TMZ Sports - Page 50

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."

Apparently, patriotic trunks run in the family -- 'cause Michael B. Jordan was sporting Apollo Creed's famous shorts when he stepped in the ring to play A.C.'s grandson in the new "Rocky" flick ... and TMZ Sports has the 1st pics.

Jordan was going toe-to-toe with real-life pro boxer Tony Bellew -- who plays a boxer named "Pretty Ricky" in the upcoming movie.

The pics were taken on February 26th ... just a few days before hell broke loose on the set -- with Sylvester Stallone jumping in the ring to break up a REAL BRAWL that went down between Bellew and an actor playing one of his corner men.

Reps for the studio tell us the fight never got physical -- multiple witnesses tell us otherwise.

As for Apollo Creed himself ... he died in "Rocky IV."

Sucks for Carl Weathers.

Here's video of 26-year-old professional athlete Jeremy Lin in a foot race with a 55-year-old homeless guy in L.A.

So the question ... who ya got?

It all went down over the NBA All-Star break -- Lin and some of his pals decided they would help out in the community by socializing with some of the less fortunate and serving up food.

That's when one of the men decided he wanted to serve Jeremy -- and challenged the pro basketball player (who's 29 years his junior) to a foot race in the park.

Check out the video -- the man claimed he was "pretty quick for 55" and we gotta say, he moved pretty well against Lin.

Rocky's not taking any mess on his set -- Sylvester Stallone had to bust up a very real brawl during filming of the latest Rocky flick, "Creed" ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to production say things went ballistic in Aston, PA Monday when boxer/actor Tony Bellew -- who's playing "Pretty" Ricky -- dove out of the boxing ring, mid-scene, and began unloading on the guy playing his corner coach. It was NOT part of the scene.

Sly still has the eye of the tiger -- we're told the fight was broken up when he, and a few others, jumped in to pull the men apart.

It's not clear what prompted the fight, but we're told security threw everyone out. Unclear at this point, if anyone plans to press charges.

Kevin Garnett didn't get an employee discount when he bought 1,000 tickets to give away to fans for tonight's Timberwolves game ... dropping more than $20k of his own money, TMZ Sports has learned.

After fans came out in force to attend KG's first game back in Minn. last week, the NBA legend decided to give back ... by hooking up 500 fans with a pair of tix for tonight's game.

Smelled like a team-engineered publicity stunt ... but the V.P. of Communications for the T-Wolves assures us that Kev bought the tickets HIMSELF and paid FULL PRICE for all of 'em.

The rep wouldn't say exactly how much KG spent ... but the cheapest seats go for $21-a-pop.

$21 x 1,000 = $21,000. Not cheap.

KG's career earnings? $315,000,000+ ... so, he can afford it.

Nick Young might not be making "SportsCenter's" top plays anytime soon ... 'cause the Lakers star just threatened an ESPN anchor after the guy dissed his GF Iggy Azalea on the air.

For some reason, ESPN anchor Robert Flores fired a shot at Iggy during a segment called, "What Did We Learn?" ... saying:

"We learned that according to the Lakers' Nick Young a dolphin recently tried to kill him. So Nick while dolphins are trying to kill you, your girlfriend is trying to kill hip hop ... let's call it even, ok?"

Needless to say, Swaggy P was PISSED and tweeted to Flores to let him know he's got a problem:

"@RoFloESPN I'm pretty sure we going to run into each other soon."

Sounds like a threat. But Nick didn't stop there ...

"You job is to talk about sports not what me and my chick got going on," Young wrote ... adding, "so we got a problem."

ESPN and Flores have yet to comment about the situation.

This isn't the first time Nick has sprung to Iggy's defense on social media ... he publicly took Snoop Dogg to task for dissing Iggy last year, and things were tense until Iggy's boss T.I. stepped in and squashed that beef.

Robert, if you know any huge rappers that owe you a favor ... now might be the time.

It seems Jack Nicholson CAN handle the truth of the Lakers sucky season ... showing up to the game Sunday after hinting to TMZ Sports that he might be putting his fandom on hold for a while.

We ran into Jack last week in L.A. and we asked the screen icon if his nearly 30 year love affair with the Purple and Gold is in jeopardy due to the fact that the team stinks to high heaven.

