MMA

Justin Bieber's career is on fire but there's still one thing he can't do ... kick Nick Jonas' ass ... that's according to Nick's "Kingdom" co-star Frank Grillo who says the JoBro's a total "badass" thanks to his MMA training.

Frank witnessed the transformation Nick went through playing an MMA fighter on their show, so when we got him out in L.A. we had to ask ... is Jonas now the toughest teenybopper alive?

Check out the clip -- Frank must've had Bieber on the brain cause we didn't even mention Justin ... but Grillo seems convinced -- and proud to say -- that Jonas would beat the Biebs to sleep.

UFC superstar Anderson Silva says he's got the FUTURE of female MMA in his gym -- Gabi Garcia -- a bone-crushing BRUISER who would DESTROY any woman crazy enough to fight her.

Silva and Garcia were working out together at Anderson's gym in Torrance, CA -- where the 6'2", 205 pound lady beat the living hell out of some boxing mitts while our cameras rolled.

Silva told us 30-year-old Gabi is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu master who hits like a ton of bricks -- and admits, she's even roughed HIM up a bit during training sessions.

By the way, Gabi says she used to be EVEN BIGGER -- but lost a ton of weight (more than 300 pounds) when she first began training several years ago.

Now, Gabi says she wants a piece of the UFC's best fighters -- Holly, Ronda, whoever -- and she's confident she would run through them like a warm knife through butter.

Be afraid ...

MMA superstar Gina Carano is off the market ... revealing that she's officially back in a relationship with a kickboxing star ... after nearly 10 YEARS apart.

Carano -- who's a big movie star now with a role in the upcoming "Deadpool" flick -- posted a pic on her Instagram page locking lips with kickboxer Kevin Ross -- the #14 Muay Thai fighter in the world.

Ross explained how they hooked up -- and it's actually a pretty sweet story.

"For those of you that don't know we dated for 4 years, were broken up for a decade then got back together on the 14th anniversary of the day we met."

They've been back on for 6 months -- and have now decided to go public with their relationship.

"Gina is not only the reason I'm even doing what I am but literally the reason that I'm even alive and walking around still. You are my inspiration, my best friend, my everything!!!"

Robbie Lawler is no Vin Diesel -- 'cause even though Vin is getting his 7-year-old daughter into MMA right now ... the UFC superstar says his kid will have to wait 'til he's 8.

It's actually an interesting question among parents -- with MMA exploding as a sport, more kids want to get involved at a younger age.

But Robbie -- who began his martial arts training at age 9 -- says, "I'm gonna try to keep my son out of martial arts as long as possible."

"I want him to know his body a little more before he starts getting into martial arts."

MMA star Johny Hendricks will not be fighting in UFC 192 on Saturday after being rushed to the hospital for intestinal blockage and kidney stones stemming ... so says Johny's manager.

Hendricks was scheduled to put his welterwight championship on the line against Tyron Woodley tomorrow night, but ran into huge medical issues while attempting to cut weight Thursday night.

According to his manager Ted Ehrhardt, Johny was in bad shape -- he needed to be given an IV and kidney stones were detected during his trip to the emergency room.

In fact, Hendricks told MMAFighting.com ... "The weight was coming off fine and then yesterday my body just started to shut down. When it hit that point, I tried to push through it, and well, it didn't go well because then I had to go to the ER."

MMA star Phoenix Jones had a busy weekend -- winning his bout on Friday night ... and then BREAKING UP AN ATTEMPTED MURDER roughly 24 hours later.

Jones -- real name Ben Fodor -- was out in Seattle early Sunday morning when he claims he witnessed 3 men attacking another guy outside of a bar ... one of the attackers allegedly had a gun.

So Jones -- who moonlights as a real-life superhero -- says he jumped into action ... KOing the lead attacker who was allegedly pistol-whipping the victim while the other 2 men had been stomping his head.

Jones says he called police -- and when they arrived, they arrested the suspect.

On Friday, Jones scored a 1st round victory at the World Series of Fighting 23 event in Arizona.

8-year-old boxing prodigy, Evnika Saadvakass, doesn't need a speed bag to show off her quick hands ... cause a hunk of wood works just fine for her.

Right now she looks more like Laila Ali but if she works on her ground moves she could definitely end up being the next Ronda Rousey of the UFC ... heck she's been training since she was the age of 3 after all.

Don't push Ronda Rousey unless you're looking to get slammed to the ground ... that goes for guys too.

The executive producer of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" -- Andy Lassner -- learned that lesson the hard way when he got a little too chummy with the UFC champ ... seeming to get under Ronda's skin after giving her a push before their demonstration.

She didn't just take him down, she performed her famous armbar on him ... getting him to tap out a couple of times after he was unable to break free from the painful move.

She really is the best.

A female MMA fighter put the SMACK down on an alleged male attacker who tried to rob her in Brazil last night ... choking the guy into submission with her legs ... and it was caught on video.

The bad ass crime stopper is Monique Bastos -- who says she was on her way to jiu-jitsu training when she was attacked by two men who demanded her cell phone.

