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UFC champ Tyron Woodley says he LOVES that Nike signed Colin Kaepernick -- because it's inspiring and brave ... and he strongly believes the QB is continuing the legacy of Muhammad Ali.

"When Muhammad Ali died, I think [Kaepernick] took the torch."

Tyron says Kaep could have easily taken his NFL money and shut up somewhere -- ignoring the glaring issues when it comes to police brutality against minorities ... but he did the courageous thing and spoke out.

... just like Ali.

There's a lot more on this episode of 'The Hollywood Beatdown' -- including Tyron's weight cut for his UFC 228 fight against Darren Till.

Tyron tells us everything about all of his last minute preparations -- including final meals and what music he listens to right before walking into the Octagon.

It's great stuff.

Beto O'Rourke -- the congressman who went viral defending NFL kneelers -- says he's totally fine with people boycotting Nike ... because it's another form of nonviolent protest.

Beto is currently in a very tight senate race in Texas against incumbent Ted Cruz -- and his speech on the NFL protesters has become a major issue between the two candidates.

So, when we saw O'Rourke in D.C. on Friday -- we had to ask about the outrage over Nike's new ad featuring Colin Kaepernick ... which inspired some people to burn their shoes and cut Swooshes out of their socks.

"I think it's fine for people to do that," O'Rourke tells TMZ Sports ... "I think that's a peaceful, nonviolent way to protest a decision that you disagree with, which again comes back to the genius of this country and our democracy."

Dylan McDermott is in the clear after a woman claimed he sexually assaulted her in 1991.

The L.A. County District Attorney's Office just rejected the case, saying it fell outside the statute of limitations. According to the reject form, obtained by TMZ, "The allegation is outside the statute of limitations, therefore, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence is not warranted and prosecution is declined."

In other words, the D.A. didn't even look at the evidence because it's too old to be prosecuted.

A rep for McDermott tells TMZ, "Mr. McDermott learned about these allegations last year and trusted that the process would end exactly as it has."

What's interesting ... the media never knew a woman had filed a claim against McDermott, but the D.A.'s reject form is now a public document.

The news comes on the heels of the D.A.'s office also rejecting sexual assault cases against Kevin Spacey and Steven Seagal ... incidents that also allegedly occurred in the early '90s.

Barack Obama is going after President Trump for refusing to decry neo-Nazis in Charlottesville and bullying the media -- but he's also got beef with the alleged Trump staffer behind the NYT op-ed.

The ex-Prez went in on his predecessor while receiving an award at the University of Illinois ... saying, "How hard can that be? Saying that Nazis are bad?" He added, America is supposed to "stand up to bullies, not follow them."

It's the first time 44's publicly attacked 45 since leaving office and, honestly, it's the kind of talk Democrats have been dying to hear from Obama.

He also challenged Trump's non-stop assault on the media ... pointing out he had plenty of issues with Fox News during his administration, but never called them enemies of the state.

Obama said the anonymous NYT op-ed piece shouldn't make anyone feel better about the "crazy stuff" coming out of the White House ... because elected officials should be checking the President, not faceless appointees.

Sounds like someone's stepping back into the political arena just in time for midterm elections.

11:32 AM PT -- As for Trump ... he had a response to Obama during his rally Friday, saying 44's speech made him sleepy.

Hundreds of Burt Reynolds look-alikes will flood the streets of Long Island this month for a car show honoring the late actor ... and the best impersonator wins a big ass trophy!!!

We're told Burt was invited to the Motor Mania Long Island Auto Expo, but he couldn't travel because of his health. After the actor passed away Thursday of a heart attack, the auto show organizers decided they'll honor Burt with a theme and costume contest.

Butch Yamali, the owner of the expo, tells us he saw Burt in May at a Florida auction for the Trans Am from Burt's personal collection, and that's when he extended the invite. Burt initially said yes.

Now, the car show has its first ever theme and costume contest in honor of Burt.

Cowboy hats, mustaches, red shirts and Trans Ams will be out in full force as event organizers search for the best Reynolds impersonator from his role in "Smokey and the Bandit."

