TMZ Sports - Page 50

Retired NFL star Jamal Lewis -- who helped the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl in 2001 -- has filed for bankruptcy, claiming he's a financial train wreck ... and can't pay his eight-figure debt.

Jamal filed the Chapter 11 papers in Atlanta -- according to the docs, he's got $14,455,854 in assets but he's racked up a whopping $10,566,764.18 in debts.

Among his creditors -- Bank Of America has a lien for $947,876, Benz has one for 113k, Chrysler for 15k ... and the list goes on.

As for his assets -- Jamal's got five homes, a bunch of expensive cars, a $500,000 401(k), and 50% ownership in Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark in Columbus, OH (worth about $6 mil).

According to the docs, Jamal is self-employed and earns approximately $35,000 a month.

Super, ridiculously, incredibly, amazingly hot UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste was arrested early this morning for allegations of domestic violence ... TMZ has learned.

According to the website for the Clark County Detention Center, the unbelievably hot Celeste was taken into custody at 7:30 AM and held on $3,000 bond. She is still behind bars.

If Celeste does not post bond within 48 hours, her fine self will go before a judge.

In addition to her work with UFC, Celeste has modeled for Maxim, FHM, Sports Illustrated and Playboy.

7:00 PM PT -- Arianny has been released.

NBA legend Allen Iverson is calling BS on his estranged wife, who's trying to score a restraining order against him -- insisting he NEVER harassed her or her family.

Iverson just filed new legal docs in Fulton County, GA -- asking a judge to throw out Tawanna Iverson's bid for a protective order.

TMZ broke the story ... Tawanna claims Allen "has engaged in increasingly contemptuous, threatening, and disturbing behavior" over the last few months ... and she's afraid things will get worse. Them's strong words.

Chris Jericho can kiss the beauty of Brazil goodbye -- no more bikinis, beaches ... bikinis. All things the WWE star shoulda thought about before treating the Brazilian flag like a used tissue.

New York Knicks star J.R. Smith was arrested in South Beach last night ... after cops discovered the 26-year-old was a wanted man.

According to reports, Smith was pulled over on a routine traffic stop ... when the officers noticed an active warrant out for Smith's arrest stemming from his failure to address a ticket for driving without a valid license.

Smith was booked into Miami-Dade County jail shortly before midnight. He was released a short time later on bond.

Charlie Sheen tells TMZ ... he is NOT the mystery buyer who dropped $230k on Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl ring ... despite widespread media reports to the contrary.

LT had gifted the Super Bowl XXV ring to his son TJ ... who decided to put the ring up for auction without asking his father for permission first. It sold for $230,401 ... and LT's agent told various media outlets he believed Sheen was the buyer.

According to Sheen ... LT's agent was wrong.

“As much as I would be honored to own such an important artifact, I had nothing to do with the acquisition" ... Sheen tells us.

It's not a crazy rumor ... considering Sheen is a bigtime sports memorabilia collector who already owns Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series ring.

No word if the REAL buyer plans to reveal his or her identity any time soon.

A WWE event in Brazil came to a screeching halt Thursday evening ... when local law enforcement stopped a live match and threatened to arrest Chris Jericho for desecrating the Brazilian flag.

It all went down during a match between Jericho and C.M. Punk -- who was proudly waving the flag in the ring. Jericho took the flag away, crumpled it up and kicked the flag out of the ring ... and that's when police stepped in and put a stop to the event.

We're told Jericho was informed that desecrating the national flag is a crime in Brazil ... punishable by incarceration.

Cops gave Jericho an option -- apologize to the arena ... or go to jail. Chris chose the former ... grabbing the mic and telling the crowd he immediately regretted his actions. Cops allowed the event to continue.

Sources connected to the WWE tell TMZ ... the flag stunt was NOT planned or approved by WWE officials.

The WWE has just released an official statement saying, "Chris Jericho has been suspended indefinitely due to an irresponsible act of denigrating the Brazilian flag at a WWE event in Sao Paulo on May 24. The WWE has apologized to the citizens and the government of Brazil for this incident."

Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard says he had NOTHING to do with the team's decision to fire head coach Stan Van Gundy ... telling TMZ, "I hate to see anyone lose their job."

Howard -- who's still rehabbing from back surgery in L.A. -- was out in Beverly Hills this morning when we asked how he felt about his coach's recent termination.

"Me and Stan ... we had our ups and downs ... but for the most part we had one goal ... to win a championship in Orlando, but we fell short."

When asked about speculation that he had a role in the decision to can Stan, Howard told us, "I'm glad [Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins] confirmed I had nothing to do with it."

Howard is also concerned about an interview scheduled to air on ESPN tomorrow night -- telling us it was shot back in April ... and insists the content is "old and inaccurate."

Though Howard didn't say which part of the interview he was referring to specifically ... he did warn, "A lot of stuff has changed since then."

It's been 18 years since Al Cowlings chauffeured O.J. Simpson in that wild low-speed car chase through L.A. -- but a new mystery is now surrounding the former NFL player ... specifically ... WHAT CAR IS AL DRIVING NOW?!?!?!?

A couple hints -- it's white ... it's a Ford ... and it's not not not not not a Bronco.

Former UCLA basketball stud Reeves Nelson says a Sports Illustrated writer slammed him with a defamatory article that claimed he ran amok on campus, and even peed on a player's bed ... and now TMZ has learned he's set to sue for $10 million.

