TMZ Sports - Page 50

Pro wrestling star Max Caster ... CAN RAP!!!

The AEW superstar -- who considers himself the greatest wrestler alive -- just dropped some very impressive bars ... all based on recent TMZ Sports stories and it's great!!

From LeBron James to Logan Paul ... even Buff Bagwell -- Caster wrapped up our week, by rapping up our week!

There's more ... Caster -- half of AEW's #2 ranked tag team The Acclaimed -- also talks about his wrestling future to the comparisons to John Cena.

Lamar Odom says he's not here to "play" boxing -- he's gunning to knock out Aaron Carter and embarrass the dude in front of his girlfriend.

The 41-year-old ex-NBA star is taking on the 33-year-old pop star in a 3-round exhibition Friday night at the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

Both guys have been working their asses off in the gym -- but Lamar tells TMZ Sports he could "really give a f**k" about Aaron's training program.

"I'm prepared," Lamar says ... "I don't know who he's sparring against but I know my gym is full of guys that can fight and I've been sparring with and I have a really good trainer."

"[Aaron has been] talkin' s**t but I'm gonna put him to sleep early."

Lamar says he won't predict which round he'll KO Carter -- but says, "I asked his girlfriend yesterday which round do you want to wake him up in."

THE DISRESPECT!!!

"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?"

That's how one MLB broadcaster reacted to an INSANE throw by Mookie Betts on Thursday ... and yeah, the play was seriously that good!!!

It all went down in the bottom of the 2nd inning of the Dodgers' tilt with the Pirates in Pittsburgh, when Ka'ai Tom hit a line drive to Betts deep in right field.

Mookie made a hell of a play to secure the out ... but he wasn't done there -- 'cause he then did a 360-degree spin to throw out the tagging runner at home plate!!

Watch the clip, the long toss was amazing ... Betts took several steps, twirled and fired -- and ended up throwing an absolute dart that gunned Erik Gonzalez down at home plate!

In typical Mookie fashion, the dude didn't even celebrate the absurd double play ... he calmly let his teammates know there were two outs, and then went right back to his right field position!

By the way, Mookie also homered in the game, stole a base and scored an additional run -- leading L.A. to a 6-3 win.

Claressa Shields -- the greatest boxer in the world -- is now undefeated in TWO sports after winning her pro MMA debut on Thursday with an incredible 3rd round stoppage!!

The 26-year-old took on Brittney Elkin at PFL 4 in New Jersey. FYI, Elkin is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jjitsu!

As the fight started, it was clear Elkin's plan was to take Shields to the ground and try to force the boxer to tap out.

Elkin's plan worked during the first 2 rounds -- smothering Shields and attempting to submit her with arm-bar attempts and other holds.

But, Shields stayed calm and repeatedly escaped danger.

Then, in Round 3 ... Shields went off!!!

Not only did she stuff Elkin's take-down attempt -- but she gained top position and unloaded on Elkin with a barrage of violent punches to the head.

It got so bad, the ref stopped the fight -- SHIELDS WINS!!

Claressa was STOKED after the victory -- and later explained her mentality going into that 3rd round.

"I may have lost these two rounds, but I'm not losing this fight," Shields said.

"She had me on the ground, but she couldn't hurt me ... Her punches didn't hurt me. She tried to get me in me an armbar and that didn't hurt me!"

Now, Shields has proven a true force to be reckoned with the cage. She obviously needs to work on her ground game, but an impressive start nonetheless!!

UFC champ Francis Ngannou ain't ready to move on from a possible showdown with Jon Jones ... telling TMZ Sports that's the ONLY fight on his mind.

Ngannou was strolling through Beverly Hills this week when we asked about his fighting future ... considering the UFC and Jones seem to be miles (and millions of dollars) apart from making a deal.

In fact, Dana White has repeatedly said he's targeting Derrick Lewis for Ngannou's next opponent ... and hopes that fight will take place in the summer.

But, Ngannou says he's still got Jones on the brain when we asked who he wants to fight next -- "I want Jon Jones ... I love that fight."

In fact, seems Ngannou is still pretty hopeful the two sides can work out a deal -- and we're guessing every MMA fan out there is hoping he's right!

