TMZ Sports - Page 50

Justin Gaethje is sick and tired of playing the waiting game with Conor McGregor -- and tells TMZ Sports his new #1 target is Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Conor has said he was scheduled to fight Gaethje before injuring his hand earlier this year ... and recently, there were rumblings Justin was in the mix to be Conor's mystery opponent for his Jan. 18 comeback fight.

But, Dana White just told us he's gunning for Cowboy Cerrone now ... which leaves Justin without an opponent. Justin says Conor only wants Cowboy because he's looking for a "sure win."

The good news ... Gaethje is such a monster, he's down to fight ANYONE -- and explains why his dream matchup is against the guy who SMASHED Conor.

"I want to fight Khabib, I gotta fight Khabib before he goes away," Justin says.

In fact, Justin points out that Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson isn't a done deal yet either -- and he wants the UFC to know he's ready to step up and fill in if Tony can't go.

As for Conor, Justin isn't completely giving up hope on that fight ... and describes in graphic detail what he would do to the Irishman if he actually steps into the Octagon.

UFC star Jorge Masvidal says fighting in front of President Trump will be a "humbling" experience ... telling TMZ Sports he's honored to put on a show in front of POTUS!!!

As we previously reported ... a TON of star power will be watching Masvidal take on Nate Diaz for the "Bad Mother F**ker" belt at MSG on Saturday -- from The Rock to Robert Kraft to yes, the President of the United States of America!!!

Masvidal says politics aside, it's a once in a lifetime moment at UFC 244 ... and he's going to make the best of it, saying some fighters who love Trump will never even get this opportunity.

"Not every fighter can say, 'Hey, the president is showing up to my fight', you know? So, that's humbling in itself."

Of course, with Masvidal being from Miami, we had to ask about Dwayne Johnson being there as well ... and he says the whole event is such a big deal, he can't even think about all of the hype until AFTER the fight.

Conor McGregor told us to ask the UFC who his opponent will be on Jan. 18 ... so we did. And, Dana White says the fighter they're targeting is Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

But, there's a HUGE catch ... Dana tells TMZ Sports the deal isn't done yet -- not even close.

"We have nothing done, nothing is even close to being done. So, I hate to even talk about this stuff and say it because it might not happen ... it might happen. But, were looking at Cowboy."

White says the fight would be a lightweight bout between the #3 ranked fighter, Conor McGregor, and the #5 ranked fighter, Cowboy ... at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.

There are rumblings that Justin Gaethje is still in the picture in case Cowboy doesn't sign the contract ... but based on the conversation we had with Cerrone earlier this week, he's ALL ABOUT IT. Stay tuned on that one.

Meanwhile, White is gearing up for UFC 244 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden ... where President Trump is expected to attend.

We asked Dana if he was concerned about his two outspoken main event fighters saying anything crazy to POTUS when they get the mic after the fight ... and White basically said there's no controlling guys like Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.

Ex-MLB slugger Josh Hamilton was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas on Wednesday over an alleged child abuse incident involving one of his kids.

The 38-year-old former Texas Rangers star surrendered to authorities and posed for a mug shot. He appeared in court to face a felony injury to a child criminal charge.

Details surrounding the allegation are unclear, but the allegations stem from an alleged incident involving one of his 3 children.

Hamilton's ex-wife, Katie Hamilton, reportedly filed a restraining order against Hamilton on behalf of one of their kids earlier this month -- and it appears the criminal allegation is connected to that.

Hamilton was released from custody Wednesday on a $35,000 bond ... and one of the conditions was to not have contact with the alleged victim.

Hamilton was also ordered to stay away from any child under the age of 17, according to CBSDFW.com, which broke the story.

Hamilton was seen leaving the courtroom in a grey suit with multiple attorneys by his side.

Surprisingly, Hamilton was smiling on his way into the courthouse and didn't seem too bothered by the heavy allegations against him.

Hamilton was a monster on the baseball diamond -- he's a 5-time All-Star who was the American League MVP in 2010. He was the #1 overall pick in the 1999 MLB Draft. He's currently in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.

But, off the field, Hamilton has had several major personal issues ... including a substance abuse problem that he publicly talked about for years. He's tried to get clean multiple times but there were numerous public slip-ups.

Hamilton and his wife -- who have 3 children together -- divorced in 2015 following a relapse.

Hamilton also played for the Reds and the Angels before rejoining the Rangers. He last played in the Big Leagues in 2015.

KSI is eating like the Notorious leading up to his rematch with Logan Paul ... hiring Conor McGregor's personal chef to cook his meals leading up to the fight!!

The 26-year-old British internet superstar gave an inside look into his insane training program for the Nov. 9 bout ... revealing he hired combat sports superchef Eric Triliegi to help him get in fighting shape.

