TMZ Sports - Page 50

Shawn Mendes says he wants to take Justin Bieber one-on-one on the basketball court ... and it's got all the makings of a great Canadian battle.

Our photog caught up with Shawn in NYC Thursday night and brought up the comparison many have made between him and Justin. Both are good looking, Canadian and love to ball out.

Shawn seems confident he could hold up against JB ... check out the clip to see what he says gives him the advantage.

Ronda Rousey's the belle of the Marine Corps Ball -- arriving to the big bash in South Carolina moments ago ... to keep her promise to Lance Corporal Jarrod Haschert.

Ronda flew out early Friday morning -- and to be honest, still seemed pretty down in the dumps nearly one month after losing to Holly Holm.

But she was all smiles at the ball -- posing for pics with the marines and their dates -- and hopefully, enjoying herself.

Ronda's gonna need to get her mojo back if she's gonna have a chance to beat Holm in the rematch -- and who better to help reclaim her swagger than a buncha devil dogs, right?!?

Oorah!

You need to watch this video!!!!!!

Leah Still and her dad Devon joined "TMZ Sports" on FS1 and explained why they felt compelled to reach out to a 14-year-old girl who's been bullied because she has leukemia.

As we previously reported, Devon reached out to Nicole Pfister and her family and offered to take them all to Disney World to raise their spirits after Nicole was targeted by cyber bullies.

But 5-year-old Leah -- who famously battled cancer -- says she was equally moved by the little girl's story and offered up some sage advice to Nicole that you really need to watch.

ENOUGH WITH THE FRICKIN' HOVERBOARDS ... so says Tony Hawk.

The skateboarding legend has several gripes with the 2-wheeled scooters ...

First, they look ridiculous.

Second, they're NOT REAL HOVERBOARDS.

Tony would know ... he actually test drove a REAL hoverboard at a special skate park last year.

Check out the clip ... Tony says he can't support the trend -- and wouldn't be upset if they were BANNED altogether.

Marty McFly would be proud.

TMZ Sports Xmas information time ... Did you know that NFL players have a Secret Santa program in the locker room?

Neither did we ... NY Giants RB -- and "Dancing with the Stars" hopeful Rashad Jennings revealed this fact to us when we got him outside NYC store Eredi Pisano recently.

You know what else he told us about the Secret Santa program?

NOT A DAMN THING ... he was iron clad, rock solid, 'Mission Impossible' Ethan Hunt level secretive when we tried to dig anymore info out of him.

Gotta love the Irish -- who invaded a UFC event in Vegas today and turned a Q&A with Holly Holm into a CRAZY sing-a-long ... with the entire arena joining in!

It all went down at the MGM in Vegas -- where the champ was taking questions from the crowd ... which seemed like it consisted of the entire country of Ireland (in town to support Conor McGregor).

UFC honcho Dana White is a hardcore supporter of Donald Trump and he can't wait to get to the ballot box.

Dana -- one of the most powerful people in sports -- made no bones about it ... he's Trump all the way, and he has his reasons.

File Under: I'M NO DAMN CAR THIEF ... 'cause NBA player Jeff Adrien says he's not the car stealing MORON cops made him out to be ... telling TMZ Sports his arrest was nothing more than a mix-up.

We broke the story ... Jeff was arrested for grand theft auto in L.A. this week -- after allegedly stealing a sick Mercedes from valet and taking the whip on a 6-hour joyride.

Now, Jeff is finally breaking his silence -- telling TMZ Sports he has a LEGIT EXPLANATION for the whole thing ... it was a case of mistaken Mercedes identity.

"I came out of the Hollywood hotel in a rush. My friend gave me his ticket and said use his car ... so when then valet pulled up in the ride I hopped in and left."

Adrien says he had never seen the car beforehand -- so he didn't know if the car belonged to his friend or someone else ... he just assumed he was in the right car.

"I don't like to point fingers but this is Beverly Hills, there are a ton of Mercedes rolling around."

Adrien says the fact he brought the car back to the hotel proves there was NEVER an intent to steal the car ... it was just an innocent mix-up.

In fact, Adrien and his lawyer both tell TMZ Sports the charges against him have been dropped -- though we have not been able to independently confirm that yet.

Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson died of cocaine and alcohol toxicity ... according to the autopsy results.

Hanson, who was only 29, died on November 9th -- he was found unresponsive at a friend's home in the Atlanta area. At the time of his death, the coroner listed "overdose" as a possible cause of death.

We spoke with the coroner who tells us the autopsy showed Hanson died from the combination of cocaine and booze.

Boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez is off the hook in his $9 million lawsuit with a Mexican boxer -- both sides have reached a settlement ... TMZ Sports has learned

The agreement brings an end to the trial that started Monday in an L.A. courtroom. As we previously reported, Ulises Solis -- a former Mexican boxing champion -- sued Alvarez over a 2011 street fight they allegedly had in Guadalajara.

According to court docs, the settlement was reached on Thursday. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is basically wearing your mortgage on his back while he roams around Europe, settling into life as a retiree.

We found out Floyd picked up this little number in Milan on Friday during a 400,000 euros shopping spree, because he obviously thinks it looks good ... but mostly because he can. We're told the coat ran him about 10,000 euro.

Floyd's easing into retirement like a college grad -- tramping around the Continent -- except if he stops at a youth hostel ... he's probably buying it.

Before Italy ... he hit up Russia, Turkey, and France. Thursday he was strolling around Monaco like a sharp-dressed man without a care in the world ... and several hundred million in the bank.

This is as down in the dumps as we've ever seen Ronda Rousey -- expressing legitimate sadness about her loss to Holly Holm, but also putting on a brave face ... for the Marines!

Ronda was up super early Friday morning to travel to tonight's Marine Corps Ball ... remember, before her UFC defeat ... Rousey accepted Lance Corporal Jarrod Haschert's invite.

It's been a month, but she admits she'd probably be on the couch "crying and eating ice cream" if she hadn't committed to the ball -- but you can tell she's honored to be going.

There's more ... she talks about the rematch and her next movie. Interesting, her bf Travis Browne is there sending her off.

She's in your hands now, Lance Corporal Haschert.

Devon Still is doing something VERY COOL for a 14-year-old cancer patient who's been bullied online -- contacting her family to send them all on a Disney vacation ... TMZ Sports has learned.

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 ...

Just a year-and-a-half after breaking off his last engagement, Rory McIlroy is trying it again -- popping the question to his NEW girlfriend Erica Stoll ... and she said, "Yes."

The couple hit the red carpet together at a charity event in Ireland Thursday night -- after reportedly putting an engagement ring on it during a romantic weekend in Paris.

Clearly, Stoll is hoping this engagement goes better than Rory's last one -- in which he broke up with tennis superstar Caroline Wozniacki OVER THE PHONE after they sent out their wedding invitations.

Wozniacki has been connected to a few different guys since the split -- including JJ Watt and David Lee.

Paige VanZant was in pretty good spirits Thursday night ... despite the beating she took from Rose Namajunas at UFC Fight Night -- smiling and laughing through the pain at her news conference.

The UFC star fought her ass off ... but in the end, Rose was just too much for the 21-year-old.

Afterward, VanZant kept a positive attitude -- though admitted," I wanted to win ... I'm sad, but I'm fine."

As for the winner, Rose was also smiling after the fight ... with barely a scratch on her body.