When we spoke with White a few weeks ago, he told us he's "absolutely moved on" from trying to make that fight ... and said he doesn't know if Jon will ever fight in the UFC ever again.

"That's up to Jon," White said ... "He could absolutely fight again at 205 lbs. He said he wouldn't fight [Stipe Miocic] and now Derrick and Francis are fighting so we'll see how that fight plays out."

It looks like tennis genes weren’t the only things Serena Williams passed down to her daughter Alexis Olympia ... the mini-Serena also clearly got her mom’s sense of style too!!!

Olympia -- who was on the court Thursday for tennis practice -- rocked the kid’s version of the 1-legged pink, red and black catsuit Serena wore at February's Australian Open ... and it's freakin' adorable!!

Serena's hubby, Alexis Ohanian, posted the photos onto the tot’s social media account, and it got tons of love -- 'cause look how stinkin' cute it is!

But, Serena wasn't exactly happy with it ... in fact, she seemed downright jealous -- explaining in the comment section that she wanted to be there in person to see the fit!

"Awwwww mannnnnn I asked you to save this post until I was next to her side by side in my same outfit," the 39-year-old tennis G.O.A.T. said to her husband.

"Oophhh I guess I’ll have to pull the plug from your phone tonight. And you wake up wondering why you have no battery. LOL."

While Olympia wore it as a tribute to her mother, Serena actually originally wore it as a tribute to another sports legend -- track star Florence Griffith Joyner.

Serena explained her choice to wear the outfit back in February in Australia, saying, "I was inspired by Flo-Jo, who was a wonderful track athlete, amazing athlete when I was growing up."

Florence, or Flo-Jo as she became famously known, was one of the greatest sprinters of all time ... winning 3 gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

If you thought Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier had bad blood ... you're right.

But, also, Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya CAN'T STAND EACH OTHER -- and Marvin tells TMZ Sports he can't wait to punch the guy in the face this weekend!

"There's nobody that I would like to beat up more and I get to do it Saturday night," the 27-year-old Italian tells us.

"At the end of the day, I'm happy, I get to beat his ass and get his belt."

The two are clashing at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona -- a rematch of their 2018 fight, which Adesanya won by split decision.

But, this time, there's more at stake -- Izzy is the reigning UFC middleweight champ ... and Marvin is OBSESSED with taking his belt.

"I'll stop him with punches," Marvin says ... "I'm coming to get the belt. Keep it tight for now because it's not gonna be long until I get it."

Marvin was also tapped for an endorsement deal with Dolce & Gabbana -- and says he's looking to make them proud on Saturday!

Tiger Woods isn't ready to golf yet ... and apparently, he ain't ready to talk about the sport on TV yet either.

The sport's biggest star -- who's still recovering from a gnarly February car crash -- declined an offer from NBC Sports to help break down next week's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in CA, according to broadcaster Dan Hicks.

"We were all thinking how good that would be, who better, if he couldn't be there to play it, to voice it and have him a part of the show, but we were rebuffed," Hicks told media members Wednesday ahead of the event's June 17 start date.

"He didn't want to do it, and I totally understand his situation. There is a lot going on in his world right now and there's also a part of Tiger that doesn't want to become this, I don't want to, for lack of a better word, a sideshow at an event where we should be concentrating on what's happening."

Hicks added, "I understand that what’s going on in his world that he wanted to kind of keep it low-key and stay out of the limelight for this one and just hopefully he’ll enjoy it at home watching it on TV."

Tiger -- who won the U.S. Open the last time Torrey Pines hosted the event back in 2008 -- has avoided the spotlight ever since he crashed his ride in Los Angeles County on Feb. 23.

He's hardly spoken about the incident -- revealing only that rehab has been "more painful than anything I have ever experienced" -- and he's only posted one picture of himself since the crash.

As we previously reported, Tiger shattered multiple bones in his leg and required several complicated surgeries and a metal stabilizing rod to fix the issues.

Titans fans, rejoice ... Julio Jones just got in his first workout as a Tennessee wide receiver -- and he looks AWESOME!!!!!

The 32-year-old, who was just traded from the Falcons to the Titans over the weekend, ran crisp routes, flashed fancy footwork and showed off strong hands all morning Thursday.

Yeah, it's only June, but the Titans are CLEARLY winning!!

