Football star Cristiano Ronaldo caught up with UFC fighter Shara Magomedov before Saturday’s huge fight night in Riyadh.
Sharaputdin Magomedov, one of the headline UFC draws at the upcoming Fight Night 250 in Saudi Arabia this weekend, met football legend Cristiano Ronaldo at the Al-Nassr team’s training ground in Riyadh.
Magomedov, from Russia, is a lifelong fan of the Portuguese player and in a video posted on the social media platform X, the two made a photo opportunity and were seen to be playfully jabbing and wrestling with each other on the training pitch on Wednesday.
Ronaldo also presented the 30-year-old fighter with a signed Al-Nassr football jersey featuring Magomedov’s name.
A special visitor today at AlNassr! Sharaputdin Magomedov bringing his champion spirit 💪💛 pic.twitter.com/LPiCnuwZ82
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) January 29, 2025
Ronaldo, known to be a big fan of boxing and MMA, will be in attendance at the ANB Arena in Riyadh on Saturday to support Magomedov, the Dagestani fighter said at the UFC Fight Night 250 media day.
“I met the entire team, and I also met Cristiano Ronaldo, and we talked for about a half hour,” Magomedov said on Wednesday.
“He knows a lot about the UFC, and I can tell he’s very well-versed in the sport. He said he’s going to be coming to the fight and rooting for me. He said I have a lot of potential in the sport and that I’m eventually going to be champion.”
Magomedov, who is unbeaten in his professional UFC career (15-0 MMA, 4-0 in UFC) will face the powerful Michael Page of the United Kingdom in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 250, in what is the most stacked MMA fighter lineup ever to be assembled in the Middle East.
The fight will precede the main event, pitting former two-time UFC champion Israel Adesanya of New Zealand and France’s rising star, Nassourdine Imavov.
