TMZ Sports - Page 50

"I think they're awesome people and I can't wait to see what the baby's gonna look like!

That's UFC star Rose Namajunas sending big love to Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne on their newly announced pregnancy ... telling TMZ Sports, "She's gonna be a great mother!"

Rose and Ronda go way back ... in fact, Namajunas posted a pic with Rousey way back in 2014 (before Rose shaved her head!).

The two have had a friendly relationship ever since, with Ronda even showering Rose with praise after her 2018 victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

And, now that Ronda and Travis are expecting, Rose couldn't be more excited for them -- "I'm really happy for them and their family."

Meanwhile, Rose is gearing up for a highly anticipated showdown with Zhang Weili for the UFC strawweight title at UFC 261 on April 24.

Weili hasn't lost a fight since her pro debut back in 2013 -- since then she's been on a 21-fight win streak with victories over stars like Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade and Tecia Torres.

Rose tells us she's got the right skillset to break the streak.

"My movement, the way that I move, the way that I think and my fighting spirit. They're all unique."

So, how does she see the fight going?

"My game plan is the same every time. I go in there and punch their face, take their back and choke 'em out. It may manifest differently each time but that's my goal and that's what I'm focused on."

A U.S. senator is accusing LeBron James of "inciting violence" against a police officer after the NBA superstar shared a photo of the cop with the caption "you're next."

LeBron posted -- and has since deleted -- a picture of the police officer who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant during a violent incident Tuesday outside of a home in Columbus, Ohio.

Body cam footage shows Bryant in a physical altercation with two other people ... and it appears as if she's trying to lunge with a knife at one of the other girls.

That's when one of the officers pulled his gun and fired four shots at Ma'Khia -- killing her.

When questioned at the scene about why he opened fire, the officer responded, "She had a knife. She just went at her."

Clearly, LeBron felt the officer used excessive force, and feels the situation could have been resolved without fatal gunfire.

LeBron posted a photo of the officer with the caption, "YOU'RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY" ... insinuating that he should be prosecuted just like Derek Chauvin.

But, LeBron's post has sparked a backlash, with the largest police union in the country condemning the Lakers star's message as "disgraceful and extremely reckless."

The National Fraternal Order of Police tweeted that LeBron "should educate himself and, frankly, has a responsibility to do so, on the facts before weighing in."

"The officer saved a young girl's life. No amount of gaslighting will change that fact."

The message was echoed by Sen. Tom Cotton from Arkansas, who said, "LeBron James is inciting violence against an Ohio police officer. This is disgraceful and dangerous."

Even ex-MLB star Lenny Dykstra is going in on LeBron, saying, "Hey, @nba, have you disciplined #LeBronJames for making a real and ongoing threat to the life of the brave officer in Columbus who prevented a knife attack from being even worse?"

As for the officer in question, officials have said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will launch a full investigation into the incident.

The injuries Sterling Brown suffered during a violent attack outside a Miami strip club this week were MUCH worse than originally reported -- he was rushed to the emergency room while bleeding profusely and some teammates feared for his life.

It's all spelled out in a bombshell report by The Athletic ... which details how the Houston Rockets player was badly beaten outside the Booby Trap strip club in Miami early Monday morning.

According to the report, Brown accidentally got in the wrong vehicle on the way out of the club -- and the people inside didn't take too kindly to the mix-up.

The men reportedly launched a vicious attack on Brown -- cracking him in the head with a liquor bottle ... which opened up gashes all over his face.

Brown's teammate, Kevin Porter, Jr., reportedly took action and tried to rescue Brown ... but suffered his own injuries in the process. Porter's injuries were minor ... and he ended up playing Monday night.

Brown, on the other hand, is still in very bad shape -- one source told The Athletic, "His face is jacked up."

Brown required "multiple heavy stitching jobs for his facial injuries," according to the Athletic -- which describes the scene at the hospital this way, "blood was everywhere."

One source summed it up this way ... "If he hadn’t been as physically strong and tough, he might not have made it out of the situation ... He could have died.”

Despite the severity of the injuries, Brown has since been discharged from the hospital ... and has returned to Houston for more treatment.

