TMZ Sports - Page 50

Greg Hardy is a changed man -- and has earned a 2nd chance to have a career as a pro athlete ... so says Dana White.

Of course, there have been plenty of critics who don't believe Hardy -- who was previously arrested for domestic violence -- deserves a chance to fight in Dana White's Contender series, including Jay Glazer.

For the record, Hardy was initially convicted -- but appealed the decision, and the verdict was later overturned after the alleged victim stopped cooperating with authorities.

White says Hardy has made mistakes in life -- including issues with drugs and alcohol -- but says he's confident Hardy has sobered up and turned his life around.

The former NFL star has racked up 3 impressive victories in his first 3 MMA fights -- and White believes the guy has real potential.

Hardy will be fighting Austen Lane on June 12 -- and if he wins, it's possible White could award him with a UFC contract.

They didn't get the silver, so the Vegas Knights will settle for gold ...

TMZ Sports has learned celebrity jeweler Boodaddy Diamonds is hooking up every single player on the Vegas team with a special gold pendant in honor of making the Stanley Cup Finals.

Yeah, we know ... they didn't win -- but the guys became the first expansion team in NHL history to get to the final round of the playoffs.

Boodaddy tells TMZ Sports he's incredibly impressed and wants to be a part of history so he designed a special gold pendant just for the team -- and he's giving it to them for free.

"It's definitely not gonna be cheap but I'll take care of it."

Anthony Bourdain wasn't just a legendary chef ... he was the most influential celebrity Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner -- who helped introduce the martial art to the masses -- so says the guy whose family founded BJJ.

TMZ Sports talked to Rener Gracie -- whose grandfather, Helio Gracie, created Gracie Jiu-Jitsu a.k.a. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu -- about Bourdain's impact on his family's sport.

FYI -- Rener's coached Ronda Rousey and UFC star Brian Ortega ... and occasionally hit the mats with A.B. (check out their training sesh below from 2014).

Bourdain wasn't the only celeb to train ... Ashton Kutcher, Vince Vaughn, Ed O'Neill, Kelly Slater, Guy Ritchie, and Keanu Reeves practice BJJ -- but according to Gracie, Anthony was the most important.

"I think that Anthony Bourdain, A, because of his enthusiasm and his ease of communication, and B, because of his age, is responsible for more people doing Jiu-Jitsu and beginning Jiu-Jitsu, than probably any other celebrity ever who's not a professional fighter."

Rener goes on to say Bourdain's passing leaves a void that might never be filled.

5:40 PM PT -- And get this ... Kellen is telling friends he believes the incident was racially motivated. Kellen is claiming he was only at the mobile home park to check out a place for his mother-in-law to live when a neighbor freaked out when she saw a big black man who doesn't live in the community.

Kellen is telling friends he knows the owners of the home which he is accused of burglarizing -- they're friends of his from church. He's adamant ... he didn't take anything or do anything wrong.

Kellen Winslow Jr. is breaking his silence about his felony burglary arrest ... insisting he absolutely did NOT commit any crime.

The ex-NFL star issued a statement through his attorney, Harvey A. Steinberg, saying, "Mr. Winslow emphatically denies committing any burglary."

"He would have no need to burglarize or steal anything from anyone at a trailer park. He looks forward to being vindicated once this matter is fully adjudicated through the court system."

34-year-old Winslow was arrested Thursday afternoon in the San Diego area after cops say he broke into a mobile home community and stole something out of one of the units.

Kanye West took us all for a crazy ride ... and brilliantly created that bizarre media firestorm as part of a diabolical plot to promote his new album -- so says Tyron Woodley.

The UFC champ had always been skeptical about Kanye's outbursts -- including the one during "TMZ Live" -- and had been adamant Yeezy was putting on an erratic front to grab headlines.

And after listening to Kanye's new album ... Tyron says he is CERTAIN he's right -- because he thinks it is the work of a pure genius.

Woodley spells the whole thing out in this week's "The Hollywood Beatdown With Tyron Woodley" -- where he also blasts hecklers and finally addresses UFC contender Colby Covington ... threatening to beat his ass.

Mike "The Truth" Jackson says he's already got his victory party planned if he beats CM Punk at UFC 225 this weekend ... FOOD AND HOT CHICKS!

"I'm knocking him out, man," Jackson tells TMZ Sports ... "I'm knocking him out."

Jackson knows Punk will be the fan favorite when they step in the Octagon since it's all going down in Punk's hometown of Chicago ... but Mike says all the fans in the world can't save CM.

"These people can't fight for him. He can't tag them in."

Afterward, Jackson says he ain't about to hit the clubs -- he wants some delicious Chicago-style pizza to go along with his W.

Wanna play a game that's more competitive than the current NBA Finals??

Grab some buddies and take a guess at which Cavs or Warriors players are rockin' which tattoos!!

Who has a Michael Jordan jersey tatted on his abs? Who's got a red "It" balloon inked on his right arm? And which Finals MVP contender has his little baby tattooed on his left forearm?

New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman is breaking his silence about his positive PED test ... saying, "I am very sorry."

"I don't know what happened," Edelman said in a statement.

"I've taken many, many tests obviously over the course of my career, and nothing like this has ever happened."

"I apologize to the Kraft family, my coaches, teammate and fans. As this matter is being appealed, I can’t say anymore but no matter what, I will be ready to play and pursue another championship with our team and for Patriots fans around the world."

Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?

Good, because a bunch of Milwaukee Brewers pitchers just recreated that famous "Dumb and Dumber" scene ... and it's actually pretty good.

Brent Suter (Harry), Josh Hader (Joe) and Jeremy Jeffress (Lloyd) reenacted the famous "Dumb and Dumber" scene to help the squad promote mini-replica bullpen cars ... and it's hilarious.

