Travis Barker -- Dating Arianny Celeste is 'Awesome'

File this one under, "Duhhhh" ... but Travis Barker says dating smoking hot UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste is "awesome."

Yep.

We broke the story ... the two have been dating for several months and are still going strong. So, when we saw the rock star in Calabasas yesterday, we had to get the update.

The good news ... dating a ridiculously attractive hard-bodied model is everything it's cracked up to be.