TMZ Sports - Page 50

"You want to see a guy who's wiling to die in that Octagon? I think that's Tony and I."

That's UFC fighter Beneil Dariush telling TMZ Sports that he and Tony Ferguson are ready to sacrifice their lives in order to earn a victory at UFC 262.

Yeah ... heavy stuff.

We talked to the 32-year-old, #9 ranked Iranian-American fighter -- the co-main event Saturday night in Houston -- about the biggest fight of his life ... and what both men are ready to risk.

"I think two guys who are willing to go out there, if we have to leave in pieces, we'll leave in pieces, but we love the victory," Dariush says.

"I think that's one of the similarities that Tony and I have and I think that's one of the reasons why everybody should watch the fight.

FYI, Beneil is on a 6-fight win streak ... meanwhile 37-year-old Ferguson is in the midst of a 2-fight losing streak (Gaethje & Oliveira).

Regardless, Tony is still considered one of the most dangerous dudes in the lightweight division.

So, how does Dariush get the dub against El Cucuy?

"I think it can go all three ways. Knockout, submission or decision Whatever it is, I gotta stay one step ahead of him."

This is an incredible video!!!

UFC star Michael Chandler is fighting in the biggest bout of his life at UFC 262 on Saturday night ... and TMZ Sports spoke to his ex-college teammates for some last-minute encouragement before competing for the lightweight title!!!

Oh, and should we mention those ex-teammates are Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley?!?!?

The superstar Missouri Tigers wrestling alums shared some final thoughts with us before their friend takes the Octagon against Charles Oliveira in Houston.

"I think his first performance with the UFC was outstanding,  Askren tells us. "Hey man, he's not a newbie. I think he's been in the game just as long as we have so go out there, fight hard, have fun and enjoy your moment."

Woodley -- who considers himself a "big brother" to Chandler also had some kind words for the guy .... saying, "He's always talked about wanting to be the best, the best in the world, wants to be best and have the glory and have the fame and have all these things."

"I know he's got that Tiger style. I'm sending love out to him, peace and prayers and he represents us when he goes out there. Not just to wrestle, not just the OG fighters but just that pedigree of people that did it the right way and worked hard."

And, if you checked out the video ... you can tell just how much the soundbites meant to Chandler.

"Man, it's pretty emotional because when I think about Tyron and I think about Ben and I just think about being a Mizzou Tiger, I think about where I came from," Chandler tells us.

"I think about walking on to the University of Missouri. I was the lowest guy on the totem pole. I was the guy that didn't really truly believe that ridiculous success was something that I can achieve."

"I worked hard, you can ask Tyron -- Tyron was a 5th-year senior, Ben was a 3rd or 4th year when I came in, they already had the accolades, they already had the mindset, they had the achievements and I looked to those guys like they were gods."

He continued ... "Like, they were the guys that I wanted to emulate. They immediately became my big brothers, they immediately instilled in me most of the time to know that, Michael, you can be an All-American, you can be a national champion and I just think back to the little guy from the little town that was taught to do little things that I was and because of guys like Tyron, because of guys like Ben,"

Of course, Michael DID achieve all those goals ... becoming an All-American wrestler at the Division I level ... and getting a bid to the NCAA Championships 3 out of 4 seasons as a starter.

Chandler says no matter what happens Saturday night, it just goes to show how the Mizzou fam is a strong bond.

"It's not about me getting to the top. It's about Tyron Woodley, who wanted to see me at the top with him. It's about Ben Askren who wanted to see me a the top with him. Two of the greatest to ever grace Mizzou wrestling. Two of the greatest to ever compete in mixed martial arts and they wanted to bring other people up with them."

New Jack a.k.a. Jerome Young -- former ECW pro wrestling star -- died at the age of 58 on Friday after suffering a heart attack, his family announced.

Young was multiple-time tag team champion during his days with Extreme Championship Wrestling in the mid-'90s... and was often celebrated for his reckless abandon inside the ring (and well, from the balcony).

