TMZ Sports - Page 50

Tyron Woodley says his skull-crushing victory over Darren Till at UFC 228 solidifies him as the greatest welterweight fighter of ALL TIME ... putting him over Georges St-Pierre.

"The Chosen One" was fired up Monday morning after notching his 4th title defense in a row -- but admitted to TMZ Sports his elbow and hands were sore from bashing in Till's face.

"I don't think [he landed one shot on me]. I think the stats show one, but I didn't feel one. His head connected with my elbow a lot. That motherf**ker is sore," Tyron said.

"I'm like, 'Damn! What's your head made out of?!'"

As far as his legacy is concerned, Tyron says there's no question -- "I am the greatest welterweight of all time. No disrespect to Georges St-Pierre, but I don't have to fight him to prove that."

Tyron goes on to explain why he deserves the #1 spot over GSP.

By the way, Tyron has previously called out GSP to his face on "The Hollywood Beatdown" back in November ... but St-Pierre wouldn't commit to a scrap.

By the way, we also asked Tyron if there's a chance he'd fight Conor McGregor down the line -- since the two had beef backstage at UFC 205 back in 2016 ... and Tyron's definitely down.

Tyron told us Conor needs to focus on getting through Khabib Nurmagomedov next month first -- and then "maybe" the two can work something out.

Nobody was happier to see Aaron Rodgers' insane comeback Sunday night than Danica Patrick ... 'cause she showered her man with praise after the win -- calling him the greatest of all time!!

The ex-NASCAR driver had a luxury box seat to Rodgers' rollercoaster ride against the Bears ... with cameras showing her nervous during Aaron's injury and shock during his comeback.

When the game was over -- and the injured QB had led his team from down 20-0 to a 24-23 win on one healthy leg -- she took to social media.

The pic was of a Lambeau Field T.V. -- complete with a goat emoji and the words, "Unreal baby."

FYI ... this ain't the first time Danica's celebrated her man's Packers greatness -- remember the custom bottle of champagne she popped after he inked his mega deal?!

Seems like Aaron's not the only one angling for a ring this season ...

By the way ... Randall Cobb -- the dude who caught the game-winning, 75-yard touchdown from Rodgers -- had quite the postgame celebration too ... giving his newborn baby the game ball!!

The baby boy -- Caspian Cyrus Cobb -- is barely a month old ... but little man's already got a piece of Packer history for the rest of his life.

This is not good.

A newspaper in Australia is catching A LOT of heat over a cartoon that was trying to spoof Serena Williams' incident at the U.S. Open -- because it's racist as hell.

The cartoon -- drawn by Mark Knight (editorial cartoonist for the Herald Sun newspaper) -- shows the tennis superstar stomping on her racket.

But, let's get serious, it looks like a Jim Crow-era, Sambo-style caricature of a black person -- not Serena Williams.

The cartoon has been blasted by athletes and celebs including J.K. Rowling who said, "Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop."

ESPN's Jemele Hill noted the racism is "About as subtle as Fran Drescher’s voice."

So far, it doesn't seem like the Herald Sun is backing down -- they retweeted the image and haven't pulled it.

At least, not yet.

As we reported ... Serena was penalized several times during Saturday's U.S. Open finals match against Naomi Osaka. Serena went off on the judge claiming he was a "thief" who stole a point from her.

The judge then penalized Serena a game for the "verbal abuse." Williams continued to go off on the guy to other tournament officials claiming the judge would never treat a man that way.

Alex Rodriguez became the wealthiest burger store janitor on earth Sunday -- when he busted out the mop and went to town at Wahlburgers ... all because the Yankees got swept by the Red Sox.

It was all part of a bet A-Rod made with Mark Wahlberg during the Yankes, Sox series back in August. If the Yanks lost, Alex had to work at Mark's family burger joint.

Not only did the Yanks lose the series, they got SWEPT -- so, Alex reported for duty on Sunday ... and, to his credit, he did it all with a smile on his face.

"Last month, @markwahlberg and his @RedSox brought the broom out and swept my @Yankees. So today, I got the mop," Alex posted on social media.

"It was time to me to hold up my end of the deal and report for duty to the @wahlburgers location near Fenway Park. Today, I had to do a little bit of everything - greet customers, flip burgers, clear tables, and yes, mop the bathroom floor. But what I thought was going to be a tough day turned out to be a day I really enjoyed."

As for Mark, he gloated.

"Needless to say, Alex failed miserable in his prediction ... So, now he has to show the greatest fans in the world how to get his hands dirty and serve up some delicious Wahlburgers. What do you say Alex? It’s time to go to work, buddy. Start flipping ’em."

Alex says he hopes to make another bet with Mark in the future and get some revenge.

Hulk Hogan is bringing back one of the GREATEST wrestling factions of all time -- THE ORIGINAL NWO -- how sweet is that?!?

The WWE legend tells TMZ Sports it's been over 20 years since he terrorized opponents with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall ... but they've decided the time is right to get the band back together.

"Brother, I told you guys it was 4 LIFE!"

