

As for Hill's future, he still has an active case ongoing with the Kansas Department for Children and Families ... and Roger Goodell says he is still waiting to interview the WR over the allegations.

Brian France -- the former CEO of NASCAR -- just pled guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving stemming from an August 2018 arrest in the Hamptons ... TMZ Sports has learned.

France, 56, was pulled over on August 5, 2018 in Sag Harbor, NY -- and during the stop, cops say he bombed a field sobriety test and later blew a .18 on the breathalyzer ... more than twice the legal limit.

According to the police report, cops say they also found oxycodone pain pills. To make matters worse, we're told France name-dropped President Trump during the arrest in an effort to skate on the charges.

Now, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office says France has pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor DUI and in exchange, he got 100 hours of community service and must complete an alcohol education course before June 5, 2020.

If he completes the terms of his plea deal, prosecutors will allow France to withdraw his guilty plea and reduce the charge to a traffic violation.

France was originally charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance, aggravated DWI and DWI, and was facing up to a year in jail for each charge.

France was the CEO of NASCAR at the time of the arrest -- a role he held for 15 years -- but took a leave of absence following the incident and later stepped down. Brian's uncle, Jim France, is currently serving as Chairman and CEO of NASCAR.

The late H. Wayne Huizenga's incredible Florida mansion has a new owner ... and the lucky buyer got it for a bargain -- $16.02 MILLION!!!

Huizenga -- who was worth more than $ 2.8 BILLION -- died in March 2018 at the age of 80. Besides owning the Miami Dolphins, Marlins and Florida Panthers, he also founded Blockbuster Video and Waste Management. Dude was RICH!!!

During his life, Huizenga bought up this amazing 20,653-square foot waterfront pad in Fort Lauderdale ... which boasts 10-bedrooms, a home gym, workshop, theater, billiards room and a kitchen with a pizza oven.

Oh, and there's also enough dock space to park your 135-ft mega-yacht ... right near the infinity pool which contains its own BELLTOWER!!!

Huizinga's estate previously listed the place for $27 million ... but they were clearly motivated to sell, and later put it up for auction where it sold on June 5th for a cool $16 MIL.

So, who's the highest bidder? Turns out the new owner is Charles E. West, Jr. -- the founder of Pet Supermarket.

Beyonce's publicist is calling for Bey's insanely faithful followers to fall back ... and stop harassing and threatening people like the wife of the Golden State Warriors owner.

Yvette Noel-Schure responded to the Beyhive's hateful Instagram bullying of Nicole Curran by reminding them of better times. Attempting to silence the buzz, she posted a #tbt photo of Bey and Jay-Z from their last tour, and then lectured them about spewing hate in their queen's name.

Yvette reminded the hive the On the Run II Tour "was a place of joy, unimaginable entertainment from two of the best performers in the world, and a place of love." Nice, calming touch.

Then she went in ... "I know your love runs deep but that love has to be given to every human. It will bring no joy to the person you love so much if you spew hate in her name. We love you."

As we reported ... the hounding of Nicole began after a TV camera showed her leaning over Beyonce to talk to Jay-Z. The moment went viral due to the perceived side-eye from Bey.

Curran tried to clear things up and pled for everyone to "help and support each other," but the Beyhive was so relentless she deactivated her Instagram account, saying the barrage of insults and cyberbullying also included death threats.

All this, Curran says, because she was asking Jay what he wanted to drink and leaned closer because she couldn't hear him.

The Dunking Deutschman is goin' American ... 'cause Dirk Nowitzki has officially started the process to become a U.S. citizen!!!

The recently retired 40-year-old Dallas Mavericks superstar and his Swedish wife, Jessica Olsson, are working on getting their green cards together ... which is the first step in a VERY long process to becoming a citizen.

"So once we accomplish that, then you have to be a green-card holder for, I think, over five years before you can even think about doing that [becoming a U.S. citizen]," Dirk told the Dallas Morning News.

