"He knows my story" - Francis Ngannou discusses his first meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia post-UFC departure
Francis Ngannou recollected his first time meeting Cristiano Ronaldo and how it changed the way he viewed him, not just as a person, but as an athlete.
The UFC star was in Saudi Arabia in January this year, shortly after he announced that he was parting ways with the organization. While in Riyadh, he had an unexpected encounter with one of the greatest football players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo.
'The Predator' met Ronaldo, who had himself just made a big change by signing with Al-Nassr, a Saudi Arabian football club. Here's what he said about the encounter in an interview with Shannon Sharpe:
"I wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo says, 'Hey who is this?'. I wouldn't be surprised that he didn't know me right? And then he come like, hey what's up champ and started to talk. And I found out that he knows a lot about me, he knows my story, he knows my fights, he was giving me details about the fights, like how I fight this guy."
Francis Ngannou went on to state that he spoke to Cristiano Ronaldo for around 40 minutes and they discussed a lot of topics. The Al-Nassr star revealed why he joined the club and decided to move to Saudi Arabia and Ngannou was fascinated when he got to understand him.
Take a look at the video (Quotes from 26:23 onwards):
Francis Ngannou says he would fight Deontay Wilder in MMA
Francis Ngannou is the most dangerous knockout artist the UFC has ever seen. All he needed was one punch to change the tide of a fight, much like Deontay Wilder.
The American possesses the same one-punch knockout power that Ngannou does. Shannon Sharpe asked him if he would fight 'The Bronze Bomber in a boxing match, and he responded saying:
"Of course, even before this Tyson (Fury) fight, we were talking with him. He's also willing to fight me in MMA."
'The Predator' also went on to explain why Deontay Wilder would be dangerous in an MMA fight even though he has no experience. He spoke about Wilder's power and how he needs just one punch to land to end a fight.
In the same interview, Ngannou also went on to say that he is willing to fight Anthony Joshua, be it in the boxing ring or in the MMA cage.
Take a look at the video: