TMZ Sports - Page 50

Yo Gotti has gone from taking over the rap game to taking over the soccer game -- 'cause the star MC is now a co-owner of the MLS' D.C. United!!!

Gotti just announced his new business venture on Monday ... saying he -- alongside 3 other investors -- bought ownership of the franchise.

With his investment, Gotti currently owns 2-3% of the team -- and BTW, D.C. United is currently worth $750 million.

Gotti's investment comes shortly after Houston Texans RB Mark Ingram II invested in June to push the team’s value to $710 million.

The "Put a Date on It" rapper explained his decision to get involved in a statement on Monday.

"I was introduced to the game by my son and watched how quickly it has grown in our country, so I’m honored to join the D.C. United ownership group,"

The Memphis rapper is known for his business acumen since his early days ... and has sold over millions of records, created multiple hits and even started his own rap label called CMG in 2014 (Collective Music Group).

Daring heroics from a fitness coach quickly turned into a double tragedy -- after he jumped into rough ocean water to save his friend, both of them were swept out to sea ... while his wife was recording.

The dramatic video shows Daniil Gagarin leaping into the choppy waters to save his friend and fellow fitness expert Emma Mönkkönen at the La Zorra cove in the resort town of Torrevieja, Spain.

Through it all ... Daniil's wife, Darya, is filming the incident. At one point you can see Daniil gets a hold of Emma and they're both holding on to a rock. Darya's screaming to her husband, but suddenly a violent wave crashes on top of them and they're swept out into the Mediterranean sea.

You can hear the despair in Darya's voice, who cries for Daniil ... but both Daniil and Emma disappear.

According to a report ... Emma's body was recovered a couple of miles away from where the incident happened. Daniil's body was found the next day.

A Kansas City Chiefs fan was pummeled so hard during a wild brawl in the stands at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday -- he appeared to be knocked out cold.

The violence all went down at some point during the Chiefs' game against the Chargers ... when K.C. fans got into a heated altercation.

In footage of the incident, filmed by bystanders, you can see the melee was all kicked off after one fan threw a huge haymaker amid a verbal argument.

That's when all hell broke loose -- 'cause several other fans ran into the area, throwing wild punches.

In the clip, you can see things got so bad ... a man appeared to be punched unconscious, with his limp body sprawled out over a row of seats.

Unclear if anybody suffered any serious injuries in the fight, or if any arrests were made. We've reached out to cops, but so far, no word back yet.

"Dana White, if you're listening, this is a real message. Forget the cringe, forget the persona, this is straight-up me. I am the greatest combat athlete of all-time and I promise you, give me that opportunity, I will knock [Alex Volkanovski] out in less than 3 rounds."

That's 34-year-old Henry Cejudo making it crystal clear, he wants to un-retire and fight the UFC's featherweight champion, telling TMZ Sports he believes he'd KO 32-year-old Volkanovski in 15 minutes or less.

"Not only do I believe I can beat him, I know that I can stop him, dude." Triple C says.

"As much as I saw good things from Volkanovski, there still is a lot of holes. I believe my height will be a problem, because he is a couple inches taller than me. My speed, my wrestling, my experience, I've been in there with the best."

"Alexander 'The Average,' okay you had a great performance, it was a great fight, I just believe I have the 'it' factor to beat this dude, not only beat him, but stop him."

Of course, Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega at UFC 266 was a crazy 5 round war ... one that Alex won by unanimous decision.

Even Henry couldn't help but admit the fight was awesome.

"It was a great fight man. A great fight. 5 rounds, that's what a true mixed martial arts fight is. They showed striking, these guys wrestled, they showed submissions."

As for Cejudo's future, many people already consider Cejudo the most accomplished combat sports athlete ever. After all, Henry was a flyweight (125 lbs.) and bantamweight (135 lbs.) champ, in addition to an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling.

Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, and Amanda Nunes are the other fighters who have simultaneously been UFC double champs.

Simultaneous or not, no UFC fighter has ever been champ in 3 divisions ... which is exactly what Cejudo would become if he fought and beat Alexander.

