MMA

Ronda Rousey and the WWE have been circling each other for months ... but sources close to both sides tell TMZ Sports Ronda has NOT put pen to paper -- not yet, at least.

It's no secret that there's serious interest -- Rousey's teased the move and even appeared in a backstage WWE promo ... and company honchos Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have both gone on record saying they'd love to have her.

But, multiple independent sources from all sides of the deal have told us contract talks have NOT gotten off the ground.

As one source bluntly put it, "[Ronda's team] hasn't begun any negotiations with the WWE."

Doesn't mean they won't hit the negotiation table in the future ... but as far as what's cookin' right now -- no deal.

FYI, we're told Rousey is still working out hard (unclear if she's doing specific wrestling training). She's also shooting for her role in Mark Wahlberg's movie, "Mile 22."

Busy lady.

UFC champ Max Holloway says he's legitimately concerned for Conor McGregor ... not because he's gonna kick his ass, but 'cause Conor could be throwing away his career.

We talked to Max coming off his huge win at UFC 218 ... and the featherweight king set aside his desire to call out McGregor to dish out some real talk.

"Go figure your life out. You're hearing crazy things about the dude, and I hope it's not true," Max told TMZ Sports.

ICYMI, a rundown of Conor last month ...

-- Got physical with officials at an MMA event
-- Was rumored to have been in a bar fight (though nothing concrete has come out)
-- Pissed off a judge at a court appearance for speeding
-- And that ain't all

Holloway says he wants to avenge his loss from 2013 -- but it's clear he respects McGregor and just wants what's best for him.

Coulda been fun ... but Tyron Woodley says the potential fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 219 is officially dead.

"Nate Diaz is obviously scared, homie," Tyron said on the "The Hollywood Beatdown" show (subscribe on the TMZ Sports YouTube page).

Woodley previously said the UFC offered him the fight and he accepted -- and it was up to Nate to sign on the dotted line. But it didn't happen.

Woodley says Nate was asking for WAYYYYYY too much cash -- $15 mil -- and he ain't a $15 million fighter.

Ex-MMA star Jason "Mayhem" Miller has pled guilty in his domestic violence case -- after allegedly roughing up 3 different girlfriends between 2015 and 2017, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court docs show Mayhem was charged with 5 counts of felony domestic violence in Sept. -- along with 1 felony count of vandalizing a GF's car and house. He was also hit with misdemeanors for damaging 2 girlfriends' cell phones to prevent them from calling cops.

Miller initially pled not guilty to all charges -- but later struck a plea deal with prosecutors in which he pled guilty to corporal injury to a spouse/cohabitant and the rest of the charges were thrown out.

Miller was sentenced to 3 years probation with a suspended 4-year state prison sentence -- which means if he violates his probation, the judge can lock him up for 4 years. He also got credit for the 62 days he already served in jail.

You MMA fighters are lucky Jean-Claude Van Damme is busy as an international movie star ... 'cause UFC legend Urijah Faber says if he wasn't doing that, JCVD could be kicking ass in the octagon.

Faber attended a kicking clinic Van Damme put on in Sacramento this week, a clinic also attended by Faber's Team Alpha Male cohort Cody Garbrandt.

Van Damme got busy with his legs (as he always does) but when we talked to Urijah we needed to know if he thought the Muscles from Brussels could ever do it FOR REAL.

"Oh, absolutely."

BTW, this isn't just Faber's opinion, he told TMZ Sports JCVD actually went toe-to-toe with one of the guys from his squad, and things got a little interesting.

"He actually got in with one of our pros and was moving around, and they started going back and forth and he actually caught the guy in the face with a little heel kick and it almost got heated there we had to calm it down."

Nate Diaz ain't gonna like this ...

Tyron Woodley says he's so confident he'll beat Nate's ass if they clash at UFC 219 next month ... he's willing to fight him with a busted shoulder!!!

"If there's any fighter that I think that I can fight with my shoulder not 100% ... it's that dude," Tyron said on "The Hollywood Beatdown" on the TMZ Sports YouTube channel.

Tyron is rehabbing a labrum tear -- but says he's not worried about it one bit.

There's A LOT more -- Tyron talks about the money he thinks he and Nate can rake in from the fight ... and why he's not even a little bit scared of Nate's famous Stockton Slap.

Woodley also tells us if snorting workout powder is a real problem in the bodybuilding community after the death of Rich Piana.

After Tyron Woodley called him out Thursday, Nate Diaz went to his brother's MMA studio in Stockton, CA begging the question ... is he finally gonna take the fight?!?!

Woodley announced on "The Hollywood Beatdown" that he already agreed to fight Diaz at UFC 219 in Vegas on Dec. 30 ... but he was waiting on Nate to sign his contract.

Nate's been radio silent ... but he popped up at the Nick Diaz Academy where a jiu-jitsu class was in full effect.

Unclear if Nate was participating in the training or just hanging out with his bro.

One thing's for sure -- Woodley doesn't think ANY amount of training will save Nate if they do face off in the Octagon.

Tyron Woodley says a showdown with Nate Diaz at UFC 219 is "50% complete" -- and the only thing that's holding it up is "scared" Nate Diaz.

"All you gotta say is 'Yes,'" Tyron said in a message to Nate on "The Hollywood Beatdown" show ... "Put the ink to the paper and we done."

Tyron says he's ready and training for the Dec. 30 fight in Vegas ... and says he honestly believes Nate is scared to fight him.