There's another trophy for the car that's closest to the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from the film.

We're told the car show is reaching out to Burt's family and living 'Bandit' castmembers for personal invites.

The annual show, which usually draws 10k-15k people, is set for September 29-30.

Orlando Brown will spend the next 23 days behind bars after he was sentenced in his drug and burglary cases.

The ex-Disney star pled no contest in his drug case stemming from a June arrest. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail. He also pled no contest in his most recent case ... burglary last weekend at his friend's restaurant where he was caught in the act. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail for that.

Orlando won't actually spend much time behind bars ... he gets credit for time served and both sentences are running concurrently. He's scheduled to be released Oct. 1.

TMZ broke the story ... Brown was spotted by cops going in and out of a motel in a high drug area. Cops found a bag of drugs on him, and later determined it to be meth.

Ty Dolla $ign wasn't the only celeb present during his drug bust ... turns out Skrillex was there too.

Atlanta PD just released its body cam footage from the rapper's arrest earlier this week, and it shows an officer on foot patrol telling another officer he smelled weed, but nobody had gotten out of the limo.

Cops ultimately got everyone out of the vehicle ... with Dolla and Skrillex as the second and third passengers to step out. You can see Dolla tell cops he had been smoking weed earlier. Cops asked if anyone has anything on them but no one admits to the weed and that's when cops start patting them down.

The famed DJ was polite with cops and he even smirks a bit. The whole group was thoroughly searched. Skrillex had nothing on him. Moments later, you hear a cop searching the limo say, "cuff him" and that's when Dolla's placed under arrest.

Cardi B wants to join forces with Kim Kardashian West ... as her vice president!!!

We got Cardi outside The London NYC on Thursday and asked about Offset's hope for a potential Kim K presidential run ... and Cardi reveals Kim's been thinking about politics for some time.

She strongly insinuates she and Kim talked about the presidency, and tells us that's the real reason why Offset says he'd vote for KKW.

Cardi and Kim kicked it back in early August, so we're thinking that's when they chopped it up about politics. Kris Jenner was there too, and you know she's always got something in the works.

The Florida State University football team will pay tribute to one of their own -- Burt Reynolds -- by wearing special helmet decals this weekend honoring the late actor.

Reynolds played halfback at FSU back in the '50s -- and was a proud supporter of the Seminoles football team over the years.

The 82-year-old actor died Thursday after suffering a heart attack -- and when FSU takes the field on Saturday against the Samford Bulldogs in Tallahassee ... they'll all be sporting some sort of BW-inspired decal near the legendary arrowhead.

Reynolds was a scholarship athlete at FSU -- and in his 1st season with the Noles, ran for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16 carries.

He was supposed to blow up his next season -- but a couple of knee injuries (along with a bad car accident) slowed him down.

Johnny Drama ... err, Kevin Dillon -- best known for his role on the hit HBO show "Entourage" -- says he's hauling in way less moolah these days, so he can't fork over any more to his wife ... according to new legal docs.

Kevin just disclosed his current income in connection with his estranged wife's request for him to pay her lawyer's fees in their ongoing divorce case.

Dillon claims he's making $4,000 a month ... clearly way less than he made while he filmed his hit TV show.

He says in his papers he's already paying her more than $10k a month in spousal and child support, so he's tapped out.

He and Jane Stuart are also bickering over who pays for 12-year-old daughter Ava's private school.

A houseguest on "Big Brother" used his eviction speech to tell everyone to "suck it" ... then strongly suggested there's already some sucking going on.

Scottie got evicted from the 'BB' house Thursday night, but not before he made multiple comments that warranted CBS censorship ... including a vulgar joke about the "showmance" between Tyler and Angela.

The audio didn't air live, but 'BB' sleuths were easily able to find out what Scottie said and add captioning ... which reveals his comments insinuating Tyler is receiving oral sex from Angela.

Scottie tells Tyler, "You've been getting Hilton Head" ... clearly a sexual pun reference to the town in South Carolina where both Tyler and Angela hail from.