Henry last fought in May 2020 ... when he beat Dominic Cruz via TKO with only seconds remaining in the 2nd round. He retired inside the Octagon following the fight.

HE ACTUALLY DID IT!!!

Tyron Woodley stayed true to his word and FINALLY got "I Love Jake Paul" tattooed on him ... with the UFC star having the phrase inked on the inside of his middle finger!!

Of course, it took a lot to get here -- Tyron initially claimed he would hold up his end of the tat bet only if Jake gave him a rematch after his split decision loss back in August.

Woodley said he was down to get the ink right after the bout in Cleveland, but no one was around after the fight to make it happen.

But, even after Jake shut him down and moved on to negotiations with Tommy Fury (which ain't going so hot, BTW), Tyron revealed last week he was going to follow through and get the tat this weekend -- rematch or no rematch.

Woodley clearly wasn't bluffing, 'cause now he's showing off the new work on Monday ... which shows an up-close shot of his new piece.

"I love you son," Woodley captioned the post on Instagram. "Now come and get this ass whippin cause i heard you been talking back to your elders. @jakepaul #ManOfMyWord"

"WHERE YOU AT!?"

No word on if this is enough to persuade Jake to take the rematch ... but we're sure he's bound to respond at some point.

Utah Utes football player Aaron Lowe was tragically shot and killed at a Salt Lake City house party on Saturday ... just hours after playing in a game.

He was just 21 years old.

The Salt Lake City Police Dept. confirmed the news over the weekend ... saying they initially got a call about the house party at around 10:30 PM on Saturday for a noise complaint.

Hours later, at around 12:20 AM, cops say they got more calls regarding a fight involving a weapon, as well as gunshots.

The SCLPD says when it arrived on the scene, officers found Lowe and an unidentified woman suffering from gunshot wounds.

Cops say first responders rendered aid to both Lowe and the woman -- but said Lowe tragically died at the scene.

The woman, meanwhile, was transported to a nearby hospital -- where cops say she remains in critical condition.

The SLCPD added it's investigating the incident as a homicide ... though no arrests have been made yet.

Lowe -- who had primarily played on special teams in his 3-year career with the Utes -- had just logged time in the Utes' 24-13 win over Washington State.

The tragedy, meanwhile, comes less than a year after another Utes football player, Ty Jordan, was killed in an accidental shooting.

Lowe and Jordan were teammates at West Mesquite H.S. in Texas before joining the Utes ... and when Jordan died in Dec. 2020, Lowe switched his jersey number from #2 to Jordan's #22 to honor him.

Lowe was also the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship.

The Brooklyn Nets are without part of their "Big Three" to kick off the 2021-22 season ... 'cause Kyrie Irving will not attend the team’s media day due to New York City's COVID-19 protocols.

Irving is believed to be in the roughly 10% of the league that has not been vaccinated ... with Rolling Stone reporting he's actively engaging with wild anti-vax conspiracies on social media.

Considering there's a mandate requiring NYC-based NBA players to have at least one vaccine shot before practicing or playing indoors, Irving had no choice but to miss the team's event on Monday ... and now, his status for the season is in jeopardy.

29-year-old Irving is coming off one of his best seasons as a pro ... dropping 26.9 points on 50.6% shooting and averaging 6.0 assists and 4.8 boards.

Irving certainly figures to be a crucial part of any hopes the BK Nets have to win a title this season ... but unless he gets a religious exception from the league (Andrew Wiggins' request was denied), there is a slim chance he can suit up until the city's protocols change.

Irving's teammate -- Kevin Durant -- was asked about why he isn't concerned about KI's vaccination status ... and he downplayed the whole situation.

"That's his personal decision," KD told the media. "What he does is not on us to speculate. I expect us to have our whole team at some point."

Now we all know, Irving marches to the beat of his own drum ... but that drum may not be at a championship parade if things don't change.

While his NYC availability is up in the air, Irving is expected to travel with the team to San Diego later Monday for training camp.

Story developing ...

Late-night legend David Letterman crashed the Brooklyn Nets' media day on Monday ... and it was bad news for Kevin Durant, who was interrogated with a ton of tough questions!!

