TMZ Sports - Page 50

The woman who starched a suspected shoplifter at Best Buy -- only to be hired by the UFC -- says she has another major career goal ... she wants to be an MMA referee!!!

Yep, Summer Tapasa -- who started her new gig as a UFC executive security officer earlier this month -- says Dana White has been totally supportive in helping her find a longterm career.

And, after some serious thought, Tapasa says she believes she would make an excellent ref!

Of course, we all know she can handle herself in tough situations as evidenced by the Best Buy security video!

Best Buy ultimately let her go over the incident -- but Dana White raved about her ... saying Tapasa is a model employee who's willing to go above and beyond for her employer.

Which is why he offered her the security gig.

But, that's just a starting point for Summer ... who said she hopes she can eventually transition into a bigger job.

"I chose security because I was more comfortable with it. Now that I'm in the UFC, now that I'm in the security position, I was actually thinking about becoming a referee," Summer says.

We're told Summer's bosses at the UFC are supportive of her career goal and will help her get the right training to eventually achieve her dream.

And, since we know she can handle herself, we asked if there was any chance she would ever take a fight herself.

Kobe Bryant's former teammate, Pau Gasol, just paid perhaps the greatest tribute to him and his late daughter, Gianna Bryant, by bestowing her name onto his own flesh and blood.

The former Laker announced the birth of his and his wife's first child -- a girl that they've named after Gigi. He also made sure to reference what Kobe has become known as in the wake of his death ... an awesome girl dad.

Pau broke the news in both Spanish and English, writing ... "Our little one has finally arrived!! The delivery went really well and we couldn’t be happier!! Elisabet Gianna Gasol 😍, a very meaningful name for our super beautiful daughter!! ❤️👨‍👩‍👧 #girldad."

He also posted a shot of him and Catherine McDonnell holding Elisabet's little hand, with the kid getting a firm grip on her mom's forefinger.

It's a great way to honor Kobe, who was Pau's teammate through some crucial championship runs in the late 2000s. He remained on the Lakers through 2014, so he knew KB and his family well.

Kobe and Gianna died, along with 7 others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas last January -- devastating the NBA community and the world.

George Floyd was top of mind for the Minnesota Vikings ahead of their first game in a pandemic-riddled season -- and they paid tribute to him with his family in attendance.

FOX 9's Dawn Mitchell tweeted a video from high up in the stands of a mostly empty U.S. Bank Stadium -- which showed, before kickoff, all of the Vikings players standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the goal line as the announcer made some comments about Floyd's story.

George's family members were captured on the Jumbotron, standing together, as everyone looked on. The big screen also displayed snapshots of some of the many memorials/murals that have popped up around town in the wake of his death.

The Vikings' remembrance was one of the more stand-out ones across the leagues as games ramped up -- other teams had more scattered approaches to addressing social justice.

The Browns' Myles Garrett took a knee, all Patriots players stood together, Colts head coach Frank Reich knelt himself, and the Dolphins remained in the tunnel during the National Anthem. There's more games to come, but so far ... not everyone's on the same page.

Of course, any and all of these reactions are better than what some fans did during Thursday night's premiere match between the Chiefs and Texans ... fans booed when the players locked arms in unity.

The NBA bubble was the scene of a Black Lives Matter protest Saturday, as protesters were trying to get the attention of athletes who have led the charge in recent months for social justice.

Protesters gathered around the Walt Disney World campus, close to the public entrance. The demonstrators wanted LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and other NBA stars to see them as they held signs and shouted messages with the help of megaphones.

Many of the protesters focused on the fatal shooting of Salaythis Melvin, a 22-year-old Black man who was shot in the back at a mall in Orange County, Florida ... just 15 miles from the Bubble.

Sen. Marco Rubio will NOT follow in the footsteps of Donald Trump's son and boycott the NFL over anthem demonstrations ... telling TMZ Sports players have every right to protest.

"Look, I think players are Americans," Rubio said. "They have free speech rights to say whatever they want."

The Dallas Cowboys -- who have famously NEVER had a player kneel for the anthem -- now have players considering taking a knee for the pregame song during their season-opener on Sunday ... and that really angered Eric Trump this week.

