TMZ Sports - Page 50

Conor McGregor vs. Charles Oliveira, coming soon to a UFC card ... 'cause the UFC lightweight champ says "The Notorious" will KO Dustin Poirier this weekend -- and then fight "do Bronx."

TMZ Sports caught up with 31-year-old Oliveira in Las Vegas -- only days before the highly anticipated McGregor-Poirier trilogy fight -- and we asked ... who ya got??

Here's our conversation with the champ and his translator.

Who are you picking for this fight? Who do you think is gonna win it?
Conor.

The champ is picking Conor?
Yeah, Conor Mcgregor.

By KO, submission?
By knockout.

You’re next fight, you want it to be Conor?
Yes, Conor McGregor.

This is important 'cause Dana White recently said the winner of the main event at UFC 264 will face Charles ... so he's got a lot of skin in the game.

Of course, McGregor beat Poirier when they fought in 2014 ... and DP KO'd Conor in the January 2021 rematch.

Drake took full advantage of the Dodgers being out of town Thursday ... setting up a date on L.A.'s field with Johanna Leia -- and the whole thing looked like it was taken right out of a Drake song.

While Justin Turner and the boys were in Miami wrapping up their series with the Marlins ... the rapper took advantage of the opportunity to borrow their arena for a cozy date night -- and it's clear, he balled out for the occasion.

A helicopter camera spotted the 34-year-old at a table with Leia near the dugout on the third-base side of the field ... and there was a white table cloth, multiple dishes, flowers and even a personal bartender for the couple.

In fact, the two appeared to have gotten personalized Dodgers jerseys for the occasion ... with Leia rockin' hers right at the table!

Drake recently sat between Leia and Michael B. Jordan at a Sierra Canyon H.S. basketball game. If you're unfamiliar, Leia is the mom of Sierra Canyon star and UCLA commit Amari Bailey, who's teammates with LeBron James' son, Bronny James.

And, with Drake often attending the games to catch Bronny in action ... it's possible the new relationship started courtside.

Only fitting basketball would bring new love to Drake's life, right??

A golf fan was booted from the Scottish Open on Friday ... after he stole Rory McIlroy's club straight out of the star's bag and began playing with it on a tee box.

The bizarre scene was captured on video ... and you can see in the footage, as Rory was gearing up to hit a tee shot on hole #10 at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick -- a fan casually walked up to the 32-year-old's bag and rummaged through it.

The guy initially tried to pull out Rory's driver ... but when it got stuck, he went back into the bag and snagged one of McIlroy's irons.

The man then began lining up as if he were going to swing ... all while Rory, Jon Rahm and their caddies looked on with perplexed expressions on their faces.

Eventually, event officials got the guy to give back the club ... but he still tried to walk off with Rory's famous dog headcover.

Security, though, was able to wrestle it away from the man ... before booting him from the area.

"Let me put it this way: you could smell the reason why he did what he did," Rahm said of the incident afterward, according to The Scotsman. "He was clearly not sober. I'm going to say it was vodka. I'm no expert, but he had a long night for sure."

Rahm added, "He probably thought it was a fun idea. And, to be fair, it was quite funny."

An event official said police are now investigating the incident.

Tristan Thompson's pockets could get a little more swollen soon ... he's just been awarded a nice chunk of change in the libel case against his paternity accuser.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the court has entered a default judgment in favor of Tristan against Kimberly Alexander for the amount of $50k ... plus 10% interest per year until it's paid off. She's also gotta fork over $2,901.75 in court costs.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan was headed to a victory after the court said it was leaning towards awarding Khloe's ex more than $50k. He sued Alexander for libel last year and wanted $100k in damages after claiming her allegation he fathered her child hurt his reputation, and cost him endorsement deals because companies saw him as a brand hazard.

The judge ultimately slashed the damages in half because Tristan didn't specifically lay out which endorsements he lost due to Alexander's allegations.

How do you spell "most interesting teenager in America?" Zaila Avant-garde!!!

Zaila entered the history books Thursday by winning the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming the first Africa-American champion. The 14-year-old also became the first winner from the state of Louisiana.

The teen took home the title after she correctly spelled "murraya" -- a type of tree -- but not before she joked that the word contained the last name of a comedian ... to the delight of Bill Murray fans everywhere.

Along her way to becoming the first Black American to win in 93 editions of the competition, Zaila also had to spell words like "querimonious," "solidungulate," and "Nepeta." The only other Black winner was Jamaica's Jody-Anne Maxwell in 1998.

