TMZ Sports - Page 50

Conor McGregor got to sit in on the World Cup final in person this weekend, showing up as a guest of none other than Vladimir Putin.

The UFC star posted a photo of himself Sunday alongside Russia's president, posing like a tough guy with someone he calls "one of the greatest leaders of our time."

Conor's caption read ... "Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup."

He ended with "Go Russia" ... written in Russian. Hopefully they're both aware Russia got knocked out in the quarter finals, but that's beside the point. What's important (and weird) is that Conor is super chummy with Putin ... who's known as kind of a bad dude, depending on who you talk to.

Former NHL goalie Ray Emery died this weekend from an apparent drowning.

Emery was reportedly swimming Sunday at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Ontario, where police say his body was discovered after an early morning swim near the docks. They say he failed to emerge after diving in with a friend ... and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

The NHL Alumni Association tweeted about Emery's death shortly after the news broke, offering condolences to his friends and family.

Emery played in the NHL from 2003 to 2015, serving as a goaltender for the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks. He brought the Senators to the Stanley Cup finals in '07 and eventually won the title with the Blackhawks in 2013.

He was arrested last year for allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend with a weapon in 2016. The alleged victim, BET host Keshia Chante, claimed he'd abused her several times that year.

Same last name ... but NO love between Logan Paul and "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul -- with Logan telling TMZ Sports he would beat Aaron's ass if they ever came face-to-face.

Their beef goes back a few months ... when Aaron trashed Logan for his video stunt gone wrong in the suicide forest in Japan. Aaron told Logan to "go rot in hell."

Now, Logan is firing back ... calling Aaron an "Internet bully" -- and warning the actor that if he REALLY wants a piece, he'll end up getting hurt.

LaVar Ball says the pathway for LiAngelo Ball to get to the Lakers is a clear one ... and it runs through the new hoops league he created -- THE JBA!!

L.A. -- along with the other 29 teams in the NBA -- passed on Gelo in the draft last month ... so now the most famous Ball has a new plan to fix that -- put him in a JBA jersey with LaMelo.

"It's not even a yellow brick road," LaVar tells TMZ Sports. "It's a road that he has to take. It's nothing wrong with this."

So far ... so good for Gelo -- who dropped 53 points, 10 boards and 10 assists in his debut Thursday night ... playing in front of Lakers stars Lonzo Ball and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

LaVar seems to concede it's probably not the most ideal route for Gelo to end up in the association ... but he says it's better than "running hills and just shooting on the machine by yourself."

Kevin "Baby Slice" Ferguson says "Black Panther" star Winston Duke playing his legendary dad, Kimbo, is knockout casting ... telling TMZ Sports Duke has already proven he can play the role.

Duke played M'Baku in "Black Panther" and a lot people who saw the movie felt like he stole every scene he was in.

It was recently announced Winston would be playing Kimbo in a biopic ... and, when we talked to Baby Slice about it, he said he was 100% behind Duke's casting.

"I watched 'Black Panther' before they did anything, said anything about the movie, and I think he played the role, that character, he played it very well, you know."

"He was serious but funny, you know. He made people laugh and that was my pops all day. He was a serious person but at the same time, he could make you laugh and he was very cool. But that big, that figure, it's like perfect."

Kevin said he hasn't talked with Winson yet, but definitely plans to be a part of the production of the movie ... even though he didn't want to play his iconic pops.

Ella Rose is about to overheat ... her phone that is, if she doesn't put it away.

Julian Edelman's baby mama hit the beach in Santa Monica during L.A.'s heatwave. Don't worry ... she managed to cool off in the Pacific sans her phone.

Listen up, Rich Eisen's about to make you a LOT of money in your fantasy football league this season.

The NFL Network host and football czar told TMZ Sports outside of Craig's this week how to beat all your buddies and coworkers in your drafts next month.

First ... Eisen says target the top guys.

"Le'Veon Bell ... Antonio Brown," he says.

Then ... Eisen reveals his ULTIMATE sleeper that'll win you leagues the same way Saints stud Alvin Kamara did last season.

Finally ... Rich has one more piece of advice -- go HARD after an AFC South quarterback coming off an injury.

Make like some of the world's best soccer players and dive into these photos of some of the hottest wives and girlfriends of the World Cup Final!

France and Croatia will square off for soccer's highest honor ... and there will be plenty of "keepers" to look at on both sidelines.

In France's corner ... Pamela Anderson headlines the group of WAGS -- but, you gotta see who Samuel Umtiti and Paul Pogba are scoring with off the pitch.

For Croatia ... Mateo Kovačić and Ivan Rakitić have netted some serious talent too.

Anyone looking to make millions for riding a horse 2 minutes at a time needs to pay close attention ... because legendary trainer Bob Baffert is gonna tell you if you're world class Jockey material.