The workout was all part of voluntary organized team activities ... so Julio didn't have to show up, but obviously he wanted to make a good first impression on his new squad.

Jones rocked the #2 after he turned down A.J. Brown's offer to take #11 ... and by all accounts from local reporters, he was one of the best players on the field.

Jones is expected to meet with reporters shortly after practice ends ... and we wouldn't expect him to crap on Atlanta for trading him -- but crazier things have happened.

An L.A. Angels fan was comically beaten to a pulp trying to chase down a foul ball ... and the whole wacky incident was caught on broadcast cameras!!

It all went down during the Halos' game against the Royals in Anaheim, Calif. on Wednesday night ... when a dude's valiant effort to hunt down a baseball turned disastrous.

You can see in footage, the ball dropped down from the sky ... and, despite the guy being in the perfect position to make the play, it took a nasty hop and drilled him in the throat!

But, things got worse seconds later ... 'cause when he went to run down the ball as it ricocheted under a table -- he smacked his face right on the corner of the ballpark furniture!

The worst part? He didn't even come away with the baseball ... 'cause he was so embarrassed, he let another fan rip it from his hands!

Just another reminder, not everyone can be like SuperMom from Wednesday's Padres game.

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn not only HATED the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul fight ... but says it seriously damaged the sport -- and now he's sounding off!!

"Absolutely f**king horrendous," Hearn told iFL TV, "I'm allowed to give my opinion. It was absolute dog s**t."

Hearn famously runs Matchroom Boxing -- and reps some of the biggest names in the sport including Anthony Joshua, Devin Haney, Gennady Golovkin and more.

And, while some industry bigwigs applauded Logan vs. Floyd for drawing attention to the sport and possibly bringing in new younger fans ... Hearn thinks it was an atrocity.

"It was just sad, it was sad. None of it ever made sense."

Hearn says he doesn't blame Floyd -- applauding the guy for making a fortune for an easy night's work -- but thinks the event left a bad taste in the fan's mouths.

Hearn says part of the blame is on the promoters and other industry professionals who aren't producing great fighters and great events.

"If we don’t make good fights, you’re going to see more and more of this," Hearn explained.

Australian silver medalist swimmer Maddie Groves is making a powerful statement and pulling out of the Olympic trials ... ripping the "misogynistic perverts in the sport" in the process.

26-year-old Groves -- who finished second in the 200m butterfly and 4x100 medley at the 2016 Games -- has been calling out the swimming community for months ... claiming men have made her feel uncomfortable by staring at her swimsuit or making "creepy" comments.

Now, Groves says she's fed up -- going OFF as she explained her decision to sit out the trials in Adelaide.

"Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their boot lickers," Groves said on Twitter Wednesday.

"You can no longer exploit young women and girls, body shame or medically gaslight them and then expect them to represent you so you can earn your annual bonus."

"Time’s UP."

Groves previously tweeted in November 2020 about an experience she had when she was 20 ... saying, "Just remembering the time a well known coach (not mine) asked me about [university] and I told him one of my subjects was ‘Love, Relationships and Sex’ and he said in this creepy af voice 'oh, you’d know allllllll about that.'"

She added the man later apologized, but believes it was because he was ordered to do so by the team psychologist.

Groves also shared in December she previously made a complaint about "a person that works at swimming" staring at her swimsuit.

Swimming Australia released a statement on Groves' claims ... saying it reached out to her for more information, but she declined.

"All allegations concerning child abuse or sexual misconduct are taken seriously by Swimming Australia" the org. said in a statement.

"We consider the welfare, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as paramount, and we have a duty to make inquiries to uphold the standards of our sport."

Orioles star Ryan Mountcastle drilled a fan in the face with a home run ball last week ... but he more than made up for it Wednesday night -- gifting the dude a signed bat!!!

The story behind it all is pretty damn funny ... during a June 4 game against the Indians, Mountcastle hit a blast into left field that clanked off of Jake Jones' dome as it crash-landed in the seats.

Jones' failed catch attempt did major damage ... he claimed on Twitter the ball hit his forehead so hard, he had a concussion and needed stitches to repair the damage.

But, Jones was still jacked over Mountcastle's knock regardless ... and decided to reach out to the 24-year-old slugger to congratulate him on the blast.

