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Olympic wrestling champ Gable Steveson CAN beat Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou in a UFC Octagon ... all he needs is a few years of MMA training, according to Henry Cejudo.

If anyone knows what it takes to make it as a wrestler-turned-mixed martial artist, it's Cejudo. Henry won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling (just like Steveson) in 2008 ... and then became a 2 weight class champion in the UFC.

So, when TMZ Sports talked to Triple C, we asked how Gable would fare in the UFC.

"I do believe, like within the next couple of years, he could beat a guy like Jon Jones or even Francis Ngannou. He's like, he's the biggest threat because of his wrestling pace, which is extremely scary," Cejudo told us.

But, Henry made it clear, Gable couldn't just walk into an Octagon right now, without any training, and beat 2 of the biggest men on the planet.

"He's a real heavyweight. But, right now, if you were to put him in there right now, Jon Jones would hurt him. Francis Ngannou would hurt him," Cejudo says.

"And I've been there before when I first fought Demetrious Johnson. And I, you know, I had already had stand up and whatnot, and I got knocked out at 2 minutes and 36 seconds. So, you do have to respect the game."

FYI, Henry started his UFC career 4-0 ... before facing the champ, Mighty Mouse. Johnson beat Cejudo at UFC 197 in 2016 via TKO. Years later, in 2018, HC won a rematch against DJ -- becoming flyweight champion.

Of course, 21-year-old Steveson -- who just won a gold medal -- has options on top of options.

WWE is reportedly interested in the wrestling star (GS will be at Summer Slam this weekend). Gable also says he's been hit up by multiple NFL teams. And, then there's the UFC.

Dana White recently told us he planned to meet with Steveson this weekend in Las Vegas ... to discuss potentially signing him to a deal.

There's more ... we also talked to Cejudo about his fighting future -- and while taking shots at Alex Volkanovski and T.J. Dillashaw -- Henry gave us the latest on whether he'll ever fight again.

Hate it or love it, The Game says people gotta respect Anderson .Paak's strong conviction to put the kibosh on any posthumous albums ... so much so he got his dying wish tattooed on his arm. And, Game's game as far as the sentiment goes ... sort of.

We got the "Wouldn't Get Far" rapper leaving Maxfield L.A. on Thursday and wondered if he'd seen .Paak's tat. Not only has Game seen it ... he LOVED it, adding he 100% agrees with .Paak's stance. More on that in a bit.

But, ICYMI ... .Paak posted on his Instagram Story a new tattoo on his forearm that read, "When I'm gone please don't release any posthumous albums or songs with my name attached. Those were just demos and never intended to be heard by the public."

Anderson's rep confirmed the tat's real ... though it's unclear if the text is included in .Paak's will. Either way ... .Paak's crystal clear about how he wants his music treated after he's gone.

The Game says you gotta respect the decision because you have to respect the artistry. Game says he gets it because he too doesn't want his stuff out there when he's gone because, as he put it, "people always f*** the vision up."

It seems Game's wishes are crystal clear ... that is until the rapper caves and spits a list of producers he says he'd be okay with if they wanted to work on one of his posthumous albums.

Jackboy has always insisted he's innocent in his gun possession case, and now prosecutors at least agree he shouldn't be charged ... because they don't have the goods to prove he's guilty.

Jonathan L. Adams, the Monroe County D.A., tells TMZ ... his office decided not to move forward with charges against the rapper "due to our concern regarding being able to prove [Jackboy] had actual knowledge of the location of the firearms."

Adams pointed to the same issue cops identified in their initial report ... that a passenger in the backseat claimed to be responsible for the 2 guns found in the glove box.

Jackboy's attorney, Drew Findling, says, "We told you early this year that Pierre Delince (Jackboy) was innocent of these charges." He added, "We are very much appreciative of them making that important decision."

TMZ broke the story ... Jackboy was busted in March after cops pulled over a vehicle in which he was a passenger, because the driver had trouble staying in his lane.

When cops searched the Lambo SUV they said they found 2 unregistered handguns in the glove box next to Jackboy's seat.

Cops say the rapper told cops he didn't know there were guns in the whip. He was ultimately arrested and booked for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. But, prosecutors now say they don't have evidence Jackboy knew the guns were there.

New Jersey native Laura San Giacomo was fairly new to Hollywood when she landed the role of the street-walking best friend Kit De Luca -- who helps Vivian Ward navigate her way through Bev Hills while mixing business with true love -- in the classic 1990 romantic comedy "Pretty Woman."

