TMZ Sports - Page 50

Great news for the Dawg Pound ... Baker Mayfield says he expects superstar Myles Garrett to return to the team by Week 1 next season ... telling TMZ Sports his teammate is "in a good place."

Garrett is currently suspended for his infamous helmet-swinging attack on Pittsburgh Steelers QB Mason Rudolph back in November ... and has to meet with the NFL before he can play again.

Mayfield -- who sat next to Garrett at UFC 246 on Saturday -- says his guy is doing well, which is great news for the team.

"I sat next to him during the fight, he's good, man," Mayfield tells us. "He's in a good place right now, which is good for us as a team."

We also talked to Mayfield about Garrett benching 425 pounds ... and Bake says he's trying to outdo him!!

Mayfield says he's also "very happy" about the team's new head coach, Kevin Stefanski ... as well as for Odell Beckham's butt-slap charge getting tossed.

Now that the team's got a new guy on the sidelines, we had to ask if 2020 will be the year for the Browns to get back to the postseason ... and Mayfield says he's got a bigger goal.

Tim Tebow is days away from saying "I do" to his South African bride, and it looks like he's getting familiar with her homeland through a super fancy warm-up to the big day.

The ex-NFL quarterback-turned-baseball player posted some awesome behind-the-scenes footage of his wedding rehearsal dinner this weekend with his fiancee, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters -- who was crowned Miss South Africa in 2017. No doubt about it ... it was an elegant affair.

Tim was in a burgundy suit, Demi-Leigh in a complimentary red dress. The evening included a proper run-through, complete with the seating arrangements for the reception ... as well as speeches from family and friends. His former college coach, Urban Meyer, was there too.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

That's all that was coming from Patrick Mahomes' girlfriend, Brittany Matthews, on Sunday ... 'cause the NFL superstar's lady doubled down on her new ritual of completely losing her mind in support of the Chiefs.

Kansas City held off the Tennessee Titans to lock up the AFC Championship ... and Mahomes had his biggest fan cheering him on from the VIP suites.

The yelling was well underway before kickoff ... and somehow Brittany was able to maintain her loud levels throughout the game.

Of course, Matthews is known for being outgoing at Chiefs games ... and sometimes gets on the receiving end of heckling from other fans (like at the Patriots game).

"WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWLLLLLL" Matthews yelled, alongside Patrick's little bro, Jackson.

Dana White says Conor McGregor's next fight will almost definitely be a rematch with Khabib ... and the result of the match will have a major impact on the legacy of both guys.

TMZ Sports talked to Dana White outside T-Mobile Arena in Vegas after McGregor DOMINATED Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone ... and asked the UFC honcho who the Irish superstar wants next?

"Conor wants Khabib. Conor always has a lot of options. He wants Khabib, that's the fight he wants, and we'll see what happens."

We then asked White who he wants Conor to fight.

"I think Khabib makes sense too."

Khabib is scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson in April ... and if the 28-0 fighter wins, that could set up the Nurmagomedov-McGregor rematch -- and it'd be HUGE.

The only snag? Khabib and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, have repeatedly said the Dagestani star will NOT rematch Conor.

But, Dana doesn't sound worried.

"Listen, Khabib has never turned down a fight. The guy's 28-0. He's one of the baddest dudes to ever do it," Dana tells us.

"This fight's important for his legacy too. When you start looking back at Khabib's career and if he goes undefeated and retires. You're looking at the names, and the names mean everything. He beat Conor McGregor. He beats Tony Ferguson. He beat Conor McGregor again. He beat this guy, that guy."

That's not all ... White also talked Floyd Mayweather -- who teased a Floyd-Conor II and Floyd-Khabib bout Saturday night -- and made it clear TBE still wants to fight.

The woman who was allegedly punched by star boxer Sergey Kovalev in a 2018 attack says she needed a plate and 4 screws in her neck to fix the damage he caused ... and she says she's still in pain.

Jamie Frontz claims she was socked in the face by the 36-year-old Russian after she denied his sexual advances after the two met at the opening of a boxing gym in Big Bear, Calif. in June '18.

In a conversation with TMZ Sports ... she described how the alleged assault went down -- and it's graphic.

According to Frontz ... she and Kovalev were making out on a couch in her rented cabin when she began to feel like the boxer was getting too aggressive -- so she started to pull away.

That's when she says her dog intervened, jumping in between the two ... and "Krusher" shoved the animal to the ground. Frontz says when she screamed for Kovalev to leave immediately after, he grew even angrier, and KICKED the dog in the chest.

That's when she said Kovalev became violent toward her ... punching her with a closed fist in her face.

"When he punched me, my nose exploded," Frontz says. "Blood went everywhere. There was blood all over the cabin. All over the walls. All over the carpet. All over everything."

Mary Carey's still getting physical in her life after porn ... by getting in the ring and beating the pulp outta other celebs.

The famed porn star officially signed a contract with Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman -- who's arranged for Mary to slip on some gloves and go toe-to-toe with another chick on April 18 in Miami. Catfight!!!

