TMZ Sports - Page 50

Terrible news out of China ... where 21 elite athletes died during a 62-mile, ultra-marathon race when the group got caught in a freezing storm that appeared out of nowhere.

The event -- known as the Huanghe Shilin Mountain Marathon -- began Saturday morning when the weather was sunny and nice.

Most of the 172 runners had anticipated normal weather conditions and showed up to the race in shorts and t-shirts, typical running garb.

But, things took a sudden turn just after noon around the Yellow River Stone Forest -- when a freezing cold storm moved in, punishing the runners with a barrage of hailstones, rain and icy winds.

Some of the athletes reportedly recognized the deadly conditions and tried to seek shelter ... others apparently tried to push through it (remember, these athletes are some of the toughest people in the world).

According to reports, some of the runners began experiencing hypothermia -- and eventually, the organizers pulled the plug on the race.

Realizing the situation was turning deadly, a 1,200 person search party was dispatched to locate and rescue all of the athletes. Officials also used thermal-imaging drones to find the participants ... but it proved to be too late.

In total, 21 runners died from the weather. At least 8 more were hospitalized.

One of the dead has been identified as 31-year-old Liang Jing -- one of the top ultra-marathon runners in the world. He's survived by his wife and newborn baby.

Another victim is Huang Guanjun -- who won the marathon for hearing-impaired athletes at the 2019 National Paralympic Games in China.

The stands at the Nashville Predators game Sunday looked more like a frat party -- at least for a few seconds -- 'cause cameras caught Taylor Lewan chugging beers like he was in college ... and it awesome!!

The Tennessee Titans star made an appearance at Game 4 of Nashville's playoff series with Carolina ... and it didn't take long for the guy to lose his mind pumping up the crowd.

When the 29-year-old was introduced on the jumbotron, he played it cool at first -- waving with his daughter in his arms ... but a short time later, his shirt was off and beers were down the hatch!!

Check out the footage ... the Preds showed flashback video of Lewan previously going crazy at a game in 2018 -- so he did his best to one-up the show, and damn near delivered!!

Lewan chugged one beer ... and then ripped off his shirt. Seconds later, he chugged another -- and the crowd lost its mind!!

Even Predators star Ryan Johansen got a kick out of it -- laughing while staring at the insanity!!

The Preds used the energy and went on to win the game 4-3 in double overtime ... and said afterward Lewan is now required to be at every game going forward.

"HEY @TaylorLewan77," the team tweeted, "ITS MANDATORY YOU COME TO EVERY SINGLE GAME FOR NOW ON THANKS."

As for Lewan, he seemed pumped about it all ... but admitted his family wasn't too pleased with the beer spillage.

"Had a long car ride home of wynne telling me it 'wasn’t nice' to get her and mommy wet," Lewan said.

He added, though, "worth it."

MLB pitcher Jordan Yamamoto says Mets fans spewed vile and nasty things toward his wife after his poor outing on the mound Sunday ... and now, he's pleading with them to stop.

Just hours after Yamamoto completely melted down in NY's 5-1 loss to the Miami Marlins ... the 25-year-old says Mets Twitter let his wife have it.

He claims she was on the receiving end of harassment and hatred ... and he issued a lengthy statement urging fans to please let it go.

"I know Twitter is sometimes not a very nice place and to some of you it may seem fun to troll people. But you don't go an harass my WIFE!" Yamamoto wrote.

"She isn't the one playing the game nor wearing the uniform!"

If you missed it, Yamamoto -- playing against his former Marlins team -- was not good at all Sunday ... allowing 6 hits, 2 walks and 5 runs in just 4 innings of work. He also suffered a shoulder injury during the game as well.

The pitcher acknowledged his poor performance in his statement Monday morning ... but begged Mets fans to direct their hate toward him -- not his family.

"They don't deserve that!" Jordan said. "No one deserves that."

It's unclear what exactly was said to Jordan's wife on the website ... but it is Twitter, so it ain't exactly hard to guess.

