TMZ Sports - Page 50

One of the people robbed at gunpoint outside the UFC 224 host hotel in Brazil is a famous MMA manager, who tells TMZ Sports ... the robbers shoved their weapons right in their faces.

Very scary moment for Brian Butler-Au -- who manages big fighters like Max Holloway -- and is in Rio to support his fighter, Brian “BOOM” Kelleher, who's fighting on the main card at UFC 224.

Butler-Au says he was at a table on the beach with roughly 10 other people when the 3 men with guns rushed over and pulled out weapons.

"This guy walked up beside me ... he pulled out this handgun that had an extended magazine on it, put it up in my face and then he grabbed my phone."

Butler-Au says the 3 men -- none of whom were wearing masks -- ordered everyone to hand over their valuables ... and even ripped a necklace right off one of the women at the table.

"It happened really fast, but also in slow motion," Butler-Au says.

Eventually, the gunmen sprinted to a getaway car and fled the scene. Butler-Au says his group went right back to their hotel and started working with UFC security and local police.

The man who shot and killed ex-NFL player Joe McKnight is out of jail -- he's been moved to a federal prison outside New Orleans, TMZ Sports has learned.

56-year-old Ronald Gasser was transferred from Jefferson Parish Jail to the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center -- which we're told is considered a federal prison.

Gasser was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 30 years for shooting and killing McKnight during a 2016 road rage incident.

The prison opened in 2015 and reportedly cost around $118 million -- and boasts state-of-the-art technology including biometric locks that allow staffers to use their fingerprints to open certain doors.

Scary moment for several UFC staffers -- who were robbed outside of the UFC 224 host hotel in Brazil on Thursday ... so says Dana White.

The UFC honcho says multiple people working on the UFC 224 event were shaken down for phones, wallets and passports. Miraculously, no one was injured, as first reported by ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

White says local police were called to the scene and are currently investigating -- speaking with victims, witnesses and reviewing security footage.

You think Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez can go 9 innings without a selfie? Hell no!

The power couple (along with J Lo's mom) hit up Yankees Stadium on Thursday night to watch NY take on the Boston Red Sox .... and you know they had to post the proof on social media.

Of course, A-Rod used to play for the Yankees ... but last night, he was bad luck -- the Yankees lost to the Sox 5-4, snapping the 8-game winning streak.

The good news ... Jenny's mom, Guadalupe, seemed to be having a blast at the game ... until the end.

If John McEnroe reconsiders and accepts Donald Trump's million dollar offer to play Serena or Venus Williams ... one major celebrity has already picked the women to win.

"Man, Serena and Venus all the way," Common told us.

Of course, Common's a little biased ... he used to date Serena back in the day -- but maybe that's why he's confident Johnny Mac would take the "L" if they really throw down on the court.

As we previously reported, McEnroe says Trump made a real effort to make the $1 Mil Battle of the Sexes match a reality ... but John says he had no real desire to compete against a female.

Matt Patricia was a graduate assistant for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute football team while he was being prosecuted for sexual assault ... but the head football coach says he was kept in the dark.

Patricia played for RPI from '92 to '95 -- but his coaching career started the very next season when he was a graduate assistant for his alma mater.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, the alleged rape occurred on March 15, 1996 and Patricia was indicted on August 14, 1996 -- the same day as RPI's opening game of the '96 season.

So, how was Patricia allowed be a part of the program while being investigated for rape?

We spoke with Matt's coach, Joe King, who told us it's a pretty simple answer ... nobody ever told him Patricia was involved in a rape case.

In fact, King says he was completely unaware about the legal proceedings until this week -- when reports surfaced in the Detroit News.

For his part, King says Patricia was a model student athlete and an all-around great guy.

"He's as high a quality individual as I've ever coached, as I've ever known. I just find it hard to believe that this happened."

The NY Knicks made the "right choice" in hiring David Fizdale as the head coach ... but it wasn't the "best choice" -- so says Kenny Smith.

Of course, Kenny was in the running for the gig -- but the Knicks ultimately went with Fizdale, who has more experience as a head coach in the NBA.

"I think they made the right choice," Smith tells TMZ Sports ... "maybe not the best choice. I'm the best choice."

He then doubled down ... "They made the right choice, but not the best choice."

Soccer BEEF!!!!

D.C United coach Ben Olsen clearly wasn't too pleased about Alexi Lalas' comments on Wayne Rooney -- because now he's throwing some shade of his own.

Earlier this week, Lalas told us he wasn't too pumped about the MLS team working on a deal with Rooney -- because the guy's essentially a has-been.

"For me, Wayne Rooney doesn't move the needle," Lalas said ... "It might fill some seats, but not that many seats."

Olsen tells TMZ Sports ... the deal with Rooney isn't done yet -- but he's already going to bat for the striker ... with a shot at Lalas.

Blake Bortles -- along with 2 of his Jacksonville Jaguars teammates -- stopped an alleged thief from stealing the QB's truck from a Florida house party ... cops say.

