Francis Ngannou said that meeting Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year helped him secure a big-money deal to fight Tyson Fury.
Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, had been released from his promotional contract and was seen spending time with Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo had recently joined Al-Nassr in Riyadh, and Ngannou was visiting for an undisclosed reason. Their meeting helped Ngannou break the ice with Saudi Arabian officials.
Ngannou and Ronaldo took pictures together and shared them on Instagram, showing them laughing together. A few months later, negotiations began between Ngannou and Saudi Arabian officials, resulting in a confirmed deal for a crossover fight.
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Asked yesterday if the relationship started on that trip, Ngannou told The MMA Hour: “Yes, that’s where it started in that moment.”
Ronaldo has spent time around both he and Conor McGregor and was also seen in attendance at Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury in Diriyah a few weeks after the meeting.
“We had a good talk. He told me that Saudi [Arabia] is the future,” Ngannou said during an interview at the time.
“A lot of people don’t understand now but they are changing really fast, it’s moving really fast. And that’s even what I feel personally, that was my feeling when I get there.