MMA

Rocky had Mickey. Daniel had Mr. Miyagi. And now Laila Ali has a wise mentor to guide her if she squares off with Ronda Rousey ... with ex-champ Antonio Tarver formally offering to train Muhammad's baby girl.

Tarver -- a former 5-time boxing champ -- tells TMZ Sports he's been friends with Laila for years and strongly believes he could train her up to beat the UFC star in a boxing match.

"She knows I got her back and front," Tarver says.

In fact, he's even got a game plan for Ali, who hasn't stepped in the ring in 8 years -- "[Laila] needs a serious training camp and a tune up fight."

"I think it's time to dust off [the gloves] and you got my services."

Tarver says Rousey is an "amazing athlete" -- but he's 100% confident he could train the 37-year-old back into face-bashing shape and get the biggest victory in female fight history.

Manny Pacquiao says he honestly believes UFC champ Ronda Rousey could BEAT UP Floyd Mayweather in an MMA fight ... saying, "She's strong enough."

Manny made the comments on "His & Hers" on ESPN -- saying, "She's strong. She's strong enough to beat Floyd Mayweather in MMA."

And Pacman's not the only one who believes it -- Ronda does too!

Ronda Rousey has a message for Laila Ali -- BRING IT ON!!!!

The undefeated UFC champ has just responded to Muhammad Ali's daughter (an undefeated ex-pro boxer) who told TMZ Sports no woman alive could beat her in a fight ... including Rousey.

In fact, when we shot Ali earlier this week ... she took a shot at Ronda's size -- saying, "She’s like the size of my daughter, my 3-year-old."

So, how does Rousey feel about that?

"If she wants to take me up on that, I’m around," Rousey told the Daily Beast.

"She’s retired and has several kids. I understand why she’d think that because she has a size advantage, but if you saw my last fight it had nothing to do with size or strength at all. That’s not how I beat people."

"So you can’t count having a size and strength advantage as having a real advantage against me."

Ali hasn't fought since 2007 ... but c'mon, who wouldn't pay to see this?!

Laila Ali tells TMZ Sports ... there's NO WOMAN ALIVE who could beat her in a fight ... and that includes UFC superstar Ronda Rousey.

Muhammad Ali's daughter -- who was 24-0 in her boxing career -- was at LAX this weekend when we asked if she thought she could hang with the MMA superstar if the two ever decided to fight.

At first, the 37-year-old champ was shy ... saying it's hard to compare a boxer to an MMA fighter ... but ultimately declared, "No woman can beat me, period."

The 5'10" Ali also pointed out her size advantage over the 5'7" Rousey -- "She's like the size of my daughter ... my 3-year-old."

Ronda Rousey spent more time throwing punches on the set of her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition modeling shoot ... than she did during UFC 184 ... and now there's video of the scantily clad workout.

SI just released the video ... in which Rousey says she was WAY more comfortable doing martial arts poses during the shoot than the traditional kissy-face looks.

Anderson Silva tells TMZ Sports ... he did NOT use performance enhancing drugs to give him an edge in the octagon ... saying he's genuinely SHOCKED he failed his drug tests.

The UFC legend was out in L.A. when we asked straight up -- how do you explain the failed drug tests surrounding the January 31st fight at UFC 183 with Nick Diaz???

His answer -- "I don't know what happened."

Silva says he was completely blindsided by the results -- but does NOT believe anything in his system affected his performance in the fight.

Anderson sorta acknowledges taking something to help his body heal after badly breaking his leg -- but says he's convinced he didn't violate any rules.

Still, Silva understands how bad the failed tests make him look -- "I think this is bad for [the] sport. This is so bad for me and my life."

Ronda Rousey couldn't just BEAT male fighters ... but she'd easily be ranked in the Top 20 in her division if she was able to fight dudes ... so says UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer.

To be fair, Buffer says he doesn't ever see the UFC signing off on a Ronda vs. Man fight ... but says, "Quite frankly I'm sure she would do very well against at least half the division she's in which is the bantamweight."

For the record, the men's bantamweight division (135) is comprised of guys like T.J. Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.

Still, Buffer says Rousey is a friggin' beast ... and "the most dominant fighting athlete in the world."

A former NFL player says he's found the ONE person who could beat Ronda Rousey in an MMA fight -- himself -- saying if the two got in the octagon, Rousey wouldn't stand a chance!!!

The man talking the smack is Jesse Holley -- who played WR for the Dallas Cowboys after winning a tryout with the team on Michael Irvin's 2009 reality show "4th and Long."

Holley -- who's 6'3", 215 pounds -- was on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas this morning ... when the gang began questioning if ANYONE will ever defeat the greatest female fighter in UFC history.

That's when Holley suggested ... himself.

Holley says if he had 8 weeks to train ... he's 100% confident he'd squish her like a bug.

FYI -- Cat Zingano was also 100% confident ... and we all know how that went.