"When it comes to cooking, we needed to upgrade the nutrition," KSI said on DAZN's "40 Days: Behind-The-Scenes With KSI" docuseries.

"We needed something more performance-based and that's why we decided to get Eric in."

As we previously reported, KSI says he's spent $300k of his own money on boxing training and other fight preparation expenses ... dude's taking this extremely seriously.

Chef Eric -- who's worked with pro fighters like McGregor, Anthony Pettis and Miesha Tate -- gave a breakdown on the diet he's cookin' up for KSI ... and it doesn't hurt that the food looks BOMB.

"Our main goal is to give fighters food that enhances performance. If we're not doing that, then why are we even here feeding them?"

Logan also kept the cameras rolling for his 'Countdown to Fight Night' docuseries with DAZN ... which shows the intense training he's been putting into the rematch. There's a cool moment where he puts on the 10 oz. gloves for the first time.

"This shouldn't be allowed. I swear to God, this shouldn't be allowed," Logan said ... saying the 2 oz. glove difference from the 12 oz. gloves they rocked in the first fight will give him a huge advantage.

Logan also had Elvis Grant Phillips -- founder of Grant Boxing Worldwide -- over to his mansion to try on a sick pair of silk-lined gloves, which Elvis says is a first of its kind.

"I feel like I am holding a gun in my hand."

Steelers LB Anthony Chickillo is off the hook after he allegedly roughed up his track star girlfriend ... prosecutors tell TMZ Sports she refused to testify against the NFL player, so the charges were dropped.

As we previously reported, Chickillo was arrested on Oct. 20 after his GF -- Canadian track star Alysha Newman -- said an argument at a fancy Pennsylvania resort's casino later turned violent in their hotel room.

Newman claimed Chickillo grabbed her by both arms, forced her against the wall and door and eventually threw her to the ground while intending to cause her injury.

In court records obtained by TMZ Sports, cops say they noticed Newman "had visible redness to both her right and left bicep areas, with bruising beginning to form."

Chickillo was eventually taken into custody and hit with three charges -- simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment.

For her part in the altercation, cops also hit Newman with a summary citation for harassment.

But, prosecutors tell us after interviewing both Newman and Chickillo at length, both parties said they would refuse to testify against each other and did NOT want to pursue charges.

So, at Chickillo's hearing in court Wednesday ... prosecutors announced they dropped the charges.

Anthony returned to work afterward ... showing up to the Steelers' facility, but it's unclear when he'll be able to play again as he's still on the Commissioner's Exempt List.

Of course, even with the charges dropped, the NFL can still suspend the linebacker if it finds in its own independent investigation that he did violate its personal conduct policy.

Chickillo has been a regular on the Steelers' roster over the past five years ... playing in 57 games and recording 7.5 sacks.

Man, Baker Mayfield got HOT!!!

The Cleveland Browns QB was taking questions from the media at his daily press conference when he got fed up with a reporter ... and chewed the guy out in front of everyone.

ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi was asking Baker about a drive where it seemed the offense was moving with a "lack of urgency" and wanted to know what the deal was.

Baker started to answer the question ... but when Tony kept prodding, Mayfield lost his cool.

"I just told you the clock was running and we had a penalty! Do you wanna give them the ball back? No! You don't play, you don't know it. That's just plain and simple."

Rossi asked if Mayfield was ultimately happy with the drive ... and Baker went in AGAIN!

"Was I happy with the drive? No! We didn't score points. That's the dumbest question you could ask! What? Jesus, Tony."

Mayfield immediately ended the presser and walked off.

Afterward, Baker tweeted ... essentially saying he's NOT sorry for the exchange and this is just the kind of person he is.

"Everybody wants to hear the truth until they actually get it," Baker tweeted.

"I am who I am and always have been. Don’t call it emotional when it’s convenient and then passion when it fits. I care about winning, so yeah I’m frustrated."

"If I was to act like it’s okay to lose, then y’all would say that I’ve gotten complacent. My sense of urgency is at an all time high. And if I offend anybody along the way... that’s too bad."

The only thing keeping LaMelo Ball from basketball greatness is LaVar Ball ... so says Stephen Jackson, who wants everyone to team up and protect the hooper from his dad.

The 18-year-old has been skyrocketing up the NBA prospect rankings as of late ... and while the dude's clearly got skills, Stack and Matt Barnes think Papa Ball's antics could mess it all up.

"I think we need to come together and hire a security team to keep LaVar away from the younger son, 'cause the younger son is the one," Stack said on Showtime's "ALL THE SMOKE" podcast.

"He's got game, he's got everything. All the talent, he out there overseas working, doing his thing. We CANNOT let LaVar mess up this kid's career."