"So we're going to do that and see how it goes. But obviously our [three] kids were born here and they all have U.S. passports and the wifey and I have been on a visa for the last few years. So hopefully that's going to be accomplished soon."

According to the Dept. of Homeland Security, Dirk's right ... he can apply for full citizenship 5 years to the day of obtaining his green card.

Dirk has previously said he won't give up his German citizenship -- the goal is to be a dual-citizen.

"But we're living here [in Dallas]," Nowitzki told DMN ... "This is where life is. We're going to continue to travel a lot in the summers, but once the school year starts, my oldest [daughter Malaika] is going into first grade next year."

Dirk and his wife won't be able to vote or hold a U.S. passport until they become official citizens in 5 years -- but they're not worried.

Until then, Nowitzki will fill his days eating ice cream and chilling with his family.

Deadpool, Batman, Spider-Man and Jesus all walk onto a plane ...

No, this ain't the start of the next 'Avengers' movie ... it's the Pittsburgh Pirates' epic costume party on Thursday!!!

The Buccos beat the snot out of the Braves in Pittsburgh in the morning ... and to celebrate -- they threw on their best outfits and hit the airport for their road trip to Milwaukee.

The guys really went all out ... MVP candidate Josh Bell made a hell of a Batman, shortstop Cole Tucker really loved his Frozone costume -- and pitcher Richard Rodriguez dressed up as Jesus.

A bunch of the starting pitchers -- including ace Chris Archer -- went with Ninja Turtles ... and catcher Elias Diaz was a stunning plus-sized Power Ranger.

The winner of the day (besides the Pirates, who are now just 4 games back of the Cubs in the NL Central) ... outfielder Gregory Polanco -- who had an Avatar costume complete with a tail!!!!

Conor McGregor WILL make his return to the Octagon in 2019 -- despite that whole "retirement" thing -- this according to Dana White.

"Conor is a competitor, man. He loves to fight. This is his passion in life," White tells TMZ Sports.

So, who's the opponent?? That's the tricky part.

Dana says he wants to see how the fights at UFC 238 this weekend shake out before announcing an opponent for Conor.

Remember, one of the most important fights of the weekend is Tony Ferguson vs. Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone ... both of whom want a crack at McGregor.

Dana tells us he knows Conor's goal is to get his rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov ... but Khabib's already committed to fighting Dustin Poirier in September.

"We gotta see how everything plays out," Dana says.

The one thing White would ABSOLUTELY commit to -- Conor will fight in the Octagon before the end of the year.

It's a big deal considering back in March, Conor had said he was retiring from MMA to focus on his whiskey business.

He later said he WOULD fight again if Dana offered him an ownership stake in the UFC -- something Dana has said he simply WILL NOT do.

Tom Brady RAGED Thursday night -- pounding beers, dancing with his teammates and SHOWING OFF HIS 6TH SUPER BOWL RING!!!

The G.O.A.T. -- along with most of his 2018 Patriots teammates -- rolled over to Robert Kraft's mansion on Thursday night for the ring presentation ceremony for winning Super Bowl LIII ... and the party was LIIIT!!!

Even head coach Bill Belichick cracked a smile and flexed a little bit ... showing off his hardware too.

Rob Gronkowski ... you know he turned up -- and the future Hall of Famer was giddy like a kid when he saw the Super Bowl LIII Lombardi Trophy still has that DENT in it from that time he used it for batting practice at Fenway Park!

Josh Gordon was also on hand to get a Super Bowl ring -- despite being suspended for the back end of the season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Before the suspension, Gordon had racked up 40 catches for 720 yards and 3 TDs.

The rings are sick -- each piece contains 422 diamonds, totaling 9.85 carats ... and 20 sapphires representing 20 AFC East Division Championships.

There are also a few sayings engraved into the rings -- including the playoff rally cry," Still Here," and the Patriots team motto, "We Are All Patriots."

Tom and the Patriots famously beat the L.A. Rams 13 to 3 in Super Bowl LIII -- with Julian Edelman winning the Super Bowl MVP award.

