Alberto Del Rio says he's so deadly serious about beating Tito Ortiz in his upcoming MMA fight, he's been training with legit killers like Bellator champ Ryan Bader.
"I moved to Phoenix to train with the best [fighters] on the planet," the 42-year-old, ex-WWE superstar tells TMZ Sports ... "I haven't seen my kids in 12 weeks, I'm completely focused."
FYI, Bader is an MMA monster -- he's the reigning Bellator heavyweight champ and has wins over guys like Rampage Jackson, Fedor Emelianenko and Rashad Evans.
Del Rio -- aka Alberto El Patron -- has a background in MMA, he's 9-5 as a pro but hasn't been inside the cage in almost 10 years.
But, Alberto says he's been training like a maniac -- and even suffered a nasty gash over his right eye during a training session.
Ya gotta watch the video, Alberto gets extremely candid about a BUNCH of interesting topics, including ...
-- Addressing critics who think he's a joke because of his pro-wrestling background
-- Discussing a possible return to the WWE and his relationship with Vince McMahon
-- Why he believes the Tito fight is his last MMA fight (We call BS right to his face.)
-- Why he respects CM Punk
-- Alberto names a current WWE superstar who would be a great MMA fighter
We'll see once and for all if Alberto can achieve his goal of KOing Tito when they clash at the Combate Americas main event in Hidalgo, Texas on Dec. 7.