At the time, Nicholson seemed to indicate that he might be willing to sell his tickets, thus giving up his #1 fan status forever.

But when the Lake Show took on (and lost to) the OKC Thunder on Sunday at Staples, Jack was back where he used to always be ... courtside.

Thank you Laker Girls.

Finally, some good news for Eric Decker ... the NY Jets wide receiver just announced his famous country singer wife is pregnant with kid #2!

Jessie James Decker posted the obligatory celeb "I'm Preggo" announcement pic on Instagram with a little help from her hubby and their 11-month-old daughter Vivianne ... writing:

"Vivianne is so excited because she is going to be a big sister! We are over the moon about having another baby!!!"

Eric just appeared in Jessie's new music video for her single "Clint Eastwood" ... where he featured in a scene where the two were ALL OVER EACH OTHER in a mobile home trailer.

Kobe Bryant says his wife Vanessa Bryant miscarried in 2004 ... right in the thick of his rape case in Colorado ... and says he blames no one but himself.

Bryant opened up about the situation in his Showtime documentary "Muse" -- and while he never specifically mentions the case, it's crystal clear what he's talking about.

During the segment titled "2004" ... the year of the hearing (which was eventually dismissed when the accuser refused to testify) ... Kobe says:

"We were expecting ... and um ... expecting our second child during that time ... and there was just so much stress, she actually, she actually miscarried."

"It's something ... I have a real hard time dealing with that 'cause I felt like it was just my fault."

Kobe added, "The reality is it happened because of me ... that's something I have to deal with. Something I gotta carry forever."

Green Bay Packers cornerback Jarrett Bush was arrested in Northern California for public intoxication following an alleged brawl outside of an Italian restaurant ... officials say.

According to the Vacaville Police Dept., cops responded to Evelyn's Big Italian Restaurant early Sunday morning after getting a call about a "large fight."

When officers arrived to the scene, most of the crowd dispersed ... but Bush remained ... and refused to leave. Cops say Bush "continued to create a disturbance" and was eventually arrested.

He was transported to a nearby jail ... and officers say that's when he began to chill out and became cooperative with police.

Bush was eventually released without charges.

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.

Just because J.J. Watt bought a cabin in the middle of nowhere, doesn't mean he's gotta rough it -- 'cause TMZ Sports has the first pic of J.J.'s new Wisconsin pad ... and it's AWESOME!

Watt bought the digs last month as a private getaway for secluded off-season training purposes, describing the home as "really minimalistic" and a way to totally commit to his regimen.

Well, when you have a $100 million contract "minimalistic" runs around $800,000 and features 4,500 square feet of living space ... with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and oh yeah ... an elevator.

The property is just outside Milwaukee -- and sits on 35 acres of midwestern wilderness, perfect for "Rocky IV" style Arctic level training.

If you thought Vernon Davis was a beast ... WAIT'LL YOU SEE WHAT HIS NEW DOG CAN DO!!!!

The SF 49ers tight end just bought an adorable Belgian Malinois for his family -- and is in the process of training it to serve as a home protection dog.

It's cute. It's friendly. It will rip your arm out of the socket if you screw with it.

Vernon's training the dog with his pal Jas Leverette at Cali K-9 Solutions -- who's been training police dogs, protection dogs and your friendly neighborhood pets for years.

Leverette tells us Vernon's been working with the dogs at the facility for a while (including the one in the video above) -- and has a natural talent for it.

"Vernon just has a way with the animals. He could be a trainer if he wanted to."

Leverette says Vernon had been looking for a new dog for a while ... and fell in love with the Belgian Malinois because of its temperament and "disposition to be a great protector."

"In this area, there's a lot of home invasions. It's an epidemic," Leverette says ... "This dog offers protection for his family."

The Rob Gronkowski party trains rolls on ... there were hot chicks (a lot of them), bottles of champagne, a Lombardi Trophy shaped cake ... and TMZ Sports has the EPIC party video.

The Patriots superstar hit up Surrender Nightclub at the Encore hotel in Vegas last night ... and did what Gronk does -- got super turnt up and smashed stuff!!!

Sources at the club tell us Gronk arrived around 1AM ... pounded champagne straight from the bottle, danced on stage, and showered the crowded with bubbly.

Best part ... Gronk SPIKING the football cake ... on his brothers head!

Check out the video.