Bob is the man when it comes to making ponies into champions, having trained the last two triple crown winners, American Pharoah and Justify.

He doesn't ride the horses though, so when we got him out at Craig's we wanted to know what he looks for in the men who do.

FYI -- these jockeys make HUGE dollars, with the top ten guys making an average of over 5 million dollars last year.

D.L. Hughley's joining the ranks of some other celebs and athletes to say good riddance to John Schnatter, and says he isn't surprised 'Papa John' used a racial slur ... because he's a "horrible dude."

We got the comedian at LAX Saturday and asked if he was done with Papa John's pizza ... he tells us he has been for a while now, for the same reason ex-NFL star Thomas Jones told us -- it's s***ty.

D.L. has some other reasons, too -- saying Schnatter's completely disrespectful -- and jokes that maybe he took the same Ambien as Roseanne Barr.

Hughly also suggests the Papa John's founder is simply racist, and says if he wants to use the n-word like Colonel Sanders did he can ... but nowadays -- it'll cost ya big time.

As we reported ... Schnatter resigned from the University if Louisville's Board of Trustees and stepped down as chairman of Papa John's International this week after huge backlash over his comments made on a company conference call in May.

Conor McGregor's having a big day -- not only is it the fighter's 30th bday, but his girlfriend just announced some major news ... she's pregnant again!!!

Dee Devlin just made the sly reveal on her IG, saying ... "Happy 30th birthday babe! Thank you for being you! Love you to bits from me, Conor jr and the bump."

When we last saw Conor and the fam together last month, they were on a rowboat in Central Park and riding bikes on the heels of McGregor appearing in court in NYC for his part in the infamous UFC bus attack.

Things have been on the up and up since then, though ... and now Conor and Dee are going to need a little more room in their rowboat.

By the way ... there's something in the water today -- earlier Saturday, Kate Upton announced she's pregnant, too.

Congrats to everyone!!

9:30 AM PT -- Justin just posted, "You're going to be the most amazing Mom!! I can't wait to start this new journey with you! You're the most thoughtful, loving, caring, and strong woman I've ever met! I'm so proud that our little one is going to be raised in this world by a woman like you! I love you so much."

Kate Upton is catching what seems like the wave these days ... she's pregnant!!!

Kate just announced she's having a baby ... posting this pic Saturday from Miami. We've learned she's there for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Model Search during Miami Swim Week ... so pregnancy's not stopping her from working it.

Kate married Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander last November. They dated for 5 years. As you know, they got hitched just days after the Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series.

Kate captioned the pic, "#PregnantinMiami @justinverlander."

Unclear how far along she is ... but one thing's for sure -- Kate looks great!

Caroline Wozniacki's not sweating missing out on one of the biggest days in women's tennis ... she's staying cool in the pool instead.

The tennis star and her NBA fiance, David Lee, are still vacationing in Italy -- now they're in Portofino -- and were spotted Saturday getting wet and enjoying some delicious-looking drinks.

As we reported ... the couple jetted over to Italy early this week after Caroline got bounced from Wimbledon in the second round.

9:33 AM PT -- Serena was defeated by Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-3, who won her first career Wimbledon title and third major. Serena was interviewed after the match, saying she was disappointed she couldn't get the win for all the moms out there ... but thanked everyone for their support and said she was happy to be back.

Meghan Markle has friends in high places, and not just at the Palace ... because she showed up to watch her good friend Serena Williams try to make some history.

Meghan brought sister-in-law Kate Middleton along for the ride to sit in the peanut gallery at Wimbledon, to watch Serena attempt a super-human feat ... bouncing back after a difficult post-pregnancy to tie the record for Grand Slam wins.

Pacman Jones isn't feelin' Colin Kaepernick -- telling TMZ Sports he does NOT support the players who took a knee during the national anthem ... and wants them to find a different way to protest.

Here's the deal ... we shot this clip on Tuesday at LAX just a few hours before Pacman was attacked at the airport in Atlanta. The fight story kinda knocked this clip off our radar for a while (obviously), but it's still pretty good.

"I'm all for standing for the anthem," Pacman told us ... "I have a couple of family members that have been over to Iraq."

The woman suing Marcell Dareus for allegedly giving her herpes is demanding the NFL star produce a list of ALL of his sexual partners ever ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

The Jacksonville Jags defensive end was hit with a lawsuit by a woman using the alias "Jane Doe" -- who claims he gave her the STD during an April 2018 hookup in Houston.

As part of her case, Doe has filed a "request for production" -- demanding Dareus fork over any info he has connected to the case.

On the list ...

- "The names and contact information of all sexual partners [of Dareus] since [he] became sexually active."

- All receipts for any Rx medications from the last 10 years.

- Receipts for "each and every instance that [Dareus] purchased condoms or other sexual protection in the last 10 years."