As for Robert Kraft, he seemed super happy and unfazed by the other drama in his life ... the ongoing Asian massage parlor prostitution case in Jupiter, Florida.

State prosecutors have appealed the judge's decision to throw out the video evidence in the case ... so it's an uphill battle for officials -- but a great situation for Kraft.

Al Sharpton says NBA teams are 100% right to scrap the "owner" title ... saying the term is historically insensitive and disrespectful to a large number of players and should be gone.

TMZ Sports reported that multiple NBA teams have gone away from calling their majority stakeholders "owners" because some believe the term has a negative connotation.

We got Sharpton in ATL, and he not only tells us he agrees with the move but gives us a history lesson on why the rest of the league should follow suit.

"Many of the NBA players are descendants of people that were enslaved. When we hear the term owner, it's a much different connotation than other people."

There are a lot of people who think the league is being too "woke," saying the word is used solely to describe the person in charge, and the NBA is nitpicking.

Sharpton says those people are wrong, and any league that's 75% black should do it's best to care about what its employees think.

Houston Rockets player P.J. Tucker ain't happy with the NBA's 1-year ban against Golden State Warriors part-owner Mark Stevens ... telling TMZ Sports, "It should be more!"

As we previously reported ... in addition to the 1-year ban, Stevens was also fined $500,000 for pushing Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of the NBA Finals after Lowry dove into the crowd trying to save a loose ball.

Lowry says Stevens also cussed at him several times during the interaction.

Tucker says the NBA's punishment feels very light -- and says everyone should be outraged by Stevens' conduct.

"Don't put your hands on people," Tucker says ... "There's nowhere in the game for that."

Tucker says he's not sure what the punishment SHOULD be ... but noted, "If a player put his hands on a fan, it would be a lot harsher."

TMZ Sports has obtained the 911 call Tyrel Dodson's GF made after the Buffalo Bills rookie allegedly attacked her in Arizona ... and she tells the operator, "He hit me across my face!"

The woman was frantic -- sobbing loudly -- but she eventually composes herself to tell the operator, "My boyfriend, like, hurt me."

She added, "He was hitting me and broke my door!"

As we previously reported ... Dodson was in Arizona with his girlfriend last month when they got into an altercation after he had thrown up on her carpet after a day of drinking.

Dodson's GF says in the 911 call the 6' 2", 240 lb football player "shoved me up against the wall" after she confronted him about the vomit ... and she says she hit him to get him off of her.

That's when she says "he hit me across my face."

The woman also says after she locked herself in her bathroom to keep him away from her ... she says he broke her bathroom door and it hit her in the face, causing a bump on her head.

Dodson's GF -- who also says the linebacker stole $10,000 in cash from her -- refused medical attention from the police.

Dodson was eventually arrested for the incident and charged with 1 domestic violence count, 1 charge of disorderly conduct and 1 charge of damage to property.

For his part, according to the police report, he told cops he never put his hands on her.

The Bills released a statement shortly after his arrest, saying, "We are aware of the incident involving Tyrel Dodson last weekend. We have been looking further into the matter and will continue to gather information as the legal process continues."

Vernon Davis traded his helmet for an apron and tongs -- working the grill at a busy chicken restaurant -- and it was all to raise a whole bunch of money for charity.

The Washington Redskins star tight end hit up Nando's in College Park, Maryland over the weekend ... where he manned the grill and served up spicy PERi-PERi chicken to hungry fans.

We're told Nando's donated 100% of sales -- every cent earned throughout the day -- to Vernon's charity ... the Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts.

The organization's goal ... "promote art education and art appreciation among youth from disadvantaged backgrounds" by hooking up deserving students and organizations with scholarships and grants.

Davis wasn't just walking around shakin' hands ... he was literally cooking AND serving the food.

Oh, and a few Redskins cheerleaders were in the house.

Chicken, charity and cheerleaders!!

2:20 PM PT -- The NBA has handed down Stevens' official punishment -- a 1-year ban effective immediately and $500k fine for "pushing and directing obscene language towards" Lowry during the incident.

