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We've reached the business end of the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020. Fans across the globe are glued to their television sets to catch a glimpse of their favorite football stars in action.
For those who are unaware, undefeated UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov is a huge football/soccer fan and supports Spanish club Real Madrid. Since hanging up his gloves last year, Nurmagomedov seems to be spending a lot of time playing football with his friends and teammates.
Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor is also a football fan and has supported English club Manchester United since his childhood. In many interviews in the past, Conor McGregor has confessed that he initially wanted to become a professional football player before switching to MMA.
Brazilian fighters Jose Aldo and Anderson Silva are also self-confessed football fans and have shown off their skills with the ball on various occasions. Just as a lot of MMA fighters are football fans, there are many popular footballers who don't just follow MMA but also include aspects of the sport in their training regimen.
Most recently, Czech striker Patrik Schick scored a goal against Croatia at the ongoing Euro 2020 and said that his celebration was a tribute to his favorite UFC fighter, Nate Diaz.
"I wanted to look like Nate Diaz, who is usually covered in blood after each fight. I was imitating him," said Schick to reporters after the game.
In this article, we will look at footballers who are big MMA fans and regularly follow the sport.
5) Sergio Ramos
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos sent fans into a frenzy on social media when he asked Conor McGregor to visit him in Spain. Ramos was also seen imitating Conor McGregor's famous 'billionaire strut' while celebrating one of his goals during training. He also asked McGregor what he thought about the celebration.
In response, McGregor shared several video clips of himself shooting at goal in his backyard and asked Ramos what he thought of the Irishman's skills with the ball.
Ramos acknowledged McGregor's football skills were legitimate and went on to invite the Irishman to Real Madrid training the next time he visits Spain.
“Top class mate. Fancy a training session at Real Madrid,” Ramos wrote.
4) Neymar Jr.
Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr. has always been a big MMA fan. In fact, most Brazilian footballers regularly follow MMA. UFC legends Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo, both of whom hail from Brazil, happen to be Neymar's favorite fighters. The footballer also celebrated Floyd Mayweather's TKO victory over Conor McGregor back in 2017.
Jose Aldo once left Neymar red-faced by pulling off an outrageous rainbow flick to dodge the forward in a charity match that took place in Brazil. Neymar is also the only footballer to have hired a UFC fighter to be his bodyguard. In 2017, Neymar hired French UFC fighter Nordine Taleb to protect him after his transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain.
3) Wayne Rooney
Former England forward Wayne Rooney is a huge boxing fan and also follows MMA regularly. In 2018, when British fighter Darren Till took on Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson in Liverpool, Rooney took to Twitter to share his excitement about the fight.
In a recent interview with boxing manager Eddie Hearn, Rooney spoke about how boxing has helped his career.
"I think at a younger age, boxing does more for kids than football does," Rooney said. "It takes kids off the streets and out of situations they may get involved in. It helps you have self discipline, goals to hit and it did it for me. Me being able to play in the Premier League at 16 was down to the training I was doing at boxing. It made me physically ready, otherwise I wouldn't have been physically able to play against the likes of Sol Campbell and Martin Keown. Boxing has also helped me to keep playing now, as I still box if I get injured."
2) Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not just an MMA fan but an ardent practitioner of Taekwondo himself. His prolific performances on the football pitch are often credited to his Taekwondo training which gives him the athletic ability and natural flexibility to score unbelievable goals. Ibrahimovic, who is a black belt in Taekwondo, regularly follows the UFC and likes to watch Khabib Nurmagomedov fight.
Ahead of Nurmagomedov's UFC 229 headliner against McGregor, Ibrahimovic predicted that the Russian would win the fight and that's what happened. Following Nurmagomedov's retirement last year, the Swede sent him a heartfelt message:
"If you feel young, you are young. If you train hard, you train hard. And if you know you're better than everybody, you're better than everybody. The you just have to do it. People talk when you're number one. They just want to find something to go against you. It's always the same s*it," Ibrahimovic told Nurmagomedov.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo
Arguably the greatest footballer on the planet, Cristiano Ronaldo is a huge MMA fan. Ronaldo has also personally met two of the biggest superstars in UFC - Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
Ronaldo recently revealed that he doesn't like to watch football matches as much as he enjoys watching combat sports like boxing and MMA. While speaking to boxing champion Gennady Golovkin in the documentary "Parallel Worlds" for DAZN, the Portuguese great said the following:
"Playing football is my passion, but I prefer watching other sports on TV. Between watching a football match or a boxing or UFC fight, I choose boxing or UFC."
He also said that his passion for boxing began when he was playing for Manchester United.
"When I was at Manchester United, a coach boxed with me. I think practicing boxing is useful for football because it sharpens your senses and you learn to move."
