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Mystikal is THIS close to getting the money he needs to post bail and get out of prison while he waits for his rape case trial to begin ... thanks to friends and a record deal.

You may recall the rapper was booked in 2017 for first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping after he turned himself in following a Louisiana woman who came forward.

He's been behind bars ever since (almost a year and a half), but people around him have recently rallied and he could be set free soon, pending his trial in May.

Mystikal's attorney, Joel Pearce, tells TMZ ... his client's friends and family have been raising money to help post the $3 million bail. But, what really helped is a new music deal.

Tim Yazbeck, another attorney for the rapper, tells TMZ ... Mystikal has a new record deal for 3 unreleased albums and he's hoping to get an advance within days.

Jack Swagger and CM Punk are former WWE World Heavyweight Champions turned MMA fighters ... but that's where the similarities end, 'cause Swagger tells TMZ Sports when he fights, he ain't losing.

Big facts ... Swagger -- real name Jake Hager -- was a pro wrestling superstar. But, he was also a stud on the wrestling mats in college -- earning All-American honors at Oklahoma in '06.

That's precisely why 6'7", 265 lb Swagger says when he steps into the cage to fight J.W. Kiser at Bellator 214 on January 26 ... he'll look NOTHING like Punk -- who got destroyed in both of his UFC fights.

"I'm different for so many reasons," Swagger told us ... "I've been wrestling since I was 5 years old, bro."

"I have over 150 Division 1 college wrestling matches, and I'm gonna rely on that as my amateur MMA and boxing career to help when the anxiety kicks in."

Punk -- who lasted less than 3 minutes before Mickey Gall almost choked the life outta him -- had no prior combat experience before signing with the UFC at 36-years-old ... no real wrestling, boxing or jiu-jitsu experience to lean on.

"I think the biggest thing that you're gonna see is the difference between me and him is that I am prepared. I am 100% prepared to take this fight, to go into that Octagon, go in that cage and inflict my will on anybody."

Chrissy Teigen's throwing a birthday bash for her hubby John Legend tonight, and she's asking for help from her fans on what to wear ... for her son.

Chrissy shared a couple beyond adorable shots of the couple's 7-month-old son Miles in a black tuxedo and a white one, adding ... "need your help dressing mini-john. Which one!"

She also added a poll -- which as of now has nearly 400,000 votes -- and the baby white tux is ahead big time with 67 percent.

John's 40th bday was actually in late December, but the family's celebrating Saturday night ... and there's no doubt Miles' outfit will be a hit.

The explosive fight between "90 Day Fiance" stars Colt Johnson and Larissa Dos Santos Lima led to bloody faces for both and her being arrested, then he capped it off by calling it quits on their marriage ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs ... Colt filed for divorce from Larissa Friday in Nevada, just hours after she was arrested for domestic battery. The volatile couple wed just seven months ago ... and it was her third arrest on domestic violence charges.

Colt's mom reportedly paid the divorce filing fee.

As we reported ... cops responded to a call from Larissa Thursday night after the 2 had a fight, and determined scratches she had on her stomach appeared to be self-inflicted. After talking to both of them, they decided to arrest her based on the evidence and her history.

She was held on a $3,000 bond.

The arrest followed Larissa and a '90 Day Fiance' blogger sharing a series of disturbing videos and posts early Friday chronicling the couple's bizarre night ... which allegedly stemmed from an argument when she discovered Colt had purchased porn.

Jada Pinkett Smith, along with her daughter Willow and mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones, had a heart-to-heart with one of R. Kelly's alleged victims ... and things got very emotional.

Jada had Lisa Van Allen on the latest addition of her Facebook series, "Red Table Talk," to talk about her history with the singer ... who, as you know, is surrounded by controversy and allegations of sexual abuse and child pornography in the wake of Lifetime's docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly."

Lisa says she feels like a weight's been lifted from her now that she's able to open up, and she shed some light on how her life became intertwined with Kelly's. Her claims are disturbing.