The C with some A-list actors including Jason Alexander as the creep lawyer, Phillip Stuckey, Richard Gere as the gentlemanly John, Edward Lewis ... and of course Julia Roberts as the lady of the night and love interest, Vivian Ward.

Laura's career took off with some impressive television roles on some big-name shows including "NCIS," "Saving Grace" and "Just Shoot Me!"

Despite the hellish scene in and around Afghanistan in recent weeks, here's a snapshot of some humanity at its finest ... a Marine giving kids water as they wait to be evacuated.

Check out this sweet clip of a soldier on the ground in what appears to be Kabul -- where a majority of the load-and-go's have been happening. He's going around pouring H2O into the mouths of several thirsty Afghan children ... straight from his own water bottle.

Not much talking is happening here -- it's all body language, and the kiddos get the drill ... opening up and letting the guy waterfall for a couple seconds each. It's both heartwarming, but also sad ... presumably, there isn't much fresh water to go around at the moment.

It's just an example of U.S. forces there still doing the hard work of trying to get people out ASAP ... while also maintaining a good attitude and trying to keep things light, especially with the little ones. Different photos have emerged showing exactly that within the walls of the Kabul Airport, where different military personnel are interacting with locals.

Of course, it's not always as rosy as this one moment was -- there are several videos that are way more tense ... with U.S. troops trying to maintain order among those seeking to flee, in some cases needing to apparently fire warning shots in the air for crowd control.

Still, when they can ... seems the men and women of our armed forces are doing their best to keep the peace and follow orders -- namely, to keep up the steady stream of flights out of there going as efficiently and safely as possible ... with Taliban lurking everywhere.

The White House says that between Saturday and Sunday, about 8,000 people total have been evacuated between dozens of flights that are being provided by the U.S. military, allies and even some commercial airlines who've stepped up after President Biden called for help.

Iggy Azalea is stamping out a rumor that she's banging Tristan Thompson -- going so far as to say she's never met the dude ... not even once.

The Aussie rapper came out to address a report by blogger/YouTuber Tasha K ... who posted a new vlog this past week with the bold claim that Iggy has been sleeping with Tristan -- this amid other reports that Khloe Kardashian apparently wants him back (which she's denied).

Tasha flat out says ... "Does (Khloe) know that Tristan and Miss Iggy are f******?" She didn't elaborate on where she was getting her alleged intel -- but IA herself has shot it down.

She took to Twitter Sunday to deny the rumor ... writing, "Very weird fake news making the rounds about me dating a man I've literally never met a DAY in my life…. Like…. Y'all are really that bored?!?!"

Iggy went to add, "Literally have never even been in the same building as that man. I DO NOT KNOW THAT PERSON" -- this after a Twitter user pointed out it was Tristan whom she was referring to ... and followed up by saying Tasha seems to have made it all up.

The news does, in fact, seem to have come out of nowhere ... before Tasha came out with her so-called tea -- there wasn't even a whiff of this anywhere ... as far as we're concerned.

Yes ... Iggy has dated an NBA player in the past -- namely, Nick Young, who she was engaged to for a while back in the day before they split -- but there's no clear evidence, photos or otherwise, to indicate she or Tristan have ever met or mingled.

Webbie had to be carried out of a club this weekend after he stumbled off stage following what appears to be a medical emergency ... and the scary moment is on video.

The Louisiana rapper was performing Friday night at 213 Lux Lounge in Roanoke, VA -- and at some point during his concert (or perhaps shortly thereafter) he was caught on camera looking ill and being led out of the building by his team ... staggering along the way.

Right before that, he seemed fine ... playing to a packed crowd and having level footing with seemingly no issues.

That makes this clip all the more alarming ... you see Webbie struggling to stay on his feet as he starts to exit the stage and reaching out for assistance -- but before he can clear the doorway, the guy collapses on the floor.

His guys surround him and they appear to start calling for help and for someone to dial 911. Before long, though, they hoist Webbie up themselves and carry him out of the building ... this as people looked on in fear, and while someone else was on stage rapping.

It's unclear what exactly happened to him here -- some are speculating it may have been a seizure of some sort, but we haven't confirmed that. It's unclear where he was taken after this ... presumably, his team rushed him to the hospital -- because this looked serious.