Naturally ... the bout's going down at a strip club called the Booby Trap. We're guessing there will be no shortage of ring girls.

It's the first time Mary's stepping into the ring as a competitor, and CB's still working on finding an opponent for the retired XXX star.

Celebrity Boxing has had some issues lately with stars like Angry Bagel Guy and Lenny Dykstra dropping out at the 11th hour -- so hopefully, Mary follows through.

Mary could be in line for a nice payday ... depending on her opponent and internet pay-per-view streams, CB expects her to pull in around five figures.

Conor McGregor partied his face off in Vegas after beating Cowboy Cerrone in spectacular fashion.

Conor celebrated his win at Encore Beach Club, after entering the Octagon Saturday night after a 15-month hiatus. Conor did not disappoint ... a kick to the head in round 1 was all she wrote ... Cerrone went down and Conor pummeled him until the ref stopped the fight.

Fact is ... it's Conor's first victory since 2016, and he needed to win this one -- bad.

The fight -- at the T-Mobile Arena -- was sold out, with more than $11 million in ticket sales alone. Tons of celebs showed up, including Matthew McConaughey, Jeremy Renner, Dave Bautista, Tom Brady, Christian McCaffrey, Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett and Jon Gruden.

As for the party ... Conor arrived at 1 AM and stayed until 4 AM.

"All these other idiots who don't play basketball and never played basketball, when they say you wanna judge a guy's greatness by number of championships ... they're idiots."

It's safe to say Robert Horry is fed up with NBA fans using rings instead of common sense in debates ... telling TMZ Sports titles don't mean a damn thing when talkin' G.O.A.T.s.

"Here's the thing that people are so stupid about. They measure great players by how many championships they win. It's the stupidest thing," Big Shot Bob told us at the California Strong charity softball game on Sunday.

Of course, the reason we brought it up with Horry is because his old teammate, Kobe Bryant, recently joined the "All The Smoke" podcast and admitted he's "pissed" he didn't catch Michael Jordan in the ring count.

But, Horry says the whole debate over championships is pointless ... 'cause not everyone is able to win in their careers.

"That's like saying Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing are not great players."

Horry points out using that logic would make him one of the greatest hoopers to ever walk the earth, considering he's got 7 championships.

Big Shot Bob says Kobe having one less ring than MJ should have ZERO impact on his legacy ... but admits Mamba has always compared himself to Jordan.

Ex-NFL star Fred Smoot just got a slap on the wrist despite being arrested by a BUNCH of cops back in October ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story, the former Washington Redskin DB's Loudoun County, Virginia house was surrounded by cops in Oct. 2018 after they say he failed to appear for several court dates.

You can see in pics we obtained of the arrest ... the cops looked pretty serious about the case -- which all stemmed from some minor traffic violations.

But, Smoot was hardly punished for the whole ordeal ... despite being found guilty of several charges at a trial this week.

According to court records, Smoot was found guilty of failing to appear, driving without a license and driving with expired registration ... but his punishment was ultimately nothing more than fines.

Smoot WAS sentenced to 6 days in jail for the failure to appear ... but he got credit for time served from when he was initially arrested, and he will NOT have to spend any additional days behind bars.

Could Tom Brady REALLY have played his last down in New England??

TMZ Sports went straight to one of TB12's best Patriots buddies, Willie McGinest, to get the answer ... and he told us it wouldn't shock him!!

"There's a lot of us that played for the Patriots that became free agents or were traded or left the organization," Willie said. "At some point, you either retire or move on."

Translation: TIME TO PANIC, NEW ENGLAND!!

Of course, Willie left the door open for the possibility that Tom could return as well ... saying everything will hinge on a season-ending meeting between the G.O.A.T. and the Pats' brass.

If it is the end of the New England road for Brady ... McGinest says he could see the guy fitting in with the Chargers next season, telling us, "It's a good football team."

"The business side of it too [for the Chargers], you gotta sell jerseys, you gotta fill up seats, you got a new stadium you're moving into -- I wouldn't count anything out."

Alex Volkanovski ain't done G.O.A.T. hunting ... 'cause the new UFC champ -- fresh off taking out Max Holloway -- tells TMZ Sports he's got his eye on another legendary fighter.

Khabib Nurmagomedov.

We were talking to the the 31-year-old featherweight champ when the convo moved to going up to 155 pounds ... and fighting the undefeated Daghestani superstar.

"I'm not going looking for these fights, but you'd be silly if it doesn't cross your mind," Volkanovski says.

"I'm the type of person, I'll look at all opportunities and I'll at least let me play in my head. Whether I think they're realistically happening anytime soon, alright, maybe not. But, I'm still gonna think about it."

Volkanovski continued ... "People will be like, 'He's trying to call out Khabib.' They can take it however they want, but if that opportunity comes ..."

"Again, my goal is to defend my belt in the featherweight division, we've got a stacked division, so I'm happy to defend it there. But, if that opportunity comes up, I'm not gonna lie, obviously I'll take it."