There's much more to Avant-garde than her spelling though ... which she only began doing competitively 2 years ago. She's also a gifted basketball player who holds 3 Guinness world records for dribbling skills ... and even her last name is special. Her father changed it from Heard to Avant-garde in homage to the jazz legend, John Coltrane.

We see London, we see France ... we see SHAQ'S UNDERPANTS!!!

Shaquille O'Neal is out to prove the quarantine look is still in style ... with the NBA legend going business up top, nothing on the bottom for a live TV segment!!

Of course, we've all been there at some point in the pandemic ... but the Hall of Famer had no problem showing off his skivvies while on air for NBA TV Thursday night.

The Big Aristotle had just finished his final segment of the 2021 season after the Suns beat the Bucks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals ... and decided to celebrate by hopping up and dancing like crazy!!

The 7'1", 330-lb. big man even pulled a Petey Pablo by taking his blazer off, twistin' it around his hand and spinnin' it like a helicopter.

O'Neal even started doing jumping jacks ... later admitting it made him "tired as hell."

The moment is hilarious ... and even his fellow "Inside the NBA" analyst pal, Kenny "The Jet" Smith, had to get in on the party -- although it appears he was fully clothed.

Hey, Shaq and Kenny deserve the break -- as Smith points out, it was basically 2 NBA seasons back to back, thanks to the pandemic.

Nick Kyrgios -- one of the biggest stars in men's pro tennis -- is pulling out of the Olympics ... saying the big decision is, in part, due to Japan officials barring spectators from the event.

The 26-year-old Australian made the announcement Thursday evening ... just hours after Olympic officials said no fans would be allowed to watch the Games in-person this summer due to a spike in coronavirus cases in the area.

"It's a decision I didn't make lightly," Kyrgios said. "It's been my dream to represent Australia at the Olympics and I know I may never get that opportunity again."

"But I also know myself," Kyrgios added. "The thought of playing in front of empty stadiums just doesn't sit right with me. It never has."

Kyrgios -- who was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon earlier this month due to an abdominal injury -- also said his health played a role in his decision too.

"I also wouldn't want to take an opportunity away from a healthy Aussie athlete ready to represent the country," Kyrgios said.

"I will also take all the time I need to get my body right. Good luck to all the Aussies competing and I'll see you back on the court real soon."

Lil Baby and NBA star James Harden have been stopped by police in Paris ... with a report claiming the rapper was arrested for weed.

Harden and several other men were swarmed by cops during an apparent search on the popular Avenue Montaigne. In one video circulating on social media, the Brooklyn Nets superstar can be heard saying he doesn't understand what's going on as cops begin to search him.

One photo shows an officer holding what appears to be a vaping device ... unclear who it belongs to or whether is contained the alleged marijuana.

Baby was seated in the back of a police van and appeared to be handcuffed ... local reports say he was among 3 people arrested for some sort of marijuana-related charge. The report said the vehicle the men were traveling in was pulled over and officers could smell marijuana. There were allegedly 20 grams of weed discovered.

We reached out to the Paris Police Dept. who would only tell us the incident was currently an active investigation.

Lil Baby and Harden are in the French city for Paris Fashion Week.

Shohei Ohtani's monster 2021 season ain't just bringing awareness to MLB nationally ... the Angels superstar is opening eyes across the GLOBE -- so says Rick Ankiel.

The former St. Louis Cardinals star -- who was the last MLB player before Ohtani to have huge success as both a hitter and pitcher -- broke it all down for TMZ Sports this week ... explaining Shohei is just that electric.

"Look, there’s nothing the guy can’t do on a baseball field," said Ankiel, who Ohtani just passed on the all-time MLB home run leaderboard.

"Watching what he’s doing, it definitely is must-watch TV ... every time I see it, I stop."

Ankiel says because of Ohtani's ties to Japan ... the incredible year he's having is bringing eyeballs to the sport that may have never been brought otherwise.

"I think you’re going to have a lot of kids who are seeing him maybe for the first time on the All-Star Game, looking up to that and going out in the backyard and trying to hit like Ohtani, and pitch like Ohtani and try to be that growing up," Ankiel said.

"I think it’s fantastic."

Ohtani has a ridiculous 32 home runs already this season with a stellar .279 batting average ... and he's the clear-cut favorite for AL MVP at the moment.

Oh, and by the way, he also has a 3.49 ERA and a 4-1 record as a pitcher.