In a tweet, Eric wrote, "football is officially dead" now that America's Team might be participating in the protests.

But, when we got Rubio at Reagan Airport in D.C. this week ... he told us the demonstrations -- which included the Houston Texans not even showing up for the anthem on Thursday -- won't impact his viewing experiences.

"They're Americans," Rubio said of NFL players. "People have a right to express their views whether you agree with them halfway, all the way or none of the way."

"It's the left, frankly, who has been trying to silence people whose views they don't agree with and I hope the right doesn't fall into that."

Rapper Lil Mosey has learned his lesson ... at least when it comes to surfing.

The "Pull Up" rapper doesn't seem to have a single ounce of worry as he took surfing lessons while in the middle of a very serious gun case. Surfing instructor Alex Hoffman tells TMZ ... the rapper and some friends took lessons in Malibu earlier this week.

We're told his lesson lasted nearly 2 hours ... first a tutorial on the sand where Alex taught him how to position himself on the board, paddle and then pop up on his feet. Armed with the basics, he hit the waves -- and even though he ate it, we're told Mosey did pretty well during the training sesh.

This, of course, is one helluva juxtaposition considering he's in the middle of a serious gun case. TMZ broke the story ... the 18-year-old was busted in Burbank last month after cops found 3 loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistols in the Escalade he was riding in with 3 other people.

Call of Duty champs Crimsix and Shotzzy just won $1.5 MILLION playing video games ... and the CoD superstars have a message for parents of future esports players who want their kids to get a "real job."

28-year-old Ian Porter aka Crimsix and 19-year-old Anthony Cuevas-Castro aka Shotzzy are part of the Dallas Empire -- owned by Envy Gaming with investors like Post Malone -- who just took out the Atlanta FaZe in the 2020 CoD League championship.

Crim -- widely regarded as the greatest Call of Duty player of all-time -- says his mom and dad did NOT want him to become a professional gamer at first.

"[My parents] were super strict, super against it," Crim says.

"My parents made me have like a 3.8 GPA. I'm in AP classes. I did summer school so I could actually get off high school earlier, and play earlier."

Porter says he attended college and was on the Dean's List before dropping out of school, and telling his mom and dad ... "I'm gonna make more money than you guys this year!"

BTW, he's been out-earning them since.

Shotzzy says his mom was a little different ... she gave him time to pursue his dream, but told him he'd have to go to school and get a 9-to-5 if he wasn't successful with gaming.

"If your kid has a dream to become a video game player, let 'em be. Try to be not as strict and give it a couple of years and if nothing happens, then you can start being strict on 'em I guess," Shotzzy says.

"She gave me a couple of years and now I'm here."

"Here" is super-rich ... in addition to the $1.5 milli, the guys are paid a salary and have lucrative sponsorship deals.

Crim and Shotzzy also have huge fan bases ... and are regularly watched by millions of people.

We are kickin' off the 2020 NFL season with all of these sexy supporters!

Stars like Ciara, Saweetie, and Sophia Bush are just a few of the famous females that are definitely ready for football Sundays to be back in action and took to social media to share hot shots on IG while reppin' their fav team!

There's a whole roster of celebs that have shared snaps geared up and ready to support their favorite NFL squad ... Just take a look through our gallery of babes in NFL jerseys to see all the other celeb cheerleaders rooting for their teams from home!

Naomi Osaka just won her second U.S. Open title in 2 years -- and as part of her victory speech, she made sure to continue bringing awareness to social justice to the very end.

The tennis superstar defeated Victoria Azarenka Saturday over the course of three sets -- 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 -- and walked away a champion once more ... securing her second U.S. Open women's championship title in 2 years, and her third Grand Slam win in three.

She was clearly overwhelmed by the victory, 'cause she ended up lying down on the court afterward ... and stared straight up to the sky as the crowd cheered her on. Afterward, she was all smiles holding her trophy -- kinda the opposite reaction from when she defeated Serena Williams in 2018.