As a result of his wild style -- getting hit with chairs, busting through tables, using weapons in the ring -- NJ dealt with a litany of injuries throughout his career.

While wrestling in ECW, "Natural Born Killaz" by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre famously played during his matches.

New Jack split from ECW when the promotion closed up shop in 2001 ... but the controversial wrestling star continued to occasionally wrestle over the years.

The pro wrestling world is weighing in on the loss ... with X-Pac sharing a photo with New Jack, and writing, "I couldn't help but love New Jack. #RIPNewJack"

New Jack is survived by his wife Jennifer ... with whom he lived in North Carolina.

Floyd Mayweather says the Logan Paul fight was supposed to go down in Dubai -- but the org. he teamed up with to put on the event dropped the ball ... and now his company is suing for more than $120 MILLION!!

TMZ Sports obtained the lawsuit, filed by Mayweather Promotions, alleging a company called PAC Entertainment Worldwide approached them about hosting the event in Dubai at an undisclosed date in 2021.

Mayweather Promotions claims PAC claimed to have "numerous business contacts in Dubai" and "had the financial wherewithal and capability to host a fight of this magnitude."

Most importantly, Mayweather Promotions says PAC "presented financial projections estimating the fight could generate guaranteed amounts for each participant, plus result in the promoters earning more than $100 million in profits after covering all purses and expenses."

Mayweather Promotions admits it was impressed with the pitch and claims it ultimately signed a deal requiring PAC to pay a minimum guaranteed amount of $110 MILLION on a "prescribed payment schedule."

Mayweather Promotions claims the 1st payment of $30 million was due on March 25, 2021 -- but the money never came.

Mayweather Promotions claims the missed payment triggered a clause allowing MP to terminate the deal while still requiring PAC to fork up the full $110 million.

In the suit, Mayweather Promotions claims they were left scrambling to make new fight plans -- and ultimately worked out a deal to move the fight to Miami on June 6.

Mayweather Promotions is suing for breach of contract -- and demanding at least $122.6 million in damages.

Derek Jeter has finally sold his massive Tampa waterfront mansion -- the same place he rented to Tom Brady and Gisele -- and it's the biggest residential real estate deal in the city's history!!!

The MLB legend and his supermodel wife, Hannah Jeter, had listed the place for $29 million back in September -- and according to the realtors in charge of the deal, there was major interest in the place.

Jeter ultimately agreed to sell for roughly $22.5 million -- which the real estate company, Smith & Associates, says is the most expensive home purchase ever in Tampa Bay.

We know what you're thinking ... who bought it?!

So far, the buyer has not been revealed -- but we're told it's NOT Tom Brady and Gisele.

Our Tampa sources tell us they recently moved out of the place and are living nearby while they're building a brand new pad in the exclusive Indian Creek Island community in Miami.

As for Jeter, he bought the 22,000 square-foot estate back in 2005 -- reportedly planning to put down $2.3 million. But, after he bought it, there was a major renovation and the final product is one of the sickest properties we've ever seen.

We're talking 7 bedrooms, 8 full bathrooms plus 8 half-baths (so, 16 total toilets if you're keeping score) ... along with an 80-foot saltwater lap pool, a gym, wine cellar AND a movie theater!

There's also a 6-car garage -- and the place comes with its own private dock with 2 boat lifts!!

Smith & Associates says they did deep background searches on all interested parties before they were allowed to check out the property ... in an effort to make sure only serious buyers were allowed on site.

Jeter moved to Miami a while back -- which is why he was able to rent it to TB12 after the QB signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Tom reportedly loved the place and even held some private workouts in the yard.

Scary scene on the Chicago White Sox's diamond Friday ... reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu and Royals star Hunter Dozier were injured after colliding at full speed on the field.

The play happened in the second inning of the first leg of the Sox's doubleheader with Kansas City ... when Dozier hit a pop-up just feet from home plate.

As the Royals 3rd baseman, though, put his head down to run to first ... Abreu came sprinting in with his eyes toward the baseball in the sky.

The two then crashed into each other ... knocking heads and shoulders -- before crumpling to the ground.