Mr. Nice Guy is officially dead and gone -- Conor McGregor just UNLEASHED an epic amount of smack talk on Dustin Poirier at their UFC 264 press conference just minutes ago ... vowing to absolutely wreck the guy as soon as they enter the Octagon on Saturday.

Of course, Conor was unusually kind to "Diamond" before their fight back in January ... showing serious respect for Poirier and acting the complete opposite of his wild self.

But, yeah, Thursday night was WAY different.

"I'm gonna go drill his head, put holes into it and take it off his shoulders," Conor said. "That's the goal here! He's done here! This is it for him! This is the end of the road."

Both guys went at each other from the jump by getting in each other's faces -- with Conor grabbing Poirier's signature hot sauce off the table and throwing it off the stage.

Conor was later asked straight-up if he has respect for Dustin ... and he didn't hold back.

"I don't give a f*** about him to be honest," McGregor said. "I don't give a rat's ass about him. He's Buster Douglas is what he is, and that's the way he's gonna go down."

"He's gonna be known for that. It was a fluke win and I'm gonna correct it on Saturday night."

As for Dustin, he had a different tone -- "I don't hate anybody up here. I'm at a different place mentally, man. Respect to him and everything he's done."

TMZ Sports got in a few questions with Conor as well ... asking when he believes he'll be a billionaire ... and ya gotta hear what he has to say.

There's a lot of history between the guys -- Conor got the win their first go-round in 2014 ... with Poirier getting the win in January.

Tyson Fury has COVID-19 and his super fight with Deontay Wilder will almost certainly be postponed ... so says boxing insider Teddy Atlas.

Fury and Wilder are scheduled to fight July 24 ... their 3rd fight. The 1st was a draw ... and Fury KO'd Deontay in their 2nd bout in February 2020.

But, earlier today, rumors were swirling that someone in Fury's camp contracted the virus ... but it was unclear if that was accurate -- and if Tyson had the virus.

But, when Atlas joined the Wise Kracks Podcast with Bill Krackomberger and Jon Orlando ... he dropped some bombshell info.

“It looks like Fury actually has COVID. He had 1 shot. He didn't get both shots, both vaccines. And, it looks like he has the COVID,” Atlas says.

So, if Fury has COVID ... it seems all but a sure thing the trilogy fight will be postponed. There are rumors the trilogy fight could be moved to September ... but Teddy says he doesn't know if that's enough time.

“They're talking about pushing it back to September. I don't know if that's enough time.”

On Thursday, a Top Rank spokesperson -- Fury's promoter -- gave us the following statement.

“We continue to monitor the health status of Tyson and his team and the status of the event has not changed to date.”

Story developing ...

"I was very overconfident going into [Usman] fight. I just believed, I’m going to beat this guy, and there’s nothing he can do to stop me."

That's 34-year-old UFC star Gilbert Burns admitting he thought he was gonna roll over welterweight champ Kamaru Usman when they fought in February.

That didn't happen ... and Burns was ultimately stopped via TKO in the 3rd round -- a defeat that crushed him emotionally.

"As soon as we put on those little, small gloves everyone is danger," Burns tells TMZ Sports.

"You gotta respect that, and I think I was very overconfident, and I paid the price. So, learned so much. The journey is still very alive, first step is going to be July 10th."

Of course, July 10 is UFC 264 ... the date Burns returns to the Octagon against #4 ranked fight Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson.

"Now I’m on my way back. I’m hungry as ever. I think I’m a little more mature, more disciplined."

Does 1 win get him back in title contention -- and set him up for a rematch with Usman?

Surprisingly, Burns says probably not ... he has more work to do.

Patrick Mahomes ain't pleased that USA Track & Field officials left Sha'Carri Richardson off the Olympic roster this week ... calling the snub "pretty ridiculous."

The NFL superstar explained his thoughts on the matter Thursday on "First Take" ... clearly believing USATF should've added Richardson to the team, despite her recent positive marijuana test.

"She put in the work," the Chiefs quarterback said. "Even though she made a mistake -- like we all make mistakes in whatever way that is -- but to give her an almost extra ban, to not let her be at the Olympics at all, it's pretty ridiculous to me."

As we previously reported, Richardson tested positive for pot after the Olympic Trials last month ... and was subsequently hit with a 1-month ban as punishment.

The penalty -- while wiping away her opportunity to race in the Tokyo Olympics' 100-meter sprint -- still was set to end in time for her to potentially run for USA in the 4x100-meter relay.

