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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.
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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."