Call her Rouseydamus ... 'cause just 3 days before her fight, Ronda Rousey was telling TMZ Sports she was aiming to finish Cat Zingano in under 15 secs ... so she could fit the entire fight on Instagram.

Looking back, this video is pretty great ... we were at the UFC gym in Torrance, CA on Wednesday ... when our photog asked Ronda if she thought she could beat her then-fastest fight time of 16 seconds.

Rousey explained the factors that could contribute to a record-setting victory ... but then concluded with the most important line of the clip -- "LET'S GET IT ON INSTAGRAM!"

3 days and 14 seconds later, Ronda accomplished her mission ... beating Zingano with an extra second to spare (Instagram videos can only be 15 secs maximum).

Wanna see something funny?

Mike Tyson told us he hadn't seen the Ronda Rousey fight yet ... because he didn't have enough time!!!

Don't worry, our guy told Mike the fight was only 14 seconds ... and Mike promised he'd watch it in his car.

Mike -- who says he's a big Rousey fan -- is no stranger to quick fights ... he once knocked a guy out in 8 SECONDS.

Enjoy.

Ronda Rousey celebrated her 14 second destruction of Cat Zingano last night by immediately racing to an L.A. chicken joint and pounding plates of chicken wings like a boss.

Fun Fact -- it took Ronda more time to eat her 1st chicken wing than it did to put away Cat Zingano.

The chicken wing feast is a post-fight tradition for Ronda ... and after the meal, she reveled in the moment by putting on a swagged out chicken wing sweatshirt.

#Boss #Legend #WhosNext

Ronda Rousey can rest a little easier -- she won't have to pay MILLIONS for a ticket to the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight ... 'cause she's getting her tix for free ... TMZ Sports has learned!

The UFC badass told us earlier this week that she was concerned about the ticket prices for the fight of the century -- saying she had extra motivation to win the prize money at UFC 184 tonight so she could afford to go.

But when we raised the issue last night with Bob Arum -- Pacquiao's fight promoter -- he told us he's not only a HUGE Rousey fan ... but wants to HOOK HER UP with the most coveted tickets in sports.

#Respect

MMA fighter Josh Neer's gym beatdown was NOT a violation of Iowa Athletic Commission rules ... and therefore he will not be disciplined for his role in the fight ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported ... the IAC launched an investigation into Neer (who's 36-14 in pro fights) to see if he broke any Commission rules when he decided to fight Patrick Martin earlier this week.

But according to IAC honcho Joe Walsh ... Neer is clean -- telling TMZ Sports, "We've determined that we don't have anything in our rules that covers incidents that take place in a gym."

Walsh adds, "Because of that, there will be no further investigation. We've closed the case."

UFC pain machine Ronda Rousey says she has EXTRA motivation to beat the living crap out of her opponent at UFC 184 this weekend ... she needs the prize money to pay for tickets to Mayweather vs. Pacquaio!!

The baddest woman in the history of MMA was training her ass off in L.A. yesterday ... while the DJ pumped salsa music through the gym ... and looked extra ferocious as she gears up for Cat Zingano.

But when we asked about a rivalry between boxing and MMA ... Ronda called BS -- saying ALL combat fighters have a respect for each other ... and that's why she's pumped for the big fight in May.

The man who got his ass kicked by MMA star Josh Neer is demanding a REMATCH ... telling TMZ Sports Neer took him down with a cheap shot ... AFTER the bell.

We spoke with Patrick Martin -- a 6'6", 240 lb. amateur fighter from Iowa -- who claims he held his own against Neer for an entire round ... which pissed Neer off.

"We went for 3 minutes. The bell sounded, and I turned around," Martin says ... "Then he shot and speared me and took me to the mat. It was a cheap shot. He was frustrated at how the round went."

Martin believes Neer's camp has the video to back up his claim -- and wants them to release it ... in addition to the 14 second clip that went viral earlier this week.

Patrick also says he's NOT a heckler -- claiming Josh is the one who actually started the war of words that led to the fight.

"It started because Josh was being a tough guy, disrespecting me. That's when I went on the Facebook frenzy, and asked him to fight."

So, what happens next? Neer says he wants to settle the beef the old fashioned way -- in the ring.

The Iowa Athletic Commission has launched an investigation into the violent gym fight between pro MMA fighter Josh Neer and a social media heckler ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported, Neer -- who's had 51 pro fights -- invited the heckler over to his gym for a "full contact" fight earlier this week. The heckler accepted and Josh beat his ass.

Footage of the fight went viral ... and officials at the state's athletic commission were among those who viewed the footage.

TMZ Sports spoke with IAC Executive Director Joe Walsh (not THAT Joe Walsh) who tells us his team is actively looking into the incident.

"We are aware of the situation. I have our legal team taking a thorough look at our rules. We're checking to see if we have anything on the books that covers this."

Walsh says the commission doesn't usually have regulatory authority outside of the ring or octagon ... telling us they generally oversee "events, not what occurs in gyms."

Still, Walsh says, "We do have certain standards that our athletes must meet."