TMZ Sports - Page 50

UFC superstar Jon Jones has pled guilty to driving while intoxicated stemming from a March 26 arrest in New Mexico, officials tell TMZ Sports.

The reigning UFC light heavyweight champ has struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to 1-year supervised probation. The sentence has not yet been approved by a judge but that's just a matter of time at this point.

As part of the deal, Jones will serve 96 hours in a community custody program -- which is a form of incarceration, but not in a traditional jail cell. We're told it's similar to house arrest. He will wear an ankle monitor, which allows authorities to make sure he doesn't leave his residence unless he has permission.

Officials say Jones will be ordered to "complete a minimum of 90 day out-patient treatment, maximum fines and fees, community service and all other requirements of reporting to probation."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials are allowing Jones to participate in the outpatient program via video conferencing.

As for the community service, Jones must complete 48 total hours.

Jones must also install an ignition interlock device in any vehicle he operates -- which requires him to complete a breathalyzer (to test for alcohol) before the car will start.

"His attorney and Mr. Jones have been made aware that if he fails to do this, the State will seek to impose the balance of any jail time without regard for any exceptional circumstances," officials say.

Get this ... officials WILL allow Jones to use marijuana during his probation, as long as he has a valid medical card.

As we previously reported, Jones was arrested around 1 AM on March 26 after cops responded to reports of gunfire in the Albuquerque area.

When cops found Jones alone in his Jeep, he appeared intoxicated and admitted to drinking earlier in the evening.

As for the other charges, which include negligent use of a deadly weapon and open containers, those will be dropped in exchange for Jones' guilty plea on the DWI.

It's been exactly one year since Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in L.A. -- but his memory lives on ... and some of the biggest athletes in the world are paying tribute to the fallen rapper.

Hussle's music definitely struck a chord with athletes in all sports -- with stars like Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, DeSean Jackson and more speaking out about how much Nipsey meant to them.

"Hussle Day!! R.I.P to the legend," Russell said ... "We miss you bro!! #themarathoncontinues."

Kyrie said, "I didn't know you personally Nip, but just know you inspired me beyond measure. Thank you."

New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas (who's from L.A.) added, "I lost my homie and his soul still attached to me. Rest In Peace Nip Hussle the Great. I’m still lapping up for you."

Broncos star Davontae Harris said, "Today is about NIPSEY HUSSLE save the pandemic talk for tomorrow."

Other stars like Dez Bryant, Matt Barnes, Vic Oladipo and Isaiah Thomas also honored Nipsey on social media.

Hussle was shot and killed on March 31, 2019, near his clothing shop in South Central, L.A. He was only 33.

Move over, Jameis Winston ... top NFL draft prospect Mekhi Becton is officially the king of car-pushing workouts -- the Louisville O-lineman just shoved a pickup with the brakes on!!!

The 6'7", 368-pound beast -- who's projected to be a top-15 pick next month -- took his quarantine workouts to the streets this week ... and it was impressive as hell.

Check out the video ... Becton moves the Ford Raptor -- which weighs roughly 5,500 POUNDS -- without much effort ... all while the car's brakes were activated!!

"Only a MONSTER can push a RAPTOR," Becton said of the impressive feat.

Of course, Mekhi's workout comes just a few days after Jameis Winston showed off his car-pushing skills ... but we're pretty sure Becton gets the nod here. Sorry, Jameis.

By the way, 20-year-old Mekhi is fighting with a few other left tackle prospects to be the No. 1 overall lineman off the board on April 23.

Begs the question ... could this vid be all NFL GMs need to put him over the top of Tristan Wirfs and Jedrick Wills Jr.??

Tichina Arnold is gonna blow your mind in the first movie produced by Netflix and the WWE ... 'cause she's gonna change your concept of what grandmothers look like.

Tichina was on Tuesday's "TMZ Live" to talk about "The Main Event," when the conversation quickly turned to that old saying ... Black don't crack!!! See, she's playing grandma -- or as she puts it, G-ma -- to an 11-year-old kid who gets his shot to become a WWE superstar.

You gotta see what happened when we brought up her role ... mistakenly thinking she's playing the kid's mom. Ooops!!! Big time.

Hey, honest mistake ... because nothing about Tichina looks grandmotherly, but we had some big laughs with her talking about it. She also confessed while Black may not crack it does do something else. Watch.

