Cristiano Ronaldo: “He’s doing side missions now”

Modified at 10:30 GMT on October 5, 2023

Francis Ngannou is scheduled to face Tyson Fury in arguably the biggest fight of his life. The boxing match between the two will take place on October 28 at the Diriyah Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The hype for this fight was so great that it almost eclipsed all the boxing matches this month.

To capitalize on interest in the game, the promoters behind it have filmed a promotional film starring arguably the most famous man on the planet, Cristiano Ronaldo. The football legend was daydreaming about the upcoming Francis Ngannou vs. Francis Ngannou match. Tyson Fury fights at pre-fight press conference.

The former UFC heavyweight champion has previously been photographed with Ronaldo, whose ties to Saudi Arabia are evident from his time leading football club Al Nassr in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Meanwhile, this is Francis Ngannou’s first fight on Saudi Arabian soil.

In what promises to be one of the biggest fights of the year, Ronaldo’s appearance in the promo sparked numerous reactions on X/Twitter. One fan saw this as evidence of the Portuguese’s influence outside football:

“Influencing things beyond football”

Another fan simply expressed his surprise:

“Wow”

Another fan noted that the promo was one of Ronaldo’s extracurricular activities, which he has been doing more and more since achieving most of his football goals:

“He’s on a side mission right now.”

Meanwhile, one fan claimed Ronaldo leads much of Saudi Arabia’s sporting activities:

‘Brothers are leading sports in Saudi Arabia’

Here’s a collage of fan reactions:

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When did Francis Ngannou get into boxing?

While Francis Ngannou is famous for his mixed martial arts (MMA) achievements and recording some of the most powerful punches in human history, he had never actually boxed before. At least, he never fought professionally. Instead, all of his boxing fights have been in mixed martial arts (MMA), a completely different sport.

However, Ngannou’s original dream was boxing. He first began pursuing MMA on the initial recommendation of former coach Fernand Lopez. Although he tried his best to get a boxing match while under contract with the UFC, it failed to materialize, but he eventually did after signing with the PFL.