Francis Ngannou makes the most of Cristiano Ronaldo meeting ahead of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2
Yesterday at 03:03 PM
Francis Ngannou made sure he walked away with some souvenirs from his latest meeting with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
The PFL Super Fights heavyweight champion is currently in Saudi Arabia to watch his former boxing opponent, Tyson Fury, take on Oleksandr Usyk in a three-belt rematch at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena on Saturday night.
Francis Ngannou has built something of a friendship with the massive MMA fan, who relocated to the Middle East in January 2023 after agreeing to leave Manchester United for Saudi Pro League sideAl Nassr.
Cristiano Ronaldo invited ‘The Predator’ to his home ahead of Usyk vs Fury 2. The two men shared some food before ‘CR7’ signed some soccer shirts for the former UFC heavyweight champion.
Francis Ngannou helps Cristiano Ronaldo sign shirts
On Saturday night, Ngannou shared a video of him and Ronaldo with his 7.1million Instagram followers.
It showed him holding shirts while his football friend signed memorabilia the Cameroonian KO artist plans to add to his collection.
“Getting some collectibles for my collection from the man himself, @cristiano. Thank you brother for dinner,” Ngannou captioned the post.
Ngannou’s comment section was flooded by fans who were a mixture of excited for him and jealous of him.
The two men are expected to be sitting ringside when the first bell rings for Usyk’s rematch with Fury.
Ngannou isn’t counting an upset, but he’s backing Usyk to get a repeat result against the man he beat by a split decision in May.
“With what I saw last time I think it's really hard to have a different result," Ngannou told talkSPORT.
"Yeah, I mean, it might not be a knockout or something, but I think Usyk has a very slick (style). But don't count Tyson out.
"I think he has good body work, good movement. He definitely doesn't look like he can move very well, but he's very athletic and then very fluid with his punches, fast. I mean he's a much bigger guy than Usyk.
"I hope this time he doesn't get surprised and start trying to press or not get pressed like the last time.
Francis Ngannou done chasing Jon Jones fight
A cross-promotion clash between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones is on every MMA fan’s Christmas list this year.
However, it seems highly unlikely that the UFC and Dana White will do business with their biggest rival, PFL.
When recently asked about the potential clash by Seconds Out, Ngannou replied: "It's been four years that I've been saying it; I'm confused that people keep asking me this question."
At this point, the interviewer pushed the matter, asking whether there's any chance whatsoever we could see the bout, to which the fighter, raged: "That's not my problem, I don't care about it anymore. If it happens, yes, if it doesn't, f**k it."
Jones is expected to face interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall at some point in 2025.
It seems that we may never see him square off against Ngannou inside the MMA cage.