We got calls in to his camp for more details ... so far, no word back.

William Petersen had a scary situation while on the clock this week -- he had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital after falling ill on set of his most popular show.

The longtime 'CSI' star's rep tells TMZ ... Petersen was working on set Friday in L.A. for "CSI: Las Vegas" when, at some point, he started feeling terrible ... and told the director that he needed a break.

It became clear he might've needed more than just a rest -- because we're told an ambulance was called on his behalf, and Bill was taken to a nearby facility. The rep says it was mostly done out of an abundance of caution, but it was clearly serious enough to call.

As to what led to the health scare ... WP's rep tells us his guy has been working nonstop long days for the past 12 weeks -- so this may have been a case of overexertion or exhaustion.

Amid all the chaos in Australia over renewed COVID lockdowns, a damning report claims a local government killed a bunch of rescue dogs ... to keep the volunteers from going out.

The allegation stems from a Sydney Morning Herald story published Sunday, which cites a watchdog org that keeps tabs on the Bourke Shire Council ... which sits in a rural area in New South Wales. The shelter, which isn't named, apparently lies in the town of Cobar.

Per the outlet, the watchdog claims it'd been informed of the local council's decision to recently gun down a handful of rescue pups at a nearby pound -- this as a result of what they say is the government's twisted interpretation of Australia's newly imposed restrictions.

The idea behind this alleged onslaught ... keep the volunteers from leaving their home and potentially interacting/spreading the virus. To that end, apparently, they offed the pooches.

The watchdog also says they're investigating whether any laws were broken by the command -- namely, whether any companion animal or cruelty violations were at play. The cruelty one certainly seems like a viable claim ... 'cause this might've been totally unnecessary.

SMH says an anonymous source directly familiar with the shelter's staff/protocol claims they already had COVID measures in place to handle the dogs ... adding one was a new mom.

The drastic move speaks to just how crazy things are down under at the moment -- the government is enforcing strict rules for its residents ... which has led to a lot of unrest, protests and clashes with police -- especially this weekend, where people are out in force.

The issue has gotten so heated that people are finding creative ways to push back -- including reports of big rig truck drivers refusing to deliver goods en masse and slow down the economy. Some people have even gone the Paul Revere route to rally the citizenry.

It's a complicated matter. Like we said ... cases are through the roof there and the government appears to be doing what it thinks is best for its people. But, they're clearly not all down with the method -- and as it relates to the dogs that were allegedly killed ... it's BS.

Some quick thinking by U.S. military pilots may have saved the life of an Afghan woman and her newborn after the woman went into labor mid-flight during an evacuation mission.

The C-17 was headed to a U.S. base in Ramstein, Germany -- where many evacuees have been taken -- when the woman went into labor and began having complications.

The pilots made a decision to descend to a lower altitude, which in turn, increased the plane's cabin pressure and helped stabilize the woman, and according to U.S. Air Mobility Command, saved her life.

Once the plane landed, Airmen from the 86th MDG boarded and helped the woman deliver a baby girl in the cargo bay of the C-17.

Photos taken on the runway show the new mother on a stretcher surrounded by troops.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are already acting like a blended fam ... they took their respective broods out Saturday to watch a little magic.

Ben's kids, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, joined J Lo's twins, Max and Emme, for a show at The Magic Castle in Hollywood. Ben's mom also went along for the ride.

The scene was very, very "Brady Bunch" as J Lo wrangled the kids into the limo.

It wasn't the first time they all got together. On Friday night, they hit the town again, taking the trek to Hollywood's Pantages Theatre to see "Hamilton." Ben and Jen had their arms wrapped around each other and were kissing during the performance.

Ben especially had a full day with the kids. Earlier on Friday, he took them to the Century City Mall. It's interesting how they all are going out among the crowds and the cameras.

It seems it's only a matter of time before they move in together, and it seems that's precisely their plan. They've been looking at mega-expensive homes in the L.A. area, and Jen's been looking at schools for her kids ... including the school that Seraphina attends.

Brody Jenner welcomed his 38th year of life with fists flying and feet stomping -- and no, we're not talking about moshing ... the dude got attacked while partying.

The third youngest Jenner child was raging in Sin City Friday, apparently having a great time, showing off the trip on social media. That all changed when he hit up OMNIA Nightclub in Caesar's Palace Friday night while Steve Aoki hit the stage.

