Diddy -- Beats NFL Speedster In Foot Race ... Only Cheats a Little

Tampa Bay Bucs safety Dashon Goldson runs the 40 in 4.65 seconds ... and he just got SMOKED in a foot race by Diddy.

For the record, Diddy cheated ... but still, pretty impressive!!! The race went down outside Unbreakable Performance on the Sunset Strip ... where both guys workout on the reg.

After the victory, Diddy was super humble and played the whole thing down ... KIDDING, HE WENT CRAZY AND SHAMED DASHON ON CAMERA!!!