It's all going down on Oct. 27 at Mango's in Orlando where Hogan says the guys are hosting a major reunion event complete with a Q&A session for the hardcore nWo fans.

"It's been over 20 years and it's still the talk of the wrestling business," Hulk says.

So, how would nWo stack up against wrestling's new dominant trio, The Shield -- composed of WWE megastars Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose?!

"We would murder the bums, brother! We would kill em!"

"I used to wrestle with Roman Reigns' dad! You've seen pictures of me holding Roman Reigns as a baby, come on! We taught them ALMOST everything we know."

There's more ... We also asked Hulk to give the best nWo story in his vault -- it involves beer and trash talk.

Ryan Lochte was sweatin' it out at his wedding over the weekend ... but it was probably more because of the 108 degree weather than nerves.

The 6-time Olympic gold medalist and ex-Playboy Playmate Kayla Rae Reid exchanged "I Dos" in Palm Springs on Sunday in front of 100 of their closest friends.

Lochte sported a tan suit and a bunch of sweat ... while Reid didn't let the heat keep her from looking incredible.

We broke the story -- Lochte and Reid got hitched back in January after announcing their engagement in October 2016.

The couple welcomed their son, Caiden, back in June 2017 ... who served as a ring bearer for the ceremony.

Governor, Senator, Congressman, Mayor ... Peyton Manning could be any of these things in Tennessee, this according to a representative from the state who says PM would win any office by a landslide.

We spoke with John Duncan, a 15-term incumbent representative from Tenn's 2nd district, and asked him how Manning would fare if he ever jumped into politics.

"If Peyton Manning ran for any office in Tennessee, he could win by a landslide."

BTW -- Duncan is serious, and it's not out of the question. There were big-time rumors last year that Peyton was thinking about running for a Senate seat, but Duncan isn't sure it'll happen.

"I think he's made so much money off his football career and his advertising and so forth that it'd be a step down for him to be elected to some office."

D. L. Hughley says Serena Williams absolutely has a point about women getting unfairly penalized for things men do all the time ... pointing to Martha Stewart as a prime example.

The comedian was strolling through LAX Sunday when our photog asked if Serena was justified in her epic outburst against an umpire overseeing her and Naomi Osaka's match Saturday at the US Open finals -- after the guy took a point away from her, and then a whole game.

She called him a thief at the time, and later said male players have said just as harsh things --- if not worse -- and are hardly reprimanded as severely as she was.

D.L. agrees with that, citing historic outbursts from Andre Agassi and, of course, John McEnroe ... who once called an umpire a "jerk" and demanded he be replaced mid-game.

Then there's Martha Stewart, who D.L. notes went to jail for illegally pocketing around $40,000, she was sentenced to 5 months in prison in 2004. He insinuates that a high-profile man who might've been caught up in a similar case probably wouldn't have seen jail time.

12:45 PM PT -- Colin Kaepernick has expressed support for Stills and Wilson, tweeting "My Brothers @kstills and @ithinkisee12 continue to show their unwavering strength by fighting for the oppressed! They have not backed down, even when attacked and intimidated. Their courage will move the world forward! 'Love is at the root of our resistance!'"

Not a ton of players took a knee in protest during the NFL's fist week of regular season games ... but the first to do so were from The Miami Dolphins.

Miami wide receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson quietly took a knee during the anthem of Sunday's contest against the Tennessee Titans. Their teammate, Robert Quinn raised a fist during the song.

You'll remember ... prior to the season, NFL owners approved a rule that required players to either stand or wait in the locker room while the anthem was played. The rule was put on hold after significant backlash from the players.

Both Still and Wilson also took a knee during the preseason and stated they'd continue to do so during the regular season.

President Trump took a shot at the NFL and player protests before Sunday's games, saying, "Wow, NFL first game ratings are way down over an already really bad last year comparison. Viewership declined 13%, the lowest in over a decade. If the players stood proudly for our Flag and Anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings could come back? Otherwise worse!"

As we reported -- Nike named Colin Kaepernick the face of the "Just Do It" campaign's 30th anniversary -- a move hit with a ton of praise and controversy too.

Serena Williams won't just leave the US Open with a loss in the Championship ... she'll leave a little lighter in the wallet too.

Williams will be fined $17,000 for 3 separate code violations during the tennis tournament's final.

-$4,000 for a coaching violation.

-$3,000 for smashing her racquet.

-$10,000 for verbal abuse towards the umpire.

As we reported ... Serena was penalized several times during Saturday's match against Naomi Osaka.

Williams approached the umpire and heavily disputed the violation, saying she'd rather lose than cheat. Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, did admit to coaching after the match, but said he didn't think Serena was paying attention to him.

Osaka received her trophy to a chorus of boos from the crowd ... and Williams was obviously upset during the press conference after the match ... saying she felt that she was only penalized because she was a woman.

Ex-MMA star War Machine insists he's no longer the woman-beating maniac he used to be -- he's found Jesus and changed his life ... and he's begging his ex-GF for forgiveness.

