Tyson Fury v Francis Ngannou: Tale of the tape
Francis Ngannou has revealed that he received fighting and career advice from Cristiano Ronaldo when the pair met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier in the year. The former UFC heavyweight detailed his conversation with the Al-Nassr striker, with Ronaldo admitting that he is a “big fan” of the MMA star ahead of his fight with Tyson Fury this weekend.
Ngannou and Ronaldo met back in January, which saw both athletes post pictures of themselves together via their respective social media accounts. Almost a year on from the meeting, the 37-year-old fighter has spoken out about how the pair met and what was said.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of his upcoming bout against British heavyweight boxer Fury, Ngannou revealed that he was star-struck by the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. “We were sitting at the Four Seasons hotel which is where he was living at the time,” Ngannou said.
The fighter, who is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), revealed that he was introduced to Ronaldo through a friend, but didn’t believe Ronaldo actually wanted to see him. “I’m like ‘I hope this guy’s not messing with me,’ and then we went up there and saw Cristiano and he was basically waiting on us.
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“I was quite surprised because it’s Cristiano right? But we shake hands, we greet each other like ‘Hey, what’s up?’ And he was very cool. We started to talk about stuff, [he was] telling me about my career, the fight against Ciryl Gane and that he knows a lot of things about me.
“I was looking like ‘Ok, this is Cristiano Ronaldo right? Yes, it’s him.’ He was telling me stuff about me, how him and his family watched my fights at 4 a.m. and I’m like ‘Man!'”
Ngannou went on to reveal that he wouldn’t be surprised if Ronaldo didn’t recognize him, but added that the pair continued talking for 30/40 minutes by the pool. “He was giving me advice, telling me what to do, telling me about Saudi and the reason why he moved to Saudi” he added.
“I was like ‘Damn, this is real.’ I hope that people will believe this is true,” he joked.
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Ngannou has since revealed that Ronaldo has gifted him with a watch worth ยฃ87,000 via a post on his Instagram account. The bejeweled watch was presented in a CR7 box ahead of his heavyweight boxing bout on Saturday.
The MMA star will fight against undefeated WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in Riydah, having enlisted the help of boxing legend Mike Tyson as his coach. The pair will touch gloves in an exhibition bout that won’t count towards each other’s records.
Ngannou comes into the bout having last fought back in January 2022 where he defeated Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision – his last under contract at UFC. Fury’s last fight also resulted in a win where he beat Dereck Chisora via TKO in the pair’s trilogy fight.
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