Barnes added the issues were clear when LaVar started overshadowing Lonzo in Los Angeles ... and the best thing for him was to get the hell away.

"From the outside looking in, it really looks like there's a conflict of Zo wanting to be his own man and LaVar trying to hold on like, you're gonna do this 'family brand' thing," Barnes said.

Stack added, "Your dad cannot be speaking against your organization in the media, bruh."

"You went from the father everybody loves to the father everybody hates."

"You got to have a talented, black quarterback."

That's how legendary Texas running back Earl Campbell says he'd fix the Longhorns' woes ... and the 64-year-old seems dead serious about it.

The NFL Hall of Famer spoke with the Austin American-Statesman this week when he made the claim ... saying, "All these schools that are winning, even in the pros, have black quarterbacks."

Campbell added, "When guys are not open, something can still happen."

Texas has lost three games this season ... and has only won more than seven games in a season just one time since 2014. Its current starter, Sam Ehlinger, is white.

The Statesman reports Campbell cited successful QBs like Tua Tagovailoa (who's actually Polynesian), Vince Young, Jalen Hurts, Deshaun Watson and J.T. Barrett to back up his claim.

"Until the University of Texas realizes -- and nothing against Ehlinger, you got to have a talented, black quarterback."

Campbell played 4 seasons for UT from 1974 to 1977 ... piling up 4,443 rushing yards and 40 rushing TDs. He went on to have a legendary NFL career, rushing for 9,407 yards in 9 years.

Huge news from Saudi Arabia ... where WWE just announced its very first WOMEN'S wrestling match in the country -- and it will all go down THIS WEEK!!!

Saudi officials had previously blocked WWE from holding a women's match -- but Triple H had noted the country was going through a "significant cultural shift" and was hopeful things would change.

Now, Triple H has gotten his wish ... with WWE commentator Michael Cole making the announcement from Riyadh on Wednesday morning.

"I am so proud to announce that tomorrow at WWE Crown Jewel we host the first ever WWE women's match in Saudi Arabia."

So, who's getting the ring? Lacey Evans vs. Natalya ... two superstars with a storied history.

And, get this, Evans is a real-life veteran of the U.S. Marines who served for 5 years -- and her WWE finishing move is called, "The Women's Right."

Evans spoke out about the match saying, "When I signed up for WWE my goal was to really impact the world and the people that I can, and we're doing it one day at a time."

One thing the world will definitely be watching when "Crown Jewel" goes down on Thursday -- the ring attire.

During a women's match in Abu Dhabi back in 2017, the women wore outfits that covered most of their bodies. Guessing they will go with a similar look this time around.

The sister of New York Knicks player Reggie Bullock was murdered Monday night after cops say she suffered a gunshot wound to the chest in Maryland.

TMZ Sports has confirmed 22-year-old Keiosha Moore was shot just a few miles from Downtown Baltimore sometime Monday evening ... and walked to a nearby hospital with a bullet wound in her chest.

Police say they responded to the hospital at around 7:48 PM ... but Moore was pronounced dead a short time later.

Cops say the person who shot Moore is still unknown ... and add they have launched an investigation into the shooting.

Bullock wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night, "GUN VIOLENCE I WILL LEAD OMM💔"

It's the second time 28-year-old Bullock has had to go through this tragedy ... back in 2014, another one of Bullock's sisters, Mia Henderson, was killed in what appeared to be a hate crime for her being transgender.

Bullock has talked often about how that shaped his life ... saying on "The Herd" back in 2016 Mia taught him how to be a strong person.

Bullock has since been extremely active in communities to help stop bullying.

The Knicks announced Tuesday that Bullock's teammate, Dennis Smith Jr., is also dealing with a tragedy this week ... saying he lost a close relative recently as well.

“Our Knicks family is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of two of our players’ close family members," the team said in a statement.

"At times like this, we are reminded that life is bigger than basketball. Our thoughts are with them and their families.”

UFC star Derrick Lewis says he doesn't mind watching men bleed in the Octagon -- but he gets squeamish when it comes to bloody women because it makes him think of messy periods.

The 34-year-old heavyweight spelled it all out on "Bernie & Sid in the Morning" -- saying, "I really don't like watching women fights."

When pressed on the issue, Lewis explained ... "Last week, I finally had thought I forgot they had periods. I wonder if they still fight on their period?"

Lewis continued ... "You would think they get cut in the face, something like that [and] they're bleeding and stuff like that ... but no, it's from them being on their period."

"So, I don't like watching women fight."

For the record, this has NEVER been an issue in the UFC or any other pro-MMA or combat sports organization, as far as we know.