1:00 PM PT -- Lowry says Stevens said "go f*** yourself" multiple times during the incident ... and is calling for Stevens to be banned from all NBA games moving forward.

Klay Thompson had a different take ... saying it was an unfortunate incident ... but wants to give Stevens the "benefit of the doubt."

12:20 PM PT -- The NBA has BANNED Golden State Warriors part-owner Mark Stevens from attending NBA games after pushing Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

An NBA spokesperson says Stevens' conduct has "no place in our league."

Unclear how long the ban will last -- but for now, he's persona non grata.

Here's the full statement from the NBA:

"A team representative must be held to the highest possible standard and the conduct of Golden State Warriors investor Mark Stevens last night was beyond unacceptable and has no place in our league."

"As the review of this matter continues, Mr. Stevens will not be permitted to attend NBA games.”

LeBron James is FURIOUS at the Golden State Warriors part-owner who put his hands on Raptors star Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of the NBA Finals ... saying, "Privilege Ain't Welcome Here."

The original incident took place during the 4th quarter -- when Lowry dove into the stands to try and save a loose ball, and Warriors part-owner Mark Stevens shoved Lowry while he was still down.

Lowry was PISSED when he got up and called for officials to eject Stevens from the game. After the game, Lowry suggested Stevens should get a lifetime ban.

Now, LeBron James has weighed in ... saying, "There’s absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL."

"When you sit courtside you absolutely know what comes with being on the floor and if you don’t know it’s on the back on the ticket itself that states the guidelines. But he himself being a fan but more importantly PART-OWNER of the Warriors knew exactly what he was doing which was so uncalled for."

"He knew the rules more than just the average person sitting watching the game courtside so for that Something needs to be done ASAP! A swift action for his actions."

LeBron continued ... "Just think to yourself, what if [Kyle Lowry] would have reacted and put his hands back on him. You guys would be going CRAZY!! Calling for him to damn near be put in jail let alone being suspended for the rest of the Finals all because he was protected himself."

"I’ve been quite throughout the whole NBA playoffs watching every game (haven’t missed one) but after I saw what I saw last night, took time to let it manifest into my thinking I couldn’t and wouldn’t be quiet on this! #ProtectThePlayers#PrivilegeAintWelcomeHere"

For their part, the Warriors claim they're investigating the incident and say Stevens will not attend ANY of the remaining NBA Finals games.

FYI, Stevens -- a prominent venture capitalist -- joined the Warriors ownership group in 2013.

The French national team may be the iciest in all of sports ... 'cause fresh off getting championship rings from Paul Pogba, star defender Lucas Hernandez got a World Cup trophy chain!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Lucas is following his teammates' lead in commemorating their 2018 World Cup with diamonds -- copping 2 tennis chains and a pendant of the World Cup trophy.

We're told Hernandez hit up Antonio Brown's go-to guy, Gabriel the Jeweler, for the job ... and whipped up the chains with 30 carats each, and the white gold trophy with 6 carat diamonds.

The piece even has a message engraved on the back, saying, "Champion Du Monde."

We're told the whole order is worth around $85,000.

Dana White says he personally sat down with Tony Ferguson to evaluate him to make sure he's mentally okay to get back in the Octagon ... but only AFTER Tony was already cleared by doctors.

Tony is set to fight Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC 238 this weekend -- his first fight since his Oct. 2018 victory over Anthony Pettis.

In the days, weeks and months after the Pettis fight, Ferguson had some major issues at home -- his wife, Cristina, called cops several times because Tony was having manic episodes and acting erratically.

Cristina made it clear she loves Tony and wanted him to get treatment -- but during a Feb. 16 incident, things got to a point where she was scared and needed police to intervene.

Tony was never arrested or charged with a crime -- but his wife made it clear TF needed professional mental help ... which he ultimately got.

In fact, Tony is PROUD of the work he's done with his psychologist and feels he's in a healthy place.

"He's done all the right things it takes to make us feel comfortable that he's good to go," White tells TMZ Sports.