Anyway, this year has been incredibly noteworthy for Naomi ... not to mention her boyfriend, Cordae, who's been her rock through the entire tournament. Both of them have been very outspoken on racial justice, often wearing clothing with messages supporting BLM.

Saturday proved no different ... Cordae was in the stands and had a shirt on that read "Defund the Police." Prior to her finals match this weekend, Naomi herself was wearing a mask featuring the name of 12-year-old Tamir Rice ... who was gunned down by a cop for playing with a toy gun in Cleveland back in 2014.

Naomi also made sure to make her message clear about the 7 masks she rocked during the U.S. Open -- which blared the names of victims of police brutality. She said she just wants to get more people talking about the issue ... and yes, she certainly achieved that.

Several family members of those people she was amplifying recently thanked her for not forgetting their loved ones ... and shared their gratitude remotely as she went along in the tourney.

Mission accomplished. Congrats!

Conor McGregor was taken into police custody and questioned in Corsica on Saturday over an allegation of attempted sexual assault, French officials say.

The UFC superstar had been sailing around the Mediterranean on his yacht recently with his fiancée, Dee Devlin ... but McGregor allegedly flew off the handle on Thursday.

A court official in Corsica sent a statement to the Agence France-Presse confirming police had taken Conor into custody.

"Following a complaint filed on September 10 denouncing acts that could be described as attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition, Mr. Conor Anthony Mac Gregor was the subject of a hearing by the gendarmerie services,” prosecutors said.

Another report out of France says the alleged incident took place at a bar.

Earlier this week, Conor was teasing a UFC comeback -- saying he let the UFC's drug-testing agents on his yacht to take a sample.

McGregor proposed to his longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin just last month ... and was even spotted on a photo shoot with her this week.

Conor and Devlin have 2 kids together.

Of course, Conor has a long history with the law ... he was arrested and prosecuted for throwing a steel dolly through a UFC bus window a few years ago. He was also arrested for felony robbery for taking a man's cell phone at a Miami hotel in 2019.

And, don't forget the time he punched an elderly man in the face for no reason at a pub in Ireland in April 2019.

Iranian wrestling champ Navid Afkari has been executed in Iran, officials confirm.

The 27-year-old was hanged Saturday morning in Adelabad prison in the city of Shiraz, according to Iranian state media IRNA.

As we previously reported, Afkari participated in a peaceful 2018 protest against government policies. But, officials later accused him of stabbing a water supply company employee during the protests.

Afkari apparently confessed to the stabbing in a video put out by Iranian officials last week .. but most believe the confession was forced after he had been tortured.

Afkari -- a decorated wrestler in Iran who medaled in multiple national tournaments -- had been issued TWO death sentences for his alleged crimes in order to send a message to the rest of the country.

President Trump had tweeted to the Iranian government earlier this month asking them to spare Afkari's life.

"Hearing that Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old Navid Afkarai, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets," Trump said.

"They were protesting the 'country’s worsening economic situation and inflation.'"

Ultimately, Iran ignored Trump's request.

Forget the Music City Miracle, the Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa High School football team just scored the wildest, greatest touchdown EVER.

It went down Friday night when the team was playing rival Wetumpka High. Hillcrest was down 30-28 with 2.9 seconds left in the game on their own 41-yard line. So, it's do or die.

Quarterback Ethan Crawford passes the ball to the running back in the flat, and that's when the craziness starts. Watch as various players get the ball via a total of 9 --  COUNT THEM NINE -- laterals.

At times the ball is fumbled and picked up. At times the runner is tackled, but not before throwing the ball in the air with the hope a teammate will catch it.

The 2.9-second play lasted 59 seconds. In almost poetic fashion, QB Crawford is the last person with the ball and runs untouched 46 yards for the game-winning TD.

Nick Diaz belongs in the UFC Hall of Fame, despite the fact he's never won a UFC title ... so says Tyron Woodley.

"He's done enough in his career, in my opinion, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame," Tyron said on this week's "Hollywood Beatdown."

Diaz famously began his UFC career back in 2003 with an armbar submission victory over Jeremy Jackson.

He beat guys like Robbie Lawler before a showdown with Diego Sanchez on "The Ultimate Fighter 2" finale (Diaz lost that fight).