With Kendall Jenner apparently out of the picture, Ben Simmons MIGHT be trying to rekindle things with Tinashe ... because the two hit the same nightclub on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Philadelphia 76ers star and the 25-year-old singer both hit up Poppy nightclub in West Hollywood ... and left right around the same time.

Ben left solo at 1:37 AM on Friday morning and Tinashe left about 20 minutes later at 1:56 AM.

The two had dated for a couple of months before recently splitting -- Ben was seen out a short time later going on dates with Kendall.

But, Kendall was sucking face with Anwar Hadid in New York City earlier this week -- a sign it's probably over with Ben -- and now, he coincidentally shows up at the same club as his ex?

The only thing that could distract the Washington Capitals from their Cup celebration was ... another couple of cups.

D cups, that is.

In one of the most incredible moments from the Caps' historic win over the Las Vegas Golden Knights Thursday, a chick sitting rinkside in a skin-tight white dress pulled out her boobs ... pressed 'em against the glass -- and Caps players couldn't help but stare.

A parade around T-Mobile Arena -- led by Alex Ovechkin hoisting his first-ever Stanley Cup -- was temporarily paused as the boobs were on display.

Andre Burakovsky stopped to applaud. A few other players -- including Brooks Orpik and Devante Smith-Pelly -- hit the breaks temporarily to get a good look.

Joel Embiid refuses to trash ex-Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo ... telling TMZ Sports the disgraced exec is a "great guy" ... despite the burner account scandal.

"He was a great guy. He did a great job for us, so I wish him luck," Embiid told us in Beverly Hills on Thursday night.

Shocking response since Embiid is one of the 76ers players who was targeted by the burner account tweets that Colangelo's wife claims she posted.

In fact, we asked Joel if he REALLY believes Bryan had nothing to do with the burner accounts and if he thinks Barbara Bottini truly acted alone.

"I have no idea," Embiid said ... "I'm sure there was an investigation for a reason. But if it was his wife, there's nothing you can do about it."

Embiid didn't seem concerned about the future of the 76ers -- in fact, he told us the Colangelo drama won't slow down "the Process."

"The Process is never starting over and it's never going to be over. There's a process for everything. It takes a lot to get where you wanna go and that's the process."'

Diddy says he's GLAD he didn't win the bidding to buy the Carolina Panthers -- because he's pissed at the league for the new national anthem rule ... claiming it nothing short of "oppression."

Diddy appeared on BigBoyTV and said he was one of the last 2 bids for the Panthers -- and at the time he really wanted to be a part of a positive change.

But after the new anthem rule, requiring players on the field to stand -- "I don't even wanna own an NFL team no more."

"I don't want to be associated with oppressing black men. I don't want to be associated with telling grown ass men what they can do and not do."

Diddy then calls for black athletes to stick together and fight back against the league ... and says he has their backs.

"This is a defining time."

Ex-NFL star Kellen Winslow Jr. was arrested for residential burglary Thursday after cops say he broke into a home at a mobile home park near San Diego.

Officials say cops got a call about an incident around 2:39 PM PT -- someone reported a black male adult walked into a neighbor's home.

The person who called police confronted 34-year-old Winslow -- who then got into a waiting SUV and left, according to police.

Cops say they found Winslow in a matching SUV a short distance away and arrested him for felony burglary.

FYI, Winslow made more than $40 MILLION during his 10-year NFL career as a tight end for the Tampa Bay Bucs, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and NY Jets.

Winslow was held on $50,000 bail -- which he posted. He has since been released. He faces up to 6 years in prison.

It's not Winslow's first run-in with the law ... he was arrested for allegedly masturbating in a Target parking lot back in 2014. Cops say they found vaseline in the car and synthetic marijuana.

Donald Trump is making an offer to NFL players -- telling them he wants their recommendations for people who deserve a presidential pardon ... and promises to take their requests seriously.

Trump was speaking with reporters in front of the White House when he talked about his new plan to help determine who should be pardoned.

"What I'm thinking to do, you have a lot of people in the NFL in particular ... they're not proud enough to stand for our national anthem ..."

"I'm gonna ask all of those people to recommend to me ... people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system and I'm gonna ask them to recommend to me, people that were unfairly treated, friends of theirs or people that they know about and im gonna take a look at those applications."

Lenny Dykstra claims he was essentially kidnapped by an erratic Uber driver -- and now, we've learned the driver's been hit with a criminal charge.

The night in question (May 23) is the same evening Dykstra was arrested in NJ for allegedly threatening to shoot the driver when cops say they also found Dykstra in possession of weed, cocaine and ecstasy.

The driver had claimed Lenny asked to change destinations in the middle of the ride and when the driver refused, Lenny flipped out and threatened to shoot him.

But, Dykstra says that's B.S. -- admitting he did ask to change locations, but it was the DRIVER who flipped out ... locking the doors and driving 100 mph in the wrong direction.

Dykstra says the driver eventually pulled up in front of a police station -- where Lenny claims the driver lied to cops about what really happened.

Cops investigated and according to court documents, the driver has been hit with 1 count of false imprisonment.

Lenny says he was afraid for his life and called 911 several times from the back seat. Lenny says when the driver realized he was talking with police, the driver freaked out even more.

Dykstra's charges have not been dropped -- but now, it seems both the driver and the passenger could go down together in what may be considered as one of the most bizarre Uber rides ever.

8:40AM PT -- Dykstra and his attorney Matthew Blit held a news conference this morning in NYC .. where they described the incident. Lenny says he was kidnapped by the driver and was in fear for his life.

"I literally thought this guy was going to kill me."