Nobody loved Trae Young's game-winner more than his dad ... because Pops celebrated his son's huge feat like a little kid -- and the awesome reaction was all caught on video!!!

Just seconds after the Atlanta Hawks superstar plunged a dagger into the Knicks by hitting a floater with .09 ticks on the clock ... Trae's father, Rayford Young, called out to his boy.

"Trae! Trae!" Rayford yelled.

And, as soon as Trae acknowledged the love -- Rayford went crazy!!!

Check out the clip ... Dad couldn't have been more proud -- smiling, laughing, slapping hands with friends and family, and even letting out a "f*** yeah!" scream!!!

Trae, of course, loved the moment too ... because after he had been serenaded with "f*** Trae Young" chants all game long -- he let the crowd at Madison Square Garden have it as well!

He shushed them and then screamed, "It's quiet in here!"

Cameras caught him talkin' more smack on his way back into the locker room after the 107-105 win, too ... with Trae saying, "It got real quiet in there!"

It was a HUGE night for Young -- playing in his first-ever playoff game, he scored 32 points and logged 10 assists and 7 rebounds.

Tragedy out of Ohio ... where the University of Cincinnati has confirmed soccer player Ally Sidloski died in a drowning incident over the weekend.

She was only 21.

Sidloski -- a high school star with tons of potential -- had been hanging out at East Fork Lake in Ohio on Saturday when something went terribly wrong.

According to FOX19, Sidloski had been spotted hanging onto a swim platform of a boat -- but ultimately couldn't safely get out of the water.

Her body was found early Sunday morning. Officials say she was not wearing a life jacket.

UC officials confirmed her passing -- and head coach Neil Stafford remembered her as a great player, student and person.

"I am absolutely crushed for the Sidloski Family, our soccer team and the University," Stafford said.

"There's no words for dealing with a tragedy on this scale. Ally was such a pillar of everything that's right about our program. A great student, gritty and resilient player and a phenomenal human being – this is an immeasurable and unspeakable loss."

"Our hearts go out to her family and friends and we will lift them up with our fond memories of Ally."

During her high school career at Strongsville HS, Sidloski was a 3-time All-Greater Cleveland Conference selection.

She made her debut for the UC Bearcats in 2019 -- though she missed the 2020 season due to injury.

In the classroom, the University says Sidloski had earned a 4.0 GPA during multiple semesters -- and received Academic All-AAC honors following the 2019 season.

They'll kill each other in the ring, but Gervonta Davis is rooting for Ryan Garcia outside of it.

26-year-old Gervonta and 22-year-old Ryan have been on a collision course for years -- they've both rocketed to the top of the boxing world ... and have talked TONS of crap to each other along the way.

Even Tank's mentor, Floyd Mayweather, knows the fight would be a huge deal -- and even tried to set it up back in 2019.

But, with Garcia currently taking a break to deal with mental health issues, Davis is NOT using the situation as an excuse to attack his rival.

In fact, Davis tells us he supports Garcia and hopes he gets healthy soon.

"Mental illness is global so I just wish him the best," Davis tells TMZ Sports.

Davis -- who's currently 24-0 as a pro -- is gearing up for his June 26 fight against WBA world super-lightweight champion Mario Barrios ... but says he's not ruling out a scrap with Garcia at some point down the line.

Dominique Wilkins says he was straight-up denied service at an Atlanta restaurant because of the color of his skin, but the restaurant shot back, saying it was simply enforcing a dress code that was colorblind.

The basketball Hall of Famer says he was denied service at Le Bilboquet restaurant, saying, "In my many years in the world, I've eaten at some of the greatest restaurants in the world, but never have I felt prejudice or been turned away because of the color of my skin, until today in #atlanta in @LeBilboquetAtl #turnedawaybecauseimblack."

