Lifestyle
Dana White Credits Tom Brady W/ Historic UFC Noche Card At Sphere
TMZSports.com
Dana White and the UFC are hosting one of their most ambitious cards ever at the Sphere on Saturday — and that’s saying something for a guy who built an entire “Fight Island” — an event the UFC honcho tells us wouldn’t be happening without Tom Brady!
White joined Babcock on TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) this week … where he revealed TB12 was the inspo behind the first-ever Sphere sporting event.
“I went to the Sphere with Tom Brady. He invited me to come to U2 with him. Had Brady not invited me, I wouldn’t even have been to the Sphere yet. It’s almost like this was meant to be,” the UFC CEO said of the mega event.
FYI, the Sphere is a state-of-the-art venue in Las Vegas that offers an incredibly unique, immersive viewing experience unlike anything the world has ever seen.
In fact, White says his fight promotion is under contract with MGM, and if not for a dispute, UFC 306 almost certainly would’ve gone down at T-Mobile Arena — which is owned in part by the casino giant.
“No matter how it plays out, this was supposed to happen. It’s a one-and-done. I’m under contract with [MGM] and I’ll be back with [them] after this event.”
If you haven’t heard about Saturday’s UFC 306 card, AKA Noche UFC — which comes on Mexican Independence Day weekend — it goes down September 14 in Sin City … and features two title fights, including a matchup pitting “Suga” Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili.
Dana says the ultimate goal was to celebrate the Mexican heritage … and what the people have brought to the world of fighting.
“I call it my love letter to the Mexican people on Mexican Independence Day. We’re going to talk about their traditions, their culture, their history, and their contributions to combat sports,” White told us.
Doing all that wasn’t cheap … but Dana says it looks like the promotion is in for a historic night.
“I’m 20 million into this thing but pre-buys, we’ve had the biggest pre-buys ever in UFC history for any event we’ve ever done. And the gate’s looking like it’s going to be $23 million, which is the biggest gate we’ve ever done.”
Check out the full interview with Dana … he gets into what viewers at home can expect from the event, and he also previews a few of the fights he’s most excited about.
And remember, if you dig it, you can thank the G.O.A.T.!
Lifestyle
Jonathan Majors and ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari settle assault and defamation case
Jonathan Majors’ former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the actor assaulted and defamed her.
In a civil lawsuit filed in New York in March, Jabbari accused her former partner of a “pattern of pervasive domestic abuse that began in 2021 and extended through 2023.” In court documents filed in New York on Thursday, their attorneys jointly agreed to dismiss the claims against Majors with prejudice – meaning that the claims can’t be filed again.
In a statement to NPR, Jabbari’s attorney, Brad Edwards, wrote, “We are happy to announce that the meritorious lawsuit Grace Jabbari filed against Jonathan Majors was successfully settled. It took tremendous courage for Grace to pursue this case. We are happy to have helped her close this chapter favorably so that she can move forward and begin to finally heal.”
NPR has reached out to Majors’ attorneys for comment about the dismissal.
In a separate domestic violence case in 2023, Majors was convicted of misdemeanor assault and harassment charges. Prosecutors argued that Majors had attacked Jabbari, his then-girlfriend, in the back of a car in Manhattan on March 25 of that year. Later that night, he returned to their hotel and called 911 to report that he’d found Jabbari “unconscious,” but was arrested when police found her with a broken finger in addition to bruises and cuts on her body. Earlier this year, he was sentenced to probation and enrolled in a domestic violence prevention program.
Jabbari’s civil suit was filed just before Majors was sentenced in criminal court this spring. She alleged that in addition to assault and battery, Majors also defamed her, “smearing” her name following his arrest and conviction. At the time, Majors’ lawyer said they would be preparing counterclaims.
Majors had been a rising star in Hollywood, playing Kang the Conqueror in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and starring alongside Michael B. Jordan in Creed III. He was set to portray Kang in upcoming movies, but Marvel and Disney dropped the actor following his conviction. He and actress Meagan Good announced their engagement at an event on November 17.
Lifestyle
The BoF Podcast | Jacquemus: A Coming of Age Story
Lifestyle
More than 100,000 pounds of ground beef are recalled for possibly having E. coli
More than 100,000 pounds of ground beef are being recalled due to possibly being contaminated with E. coli, the U.S. government said this week.
Detroit-based Wolverine Packing Co. recalled nearly 170,000 pounds of ground beef it distributed to restaurants across the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture alerted the FSIS about several illnesses last week, and collected a sample of the ground beef a week later that tested positive for E.coli.
The fresh, recalled products have a “use by” date of Nov. 14, 2024, while the frozen products have a production date of Oct. 22, 2024.
Restaurants should throw those products away.
E. coli illness can “cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps 2–8 days (3–4 days, on average) after exposure [to] the organism,” the FSIS said.
In rare cases, it can cause kidney failure. Though, most people recuperate in a week or less.
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