War Machine's story made national headlines -- he was a super talented UFC fighter who lost it all in 2014 when he viciously attacked his then-girlfriend, Christy Mack, when he caught her with another man.

Mack's injuries were horrific -- 18 broken bones, broken eye socket, broken nose and a lacerated liver. The other victim, Corey Thomas, was choked out and bitten before escaping.

War Machine was eventually convicted on 29 felony counts and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 36 years.

Now, the imprisoned fighter -- real name Jon Koppenhaver -- is speaking for the first time from behind bars as part of a documentary by Jon Bravo ... and he's expressing serious remorse.

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret that, and I hate it," he says.

"Nobody hates me as much as I hate the man that I used to be."

Machine says he initially blamed Christy for the incident because she was cheating on him -- but has now realized none of it was her fault ... he was the bad guy, period.

"From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to Christy. I'm sorry, Christy."

Ever made a play so dope on the football field you just HAD to have it immortalized in a $100,000 chain?!

No?? Well, Lamar Jackson has ... and he just got the bling done -- and it's possibly the sickest piece in the NFL.

Remember ... L.J. made one of the most memorable runs in college football history -- HURDLING a guy back in his sophomore season at Louisville and scoring a wild touchdown on the play.

It was insane ... and it ultimately helped him win the Heisman Trophy that season.

Soooo ... after Lamar got drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens this spring -- he had enough cash to make sure he'd never forget it.

Jackson hit up Stacks Customs Jewelry in Miami ... and they got to work on the drip.

We're told the chain is 285 grams of gold with a one-of-a-kind squared Cuban link that’s only made by Stacks Customs.

We're also told the pendant is 257 grams of gold with 25 ctw/carats of VVS quality stones.

When all was said and done, it took about three weeks to make ... and, yeah, it cost $100k!!

Conor McGregor just got called the HELL out, and not by a scrub either ...

The guy doing the talking is 28-0 welterweight champ Keith "One Time" Thurman, who says he'd destroy Conor on any shaped mat -- that includes Octagons.

McGregor has obviously tried his hand at boxing before, getting beat up by Floyd Mayweather in Vegas last summer ... Keith told TMZ Sports if he ever got his hands on Conor, it'd be WORSE.

"I'd beat Conor McGregor's ass, I'd beat his ass. He would've got knocked out. If he fought a real young welterweight ... he would've got knocked out for the whole world to see."

He's obviously referring to the boxing ring -- but if you think Thurman is scared to beat Conor at HIS game ... you're wrong.

"I'll take Conor in the Octagon. Ain't like he's throwing a lot of kicks anyway."

BTW ... anyone wondering when Keith is coming back to boxing, he addresses his future below, and it seems either Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, or Manny Pacquiao is in for a headache.

If hoops don't work out for Blake Griffin ... he's got the official stamp of approval from comedian Nikki Glaser to move to the stand-up mic -- 'cause she's telling TMZ Sports Blake is LEGIT funny.

"Oh, he could totally be a comedian if he wanted to be," she says. "I wouldn't say that about anyone."

Remember ... Blake went head-to-head in a roast battle with Jeff Ross earlier this summer -- and killed it ... telling Jeff at one point, "You're such a bald piece of sh*t. It honestly looks like we both got f**ked over by the Clippers."

Nikki just so happened to be a judge for that battle ... and when we got her outside Hollywood Improv earlier this week -- she says she was straight-up mad that B.G. was so good.

"You see someone that handsome and just that talented in his own profession and it's like, 'Stay in your lane!'" Nikki tells us.

"And, you want him to be bad at comedy. You want someone that's killing it in their own life, tall and has everything -- you want them to be not funny, and then he was really funny. Like, really funny."

Terry Bradshaw's good looks are legendary!

Here's a 24-year-old version of the NFL Hall Of Fame player on the sidelines before a game back in 1972 (left) and 46 years later ... The quarterback turned sports analyst -- Who recently celebrated his 70th birthday -- speaking on a radio show earlier this year (right).

Going long!

The question is ...

Serena Williams erupted on the court during the U.S. Open final ... but it didn't help her win.

Serena confronted the chair judge after receiving a coaching violation early in the second set Saturday ... telling him she doesn't cheat to win. But, her aggravation with the ref only grew from there, and a few games and a racquet smash later ... she went OFF on the guy.

Williams demanded an apology from the chair judge repeatedly, accusing him of attacking her character by insinuating she was cheating. It only got more tense from there ... and after telling the ref he would "never ever ever be on another court of mine as long as you live" and calling him a thief and a liar ... Serena was given a game penalty for umpire verbal abuse.

Then things got really interesting, with Open officials coming on the court to talk to Williams, who accused the ump of treating her unfairly because she's a woman.

The whole ordeal was ... unpleasant, to say the least.

BTW -- Naomi Osaka won in straight sets, becoming the first Japanese person to win a Grand Slam ... which is awesome. She became visibly upset, though, as the crowd booed during the trophy presentation ... but Serena was quick to put an arm around her for comfort.