Nick jumped to Strikeforce, where he DOMINATED -- winning all 7 of his fights between 2009 and 2011, winning the welterweight title and defending it 4 times.

Eventually, the UFC bought Strikeforce and brought Diaz back to the UFC roster where he beat BJ Penn and lost some epic battles to guys like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.

Now, 37-year-old Diaz is rumored to be making a comeback ... but Tyron thinks he's already got a Hall of Fame resume.

There's a lot more in the episode ... including Tyron explaining why he's FINALLY ready to fight Colby Covington on Sept. 19th, a fight that's been talked about for roughly 2 years.

Shout out to our sponsor KFC, which is FINALLY adding Secret Recipe Fries to its menu — click here for contactless delivery.

R&B star Kenny Lattimore says his music sales SKYROCKETED thanks to that memorable scene from "The Last Dance" featuring Michael Jordan rocking out to his songs more than 20 years ago!

In other words, THE MJ EFFECT IS REAL, YO!

You remember the scene ... MJ was on the Chicago Bulls team bus, on the way to Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, when someone asked what he was listening to on his headphones.

Jordan bragged he had some unreleased Kenny Lattimore tracks -- and seemed to really dig it.

So, when we saw Lattimore at LAX the other day, we had to ask if the cameo in the docu-series spiked a surge in music sales.

And, man ... THEY DID.

"The Michael Jordan effect is definitely real!!!" Kenny said.

"There's so many people from around the world that started following me, sending me messages [because of 'The Last Dance]."

"People were like, 'This is Jordan's guy' or 'I'm gonna listen to this 'cause this is what Jordan listens to.'"

Lattimore says his music sales went "to another level" thanks to the doc -- noting streams of his songs were up big, too.

If you're not familiar with Lattimore's music ... GET ON YOUTUBE ALREADY AND CHECK IT OUT!

Dude was huge in the '90s and even got a Grammy nod for his smash hit "For You."

Two pit bulls allegedly belonging to NFL wide receiver Demaryius Thomas attacked a woman and her pet dog this week causing major injuries ... and now officials have launched an investigation.

Jennifer Savage told WSB-TV in Atlanta she was hanging out on her front lawn with her own dog Thursday when out of nowhere, 2 pits went after her pooch.

"I look up, not even paying attention, and I see two pit bulls charging at me, showing their teeth and growing at me," Savage said.

The woman says she tumbled down a hill trying to protect her dog from the pit bulls -- but couldn't stop the animals from taking "huge chunks" out of her dog.

Savage says she suffered bite wounds to her arms and legs -- and needed stitches.

Her dog, Berkley, was so badly injured he needed emergency surgery.

"They shaved his entire body and there's punctures and tubes all in him," she told WSB-TV.

The news outlet says a police report identifies Thomas as the owner of the 2 pit bulls.

We're out to law enforcement but haven't heard back.

Savage told WSB-TV she's obviously very upset and wants to pursue charges against Thomas over the incident.

We reached out to DT's rep for comment but haven't heard back.

Thomas was a star WR for the Denver Broncos, Patriots, Texans and NY Jets -- but he's currently a free agent.

Danuel House ... is being sent home.

The Houston Rockets player has officially been kicked out of the NBA bubble environment in Orlando, Florida after league officials say he broke COVID protocol by having an unauthorized guest in his hotel room.

House reportedly invited a female COVID tester to his room on Sept. 8th -- despite the fact she is not allowed to hang with players when she's off the clock.

Players are only allowed to have authorized guests in their hotel room -- people who have been approved by the league.

The NBA investigated the allegations and while they didn't identify the unauthorized guest by name, the league clearly states House broke the rules.

"The NBA has concluded its investigation of a recent violation of campus health and safety protocols."

"The findings are that: Houston Rockets forward Danuel House had a guest in his hotel room over multiple hours on September 8 who was not authorized to be on campus."

The league says there was "no evidence" that other players or staff had contact with the guest or were involved in this incident.

"Mr. House is leaving the NBA campus and will not participate with the Rockets team in additional games this season."