The former longtime "Late Show" host kicked off his round of Qs for the 2-time champ with quite possibly the hardest-hitting question in sports journalism -- asking about Durant's "KD" nickname ... which, of course, has always been a big mystery among fans.

"Why do people call you KD??" Letterman asked.

Durant explained the reasoning behind the moniker with unenthusiastic delivery ... and you gotta give him credit for having the patience to walk Letterman through that toughie.

Letterman had more fire for KD ... asking how much effort he was going to put out on the court this season ... to which he replied, "110%"

The best question came when DL asked if KD would consider playing for the Nets AND Knicks at the same time ... but that's when Durant's patience ran out.

"All right, Dave, that was the last one," he said ... before adding, "They let anyone in here."

Scary night for Josh Norman on Sunday ... the 49ers star reportedly coughed up blood after leaving S.F.'s game against the Packers -- and needed to be hospitalized.

Norman bowed out of the Niners' loss to Green Bay in the first half with a chest injury ... and, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, it was so bad, he was spitting up blood.

The 33-year-old was then taken to the hospital, per Garafolo, where he remained throughout the night for observation and testing.

Fortunately, early indications are Norman is going to be okay ... with Garafolo reporting, early tests have revealed no significant damage.

Devin Booker says he's currently fighting COVID ... revealing on a Twitch stream over the weekend he's been battling the virus for about a week -- and it's sapped him of his taste and smell.

The NBA superstar -- who's been famously dating Kendall Jenner for the past year -- broke it all down for his followers while playing "Call of Duty" on Sunday.

"I got the 'vid, man," Booker said ... adding later in the stream, "Honestly, I'm feeling straight, man. Only thing that I'm dealing with is no taste, no smell. Which is the worst part of it."

"But," Booker continued, "I'm about a week in. I'm going to be back in no time. No time."

Booker -- who vacationed all over the globe with Jenner in August -- declined to say if he was vaccinated or not ... but did mention on the stream, "You can still get COVID with the vaccine."

Booker is now expected to miss the start of the Phoenix Suns' training camp while he recovers from the virus.

It's unclear, meanwhile, if Jenner has also contracted COVID.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is doing much better after being transported to the hospital Sunday ... with the team announcing he's resting and in "stable condition."

The legendary coach was taken away in an ambulance after feeling ill following the Chiefs' loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium ... with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting it was for a "precautionary observation."

The Chiefs provided an update on Reid's status late Sunday night ... and it's all good news.

"Head Coach Andy Reid felt ill at the conclusion of the game," the team said. "He was evaluated by our medical staff in the locker room, & as a precaution, was transported to The University of Kansas Health System for further evaluation."

"Coach is doing well, currently resting & in stable condition."

While the Chiefs did not get into detail on what Reid was battling, Dan Graziano reports he was treated for dehydration.

Chiefs star Tyrann Mathieu shared his well wishes for Reid after the game, saying, "I’m praying for my Head Coach & I’m hoping you can send up prayers with me!!"

"One of the best men & teachers I’ve been around!!! GOD please show us your mercy!"

As for the game, the Chargers shocked the Chiefs, winning 30-24 as KC falls to 1-2.

Get well soon, Andy!!

Ohio State has booted one of its linebackers off the team ... after the dude had a complete meltdown on the sideline during the Buckeyes' game over the weekend.

K'Vaughan Pope -- a senior who had played in over 30 contests for OSU since 2018 -- lost it during Ohio State's 59-7 win over Akron on Saturday.

Pope was reportedly so upset over his role in the defense and his playing time ... he ripped off his gloves and threw them into the stands -- and then tried to take off his jersey too.

Pope was eventually escorted to the locker room ... and just minutes after the tirade -- while the game was still going on on the field -- he tweeted (and later deleted), "f*** Ohio State."

He also added in a second tweet, "good lucc to my teammates."

On Sunday, roughly 24 hours after the incident, head coach Ryan Day announced Pope would no longer have a spot on OSU's football team over it all.