You can see in the slow-mo footage from the dugout ... the collision was VIOLENT -- and the two laid on the infield in pain for several minutes.

Both players were eventually helped off the field and forced from the game. It's unclear if they've suffered any significant injuries from the collision.

A special moment for Kobe Bryant's family ... when Vanessa and their children visited the NBA legend's exhibit at the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday ... and it's a pretty emotional sight.

Bryant -- who is being inducted into the Hoops Hall on Saturday -- got his very own stand-alone tribute called "Kobe: A Basketball Life" in Springfield ... the first since Michael Jordan's exhibit in 2009.

The 600-ft. display -- co-designed by Vanessa -- features incredible memorabilia from Bryant's career ... including a piece of the Lower Merion H.S. basketball court, the shoes from his 81-point game, game-worn jerseys, and a video screen showing his Oscar-winning short film, "Dear Basketball."

The Bryant family got a personal tour of the exhibit minutes ago ... and Vanessa captured pics of 1-year-old Capri and 4-year-old Bianka smiling from ear to ear as they get to see their dad's accomplishments up close.

Vanessa also posted a snap alongside Kobe ... saying, "Love you always."

Of course, this year's induction is going to be incredibly tough following Bryant's death in January 2020 ... as fellow inductee Kevin Garnett told reporters earlier today, "I don't think I'm the only one in here that thinks that Kobe Bryant is fairly missed."

"Miss him everyday and what he brought not just to the game of basketball but to sports period."

The ceremony is set to kick off on Saturday at 2:30 PM PT ... with Kobe, Garnett and Tim Duncan receiving the honors.

Michael Jordan is slated to do the presentation honors for Kobe ... with Vanessa giving a speech.

Matt LaFleur clearly wants no part of coaching an Aaron Rodgers-less Packers team ... he told reporters Friday he wants the QB back in "the worst way."

The Green Bay head coach said there's been no movement in the drama with the team's star -- it seems Rodgers still wants out and the Packers still want him back -- but it's obvious, LaFleur is pleading for all that to change ASAP.

"I've got nothing new to update," LaFleur said of the situation. "We still obviously feel the same way, we want him back in the worst way."

He continued, "I know he knows that. We'll continue to work at it each and every day."

Rodgers has been upset with his contract situation AND some of the personnel moves that the Packers have made recently ... and he's reportedly told teammates he's done in Wisconsin.

The Packers say they have denied any and all trade offers for the 37-year-old, though ... and insist they're going to do everything they can to make the signal-caller happy.

LaFleur said he was not sure if Rodgers would be in attendance for Organized Team Activities later this month ... explaining, "I'm not going to make any assumptions about anything at this point."

Alex Rodriguez seemingly had an ulterior motive in sharing a nice photo of himself having dinner with his daughters -- sending a not-so-subtle signal to Jennifer Lopez.

A-Rod posted the pic Thursday night -- a pretty delicious-looking dinner spread with his teenage daughters, Tasha and Ella, and captioned it ... "Din din with my girls! #DaddyDinnerDate."

Sweet, right? Yes, it is ... buuut, it's kinda hard to ignore the fact he left 3 extra table settings and 3 empty chairs in the shot as well.

So, either A-Rod was expecting 3 more people to show up ... or he's pining for J Lo and her 2 kids, Max and Emme, to come back and be a big happy blended family again.

We're gonna go with the latter.

As you know, Jennifer has been cozying up with her famous ex, Ben Affleck, following her split from Alex ... though we're told the momentum for Bennifer 2.0 actually began building back in February.

Just when it appeared Antonio Brown's legal troubles were behind him ... he's now being sued again, this time for allegedly assaulting a moving truck driver, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to the lawsuit, Anton Tumanov claims he was the moving company driver that initially accused Brown in February 2020 of assaulting him during a violent encounter outside of the NFL star's mansion in Hollywood, Fla.

In the docs, Tumanov says he was hired to move some of Brown's belongings from California to Florida ... but he claims when he arrived at Brown's home on Feb. 11, the receiver snapped.