If you needed further proof Tim Tebow is the sweetest boy on Earth -- here it is ...

The former Heisman Trophy winner granted a 105-year-old's birthday wish this week ... sending an adorable video shout-out to the woman -- and the whole thing was cute as hell!!

Here's the deal ... Cora Belle Edison has been a Tebow superfan for YEARS, never missing one of his games and even calling the former quarterback "handsome!" during her 105th bday party last week.

And, after she told local station WJTV in Jackson, Miss. her wish for her big 1-0-5 was to meet Tim ... TEBOW ACTUALLY REACHED OUT!!!

The 33-year-old -- alongside all his dogs -- sent the woman a heartfelt message ... saying, "Hey, Mrs. Edison. This is Tim Tebow. I wanted to make this video to say happy birthday."

"I know last Tuesday that you turned 105 years old and that is so incredible."

He continued, "I also know we have a lot in common. I know that you have five children, and I’m the baby of five, so we have that in common. And, I know that you were a nurse, and you loved helping people and that's also what I feel called to do. But, most importantly, I also know that you love the Lord, which is most important."

Tebow then praised Edison for the legacy she's left on the planet ... and added, "I really hope I get the chance to see you and give you a hug."

"But, even if I don’t get the chance to give you a huge here on Earth, I know I will in heaven and I look forward to that day."

Brett Favre is weighing in on the Derek Chauvin verdict ... saying he truly believes the ex-cop did NOT intentionally kill George Floyd, but his actions were downright inexcusable.

Chauvin was found guilty on all 3 charges stemming from the May 2020 incident on Tuesday ... and is now facing up to 40 years behind bars.

The NFL legend spoke about Floyd's death on his "Bolling With Favre" podcast on Wednesday ... condemning Chauvin's handling of the situation, but explaining why he feels it's "hard to believe" he intended to kill the 46-year-old man.

"I’m aware of the outcome. I find it hard to believe, and I’m not defending Derek Chauvin in any way. I find it hard to believe, first of all, that he intentionally meant to kill George Floyd," Favre said on Wednesday.

"That being said, his actions were uncalled for. I don’t care what color the person is on the street, you do not, I don’t know what lead to that video that we saw, where his knee is on his neck, but the man had thrown in the towel."

Favre continued ... "It was just uncalled for. Much like the video that surfaced last week of the cop who pulled over the African-American service man, who was afraid to pull over in the dark and chose to ride it out until he got to a gas station. Understandably so, especially in today’s world."

"And the cops actions, of course he was fired immediately, was uncalled for. Just absolutely uncalled for, and wrong. So Derek Chauvin, I obviously don’t know him, know anything about him, but he should not, he should’ve gotten up.

"Long before that. I didn’t watch the day-to-day ins and outs of the trial, but I’m really not surprised at the outcomes. Fair or not, he deserves something. What, I don’t know, but he was absolutely wrong."

Favre also addressed the backlash he faced last week after his comments about wanting to keep politics out of sports ... saying he stands by what he said.

George Floyd's brother, Philonise, has a message for the Las Vegas Raiders -- he's not offended by the team's "I Can Breathe" post and is not demanding they take it down.

We spoke with Philonise moments ago ... and he told us he does not believe the message was intended to be negative and he hasn't had any negative thoughts about it all.

In fact, Philonise kind of agrees with the post -- explaining how the world can finally take a breath now that the man who killed his brother has been convicted and will be held accountable.

As we previously reported, Raiders owner Mark Davis took responsibility for posting "I Can Breathe" on the team's social media accounts on Tuesday, moments after Derek Chauvin was found guilty on 3 counts in the murder of George Floyd.

Davis has said the post was inspired by the comments Philonise made at a news conference following the conviction when he explained, "Today, we are able to breathe again."

David and the Raiders have been getting a TON of pushback online from people who feel the post was insensitive -- considering Floyd told officers "I can't breathe" more than 20 times during the May 2020 encounter with Chauvin.

On Tuesday evening, Davis said he's sorry IF the tweet hurt the Floyd family ... "If I offended the family, then I'm deeply, deeply disappointed."