Chargers reinforcements might not be on the way after all ... Derwin James tells TMZ Sports he's not sure yet if he'll be able to return from a foot injury this season.

"I don't know, man," the stud safety says. "I just got to keep healing and we'll see what happens."

Derwin -- who's one of the game's brightest young defensive players -- has been out since the summer after he needed surgery to fix a foot he busted up back at Florida State.

The 23-year-old was put on injured reserve and was expected to make a return sometime this season ... but now, he doesn't seem entirely sure that's going to happen.

In fact, when our camera guy asked if Derwin would be able available for either game against the Chiefs this year (one is Nov. 18, the other is Dec. 29), he said, "You gotta see. Tune in."

It ain't like James has suffered a setback or anything ... in fact, when he was out promoting phone company ROKiT in L.A. on Tuesday, he showed no signs of a limp and was having a blast.

It just seems like the dude's trying to get back to 100% ... telling us, "Feeling good, getting better, man. Getting healthy. Trying to get back out there."

Remember when Serena Williams absolutely obliterated her racket at a Wimbledon match in 2005??

That piece of history is now up for grabs, 'cause the destroyed racket has hit the auction block ... and the starting bid is $8,000!!!

According to Nate D Sanders Auctions, Serena signed and gifted the busted racket to a fan after losing the first set of her first-round match against longtime friend Angela Haynes.

In true badass fashion, Williams came back and won the match ... after she replaced her busted racket, of course. She went on to place 3rd in the tourney. Her sister, Venus Williams, went on to win Wimbledon that year!

Don't feel too bad for Serena, she's won the tourney 7 TIMES in her storied career -- and racked up more Grand Slam titles than any other woman in tennis history. So yeah, she eventually got over the smashed racket incident.

Bidding on the item kicks off on Thursday with an $8,000 starting bid -- but since people are CRAZY for Serena memorabilia, this thing could skyrocket in price real quick.

Good luck rich people!!!

Justin Verlander's super famous wife, Kate Upton, was BLASTED on social media after she tweeted about a controversial call in Tuesday's World Series ... and she fired back by callin' her critics misogynists!!

Late in Game 6 of the Astros-Nationals series ... Nats SS Trea Turner hit a ground ball to the pitcher, and while he scooted his way toward first base, he was ruled OUT for not running within the baseline.

The call was IMMEDIATELY panned by almost everyone watching the game ... but to Kate -- who was sitting just a few rows behind home plate -- she thought it was the correct ruling.

"He wasn’t within the base path," Verlander's wife said. "Those who don’t know the rule you HAVE to run inside the 2 lines. Not sure why the review is taking so long..."

Upton was ripped apart by baseball Twitter ... receiving thousands of comments in just a few minutes -- and so she followed up with another tweet clappin' back at her haters!!

"I LOVE talking about sports and reading all of the dumb misogynist comments," she said.

"It reminds me that women need to keep fighting for equality. It’s 2019 but feels like the 1950s. #feminist"

Kate feels vindicated by MLB reporter Jon Morosi, who tweeted out:

"MLB rule: 'When running the last half of the way to first base while the ball is being fielded in the vicinity of first, a baserunner must stay within the three-foot runner's lane to the right of the foul line unless they are avoiding a player fielding a batted ball."

So, it seems Kate is technically right ... but historically, there's been wiggle room with the rule. Umps will generally let it go unless it appears the baserunner is making an intentional effort to mess with the defensive play.

Minutes later, in the same game, Astros star Jose Altuve ran way inside the designated 1st base basepath and didn't get punished for it.

Most felt Turner's route was fine ... and, in fact, Trea and the Nationals made their opinion LOUD AND CLEAR on the field.

Nats manager Davey Martinez was ejected over the call ... while Turner himself was caught on a hot mic calling MLB's chief baseball officer, Joe Torre, a coward for not stepping in and overturning the ruling.

Eventually, things calmed down on the field and Washington ended up with the win ... setting the stage for an EPIC Game 7 matchup Wednesday night.

Some good news, bad news for LeBron James ...

The good news ... the NBA superstar doesn't seem concerned about the fires near his home anymore. He partied at the Dream Hotel on Tuesday night wearing a Halloween mask.

The bad news ... WEAK COSTUME, BRO!!!

Don't get it wrong, we love Mario Bros. -- Luigi is the beloved neglected younger brother -- but a dinky little mask?! You're better than that Bron!!!

Fact is, the Lakers star has had a rough week -- he was evacuated from his Brentwood home early Monday morning due to the raging Getty Fire and moved into a nearby hotel.

Unclear if Bron is back in his home yet (the fire is still a threat according to officials), but James sent a taco truck to the first responders on Tuesday to show his appreciation.

Great work, now upgrade that mask!!!