She explains that her rough childhood and other difficulties led her to connect with Kelly and view him as her "knight in shining armor," which is why she overlooked his abuse and other suspicions for years.

The ladies described it as his way of luring her in, and Van Allen also gives a troubling account of how controlling he was.

Earlier in the show, both Jada and Willow also opened up about how they had heard the rumors about Kelly and had their own suspicions.

Jada even said she feels complicit for ignoring the allegations against Kelly, and brought up how as recently as September, she and Will used Kelly's famous track, "I Believe I Can Fly," for a video of Will bungee jumping.

'Bachelor' stars and soon-to-be husband and wife Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham appear to be real hands-on for their wedding ... as in, not letting anyone else put their hands on her dress.

The couple were spotted a few days ago at the Kahului Airport in Hawaii with their luggage, including a white wedding dress bag. It's clear there are some items just too important to let out of their sight.

Arie and Lauren are set to get married Saturday at Haiku Mill in Maui, nearly a year after he proposed to her on the 'After the Final Rose' episode. Of course, this came after he proposed to Becca on the season finale ... but changed his mind and begged for Lauren back.

The 2 are also expecting their first child together -- a girl -- so they have more than just their nuptials to celebrate.

Rae Sremmurd is no more ... at least that's what one half of the hip-hop duo's suggesting.

Slim Jxmmi dropped some disheartening Twitter bombs on fans of the "Black Beatles" rappers Saturday morning, including 3 he later deleted implying he's parting ways with his brother, Swae Lee.

One said, "Y'all won it's a wrap," while another was even more telling, with Slim saying ... "I'm not Rae Sremmurd I'm slim jxmmi and ima sink or swim by myself."

Jxm also boasted he'd bought his mom a home off the money he made from his own work ... which is a tweet he actually left up.

The 2 have both done recent solo work but confirmed they have a new album coming out in early 2019 ... called "SremmLife4."

This isn't the first time there have been rumors of a breakup, but they've denied them in the past and maintained all was well between the siblings. It seems like it could be different this time.

Interesting note -- the last time we heard from the rappers was last week when they were in New Zealand, but only Jxmmi was seen ... getting involved in a bloody street brawl.

Steve Buscemi's wife died earlier this week and a moving funeral was held at their NYC home ... TMZ has learned.

We're told Jo Andres died either last Monday or over last weekend. On Monday, friends and family began arriving at their Brooklyn home. It appears the funeral service -- at the home -- was held last Tuesday and the burial was Wednesday.

We're told there were around 20 people at the service, including Steve's co-star from "The Big Lebowski" John Turturro and Aida Turturro from "The Sopranos." Steve's brother Michael and Steve's son Lucian were also there.

FDNY blocked off the street Wednesday as the wicker casket was removed from the home. As you know, Buscemi was a volunteer FDNY firefighter on 911.

The company that showed up to do the prep work for the funeral specializes in home funerals and "natural burials" ... where the body is not embalmed and typically the final resting place is in a "natural setting." Everything is biodegradable and one of the purposes is to preserve the environment.

Steve and Jo were married for 30 years. They had a son, Lucian, who's 29.

We do not know the cause of death.

Jo was 65.

R. Kelly is rationalizing his daughter's powerful condemnation of his behavior -- he believes his ex-wife cooked it all up, despite the fact he's been estranged from their child for years.

Sources close to R. Kelly say ... the R&B singer isn't upset with Joann Lee Kelly for breaking her silence and calling him a "monster," because he thinks his daughter was only parroting her mother, Drea Kelly's views. We're told he feels Drea's brainwashed all 3 of their kids into hating him.

Although our sources say Kelly loves and misses his kids, he seems to be ignoring the reality -- that he has no relationship with them -- and hasn't for some time now.

Kelly did have a musical collab in 2015 with Joann, who is a talented singer -- but we're told he thinks Drea drove a wedge between them after that, because she was furious Joann had been in the studio with him.