Turns out, Ryan felt bad about hitting the guy ... and promised him an autograph when he returned to Camden Yards.

Fast forward to Wednesday night ... and Mountcastle delivered!!

The Baltimore designated hitter signed a bat for Jones ... and the dude loved it, writing on Twitter, "LEGENDARY."

Stop what you're doing. Get some tissues ready.

This video of Greg Olsen's 8-year-old son, TJ, telling his brother and sister that doctors found a heart donor for him will reduce you to tears in less than 15 seconds.

The ex-NFL star says the footage was taken exactly 1 week ago -- when the family was notified that a donor heart had become available for TJ.

"1 week ago, we were notified that we received an offer for a heart transplant," Olsen said ... "A special angel donor, somewhere, allowed Tj to share the news himself w/ Tate and Talbot."

FYI, TJ was born with a serious heart condition -- and underwent 3 open-heart surgeries before his 3rd birthday. Doctors recently advised the family his heart was in trouble and he needed a transplant, stat.

So, when Greg and his wife, Kara, got the news on Thursday, they let TJ inform his siblings -- and the reaction is pure love and joy.

"You know how I need a heart transplant?" TJ asks ... "and they've been trying to find one? Today, this morning -- they found one!"

The 3 kids hug and cheer and smile -- it's amazing. You can hear a voice off-camera remind the Olsens, "Just be gentle with him!"

TJ is over the moon as he tells his brother and sister the surgery will likely happen the next day (which it ultimately did).

And then, he drops even more good news -- "I got a covid test and it came back negative!"

Of course, TJ did undergo the procedure on Friday and doctors say it was a success. A few days later, TJ posted a video thanking everyone for their support.

Charles Barkley thinks the Brooklyn Nets roster is unfairly stacked -- so he's decided to openly root against 'em in the playoffs.

In other words, "I’m not a fan of superteams."

Barkley spelled out the whole thing during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday ... explaining the combination of James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin is simply off-putting for him.

"If they win it, they win it. But I want to make it perfectly clear -- I’m rooting against those guys. I’m rooting against all superteams. I’m old school."

The Nets are on fire at the moment -- coming off a 125 to 86 blowout victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, which gave Brooklyn a 2-0 lead in their playoff series. Game 3 is set for Thursday night.

Barkley says he'd rather see a team like the NY Knicks get to the NBA Finals -- because he likes the team and the atmosphere better.

"The Brooklyn Nets got a much better team, but when they play it’s like a mausoleum," Barkley said ... "And they got a much better team. I want [the Knicks] because that place was on fire, and I’m hoping they keep getting better because that place was fire. I’ve been there when it’s been on fire."

The Knicks balled out this season -- finishing 4th in the eastern conference during the regular season and showing real potential moving forward.

Just don't sign too many superstars this off-season ... or Barkley will jump ship.

Funny guy Jeff Garlin ain't laughin' when it comes to his beloved Cubs, Jake Arrieta and the COVID vaccine ... saying his favorite team will NEVER win the World Series if it keeps dodging inoculation.

The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star -- who's a Chicago native and a huge baseball fan -- didn't hold back on the "Waddle and Silvy" show on ESPN Chicago this week ... saying a W.S. trophy won't touch Chicago unless the team gets vaxxed.

"If you don't get to 85% [fully vaccinated], I will wager everything I've got 'No' on the World Series," Garlin said. "If you're playing somebody who doesn't have to worry about that, it's a whole different world."

"If we're playing the Braves in the National League Championship, we're losing."

If you missed it ... the Cubs are one of several teams in the MLB struggling to get all of their players to receive their COVID shots -- with Arrieta being VERY vocal about his skepticism of it all.

In fact, Arrieta and the team are lagging so much on their shots, president Jed Hoyer just said last month he's "disappointed" that it appears the Cubs will not get to an 85% vaccination rate this season.

Of course, that's the MLB's magic number that it's requiring for teams to relax some of the league's strict COVID rules and regulations.

Garlin says the fact that this is an issue inside the clubhouse at Wrigley Field is straight-up "disgusting."

"I don’t get it," Garlin said. "I find it disgusting because I don’t think it's political and I think it’s your responsibility as a human being, part of the human race, to get that shot."