NELLY and ICE-T

The COP KILLER star - real name TRACY MARROW - confesses he's not the toughest rapper himself, but is confident he could handle the HOT IN HERRE hitmaker.

Ice-T says, "I'd kick Nelly's a**! He ain't nowhere near the top of the food chain. There's some bad cats out there like Freddie Foxxx and King Sun.

"Nelly's a little guy and he'd get stomped. But he'd have to say that - that's the right answer for any rapper."