We're told Drea brought their kids to an R. Kelly concert in Atlanta a couple years ago, but since then he's had little contact with them, and he has no clue why things switched up.

However, anyone who's seen "Surviving R. Kelly" knows exactly how Drea feels about her ex ... and it ain't good. Worth nothing, Drea told us earlier this month she's open to Kelly reaching out to the kids because they're all adults now and free to make their own choices.

North West is not your average kid ... she put on her Sunday best for a Friday night out at one of the glitziest restaurants in all of L.A.!

North joined Aunt Kourtney Kardashian and Grandma Kris Jenner in WeHo for a meal at Craig's. Check out what looks like a $1,000 Fendi tracksuit and $400 Fendi slides.

Corey Gamble, who's becoming a longtime BF of Kris, was also on hand but no sign of Kim or Kanye.

Jimmy Fallon took his show on the road to help the Puerto Rico recovery effort and did a little dancing on the way.

Jimmy was there for a series of performances of "Hamilton" ... to raise money in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Fallon danced in the street and played with the daughter of Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello.

Jimmy shot a video with Puerto Rican-born rapper Bad Bunny to the song, "MIA."

UFC superstar Holly Holm has filed for divorce from her husband, TMZ Sports has learned.

Holm filed court docs in Albuquerque seeking to end her marriage to Jeff Kirkpatrick ... her college sweetheart at the University of New Mexico.

The two were married in Cancun back in 2012 after dating for years. But ultimately, Holm decided it wasn't working and filed for divorce, citing "incompatibility because of discord and conflict of personalities."

According to the court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Holm says the two separated in March 2018 and no longer live as husband and wife.

The signs were on social media -- she hadn't posted a photo of Jeff since Feb. 2018.

Holly -- whose legal name is Holly Holm-Kirkpatrick -- has asked the judge to restore her maiden name, "Holly Holm."

The two have no children together -- so child support won't be an issue. In her docs, Holly also says both of them are self-supporting and neither party should get spousal support.

Jeff could feel differently considering Holm has reportedly made more than $1.6 million in her MMA career with huge fights against stars like Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Cris Cyborg.

In fact, Holm has a big fight on the horizon -- she takes on Aspen Ladd at UFC 235 in March.

"Surviving R. Kelly" has made a lot of people think about what was right in front of them for years, and Jeff Bezos can kiss the title "Richest Man in the World" goodbye. So, we gotta ask ... xx

Tekashi69 is ghosting his kid since getting locked up -- making no attempt to reach out to her, according to the child's mother.

We got Sara Molina, 6ix9ine's baby mama, out in NYC and she says it's been radio silence since the feds took the rapper into custody, and he was indicted on racketeering charges. As we first reported, his 3-year-old daughter, Saraiyah, didn't get any Christmas presents from dear ol' dad.

That might be understandable -- since he's behind bars -- but Tekashi's GF, Jade, got to unwrap a G-Wagon. She also got a Rolex for her 22nd birthday. Sooo ... not a great look for him with the fam.

The fact he was all cozied up with Jade during a recent visit ... has also gotta sting for Sara.

You'll recall, just last October Tekashi seemed to be embracing his role as Saraiyah's papa. A lot's changed since then -- but still, Sara stopped short of trashing her baby daddy.

In fact, she has some advice for him on how best to use his time in lockup. Hint: It doesn't involve handsy photo ops with Jade.

Tom Sizemore's new year is going a lot like previous ones -- he landed in jail for a drug bust ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Burbank PD pulled over the actor because his Mercedes E350 was missing a front license plate and had expired registration tags. During the stop on Jan. 5, officers ended up searching Sizemore's whip, and we're told they found drugs they believed were meth and heroin.

Cops ended up arresting Sizemore and a male passenger for misdemeanor possession -- so, it clearly wasn't a huge stash of drugs, but a little's enough to end up in handcuffs.

Both men posted bail and were released later in the day. The case is currently being reviewed by the city attorney's office.