TMZ Sports

Former UFC champ Sean Strickland just proved yet again he's not one to play with ... flashing a gun on some pranksters who had just ding-dong ditched his home.

Strickland -- who last fought in the Octagon in January -- said the incident happened over the weekend ... at around 1 AM Saturday morning.

According to the fighter, some kids jumped out of a car near his pad, ran to the side of the house, and made a loud bang -- before bolting from the area.

Don't expect Tiger Woods' daughter to be twirling a club on a fairway anytime soon ... the golfing legend just revealed his 16-year-old offspring isn't the world's biggest fan of the sport -- because it "took Daddy away from her."

The Big Cat shared with Carson Daly on Wednesday's "Today" show that he believes Sam Woods straight up has "a negative connotation to the game" ... due to all of the traveling it required him to do when she was a little tyke.

"I had to pack and I had to leave," he said. "I had to be gone for weeks. And there's a negative connotation to it."

Charles Barkley says there are only "losers" in the Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan relationship ... with the Hall of Famer revealing he feels bad for Michael and Scottie amid the "messy" coupling.

Chuck -- who used to be best friends with MJ -- weighed in on the Larcus fiasco on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast this week ... and it's safe to say he doesn't approve of Jordan's son and Pippen's ex-wife getting romantic following the infamous fallout between the former Bulls superstars.

"I feel bad for Michael, I feel bad for Scottie," Chuck said on Wednesday. "That is so messy. I don't like messy because when it's messy, everybody has an opinion on it. And you know, the internet is not a place for messy."

10:28 AM PT -- The MLB has just handed down punishment for the Tuesday night Brewers vs. Rays brawl ... suspending three players and one manager.

The league announced Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta was hit with a five-game ban and a fine for "intentionally" throwing at Jose Siri just two innings before the fight broke out. MLB also said Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy will be banned two games for Peralta's actions as well as "his inappropriate conduct towards umpires."

As for the ones who ignited the fracas in the eighth -- Abner Uribe and Siri -- Uribe got a six-game suspension and fine ... and Siri was hit with a three-game suspension and fine.

Kobe Bryant's daughter, Gigi, would have turned 18 years old on Wednesday ... and the basketball legend's wife, Vanessa, is remembering her late child with an emotional tribute -- saying she continues to inspire countless people every day.

"Happy birthday to my gorgeous girl, Gigi!" Vanessa said on Instagram. "I love you. I miss you. I'm so proud of you."

The post is truly heartbreaking ... with Vanessa lamenting over what Gigi would be experiencing at this point in her life -- high school graduation and college decisions.

Travis Kelce is weighing in on becoming the highest-paid tight end in the NFL ... saying he's truly grateful for the historic contract, not only because it'll pave the way for his position for years to come -- but also since it'll keep him "home."

Kelce agreed to a $34.25 million, 2-year extension with Kansas City on Monday ... and on his "New Heights" podcast with brother, Jason, this week, he poured his heart out for those who got him to this point in his career -- including team ownership.

"The Hunt family's been absolutely unbelievable to not only myself and this Kansas City community, but they've just been so generous since I've been here and making it feel like home," Kelce said on the episode.

Caitlyn Jenner is popping off about the ongoing pro-Palestine protests at college campuses across the country -- and she's got a strong take ... ship these folks to the Middle East!!!

The former Olympian fired off a strongly-worded opinion on all the demonstrations happening at American universities -- particularly those who are using LGBTQ+ imagery as a way of standing in solidarity with what's going on in Gaza.

Specifically, she commented on a video of protesters at Cal Poly Humboldt -- where students were being asked to disperse ... with one spinning around a rainbow-colored umbrella.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are out of the honeymoon phase, and into the much more real "you're so annoying" phase of their relationship ... as she's seemingly cringing at one of her BF's frequent antics.

As we reported, Taylor and Travis stepped out in Las Vegas for Patrick Mahomes' charity event over the weekend -- and put on a loved-up display. However, one moment from the event is making the rounds online ... highlighting how the Grammy winner was seemingly less than impressed during one cringe moment for Trav.

When the tight end took the event stage and yelled/sang "Viva Las Vegas" into a microphone, Taylor appeared to say "That again. I can't do it" ... this according to expert lip reader Jackie Gonzalez.

LaMelo Ball is vying to be the NBA's most tatted hooper ... the Charlotte Hornets star just got his entire back tattooed, and the space-themed ink is awesome!