The restaurant denied it had anything to do with race, saying, "We, at Le Bilboquet, do our best to accommodate all of our guests. However, we have received consistent complaints from our patrons regarding other guest's wardrobe choices.  As a result, to protect our restaurant's culture, we installed a minimum standard in our 'business casual' attire dress code which includes jeans and sneakers but prohibits baseball caps and athletic clothing including sweat pants and tops."

Wilkins, who played between 1982 and 1994 for the Hawks, wasn't buying it, saying, "They looked me up and down ... and to add insult, talked about how my clothes were not appropriate when I was wearing designer casual pants and a shirt."

Simone Biles is undoubtedly one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, but she may have just taken top spot with what is considered the hardest vault in women's gymnastics ... EVER.

Simone was competing at the 2021 GK U.S. Classic when she attempted what's called a Yurchenko double pike.

You see the intensity in her face as she prepares, and then races to the vaulting table and hurls herself in the air. You just gotta see it. Amazing!!!

The judges assigned a difficulty value of 6.6 and she scored a 9.5 for her execution.

Simone was happy though subdued, saying, “To finally just put it out in a competition was quite nice, I know it’s not the correct value that we want, but I can still do it, so why not show off my ability and athleticism.”

She goes on to the U.S. Olympic team trials at the end of June, and we're guessing it's almost a foregone conclusion she'll be competing in Tokyo in July.

Lamar Odom says his boxing match with Aaron Carter will last shorter than a TikTok video ... telling TMZ Sports he's gonna knock out the former pop star in the FIRST ROUND!!!

As we previously reported, the NBA champ has been CRUSHING it in the gym leading up to his June 12 bout with the "I Want Candy" crooner ... looking as polished as ever during training session vids.

We spoke with 41-year-old Odom ahead of the big fight in Atlantic City ... and he's basically saying folks won't wanna blink -- 'cause it'll be over in a flash.

"It's not gon' be a fight," Odom tells us. "It ain't gon' be a fight."

We asked if Odom will be able to handle AC in the first round ... and the dude is confident as hell he won't even need the full 1 minute and 30 seconds to get the win.

"Yeah. Probably, I would say the first minute."

Odom's had a lot going for him recently -- he just debuted his film, "Reborn," which details his use of psychedelic medicines to bounce back from addiction and anxiety.

Odom tells us how he's been recovering from his 2015 overdose ... saying, "Well you gotta put God first, your higher power first, before you do anything."

He adds his great friend Kobe Bryant is still inspiring him every day to strive for greatness ... adding "Family, my children. That's the reason why I'm living. It's just me sharing my 'Mamba Mentality' moment."

"That's the quest of being the best version of myself. In search of that."

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is predicting a 4th-round victory over Anderson Silva ... and he wants to follow it up with a rematch against Canelo Alvarez!!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... 35-year-old Chavez -- 52-5-1 as a pro boxer -- is taking on the MMA legend in Mexico on June 19 ... a fight Anderson believes he can win.

We spoke to Chavez Jr. who told us Silva’s delusional ... and he’s predicting a short and violent end to The Spider's foray into boxing.

“[The Silva matchup] has all the ingredients to be an exciting fight. I predict I can finish him after the 3rd or 4th round. That's when I get in the groove and start feeling myself in the ring.”

Julio then doubled down on the prognostication ... “Look, I predict that after the 4th round I’ll be able to knock him out. And, if he lasts longer than that, that's gonna be his fault because that's gonna be a beating.”

Julio -- son of boxing Hall of Famer Julio Cesar Chavez -- admits he relied too heavily on his natural ability throughout his career.

But, Jr. says he is now laser-focused and looking to get back in the ring with the best fighters in the world.

“Of course I want to have [a Canelo rematch] on my mind. That’s what makes this fight such a big deal for me. It’s gonna give me the opportunity to get these rematches with Canelo or Danny Jacobs.”

Of course, Chavez Jr. previously fought Canelo back in May 2017 ... and lost via unanimous decision in a 12-round scrap.