But, USATF officials announced Tuesday they were still leaving her off the team ... explaining, "All USATF athletes are equally aware of and must adhere to the current anti-doping code, and our credibility as the National Governing Body would be lost if rules were only enforced under certain circumstances."

Mahomes called B.S. on all on Thursday, though ... saying, "For her to be left off, after all the hard work and dedication that she's put into the sport, and for her to be one of those bright young stars for the USA, it's just disappointing."

"I couldn’t care about them 2 dingbats."

Conor McGregor is days away from one of the biggest fights of his career, but the UFC superstar's still getting grilled about Jake and Logan Paul ... saying he has no intention of ever fighting the YouTubers-turned-boxers.

... but he's not counting it out for good!!!

"The Notorious" -- who's seeking revenge against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on Saturday -- was asked if he'd ever step in the ring with the two bros this week ... and his answer is very interesting.

"I don’t see so, but never say never," Conor said. "If they’re gonna keep competing and what not, who f***in' knows? But dingbats, the 2 of 'em."

In other words -- SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE!!!!

Remember, Jake has incessantly gone after McGregor for months ... offering $50 million to make the fight happen, even releasing a wild video claiming the superstar and Dana White are scared to set it up.

Conor -- who loves making money -- has kept his options open about fighting Jake in the past ... and you'd think there's gotta be a reason for that.

Trevor Bauer will be away from MLB mounds for at least another week ... the league just announced it extended the Dodgers star's paid leave 7 more days.

The MLB Players Association signed off on the move Thursday ... meaning Bauer is now out of Los Angeles' rotation until at least July 16.

Bauer had initially been placed on paid leave last Friday ... in wake of allegations that he had punched and choked a woman during two sexual encounters in April and May.

According to MLB insider Jeff Passan, if a police investigation and/or an MLB probe into the matter isn't settled by next week ... the Dodgers and the league could look into putting Bauer on paid leave indefinitely.

Bauer has been arguably the best starter on Los Angeles' roster this season -- he holds an 8-5 record with a 2.59 ERA -- but he hasn't pitched since June 28.

As we previously reported ... a woman -- who says she met Bauer on Instagram -- claims Bauer choked her and hit her so many times during their two meetings earlier this year, she was left with scratches, bruises and lacerations.

The 30-year-old has emphatically denied the allegations ... claiming it was all part of entirely consensual sex.

Michael Avenatti was just sentenced to 30 months in his Nike extortion scheme case.

A very emotional Avenatti appeared in court Thurdsay in NYC where the sentence was handed down, on top of the 30 months, he'll also have 3 years of supervised release. The sentence is light considering the recommended sentence was 108-135 months ... a recommendation the judge called "excessive."

Avenatti addressed the court during the hearing, having to stop several times while he fought through tears. At one point, he said, "I betrayed my profession. I became driven by the things that don’t matter in life. Over the last 2 years, I have often thought to myself, why did this need to happen? What lessons am I supposed to learn from this experience, from what I’ve done?"

He continued, "Your honor, I’ve learned that all the fame, notoriety and money in the world is meaningless. TV & Twitter mean nothing. Everyone wants to ride in a limo with you but very few are willing to sit next to you on the bus."

The disgraced attorney was given a surrender date of September 15.

As we reported ... Avenatti was arrested and charged with trying to extort $20 million out of Nike. The feds had claimed the infamous lawyer told Nike's legal team that if they didn't pay him between $15 million and $25 million he would hold a news conference and allege misconduct by employees at the shoe company.

According to the criminal complaint ... Avenatti had demanded Nike hire him to conduct an internal probe for the enormous salary. Prosecutors said Avenatti was repping a client who was the coach of an AAU basketball team. They said Avenatti gave Nike the option to not hire him but pay $22.5 million to resolve the dispute and buy his silence.

Prosecutors would later allege the Nike scheme played out over the course of a few days back in March 2019. Prosecutors said Avenatti repped an AAU coach whose team had just lost a Nike sponsorship worth $72k a year.

The coach had claimed Nike made payments to families of some HS basketball players ... and Avenatti had allegedly demanded payment from the shoe giant to keep him quiet.

Avenatti was ultimately arrested at the location where he was supposed to meet with Nike brass ... presumably to iron out a deal or keep the convo going.

Prosecutors also have conversations and video recordings ... in which they allege Avenatti made threats. Avenatti also allegedly told Nike he had them by "the balls."

Avenatti's also facing fraud charges after prosecutors in California claim he embezzled client money to cover expenses for his coffee corporation. He's also alleged to have committed bank fraud by submitting false tax returns to get $4.1 million in loans.