Clearly, Philonise feels no apology is necessary.

A cop was so concerned for Marshon Lattimore after finding a gun near his groin during a police stop last month that he straight-up warned the NFL star, "You're gonna shoot your dick off."

... and the whole incident was caught on police video obtained by TMZ Sports.

Lattimore and three others were stopped in Cleveland on March 26 after cops say the driver of the vehicle had committed multiple traffic violations.

In video of the stop, you can see officers swarmed the car immediately ... and confronted Lattimore right away.

In the clip, cops say they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car ... and then asked Lattimore if there were firearms inside the ride.

Eventually, Lattimore revealed he DID have a gun on his person ... and told cops it was located in the groin area of his jeans.

"You're gonna shoot your dick off," one officer said as he removed the firearm from Lattimore's pants.

"Get yourself a holster, brother," another cop told the New Orleans Saints corner.

As cops were conducting searches around the car, one of the officers apparently realized Lattimore was an NFL player ... and said out loud, "You play for the Saints?!"

The cop then scolded the 24-year-old for putting himself in the position ... explaining, "It's not like you're a, you know, f***ing chump out there, bro!"

Ultimately, cops say they found Lattimore's gun showed up in the system as stolen ... and they arrested him, booking him on charges of failure to notify and receiving stolen property.

FYI, the stolen property charge is a 4th degree felony -- which carries a maximum punishment of 18 months in prison. So yeah, that's a big deal.

The other three passengers in the car were also arrested.

Lattimore's case is currently playing out in the court system.

Lattimore is one of the best defensive players in the NFL ... and is expected to ink a massive contract extension with the Saints when his rookie deal expires after the 2021 season.

Cops in Louisiana are on the hunt for Aldon Smith ... they say the new Seahawks pass rusher committed 2nd-degree battery at a coffee shop in the New Orleans area on Saturday.

According to a wanted bulletin from the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office, Smith allegedly committed the crime while at the French Press Coffee House near Home Depot in Chalmette.

Officials say the entire incident was captured on video, according to WDSU in New Orleans.

Cops added in the bulletin, "The subject does not have a local address but has relatives in the New Orleans Area. Subject was last observed in a white in color Nissan sedan with an unknown license plate."

Smith is no stranger to trouble with the law ... he's been arrested multiple times in the past few years -- though he had famously cleaned up his life and rejoined the NFL last season.

31-year-old Smith was a star for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 ... recording five sacks and two fumble recoveries.

He just signed a one-year contract last week to play for the Seahawks in the 2021 season.

Story developing ...

Peloton's Tread+ treadmill is a killer machine ... literally, according to a new class-action lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the fitness equipment is utterly unsafe for anyone with kids ... or even pets.

In the suit, Shannon Albright says Peloton's $4,295 treadmill is marketed as a device that'll give you "Your hardest training session" on "Your softest road" thanks to a shock-absorbing belt that's built with 59 individual slats.

Shannon's issue is that, although Peloton does have warnings on the machine ... she feels they're not sufficient to alert customers to the true danger -- which is that the treadmill's design allegedly makes it "extremely susceptible" to children and pets getting trapped underneath the machine.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Albright claims some customers have had "children approach the machine, out of eyesight of the parent, and those children [have] been trapped and injured by the Tread+ machine.”

The lawsuit mentions at least one child has died as a result of the Tread+ ... and at least several dozen more have been injured. Albright claims injuries range from bruising and abrasion to broken bones, permanent brain injury and death.

What's more ... Albright claims Peloton has essentially ignored the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s warning that directs consumers to "stop using the Peloton Tread+ if there are small children or pets at home." There's even a video apparently showing 2 kids playing on the Tread+ and one child getting trapped.

Albright claims Peloton has known or should have known about its defective machine ... so she's trying to form a class action and is suing for more than $5 million in damages.

Antonio Brown's rep claims the NFL star has struck a settlement with the woman who sued him for sexual assault back in 2019 -- insisting, "The dispute is resolved."

In her original lawsuit, Britney Taylor -- who worked for AB as a personal trainer -- alleged Brown sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, including a violent rape in 2018.