Tumanov says after a dispute over payment ... Brown and his trainer, Glenn Holt, beat the hell out of him, damaging his truck and other people's belongings in his truck in the process.

Tumanov reported the incident to police, and in his 911 call, you can hear he told dispatch he thought Brown was "high."

32-year-old Brown was eventually arrested and hit with 3 criminal charges for his alleged role in the incident ... though he later cut a deal with prosecutors in June 2020 to put the case behind him.

Brown agreed to probation and other stipulations, including community service hours and an anger management course, to have the case dropped.

According to Tumanov's suit, he's now suing Brown AND Holt for damages in excess of $30,000.

As we previously reported, Brown had appeared to have cleared up all of his legal issues in recent months, including settling a civil lawsuit with his rape accuser, Britney Taylor.

Chris Weidman is simply not a human being ... 'cause the UFC star is up and WALKING just 3 WEEKS after suffering his horrific leg injury!!

Yeah ... the dude is pretty much a damn superhero at this point.

The 36-year-old former middleweight shared an incredible recovery update on Thursday ... showing his ability to walk on the same leg he snapped while attempting a kick on Uriah Hall just 17 seconds into their fight at UFC 261 on April 24.

Weidman underwent successful surgery to repair the damage a few days later ... and was told he wouldn't be able to walk on his leg for at least 8 weeks.

But, he's been busting his ass nonstop during recovery ... and proved he only needed a 1/4 of the time to start putting pressure on his leg!! INSANE!!

The video is wild -- Weidman uses crutches to slowly walk, but is clearly putting a bit of weight on his wrapped right leg.

"We are moving!! #progress #recovery #theallamerican," Weidman said on Instagram.

The All-American has made great strides in such a short amount of time -- even using an anti-gravity treadmill to help his progress.

It's a great sign for Weidman -- after all, his training partner/friend Stephen Thompson said the ex-champ WILL return to fighting when he's recovered.

Tom Brady's niece continues to destroy Pac-12 softball pitching -- she hit two more monster home runs in a game this week -- and TB12 couldn't have been more proud!!!

Maya Brady has been a star on the softball field for UCLA since arriving on campus in 2019 ... and on Thursday night against Arizona in Tucson, she put on an absolute show at the dish.

For the first time in her career, she hit TWO dingers in one game ... and the second one went so far -- cameras couldn't find its landing spot!!!

And, it didn't take long for Uncle G.O.A.T. to notice ... he joked about the bombs on Twitter early Friday morning -- bringing up Rob Gronkowski's famous April helicopter catch!!

"Hey @RobGronkowski next time you need a ball dropped 600 ft out of the air in Tucson just ask Maya," the Bucs star wrote.

Neat shoutout ... but we're pretty sure more will be necessary from Tom -- 'cause Maya is absolutely killing it in her sophomore season with the Bruins.

She now has 11 home runs on the year to go along with a .343 batting average -- and her team is now 38-3!!!

And, they're off ... bettors are already suing Bob Baffert over the Kentucky Derby, claiming he knowingly cheated and screwed gamblers out of serious cash.

Baffert has been hit with a class-action lawsuit by several gamblers who claim they had money on the Kentucky Derby ... and feel Baffert cheated them out of their winnings by running a "drugged horse."

As we previously reported, Baffert -- the most famous trainer in the history of the sport -- trained Medina Spirit, which won the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

After the race, Medina Spirit tested positive for the banned substance betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid.

Officials are currently awaiting the results of a 2nd test (known as a split sample) to confirm the betamethasone -- those results are pending and should be released in the next few weeks.

Baffert has DENIED using the substance to gain a competitive advantage -- instead saying he believes it got into the horse's system through a skin medication prescribed by a veterinarian.

In other words, Bob insists it was an accident -- nothing intentional.

But, the gamblers ain't buyin' Bob's excuse ... and in a new lawsuit filed in federal court in California, they claim Bob is a serial doper who is part of a larger horseracing conspiracy.