TMZ Sports has learned the All-Star guard went to his go-to guy, Herchell L. Carrasco -- AKA RockRollG -- at Pachuco Tattoo in Orange, California ... after months and months planning the huge tattoo.

Ball wanted to keep with the space-themed tats ... so RockRollG had friends Niz Carrillo, Jorge Garibay, Juan Nambo, Jonas Aguilar, and Elvis Ramos help him bring the concept together.

12:37 PM PT -- Hilton joined Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" on Wednesday to break down his big night ... and while he says Hollywood hasn't come calling, he explained why he's perfectly fine with sticking to his day-to-day.

As for the first pitch ... well, that's sort of a touchy subject.

Can you bee-lieve this?!?

The start of the Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks game was delayed by nearly two hours on Tuesday ... and it's all 'cause a massive swarm of bees infiltrated the diamond.

The insects first began hovering around Chase Field's home plate just minutes before the first pitch was slated to go down in Arizona ... and after a while, so many of them congregated, officials had to press pause on the action in order to get an expert out to the field.

The birds were flyin' at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday ... all thanks to diehard Knicks fan Tracy Morgan, who couldn't help but share his frustrations with Sixers star Tyrese Maxey by giving him the finger!!

The hilarious (not so much for New York fans) moment went down in the closing seconds of the Knicks' Game 5 matchup against Philadelphia ... when the former Kentucky Wildcat pulled up from behind the arc to tie things up at 97.

The shot completed the Sixers' late-game push ... coming back from down six in the last 30 seconds to force overtime.

Former Super Bowl champion Jay Ajayi has traded in his cleats for a mic -- officially entering the music game with a debut rap single this week -- and he's hoping the response to the tunes is so good, it'll lead to a future collab with Travis Scott.

The ex-Philadelphia Eagles star first got into the booth full-time following his retirement from the NFL in 2022 -- rapping under the pseudonym "Finesse" -- and on Tuesday, he released his first single, "PEAK."

The former running back tells TMZ Sports he's taking the new career very seriously ... with the goal of featuring "some trap, south side beats, heavy 808s, and just a lot of vibes" on his tracks.

Conor McGregor is now part owner of BKFC, and star bare-knuckle fighter Ben Rothwell couldn't be more excited ... telling TMZ Sports the move is a huge coup for the promotion!

42-year-old Rothwell, 3-0 in BKFC, had no idea the huge announcement was coming, saying, "I got told with all of you and I was just excited. I'm more excited, I think, than most people. It was awesome to see all the media and everything talked about. It was all BKFC, Conor McGregor. It's awesome for us."

Ben continued ... "For me, I know what this means. I know where we're going to go with this. And I just couldn't be more excited to be a part of this right now."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will have a bit of extra motivation through the rest of the playoffs -- the Oklahoma City Thunder star is a new dad!!

The MVP candidate and his longtime girlfriend, former college soccer player Hailey Summer, revealed they were expecting last December ... and on Tuesday, SGA announced to his 3.2 million fans on Instagram their son has arrived.

"Ares Alexander 🤍," SGA said in the caption.

Ares was born on April 25, 2024 ... which was right in the middle of the Thunder's first-round series against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Luckily, SGA was off that day ... as the Thunder were fresh off a Game 2 win the night prior.

SGA's fans think this will be like a superpower for the Canadian baller ... with many flooding the comment section to give their two cents on the impact the family milestone might have on his game for the rest of the postseason.

"Shai is about to get a fatherhood attribute boost," one follower said.

Shai averaged 30.1 points and 6.2 assists per game this season ... so it would be great news for OKC fans, who are celebrating their first playoff series win since the 2015-16 season.

The Thunder are now waiting for the Clippers and Mavericks series to end ... and the winner will meet them in the conference semifinals.

12:01 PM PT -- A rep for Amazon MGM Studios tells TMZ ... "Dwayne Johnson and Seven Bucks have been incredible partners on 'Red One' -- a film that audiences of all ages are going to love this holiday season. Our testing has been very strong -- the reaction from CinemaCon speaks for itself -- and we couldn’t have made it without Dwayne’s constant work and support."

They add, "Any reporting that implies that we got to this point with him showing up 7-8 hours late to set is both ridiculous and false."

The Rock got into a tiff with Ryan Reynolds while they were working on a movie together years ago -- and while it wasn't a blowup fight as has been suggested, it was a real thing.