FRANCIS NGANNOU has caught up with Cristiano Ronaldo just days before the biggest game of his career.
“The Predator” will take on WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia this week, with whom he will face off in a controversial crossover showdown on Saturday night.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou has been in Saudi Arabia for the past two weeks preparing for the biggest moment of his combat sports career.
He ended up meeting familiar faces Al Nasser and Portuguese ace Ronaldo after the Saudis beat Al Duhail 4-3 on Wednesday.
The MMA mountaineer shared a series of photos of himself and Ronaldo on his X and Instagram accounts, with Ronaldo also posing with his mother and brother.
His caption read: “Nice to meet you this week, my brother @Cristiano.
“Thank you for inviting me and my family to watch @AlNassrFC play.”
Ngannou, 36, later confirmed that former Manchester United star and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo would attend the match.
He continued: “See you on Saturday #FuryNgannou.”
Ngannou and Ronaldo are no strangers to each other, having met at the Kingdom in January.
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PFL fighter Ngannou’s recently appointed Ronnie played a major role in his fight with Fury.
The Cameroonian club member recalled their meeting on The MMA Hour, saying: “Yeah, that’s where that moment started.”
In a separate interview with TMZ, he said: “We had a great chat. He told me that Saudi Arabia is the future.”
“A lot of people don’t understand it now, but they’re changing very quickly, very quickly.
“That’s even my personal feeling, that’s how I felt when I got there.
“This was my first time in Saudi Arabia and I didn’t really know how to express myself, how to express myself.
“But I got there and everything was cool.
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“It’s just like normal life. It’s cool, man.”
Ngannou went into his professional boxing debut as a huge underdog, despite trainer and boxing legend Mike Tyson’s belief that he could shock the world and defeat the Gypsy King.
He told the Daily Mail: “I’m helping Ngannou.
“I’m learning what he can do. He can do a lot more than I expected.
“He has the ability to knock down anyone or anything that comes in his way.
“Once he punches Tyson Fury in the chin, he knocks him out too.
“No one survived.”