It all went down late Wednesday night ... Blake and Jags lineman Chris Reed were all at a party at the Jacksonville Beach home of offensive lineman Brandon Linder when they noticed a strange young man skulking around the house.

Once the guys realized he wasn't an invited party guest ... they tracked him down inside the home, stopped him and called police.

This is where things got crazy ... cops checked the surveillance video from the home and saw the man walk up from the street and get into Blake's black Ford F-150 truck, which was unlocked with the keys inside.

Footage allegedly shows the suspect stealing Blake's wallet -- and then attempting to leave with the truck ... but he was boxed in by other cars and couldn't get out.

The video shows the man -- 18-year-old Joseph Horton -- going back inside Linder's house ... and that's when the players stopped him and held him until police arrived.

Michael Irvin says if Matt Patricia is telling the truth ... there's NOTHING in the world worse than being falsely accused of rape.

Irvin would know ... he was accused of sexually assaulting a 27-year-old woman in Florida hotel back in 2017. Irvin adamantly denied the allegations and prosecutors ultimately dropped the case.

Now, with Patricia denying all wrongdoing in his 1996 sexual assault case -- we asked Irvin for his thoughts.

"It's the worst thing in the world to have to go through when you are falsely accused of anything," Irvin said.

Bill Belichick says the New England Patriots didn't know about Matt Patricia's 1996 rape case ... but he's voicing his support for the Detroit Lions head coach.

"The New England Patriots were not aware of the matter which recently came to light," Belichick said Thursday.

"For 14 years in our organization, Matt conducted himself with great integrity and is known to be an outstanding coach, person and family man. We have always been confident in Matt’s character and recommended him highly to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions."

Patricia and a college football teammate were accused of raping a 21-year-old woman 22 years ago during a spring break trip to South Padre Island, off the coast of Texas.

Patricia publicly denied the allegations on Thursday, saying "I was innocent then and I'm innocent now."

Cops have arrested the final suspect in the Rob Gronkowski home burglary case ... making it the 3rd person busted for allegedly raiding the NFL star's home while he was playing in the Super Bowl.

As we previously reported, Gronk's Boston-area home was hit in February while the Patriots were in Minnesota to play the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cops say the burglars stole an Apple Watch, a Rolex, 2 rare coins and multiple firearms.

Two suspects had already been arrested back in March -- but now officials say a 3rd man was taken into custody in Maine.

26-year-old Shayne Denn was wanted for breaking and entering, 3 counts of larceny of a firearm, larceny more than $250.00, malicious destruction of property and trespassing.

More hockey domination from Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who racked up a Ushanka trick during a "Legends of Hockey" game in Sochi on Thursday.

65-year-old Putin strapped up the skates and full hockey gear for the "Night Hockey League" game -- in which Russian hockey greats played some of the top amateurs in the country.

Putin -- wearing his #11 jersey -- ended up with 5 goals (and a few assists) in his team's 12-7 victory.

It's not the first time Putin's taken to the ice -- he actually plays a lot ... and somehow always end up with a TON of goals.

In fact, he even won the face-off ... shocker, right!?

J Lo and A-Rod's one-of-a-kind matching Met Gala outfits are going from the red (and white) carpet to an auction to raise money for (RED)'s fight to end AIDS.

The couple slayed Monday night in custom-designed Balmain looks from the creative director ,Olivier Rousteing. The theme was "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," hence the cross on J Lo's chest.

Her dress took over a month to make ... the jewels on the feathers were sewn on by hand, which explains the $5k starting bid. A-Rod's tux starts at $1,500.

The auction is a cool concept ... if you can rationalize spending that much on clothes, and also considering there's zero chance they would re-wear this stuff. Rousteing's other designs from the night for 'Daily Show' host Trevor Noah, Juliette Binoche and more are also up for auction.

Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia says he's had to live with the "mental torture" of being falsely accused of rape 22 years ago ... but insists, "I was innocent then and I'm innocent now."

The background ... Patricia and a college football teammate were accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in 1996 during a spring break trip to South Padre Island, off the coast of Texas.

He was indicted, but the case was eventually dismissed.

Patricia just addressed the media about the case -- and stated over and over again that he was NOT convicted of a crime.

"There were claims made about me that never happened," Patricia said.

He noted it was "unfair and upsetting" that someone would bring this case back up more than 20 years after it was dismissed.

Patricia says he did not volunteer information about the case to the Lions during the interview process for the head coaching job -- but has never lied about the case when asked about it.

Patricia's position is clear ... since he wasn't convicted of a crime, he felt no obligation to disclose that he was falsely accused of anything.

As far as his job status, "I'm 100% the head coach of the Detroit Lions."

File Under: "You know you have wayyyyy too much money when ..."

Thursday's insane display of wealth comes courtesy of Floyd Mayweather -- who took some time on his ridiculously expensive annual vacation around the world to buy his dog some designer kicks.

Floyd claims the shoes are "red bottoms" -- though, we haven't been able to find actual Louboutin dog shoes yet.

Either way, who buys dog shoes?

Floyd's always been good to his pets -- flying them on private jets and making sure they only drink water out of crystal glasses.