BTW, TA is hosting a live virtual premiere for 'Main Event' from her social media pages ... which you can check out next Friday, April 10.

We can testify, hanging with Tichina, even virtually, is a blast ... check out Tuesday's "TMZ Live" if ya don't believe us.

It's official -- Tom Brady will wear #12 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after securing the digits from teammate, Chris Godwin!!!

And, here's the crazy part -- Godwin gave it up for FREE!!!

There have been CRAZY stories in the past about players exchanging money, jewelry and more to trade jersey numbers with their teammates.

Most famously, Clinton Portis offered Ifeanyi Ohalete $40k for his #26 ... and the transaction actually ended up in court.

But, there was no drama this time around ... with Godwin just handing the number to Brady -- no strings attached.

It would have been a branding disaster for Tom to take a different number -- he's had #12 for 20 years and built his TB12 brand around it.

Godwin -- who will now wear #14 -- previously said he'd part ways with his number #12 jersey out of respect to the GOAT ... but mentioned he had been wearing doce since high school.

It may end up being a great investment for Godwin ... 'cause maybe TB12 will be looking for that #14 down the field a LOT more this season.

Kamaru Usman wants to go all "Deliverance" on Jorge Masvidal at UFC 249 -- saying he wants the fans to hear Masivdal "squeal like the pig that he is."

Both Kamaru and Jorge have said they're down to step up and fight in the main event at UFC 249 in April -- after Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he's stuck in Russia and likely won't be able to fight Tony Ferguson.

Masvidal has promised to "cut off" Usman's head if they do scrap -- but Kamaru, the reigning UFC welterweight champ, says he ain't afraid.

In fact, Usman says he LOVES the fact there will likely be no fans allowed at UFC 249 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) ... because he wants the fans to hear all of the sounds of combat.

"I want you guys to hear him squeal, squeal like a pig, like the little bitch that he is," Usman says.

"The weird sounds that he's gonna make once I'm elbowing and slicing up his face, once I'm dropping hammers on his face. I want you guys to hear that."

"Nobody in the stands no fans to cheer him on so he feels like he's somebody. nobody, just me and him."

"That's why I said I'll take that fight. I haven't been training but I'll take the fight because I wanted you guys to hear what I do to this guy inside."

Tragic news for people with great sex tapes ... Joe Buck says he will NOT narrate them -- SO STOP SENDING THEM HIS WAY!!!

The legendary sports broadcaster has been doing some fun charity work this month ... providing play-by-play of fan-submitted videos on social media in exchange for good-cause donations.

Buck's voiced over some pretty wacky clips -- a guy making chicken wings, some dude throwing darts and even marble racing were all part of his package last week.

But, Joe said in an interview with KMOX on Monday ... some of the vids fans are sending his way are straight-up NSFW -- and he'd appreciate if people stopped doing it.

"I've had a couple of submissions from let's say, a man and a woman, that just didn't seem appropriate to put my voice to in this stage of my life," Buck said, "Maybe later in life, but not now."

Joe says people shouldn't try to sneak it in behind seemingly normal videos either ... 'cause he claims he's going over even the benign videos with a fine-tooth comb!!

"I look at these videos very carefully and pick the ones that seem the most wholesome to put my voice to."

The next installment of Kobe Bryant's best-selling book series is here ... and Vanessa is paying tribute to her husband's work on the bittersweet day.

The book, "Season One" is a follow-up to Kobe's NYT Bestselling work, "The Wizenard Series: Training Camp" ... which focuses on a young hooper named Reggie, who dreams of being a basketball superstar.

Vanessa celebrated the news on Instagram Tuesday ... saying, "Welcome back to Dren! We hope you are all ready to catch up with the West Bottom Badgers for another magical basketball season."

The book shares a quote from the late Kobe Bryant after the title page ... which says, "To young athletes who commit to doing the hard work. The process always pays off."

The book's author, Wesley King, reflected on the book drop -- saying, "Official release day. Bittersweet without my collaborator, but grateful to see the words live on. This is a book about chasing your dreams."

Of course, Kobe's second act after basketball was just taking off ... from business partnerships to winning an Oscar for the short film, "Dear Basketball."

#RIP

Here's an opportunity for sports fans to help in the fight against coronavirus AND get their hands on some amazing memorabilia at the same time ... with an awesome auction for COVID-19 relief!!