Scottie was already evicted before this season, but won his way back only to be booted again. And, according to 'BB' insiders ... Angela's very upset by his parting shot at her, which many fans agree is incredibly disrespectful and even misogynistic.

Controversies have been par for the course this season on the hit reality show, with multiple houseguests making racist comments and even cries of sexual misconduct.

Geoffrey Owens is about to get a hell of a lot of screen time thanks to Tyler Perry -- he's accepted the mega producer's offer for an acting gig -- and it's a big one!

Owens, who starred on "The Cosby Show," was recently photographed working as a cashier at Trader Joe's. Geoffrey was shamed by many for the cashier job and Tyler reached out via Twitter, saying, "I'm about to start shooting OWN's number one drama next week! Come join us!!!"

Sources familiar with the deal tell us joining Tyler is exactly what Geoffrey will do. We're told he's going to appear on Perry's hit, "The Haves and the Have Nots." Even bigger ... it's not a one shot deal. We're told he'll have a recurring role and appear on 10 episodes.

The show -- on it's 6th season -- shoots in Atlanta, and we're told Owens will fly there next week to begin filming.

Vince Vaughn has just been charged with DUI for his arrest nearly 3 months ago.

TMZ broke the story ... the actor was busted in Manhattan Beach, CA back in June after he was stopped at a checkpoint. Police say he was uncooperative when officers told him and his passenger to step out of the car.

The L.A.County D.A. has now charged Vaughn with DUI and disobeying an officer.

As we first reported ... Vaughn was at a hotel bar holding a drink in his hand just 2 and a half hours before he was arrested.

Cuba Gooding Jr. doesn't know what Burt Reynolds' mustache would've said if it could talked ... but he knows it had some sweet moves.

We got Cuba Thursday night at the NYC Italian joint Bice Cucina ... where the actor remembered his former costar. They were in the 2006 flick "End Game" together. Cuba tells us how he found out Burt had died ... comparing it to getting sucker punched. Ditto.

Cuba paid tribute to Burt as the OG international star who was an awesome storyteller. Then, there's the mustache. Cuba goes into storytelling mode himself to describe one of the all-time great 'staches.

As we reported, Burt died of a heart attack Thursday morning at a hospital in Florida.

Unlike Dawn Wells' time on "Gilligan's Island," thousands of people have come to her rescue and raised enough cash to get the TV star into her dream home.

TMZ broke the story ... Dawn, who famously played Mary Ann on the iconic sitcom, was nearly $200k in debt and struggling to recover from a couple of surgeries. 79-year-old Dawn's debt was preventing her from moving into an assisted living home outside Los Angeles.

Dawn's friend, Dugg Kirkpatrick, tells us that's all changed thanks to the generosity of her fans.

More than $120k in donations poured into the GoFundMe page Dugg started. He tells us the money has allowed Dawn to erase enough debt so she can get the place she wanted. He says she'll be moving in this weekend.

Dawn thanked fans for their "kindness and affection." In a FB post, she also addressed how she fell on hard times -- "I thought I was taking all the proper steps to ensure my golden years. Now, here I am, no family, no husband, no kids and no money. I'm grateful that God has given me so many friends and fans who care."

10:20 AM PT -- Tesla's stock plummeted as much as 10 percent and was down 6.9 percent at the time of this update, on the heels of Elon's smoke sesh and news that 2 senior execs are leaving the company.

The signs were always there, but now we know for sure Elon Musk likes to smoke ganja.

Elon got high as the clouds with Joe Rogan, blazing it up on camera Thursday as they talked about Tesla's plans for an airplane.

Joe sparks up a blunt -- marijuana rolled in tobacco -- and Elon takes a monster rip.

Pass the Dutchie!!!

There were always hints Elon was a fan of Mary J, and now we have our proof!

Dude launches rockets into space, sent a car to Mars blasting David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and thought about taking Tesla private at $420.

Nothing wrong with a little herbal medication, right?!?!