A witness at the club tells us a random guy rushed Brody and his friends in a VIP section, with Brody the target ... locking him in a headlock. Brody, his crew and security fought the guy off, and eventually got him on the ground.

You can see in our video, Brody gets a good foot-stomp on the guy before the two are finally separated.

Don Everly, the last remaining member of The Everly Brothers -- the duo that had a profound influence on numerous groups including The Beatles -- has died.

Don passed away Saturday at his home in Nashville. The cause of death is not yet known.

The Everly Brothers had a string of huge hits, beginning with "Bye Bye Love" in 1957, and then "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "When Will I Be Loved," "Wake Up Little Susie," "Cathy's Clown," and more.

Don and Phil had flawless harmony, and it not only resonated with consumers, it became a template for numerous bands and groups, including The Beatles, The Mamas and the Papas,  Simon and Garfunkel, the Hollies, and more.

Phil died in 2014 of pulmonary disease.

The Everly Bros. toured with the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and many other early rockers who cemented the genre.

The duo was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame back in 1986 ... well deserved.

His family said, "Don lived by what he felt in his heart. Don expressed his appreciation for the ability to live his dreams … with his soulmate and wife, Adela, and sharing the music that made him an Everly Brother."

Don is survived by his wife, his mother and his 4 children.

He was 84.

Donald Trump can say just about anything to his base and they will cheer ... anything, with one big exception -- urging folks to get the vaccine.

Trump was booed -- yes booed -- during a rally in Cullman, Alabama Saturday night, after urging the crowd to get the COVID shot. "I believe totally in your freedoms," he said. "I do, you gotta do what you gotta do, but I recommend taking the vaccines. I did it. It's good."  You'd think he just told them to surrender their guns, because the crowd turned on him.

"That's okay, that's alright," Trump said, pressing on. "But I happen to take the vaccine. If it doesn't work, you'll be the first to know. But it is working. You do have your freedoms, you have to maintain that."

And, there's more. Trump has bragged in the past about his "good relationship" with the Taliban.

At the rally, Trump praised the Taliban as "great negotiators" and "tough fighters." He also said, “with me in office the Taliban would not have ever dreamt of capturing our airfield or parading around with our American weapons.”

He even suggested we might send our troops back to Afghanistan ... curious, since he's the one who set the wheels in motion for the withdrawal.

A husband was not down with his wife allegedly hectoring a Black couple -- berating her in front of them ... but there may be more to the story here than meets the eye, in a bad way.

Check out this wild confrontation that was apparently shot a couple months ago at a gas station somewhere, at which an apparent husband and wife got into a shouting match/scuffle on camera ... all in front of a Black man and woman who were filming.

It's unclear what exactly led up to this ... but you can see the hubby scolding his gal loudly for what sounds like some trouble she may have been giving the bystanders, seemingly over race. It gets pretty heated here -- the guy demands she get in the car and leave them alone.

The woman is defiant ... refusing to cooperate, and at one point -- calling the Black couple drug dealers. To that, the man asks ... why, 'cause they drive a Buick??? It's crazy.

Now, it appears there was a battle going on between these 2 even before whatever run-in the woman might've had with the couple ... because there's the first part to this encounter, and it's pretty ugly. The man and woman are seen physically fighting, and come to blows.

Tarek El Moussa's so perturbed about word of his on-set eruption on his "Flip or Flop" costar getting out, he's gone to Herculean lengths to make sure it doesn't happen on his own show ... by eliminating any potential rats.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Tarek's team went to the production company after we posted our story about him flipping out on his ex-wife, Christina Haack, and demanded that any crew member who was working on "Flip or Flop" that day be removed from the staff of his spin-off series, 'Flipping 101.'

We're told Tarek was pissed because he believes someone on that crew leaked the story about him going off on Christina, and the production company -- which produces the show and "Christina on the Coast" -- shifted some workers around to accommodate his demand.

However, a source close to Tarek tells us the crew change request was more about wanting a group that is excited for him and his fiancee, Heather Rae Young ... and one the couple can trust to not leak any upcoming wedding spoilers.

As we told you ... Tarek was accused of yelling at Christina on set last month after she signaled it was time to begin filming, and allegedly it wasn't the first time he'd done this.

A source close to Tarek claimed his anger toward his ex-wife stemmed from her recent admission she smoked toad venom ... and he was concerned about what else she was doing around their kids.