The auction -- through Collectible Xchange by Brandon Steiner -- features items from huge names like Tua Tagovailoa, Bill Walton, Brian Urlacher, Mariano Rivera, Jon Jones and more who agreed to donate for the cause.

Among the highlights include an autographed Tua jersey (starting bid $450), a lunch for 4 with Walton ($7,500), a meet and greet at a Yankee game with the Sandman ($1,500) and a Jon Lester autographed glove ($300).

There are 36 items so far -- from autographs to meet and greets and more.

There are even items for the sneakerheads out there ... with Barry Sanders' legendary, Nike signature kicks and some Yeezys being added to the lineup of items.

The net proceeds will go to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to help those affected by the virus ... as well as the heroes working to fight off the pandemic.

It's a buyer's market, and David and Victoria Beckham are taking full advantage as only filthy rich people can, expanding their portfolio with a sick Miami skyscraper home.

The famous couple reportedly dropped $24 million on the 5-bedroom condo in Miami's One Thousand Museum building -- a 62-story structure that's a marvel on its own.

The Beckhams' new pad was designed by late architect Zaha Hadid and was completed just months ago ... so it's got that uber-modern look to it, featuring big, open rooms and gorgeous views of the city and the ocean.

The 5 bedrooms will come in handy for the family of 5, and their new home also comes with its own fancy swimming pool and rooftop helipad. Let's be honest, it's a must-have item ... in case they need to get to the airport quickly and fly to one of their other luxury homes around the world.

The State of Idaho has formally banned transgender girls and women from competing in sports designated for females ... and rights groups are PISSED.

Here's the deal ... on Monday, Gov. Brad Little signed off on House Bill 500 -- also known as the "Fairness In Women's Sports Act."

The Bill says "athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex." It's aimed at sports leagues connected to the public school system.

In other words, people born with male reproductive organs -- who transition to female -- will not be allowed to compete in "women's" sports.

The issue has made tons of headlines over the past few years -- after transgender athletes began competing (and dominating) in events like weightlifting and track and field.

Some experts believe transgender women have a biological advantage because they were born male genes and bone structure.

But the ACLU believes the new bill is wrong and unconstitutional.

"The ACLU of Idaho condemns Governor Brad Little's decision to sign discriminatory, unconstitutional, and deeply hurtful anti-transgender bills into law."

"Leaders from the business, faith, medical, education and athletics communities will not forget this decision or what it says about the governor's priorities during a global pandemic. The ACLU will see the governor in court."

Boise State runner Lindsay Hecox -- a transgender woman -- spoke out against the bill on Monday saying, "it specifically targets people like me and all transgender female athletes and denies us the opportunity to compete in sports."

This is awesome -- UFC star Dominick Reyes teaching us exactly how he landed those CRUSHING uppercuts on Jon Jones ... WELCOME TO FIGHT SCHOOL!!!

Dom hit up the secret gym at the TMZ offices recently -- where he told us straight up, "I definitely won" that fight.

Remember, 30-year-old Reyes took Jones the distance in their Feb. 8 matchup at UFC 247 -- a lot of people think he deserved to win that fight and got screwed on the judge's cards.

So, when Reyes hit up our gym -- he took our resident punching bag, Lucas, to class (with the help of "Fight School" host Paige VanZant!).

Ya gotta watch the whole ep on Snapchat -- Dom shows us how he baited Jones during the fight so he could land those devastating shots.

Joe Theismann tells TMZ Sports the Redskins would be making a HUGE mistake if they passed on Chase Young for Tua Tagovailoa next month ... saying he simply doesn't think the QB is worth it.

"Without hesitation," the Redskins legend says, "I take Chase Young."

As for why, Theismann tells us Tua has just too many question marks surrounding him heading into April's NFL draft.

"He's not a generational quarterback," Theismann said. "[Joe] Burrow might be. I think so. But, Tua is not. I'm not sold on the strength of his arm."

Joe tells us he believes Young is the best player in the draft regardless ... and with the Redskins moving to a 4-3 defense, he thinks the pick should be a no-brainer.

Of course, some in D.C. disagree with Theismann ... mostly because Dwayne Haskins was pretty bad in his limited playing time as a rookie last season.

But, Joe tells us he ain't ready to give up on the ex-Ohio State superstar just yet ... and says Ron Rivera and the 'Skins shouldn't be either.