Julio says he isn't just content with getting back in the ring with Alvarez ... he wants to -- and believes he can -- truly win the fight.

“I think that I do have the style to win the [Canelo] fight because I attack. I try to not give him too much space to move around because he’s a great boxer," Chavez Jr. says.

“Bitch, in your dreams! In your wildest dreams!”

That's Claressa Shields -- 26-year-old boxing champ turned MMA fighter -- giving a message to upcoming PFL opponent Brittney Elkin ... after Shields says she heard B.E. promise a quick highlight reel finish when the women fight June 10 at PFL in Atlantic City.

TMZ Sports talked to the 11-0, undisputed light-middleweight champion boxer only weeks before she makes her mixed martial arts debut ... and we asked Shields if she had a prediction for her fight with Elkin (3-6 as a pro-MMA fighter).

"Everybody wants the knockout, everyone wants the stoppages, but for me, I just really want the experience," Claressa says.

"I want to get in there and get out as quick as possible, I'm fine with that. But, if I have to go 15 minutes and have an all-out war with Brittney Elkin, I'm fine with that."

And, that's when Claressa dropped the hammer.

Shields later continued ... “I saw an interview where Brittney Elkin said she wants to make me a 15-second highlight reel. Like she wants to go in there and knock me out in 15 seconds. And, I was just thinking to myself, 'Bitch in your dreams. In your wildest dreams.'"

"I wasn’t gonna talk trash for the fight because I feel like I don't have that right because it's my first fight in MMA."

Welp, there goes that.

To make sure Shields isn't on the wrong side of a quick KO or submission, she's been training at Jackson Wink in New Mexico -- one of the most famous MMA gyms in the world -- which happens to be where UFC stars Jon Jones and Holly Holm train.

“I’ve actually spent hours working with Jon. One of the most strategic people I’ve been able to work with in MMA thus far. Like Holly is very strategic too, but she’s super energetic.”

Lakers guard Ben McLemore was involved a single-car accident in the hours following his team's huge win over the Warriors ... but, thankfully, he was uninjured -- TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us sometime Thursday morning -- shortly after the Lakers beat the Warriors in their play-in game Wednesday night -- cops responded to a 911 call for an accident in Playa Vista, Calif.

We're told when officers arrived on the scene, they found McLemore and his crashed Ford truck ... and conducted a field sobriety test.

Sources say the 28-year-old, though, passed all their tests and did NOT appear to be drunk.

We're told McLemore explained to officers he had accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes and crashed into a gate arm.

McLemore -- who had no injuries -- was not arrested and not issued any sort of ticket, we're told.

The former Kansas star played in 21 games for the Lakers this season ... averaging 8.0 points per contest.

He did not play in the team's win over Golden State due to a coach's decision.

Potentially huge news from Dana White ... who tells TMZ Sports he's considering making Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje -- in a fight that could be one of the most violent matchups of all time!!

Chandler is coming off a tough loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 ... but MC flashed the K.O. power and explosiveness that fans have come to love in "Iron Michael."

Michael said he wants to get back in the mix and work his way back into a title picture ... and when we spoke to Dana, he told us he's considering #2 ranked lightweight, 32-year-old Gaethje as Chandler’s next opponent.

"That's a good question. I mean, there's a few opportunities," White says ... "He can fight Gaethje, we'll see. We don't have anything done yet but that makes sense and that'd be a fun fight. Imagine Chandler and Gaethje."

Gaethje is also coming off a tough loss. He was submitted in the 2nd round by Khabib at UFC 254 in October 2020 ... Nurmagomedov's final fight.

But, the bottom line is both Michael and Justin aren’t just top-level fighters... they're exciting as hell to watch.

Both men pack dynamite in their fists ... and have racked up 29 combined professional knockouts.

Now, it’s not a done deal ... but when Dana likes something, he usually finds a way to make it happen.

We also asked White about 28-year-old star, Mackenzie Dern ... and the UFC honcho broke some news.