Taylor claimed she was so traumatized from the alleged incidents she "had near-daily panic attacks, frequent suicidal ideations, and insomnia."

Brown had denied the allegations -- with his attorney claiming, "Any sexual interaction with Mr. Brown was entirely consensual."

Now, Brown's rep, Alana Burstyn, claims the saga is over ... the two have reached some sort of settlement and the insinuation is Taylor will drop her lawsuit against the NFL star.

Burstyn is not revealing the details of the agreement -- however, she issued a statement explaining the situation ...

"Antonio and Britney have been friends for over a decade. Several years ago they almost became business partners. Recently, they were involved in aggressive litigation."

"Having reflected on their relationship, both feel that the time has come to move on. Antonio is grateful for Britney’s excellent training assistance. They are pleased that Antonio is doing so well with the Bucs and has a ring. Their dispute is resolved and they wish each other great continued success."

Story developing ...

The Minnesota Timberwolves gave a special tribute to George Floyd after their victory last night ... dedicating the game ball to his family just hours after the conviction of Derek Chauvin.

The Wolves took the court against the Kings in Sacramento on Tuesday -- shortly after the ex-Minneapolis PD officer was found guilty on all 3 criminal counts stemming from the May 25, 2020 murder of Floyd.

But, it was clear the hearts and focus of the Wolves players were in Minnesota ... and right after their 134-120 victory, the team dedicated the game ball to Floyd and his family.

"Glad we were able to get the win tonight," guard Josh Okogie told reporters after the game.

"We have the game ball where we dedicated that to George Floyd's family. That's great we were able to do that."

The Wolves have consistently been honoring Floyd in the months following his death ... and have posted messages outside the Target Center calling for social injustice reform.

Karl-Anthony Towns said the guilty verdict is a good step forward ... but it doesn't bring Floyd home.

"It's unfortunate that our city has been going through this so much," KAT said during post-game interviews.

"Just because justice was served today for Mr. Floyd doesn't mean that we are gonna be bringing him back home. And that's the most unfortunate part of all of this."

Recently, the team auctioned off warm-up shirts "For Liberty and Justice FOR ALL" for Daunte Wright -- another unarmed black man killed by police in their state of Minnesota.

BADDEST BABY ON THE PLANET!!

UFC legend Ronda Rousey just announced she's 4 months pregnant -- and she's fired up!!!

Ronda and her husband, ex-UFC fighter Travis Browne, made the announcement in a video Wednesday morning ... saying, "Umm, how do I put this? Pow, 4 months pregnant!"

Ronda explained, "I've been pregnant since January -- so 4 months, baby bump! I can't hide it anymore so it's time to show it off."

Ronda and Travis have been talking about wanting to have children for the past few years -- she even took a hiatus from her gig with WWE back in 2019 to focus on starting a family.

Ronda said in the video there's "much more to the story" behind the pregnancy -- but didn't want to focus on those details just yet.

For the record, Ronda and Travis have NOT revealed the gender yet -- but insist they will break that news soon.

Due date -- September 22!

Ronda sent a message to her fans saying, "Thank you everybody for all the well wishes and all the positivity to get to this point."

"Baddest baby on the planet coming to you soon!"

Congrats!!!

Ronda is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time -- she was the UFC's inaugural women's bantamweight champion and defended the belt 6 times!

Before her MMA career, she was a decorated judo athlete -- who won the bronze medal for the U.S. at the 2008 Olympics.

Lamar Odom is going to war for the Kardashians ... saying anyone who believes men are suffering from a "Kardashian Curse" after relationships with the sisters are straight-up "dumbasses."

The ex-NBA star was asked this month how men -- including himself and guys like Kanye West -- seemingly fall apart after getting into serious relationships with the Kardashians ... and that's when he raced in to defend the famous family.

"That's stupidity,” Odom said of the "curse" during an interview with Vlad TV that aired over the weekend. "Because everybody goes through s***, you dumbasses."

Odom continued, "If I had your family on tape, and see all the s*** your family was going through, people would be like, 'This f***ing family is crazy!' People would see all the drug addicts, all the sex, they share their life with you, so you see everything."