Monique told MMAFighting.com one of the men was able to run off with the cell -- but she managed to trip up the second guy ... and locked him up in a triangle choke.

The video is insane ... you can see the alleged attacker BEGGING for mercy. She held the guy for 15 minutes before cops came and arrested the suspect.

Unfortunately, Bastos says the situation was all too familiar ... as she had been robbed in the past.

"I’ve been through this a few times before, and it’s the second time I fought back."

MMA legend, Randy Couture, is a master of the octagon ... so most people wouldn't want to be in the ring with him ... unless it was covered in frosting like the one he gave his son for his birthday.

Randy's son, Ryan Couture, celebrated his his 33rd birthday at Andiamo Italian Steakhouse inside the D Casino in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

Pops gave Ryan -- who is also an MMA fighter -- a cake resembling the ring both are known for.

We're told things got a little messy when Randy smeared cake across his face ... but it was all in good fun.

Jon Jones is taking Dana White's advice to heart -- cleaning himself up and working with the community to get his life back on track ... and today, he mentored kids at a Boys & Girls Club.

The former UFC champ hit up the B&GC in Albuquerque, New Mexico -- where he talked to the kids about the importance of working hard to make their dreams come true.

But the best part -- one of the kids challenged Jon to play the UFC video game on Playstation ... AND CRUSHED JONES (who was playing as himself).

Sources close to Jones tell us ... Jon has been working hard to get his life back in order ever since his hit and run arrest --  doing volunteer community service and spending lots of time in the gym.

As for resuming his MMA career, we're told "nothing's out of the question" -- but he's been focusing a lot of his time on mentoring and coaching other fighters.

Jones is still suspended from the UFC -- but check out this recent video of Dana White (below) ... it's clear he's still a fan of the guy and if he keeps up the good work, we're guessing we haven't seen the last of him in the octagon.

51-year-old Ken Shamrock says there NO WAY IN HELL he's retiring from MMA after his fight with Kimbo Slice ... telling TMZ Sports he would take a rematch "in a heartbeat."

Shamrock says he's still recovering from that massive wound to his face in the loss to Slice during Bellator 138 last weekend ... saying, "The cut was to the bone so they had to do double layer stitches."

But despite the injury, Shamrock says he felt GREAT in the ring -- "I looked better than I have in ten years! Imagine now after I get some fights under my belt?!"

Shamrock says he feels he dominated the fight, but made one mistake that cost him the match ... and he plans to learn from the error in his next fight.

"There's no way I'm going to stop after one fight. I'm going to push the envelope some more."

We also asked about allegations that the fight was fixed -- Shamrock said the accusations are complete B.S.

As for a possible rematch with Kimbo -- "I would take that in heartbeat."

Age ain't nothin' but a number to Herschel Walker -- 'cause the NFL-turned-MMA-fighter tells TMZ Sports he's strongly considering getting back in the ring ... AT 53 YEARS OLD!!!!!

Walker is 2-0 is his MMA career ... but the last time he got in the ring was back in 2011 when he was 48.

Still, when we saw Walker in NYC yesterday, he assured us he's still training hard and staying in shape ... telling us when it comes to fighting again, "Don't rule it out! Herschel Walker may be fighting again soon."

#BadAss

UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum unleashed a featherweight version of a leg kick on an MMA reporter ... and it was still enough to send him to the ground in agony.

Aaron Tru has a history of allowing people to beat the hell out of him for no reason (check out the Ronda Rousey clip below) and this time he allowed Werdum -- who stands at 6'4" and weighs 232 pounds -- to kick him in the back of the leg.

It goes about how you would expect ... with Tru laid out in agony ... despite the fact Werdum claims he only used 40% of his strength.

Seems like he used 39% more than he needed to.

He's a martial arts expert ... but Jackie Chan says he's NEVER heard of MMA superstar Ronda Rousey.

Weird, considering Chan is also an action film buff ... and Ronda's been blowing up with roles in "The Expendables 3" and "Furious 7."

In fact, when Chan was cruisin' through Beverly Hills yesterday -- he told us he's still making MORE action flicks ... including "Rush Hour 4" -- and was having dinner with Chris Tucker to talk about the project.

She'd probably beat his ass in the end, but Ronda Rousey says she AGREES with Shaquille O'Neal -- that he could probably last 45 seconds in the Octagon before getting him to tap out.

Shaq made the prediction on "Inside the NBA" last week -- saying, "It's not a joke! I could last 45 seconds!"

So, when we saw Ronda at LAX this weekend -- we had to ask how she felt about the situation ... and she explains why Shaq is 100% correct.

BTW -- here's the tale of the tape:

Shaquille O'Neal:
Height -- 7'1"
Weight -- 325 lbs

Ronda Rousey
Height -- 5'7"
Weight -- 135 lbs

Bonus -- we also asked Rousey about the guy who tested a new "bulletproof cup" that some men could be wearing in MMA in the near future.

Here's that video, too ...