Alex is 21-1 as a pro -- and hasn't lost since 2013 (that's 13 wins in a row) -- so no shocker he believes he matches up great against Nurmagomedov.

"Let's be honest. I'm not an easy man to hold down. Me being short sometimes works in my favor. These little limbs get me up pretty easily. I'm very strong, I've got a very good base. And then, obviously, you know that I can strike."

"He's got it. He's got the juice, bro!"

That's Michael Brockers GUARANTEEING Joe Burrow is going to be a superstar in the NFL ... telling TMZ Sports straight-up the LSU QB is that damn good!!!

Of course, Brockers is biased ... he's a former LSU stud himself -- but the L.A. Rams D-lineman swears Burrow has all that's necessary to lead a team in the league in 2020.

"I feel like he has it, man," Brockers says. "Quarterbacks have to know how to get out of pressure and stuff like that and he has the juice, bro."

Brockers points toward Burrow's insane stat line this season -- 5,671 yards and 60 TDs -- as the reason he's so confident in the QB, telling us, "You can't take none of that away from him."

In fact, Brockers says Burrow is so good ... he thinks the guy might actually come to the league with a target on his back on Day 1!!

Even though Luke Kuechly only played 8 NFL seasons, his old teammate says he's a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame ... 'cause Mike Tolbert says the linebacker did more than enough to prove he's worthy.

28-year-old Kuechly abruptly put an end to his successful career earlier this week ... saying it was time to put the game behind him.

There's been speculation that health had something to do with it, but Tolbert tells us regardless of the reason, he's proud Luke knew it was time to walk away.

"He's my guy, I love him to death," Tolbert tells TMZ Sports. "I'm happy for him. There's not a lot of guys that can say they walked away from the game the way they wanted to."

Luke was arguably the best linebacker in the league ever since entering the NFL way back in 2012 as a first-round pick out of Boston College.

We asked Tolbert -- who played with the Panthers from 2012-2016 -- if he thought Kuechly could take his talents to the sidelines as a coach ... and he says it would be a natural fit.

"I don't think there's anybody better. He's the smartest football player I've ever been around. He and Phillip Rivers I'd put 1 and 2."

Kuechly was a stud on the field with Carolina ... making 7 Pro Bowls and earning 5 first-team All-Pro honors. He was the NFL's defensive player of the year in 2013 and the defensive rookie of the year in 2012.

"I think Luke has that perfect mindset. He's not married, he doesn't have any kids. He can afford to spend those 20-22 hour days at the facility preparing. "

What's the only thing better than Championship weekend?? How about the smokin' hot fans who support the boys taking the field!!!

Don't believe us?? See above.

Check out Oakland Raiders superfan Josephine Skriver supporting the Oakland Raiders in the sexiest fan gear around ... as well as Rob Gronkowski's GF, Camille Kostek, always reppin' her boo's old team.

There's also Green Bay Packers Cheesehead Hailey Clauson ... who's always down to show her true colors.

Look, Mahomes, Henry, Rodgers and Garoppolo are fun to watch ... but this set of pics is much more fun to look at.

So, what better way to kick off the NFC and AFC title games than to scroll through our collection of football lovin' babes!!

Dr. Oz is firing back at Mark Wahlberg's cardiac arrest crack -- and as it turns out, the doc's actually got some jokes of his own ... plus nifty visual aides.

DO took to Instagram Saturday to respond to Mark's own video from a few days ago, where he accepted Oz's no-breakfast/one-legged push-up challenge and then joked the guy would probably need a defibrillator by the time Marky Mark was done with him in the gym.

Well, Dr. Oz seems to have one-upped him -- rocking real scrubs and showing off an actual defibrillator in what looks to be a real hospital ... not to mention giving a demonstration.

Oz even takes some shots at MW, saying he's probably used a fake defibrillator in front of the camera -- but in the real world, only one of 'em knows how to use it ... and it ain't Mark. He goes on to call out Mark's "full stomach" and show muscles ... doubting they work as advertised. It's funny, Dr. Oz is confident Mark will be the one passing out.

This is just the latest sling in what's become the weirdest/most awesome celeb feud of the new year. That said, we're ready to see some action here ... 'cause talk is cheap.

Antonio Brown is transitioning into his latest career with relative ease -- he performed for the first time as a rapper, and he's got one signature move of the game DOWN.

The out-of-work wide receiver made his debut on the mic Friday night in Fort Lauderdale, where he opened for rappers Lil Keed and Lil Gotit at a place called Revolution Live. Dude definitely knows how to make an entrance ... he did that and then some.

AB hit the stage to his new single, "Whole Lotta Money," which he rapped to and even enhanced by bringing his music vid to life ... throwing tons of bills all over the crowd.

Looks like he kept the set going too -- Antonio danced onstage and kept tossing around cash. At one point, the DJ mentions something about "allegations," and asked if he wanted to talk about that. AB ignored it though, and kept his focus on the indoor rainstorm.