Odom was married to Khloe Kardashian from 2009 to 2016 ... and the former Lakers player had far more downs than ups during the relationship.

But, Lamar says NONE of that has to do with the circus that surrounds the Kardashians ... explaining he feels he's actually "lucky" to have been at one point accepted by the family.

"I know in some ways it's the reason why I'm still relevant to this day," the 41-year-old said. "'Cause I'm not playing ball no more. Ain't no more highlights on me no more."

Odom continued, "The looks that I still get is due to -- a lot of it is because of the love that they gave me ... And f**k anybody that goes against that."

Odom and Khloe officially divorced back in December 2016. He's since apologized publicly for the way he acted toward her during the relationship, even saying back in 2019, "I couldn't believe how I was treating that queen."

The Las Vegas Raiders tried to enter the chat after the Derek Chauvin verdict on Tuesday -- but they're getting torn apart on social media for what some are saying is an insensitive post.

After Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd on Tuesday, the Raiders' social media account tweeted out, "I CAN BREATHE" with the date and the team logo.

The problem ... people feel it's very tone deaf because Floyd told officers, "I can't breathe" more than 20 times while being forcefully detained by Chauvin, who at the time was a member of the Minneapolis Police Department.

On top of that ...  while the verdict is a step in the right direction, there's clearly so much work to be done.

The reaction to the Raiders' social media post has been overwhelmingly negative ... with THOUSANDS of responses piling in on Twitter.

Here's a sampling ...

-- "Wow this is a huge miss"

-- "Delete this s**t."

-- "Donate money to the inner cities of Oakland & delete this post."

-- "Delete this wtf is this omg"

-- "This is what it looks like when u try to join the 'woke' side of social media and fail miserably"

NBA guard Isaiah Thomas also voiced his displeasure ... saying, "Y’all can’t be serious."

NFL receiver Torrey Smith added ... "Folks get paid to avoid stupid stuff like this smh delete this @Raiders"

Emmanuel Acho -- "I keep double checking to see if the @Raiders verified account actually tweeted this."

The tweet is still up as of 5 PM PT ... but given the backlash, that could change.

Jake Paul's moved on from Ben Askren -- he's now threatening UFC legend Daniel Cormier!

"Daniel Cormier, I'll beat the f**k out of your fat ass too -- just like Stipe did," Jake said Tuesday on the "Impaulsive" podcast with his brother, Logan Paul.

"I swear to god, I'll beat the f**k out of Daniel Cormier."

So, why the beef? It started right after Jake knocked out Ben Askren .... Cormier tweeted that he felt Jake was disrespectful to ex-UFC champ Tyron Woodley.

Jake responded by challenging Cormier to a fight.

Cormier later escalated things on the "DC & Helwani" podcast on Monday ... saying, "This dude would never fight me. I would kill him. Why would I ever fight someone like that?"

Jake responded on Tuesday ... saying he would be very interested in a Pay-Per-View boxing match against Cormier and strongly thinks he would KO him, just like he did to Ben Askren.

Don't hold your breath for a Jake Paul vs. Daniel Cornier fight -- but Jake vs. Tyron Woodley seems to be gaining momentum.

As Cornier explained, "I would like him to fight Tyron. I would like to see him fight somebody more real. Don’t fight Ben Askren at 190, bloated."

By the way, Jake also revealed the number of PPV buys for the Askren fight -- saying it's more than 1.3 MILLION!

Draymond Green says it's "great" that Derek Chauvin was convicted in the murder of George Floyd -- but warns the fight against bad cops is far from over.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Golden State Warriors star in Washington D.C. on Thursday afternoon -- moments after the Chauvin verdict was revealed.

Our photog was a little nervous when he approached Green, but essentially tried to ask if the conviction is good for the country on the whole.

"I think it's great that we finally saw a cop get tried," Green told us ... "The challenge to the country now is to make sure [police officers are] being held accountable."

Our photog also asked Green if he thinks the Chauvin case will have an overall impact on the way cops across the country treat Black people.

"I think that's a totally different story ... when you look at the way these officers treat Black people, we're not treated as human. We're treated as a threat by your skin color."