The Plaintiffs claim there are conspiracies "between Baffert and other owners and or trainers to commit the above-described acts to engage in illegal gambling and/or horse doping through a pattern of racketeering activity."

"For example, on May 1, 2021, Defendants entered a doped horse, Medina Spirit, into the 147th running of The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky and won $1,860,000.00 as part of a horse-doping scheme in thoroughbred racing."

The gamblers in the lawsuit claim they had bet serious money on the horse that finished in 2nd place, Mandaloun -- and if not for Baffert's dirty horse, they would have won a fortune.

One plaintiff, Michael E. Beychok, says he bet nearly $1,000 on Mandaloun, which went off at 26 to 1 odds ... and if Mandaloun would have won the race, the payout would have been anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000.

Another plaintiff, Justin Wunderler, bet $2,000 "and would have provided a minimum potential payoff of at least $40,000."

"Plaintiff Wunderler’s wagers would have won, but for the illegal, drug-induced win by Medina Spirit. Thus, Plaintiff Wunderler is entitled to bring a civil action against Defendants."

There are more plaintiffs involved with similar stories ... and attorneys are actively looking for more angry bettors to join the suit.

How does one celebrate being 2020's richest athlete??

CAKE AND BALLOONS, BABY!!!

At least, that's the case for Conor McGregor ... who got a sweet surprise after earning the top spot on Forbes' annual list of the World's Highest-Paid Athletes this week!!

Conor showed off a custom cake and some gold balloons that he was gifted for raking in a reported $180 MILLION this past year ... and the UFC superstar was clearly stoked about it!

McGregor posed for pics with it all ... holding a pair of balloons that read "#1" and "PROUD OF YOU."

The cake was pretty cool too ... it featured Conor on the cover of Forbes -- with some chocolate and strawberries!!

And, yes, there were bottles of Proper 12 involved.

The only downside of it all for the 32-year-old fighter? He says he couldn't take a bite of the cake because "I am making weight" for his upcoming July fight with Dustin Poirier.

Target says it's now OUT of the sports card business -- for the foreseeable future, at least -- this just days after the extreme demand for boxes led to violence at a store near Milwaukee.

The company says it will no longer sell popular baseball, football, basketball, hockey and Pokemon cards in its establishments ... claiming it's all "out of an abundance of caution" for its employees and customers.

It all appears to be a drastic response to a fight that broke out outside of a Target store in Brookfield, WI on May 7.

Cops say several people were involved in a scuffle in the parking lot after an argument over cards ... with things escalating so quickly, FOUR people were eventually arrested over it.

Similar events have happened at Targets all over the country ... as the demand for cardboard pieces has SOARED during the pandemic.

So, Target says it's now pulling out of the game to protect everyone involved ... issuing a statement this week explaining the sales of cards will stop in-store, though they'll continue to go forward online.

Target had already implemented several rules and regulations -- including limiting the number of boxes per customer -- to try to slow down drama ... but clearly, it feels this is the next necessary step.

Of course, the trading card company has lost its mind during COVID-19 lockdowns ... rare items that were previously selling for 5 or 6 figures are now selling easily for MILLIONS.

Even just unopened small boxes of cards that Target supplied were being flipped for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

"Dr. O'Neal?! Paging, Dr. O'Neal!"

Hilarious moment during "NBA on TNT" on Thursday night when Charles Barkley cramped up during the show ... and it was SHAQ TO THE RESCUE!

58-year-old Barkley says his hamstrings were going haywire -- so he got out of his chair to stretch 'em out on the set.

Shaq took notice and decided he wasn't gonna sit and watch -- he wanted to help!

So, he bent down and put his massive hands right under Chuck's booty, helping to massage out the cramps while the rest of the crew looked on!!

Ernie Johnson was CRACKING UP -- as Shaq went to work on Chuck's hammies ... getting real up close and personal with his longtime pal.

"Take me to dinner before you go under there," Chuck remarked ... "I need a cigarette!"

After the sesh, Shaq explained, "I'm just trying to help my teammate!"