"Guys in our sport bump their gums quite a bit and they get you to think they're these huge tough guys ... they're these gangsters that they'll fight anybody, anytime."

"And then when you get in front of a person like me ... the crickets start to come out. They don't really wanna fight."

Tyron says it happened with Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, Conor McGregor and Nick Diaz.

"Now it's happening with baby brother [Nate] so I guess it's in the bloodline."

Turns out, there was a celebrity onboard the Southwest Airlines flight that was delayed due to a co-pilot WITH A GUN ... and that celeb is UFC champ Tyron Woodley.

The reigning welterweight champion touched down at LAX after the incident at St. Louis Lambert International Airport early Wednesday morning.

TMZ broke the story ... one pilot was arrested after taking a loaded gun through security though witnesses had told us there were TWO pilots in handcuffs.

Woodley says he definitely saw TWO pilots.

Jean-Claude Van Damme put his money where his mouth is ... when he showed up to one of the top MMA training centers in the world and led a kicking workshop in front of 2 UFC superstars!!!

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber and Cody Garbrandt were both on hand at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento on Tuesday night ... where JCVD did his sensei thing.

Jean-Claude has long talked about how he can make MMA fighters better -- and even gave TMZ Sports a tutorial in a gym parking lot back in 2016.

Well, the guys at T.A.M. were paying attention and invited him over to teach class -- and from the looks of it, the students loved it!

JCVD's 57 years old ... too late to take a fight????

Ex-NY Giants defensive tackle Matt Mitrione says Ben McAdoo is a crap coach ... that's why he calls him, "Ben McAdoo-doo."

It's pretty funny and brutally honest coming from a former Giants player -- with Mitrione explaining why Ben's gotta get the ax in NYC after a disaster 2017 campaign.

He holds Eli Manning's feet to the fire as well.

Mitrione isn't done taking shots yet -- he's an MMA fighter now who's competing at the 2018 Bellator heavyweight grand prix.

Ronda Rousey would be a "force to be reckoned with" in the WWE and Vince McMahon needs to sign her ASAP ... so says wrestling legend Torrie Wilson.

There have been rumblings that Rousey could join WWE soon (though it hasn't happened yet) and Wilson says it's the ultimate no-brainer.

"She's a badass," Wilson told TMZ Sports outside of Catch LA ... right before listing off several legit reasons why she would be an instant superstar in the squared circle.

By the way, Wilson looks AMAZING (did we mention she's a fitness-aholic?) ... so, check out some of the pics below ... which prove working out really does do a body good!

Conor McGregor is apologizing for storming the cage and getting violent with MMA officials during Bellator 187 in Dublin last week ... but he's still trashing the referee.

"I sincerely apologize for my behavior at last weekends fight event in Dublin," McGregor said ... adding he let his emotions get the best of him after watching his training partner Charlie Ward win the fight.

"As a multiple weight UFC champion, executive producer, role model and public figure, I must hold myself to a higher standard."

But Conor refuses to back off his criticism of referee Marc Goddard -- saying the ref made a "horrendous decision" trying to allow the losing fighter to continue into the second round.

McGregor says he's personally witnessed an MMA fighter die from injuries suffered in the cage during a fight in Dublin -- and he was afraid it could happen again.

FYI, the fatal incident McGregor is referring to occurred in 2016 -- and the man who died happened to be fighting Charlie Ward.

Conor says he has learned from his "mistakes" and vows to be better moving forward.

The guy who got KO'd in the cage right before Conor McGregor LOST HIS DAMN MIND feels pretty much how we all do about the situation ...

"You can't f**kin' jump out of a crowd in a sporting contest and do all that type of stuff," John Redmond told TMZ Sports. "In no place in life is that really tolerated."

John's being pretty cool to Conor, all things considered ... saying he's got no plans of taking legal action even though McGregor's outburst almost got him trampled.

That said, Redmond tells us there's only 1 way Conor can make it right -- A REMATCH (with his teammate, Charlie Ward).

"Tell your boy to bleedin' gear up again and get in and fight me!"

Doesn't seem like McGregor's in the mood to make amends with anyone ... but maybe for a fellow countryman??

Conor McGregor just went NUCLEAR at an MMA event in Dublin ... slapping a regulatory official and pushing veteran UFC referee Marc Goddard for breaking up his post-fight celebration with training partner Charlie Ward.

It all went down after Ward won by 1st-round KO at Bellator 187 -- which prompted McGregor to jump into the cage to show his SBG Ireland teammate some love.

One problem -- Conor wasn't allowed in the cage since he wasn't a licensed cornerman for Charlie ... so Goddard and several fight officials stepped in to interrupt their bro moment.

McGregor was PISSED -- pushing Goddard from behind and getting in his face ... before the officials and BFF Artem Lobov escorted him from the cage.

But Conor wasn't done. He came back, climbed back on top of the cage and straight slapped one of the officials upside the head.

FYI, Goddard ordered McGregor to leave cageside last time Lobov fought in the UFC ... so that's probably what set Conor off.

Georges St-Pierre says a superfight vs. Conor McGregor is possible ... but not until after he fights Robert Whitaker.

Fresh off his victory at UFC 217, GSP joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) and talked about his fighting future.

Earlier this week, Dana White told us he wouldn't rule out a St-Pierre and McGregor superfight -- saying Conor is down to fight anyone.

Now, with GSP saying he's up for it too, it seems it's all about making the money work.