Dana says Dern will face 34-year-old Marina Rodriguez -- who just beat Karate Hottie, Michelle Waterson -- at an upcoming event (DW didn't have the date.)

"[Mackenzie] does have a fight coming up. I was just talking about her this morning. We haven't announced it I'm sure, but I'll give it to you anyway. Hopefully, it's done. My people hate when I do this. She's taking on Marina Rodriguez next which is a great fight."

Dern has looked super impressive in her last few fights ... and recently submitted Nina Nunes via armbar.

There are now two people on the planet who think Logan Paul will beat Floyd Mayweather next month -- Logan Paul ... and his friend Harry Jowsey.

In fact, the "Too Hot To Handle" hunk tells TMZ Sports he's SO confident in the YouTube superstar's chances ... he's dropping a MASSIVE bet on it!!

"I'm putting 10 grand on Logan. I'm putting 10 Gs on Logan!!!" the MTV star told us outside Alfred Coffee on Wednesday.

So ... why the hell would he put that kinda dough on an 0-1 Internet guy to beat the 50-0 greatest boxer of all time?? Jowsey's got his reasons.

"When I was talking to Logan about it, something in my heart says, 'this guy's got it,'" Jowsey says.

"Logan's gonna knock him out. This is it. Logan Paul is gonna knock out Floyd Mayweather within 5 rounds."

Jowsey says he knows it may seem crazy, but he's sticking to his gut feeling.

"Logan just keeps proving himself. He's a wizard. I don't know what's going on. If anyone can do it, I feel like it's gonna be him."

Beneil Dariush -- the #3 ranked UFC lightweight -- has a message for newly crowned champ, Charles Oliveira ... I deserve next!!

TMZ Sports talked to Dariush -- fresh off his dominating win over UFC legend Tony Ferguson at UFC 262 -- and we asked the 32-year-old fighter who he has his sights set on next.

"Charles, we were supposed to fight. The man kinda owes me a fight. I signed up to fight him on short notice and he kinda bailed on me," Dariush says.

"Now, he's the champ and I'm number 3, but I have the highest streak in the top 3, in the top 4, whatever. You owe me a shot again. The shot you didn't give me the first time."

FYI, Beneil -- 21-4 as a pro -- says he and do Bronx -- 31-8 -- were supposed to fight late last year ... but the fight fell apart. Then, BD says Oliveira decided to fight El Cucuy instead (C.O. won via unanimous decision).

Fast forward to last weekend ... Charles knocked out Michael Chandler, to secure the belt.

Dariush tells us he believes he should be the top contender ... even with McGregor and Poirier set to scrap for a third time this July.

I think right now, I should be the number one contender, and I understand that Dustin Poirier and Conor are a big fight and they're the money fight and it makes sense for them to get the title, but you got to remember, those guys aren't easy to work with when it comes to contracts."

After his fight with Tony, Beneil said he wants to take some time off while he awaits the birth of his daughter. So, when does he want to get back in the Octagon?

"I think in December, Charles and I can get a go at it. I think it would be a very exciting fight but stylistically, I think I'm a bad matchup for him."

Kyle Kuzma appears to have found the PERFECT way to avoid NBA playoff prep stress -- his smokin' hot GF, a tiny bikini and a beautiful backyard!!

The Lakers star hit up somewhere with really nice weather with his model GF, Winnie Harlow, on Friday ... and you can tell by the pic the couple shared -- there's no basketball stress here!

Despite the Lakers coming into the postseason as the #7 seed and under immense pressure to repeat as champs ... Kuzma clearly ain't doing any hand-wringing ahead of the games.

Check out the photo he and Winnie posted ... she looks great, he looks happy -- and yeah, what pressure again???

Kuzma won't be asked to do too much while LeBron James and Anthony Davis shoulder most of the load for the Lake Show ... but he's still going to have to play well for L.A. to make another run to the title.