"K'Vaughan will continue to have the use of programs that benefit our student-athletes, such as our Student-Athlete Support Services Office, and we will support him with his progress toward graduation," Day said.

"He will remain on scholarship through the duration of this semester."

For his part, Pope apologized for the outburst ... writing in a tweet Sunday, "I made a mistake and know that I need to be better and do better. I’m going to take this time to reflect and work on my mental well-being."

Ryan Garcia is back from his hiatus with a plan ... telling TMZ Sports he now wants to KO JoJo Diaz Jr. next -- and then set up a mega-fight with Gervonta Davis.

The 23-year-old undefeated boxing phenom broke it all down for us at the Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant pre-fight event in L.A. this week ... saying he's in a way better place after taking some time away from the ring to focus on his mental health.

And, now, he tells us he's ready to fight Diaz Jr. in his first tilt back ... with a contract with the 32-1 former champ "95 percent" done.

"He's going to get knocked out," Garcia said of Diaz Jr. "He's going to get caught with a shot sooner or later, and he doesn't have really that good of defense."

After that, Garcia -- who's 21-0 as a pro -- says he wants Tank ... telling us, "I've been chasing that fight for so long."

"He's always going to be there. I'm hunting him down."

As for finally hammering out a deal for that huge fight with Davis ... Garcia seems to think it should be pretty easy if he makes quick work of Diaz Jr. like he expects.

"I'll make you rich," Garcia said in a message to Davis. "And, then I'll continue my great career."

Tekashi 6ix9ine might be on probation, but the dude isn't afraid to fire back if someone tests him out in public -- which is exactly what happened in Vegas this weekend.

The rapper showed up Saturday to the T-Mobile Arena for UFC 266 ... and as he was making his way in and past fans behind barricades -- he had a little face-off with someone who was NOT a fan.

Check out this video TMZ obtained of the altercation -- you see 69 ignoring the taunts from this dude, who's calling him a bitch and a ton of other insults. As he passes, the man appears to chuck something at his back, and it makes contact with Tekashi.

Eyewitnesses tell us it was the man's drink that he threw, and Tekashi circled back to look at him ... and to also a hurl a drink of his own. We're told it looked like coffee -- and it went splashing on others nearby. Security rushed in and broke it all up ... ushering T69 away.

No word on whether 6ix9ine was dealt with for this -- but sources on the scene say the guy who initiated it was, indeed, led away in handcuffs.

A woman and her child fell from near the top tier of a multi-story baseball park in San Diego -- a plunge that killed both of them ... and now cops are reportedly calling it suspect.

The horrific incident happened Saturday afternoon not too long before the Padres were set to play at their home field, Petco Park -- when a mother and her 2-year-old son went over an edge on the third level concourse somewhere ... with witnesses claiming the kid went first.

According to the Union-Tribune -- which spoke to eyewitnesses claiming to have first and second-hand accounts -- the mother and son were in a picnic area looking out onto the street side of the stadium, and somehow the boy toppled over a ledge ... and his mother went jumping after him, trying to grab on. The husband is also said to have been on-site.

Their fall amounted to about 6 stories in height, and they landed on Tony Gwynn Drive. Cops immediately showed up and launched an investigation -- so far, they don't know if it was accidental or intentional, but they are saying the deaths appeared to be suspicious.

Onlookers were horrified, and it was quite a scene -- but weirdly enough, the game's start time wasn't delayed ... and the Pads took the field promptly at 4:15 PM PT.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were all about the Global Citizen Live concert in NYC ... and she jumped on stage with a performance that definitely did not disappoint.

The concert was part of a worldwide event, staged in London, Paris, Rio, Lagos, Nigeria and the Big Apple ... all to put a spotlight on the hunger epidemic, the climate crisis and COVID vaccines.

Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Lizzo and Paul Simon all performed in New York, but J Lo got the most buzz as she took the stage with LL Cool J and Ja Rule for "All I have" and "I'm Real." She also sang "If You Had My Love" and "Love Don't Cost a Thing."

She also wore a gold-colored Yankees hat ... interesting given her breakup with A-Rod.