If you don't remember ... Nelson was a 6'8'' stud at UCLA from 2009 - 2011, and by far the best player on the squad -- but was booted from the team in December 2011 after a second suspension for disciplinary issues ... including missing a team flight.

The March 5, 2012 issue of Sports Illustrated featured an article penned by George Dohrmann which claimed UCLA Coach Ben Howland let Nelson get away with everything but murder because he was "producing" on the court.

According to Nelson's lawsuit, the article claimed he was not punished after fighting with multiple teammates and intentionally injuring them during practice. The S.I. article also claims Nelson "urinated on [a teammate's] bed and clothes" -- purely as revenge for the player allegedly squealing about a New Year's Eve party.

But Nelson's high-powered entertainment lawyer Keith Fink says they can prove Dohrmann "recklessly and negligently failed to investigate the claims in the article." The lawsuit includes declarations from 18 UCLA players and ex-players who deny every allegation about Nelson.

In fact, former teammate Tyler Honeycutt says, "Nelson did not pile my clothes on my bed, and he certainly did not urinate on my clothes." According to the suit, most of the players say Dohrmann never contacted them -- and the 2 who were contacted denied the allegations.

The lawsuit further claims the S.I. writer has a longstanding beef with UCLA because he "publicly attacked UCLA's Baron Davis for driving a black 1991 Chevy Blazer, which Dohrmann publicly claimed had been purchased in violation of NCAA rules." NCAA investigators later shot down those allegations.

UFC champion Jon "Bones" Jones says he's "truly sorry" for letting down his fans when he was arrested for DUI this past weekend ... saying, "I screwed up, big time."

TMZ broke the story ... the 24-year-old was arrested Saturday morning after totaling his Bentley in Upstate New York.

But yesterday, Jones reportedly posted a message on his Facebook page saying, "I screwed up, big time. Just needed to say thank you to all you guys for being amazing friends/supporters."

He continued, "Although the hell that will come with this hasn't even started yet, I want you guys to know how much better you've all made me feel, not only about this situation but about life, everything."

"It's good to feel that people are there and care. With that being said, I felt I should apologize to you first."

"I'm truly sorry to those of you that I may have embarrassed in any way, to those of you with kids that I may have let down. I will prove to them as well as to myself, that no matter what is happening in life, we can always work our way back and make things even better than before."

NFL Network analyst Joe Theismann says he wasn't shocked by the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal ... telling TMZ he was targeted for punishment way back in his Washington Redskins glory days.

Theismann -- who led the 'Skins to a Super Bowl victory back in 1983 -- was at LAX this weekend when we asked if he thought opponents ever tried to take him out of a game for a shot at an illegal cash bonus.

Joe replied, "Absolutely ... to be honest with ya, if you didn't have a bounty on your head when I played ... it means you weren't worth anything anyway."

Breakups do a body good ... especially for Elin Nordegren ... who was flaunting her bikini hardbody just days after ending things with her Tiger Woods rebound guy Jamie Dingman.

The Swedish 32-year-old mother of two was hanging out in Miami this weekend ... after announcing her 1-year relationship with the wealthy businessman officially hit the skids.

Since divorcing Tiger, Elin has been busy buying a new $12 million North Palm Beach estate and then leveling it to build her dream home from the ground up.

Elin definitely looks like $100 million bucks.

MMA fighter Muhammed Lawal -- known as King Mo -- wants to kick some serious ass this summer when he joins TNA wrestling ... so much so he's reaching out to some MAJOR ring legends for advice.

The former Strikeforce champion tells TMZ ... as a lifelong wrestling supporter, he doesn't want to disappoint any fans when he steps into the ring. So in order to prepare ... he called wrestling stars Hulk Hogan and Sting for some pointers.

We're told Hulk and Sting imparted their wisdom by telling Mo "just to learn and have fun" with it.

For those unfamiliar with the world of wrestling ... Mo is breaking barriers by fighting with two different companies -- Bellator (which is MMA) and TNA Wrestling -- simultaneously in a joint deal.

Icing on the cake ... Mo tells us several other MMA fighters have reached out to him with interest in crossing over as well.

Tim Tebow posed for a photo backstage with cast members of the Broadway music "Rock of Ages" ... and then asked for that photo to be taken off Twitter ... this according to one of the cast members.

Neka Zang posted the pic (see above) on her Twitter account at some point last night -- and even posted a photo of the whole cast Tebowing.

But the photo with Tebow was gone a short time later ... which she explained by tweeting, "Well, Due to Tebow's "image" I was asked to remove the pic of him with us half dressed ladies. He does know we arn't real strippers right?"

She went on to say, "Tweeps. I'm not mad, or judging. Just letting u all know I took the pic down. Ok. Thanks."

UFC Light Heavyweight champ Jon "Bones" Jones was arrested early this morning for DUI after he totaled his Bentley in upstate New York ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Jones was involved in an accident at around 5:00 AM in Binghamton, NY. We're told the car -- which Jones crashed into a pole -- was totaled and cops arrested Jones on the scene for DUI.

According to our sources, Jones was taken into custody by Broome County Sheriff and bailed out a few hours later ... by his mom. Jones is from nearby Ithaca.

How's this for irony? Jones filmed a video earlier this year about going through police training -- and he did it with the Broome County Sheriff ... the same agency that arrested him!

Jones last fought on April 21, defeating Rashad Evans by unanimous decision. His next scheduled fight is on September 1 in Las Vegas against Dan Henderson.

Jones's manager, Malki Kawa, released a statement saying, "I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI. While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon, and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time."