Bellator lightweight Chris Gonzalez opens up about receiving a Cameo from Ric Flair and later meeting him at an airport

Bellator lightweight Chris Gonzalez opened up about his interaction with 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair after receiving a Cameo video message from the WWE Hall of Famer and later meeting him at an airport.

Gonzalez received the video prior to his most recent bout against reigning Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov. While speaking to Fired Up Network, he mentioned that he has been a longtime fan of the pro wrestling legend:

"It was awesome just to have that message from a legend like Ric {Flair}. I think they sent it to me at like 7 in the morning. I was walking my dogs and, you know, I got it and it just added a little bit of fuel to the day, got me motivated, kinda got the blood flowing. It was tight."

While speaking with Bellator lightweight @cgzdream, he talked about receiving a cameo message from @RicFlairNatrBoy ahead of his fight last year and meeting him at an airport 🎙

📺 youtu.be/f9CaXuoiMgY
#bellator290 @firedupnet https://t.co/3S5MbEJZSZ

'The Lion' also revealed that he met 'Slick Ric' last month at an airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. He mentioned that Flair sat next to him at a restaurant in the airport and that he had a great interaction with him, saying:

"I had a layover in Vegas and I don't know if he was boarding his flight or had a layover too but I was just grabbing some food and he sat right next to me at this restaurant. And I actually got to play the Cameo for him...I grew up watching him do his thing, so it's a once in a lifetime type of thing that happened, so it was pretty cool."

Gonzalez will be looking to rebound from his loss to Nurmagomedov as he takes on Max Rohskopf on the prelims portion of Bellator 290 tomorrow night.

Check out the full interview:

Chris Gonzalez looking to bounce back in Bellator lightweight division

Chris Gonzalez vs. Max Rohskopf has been added to #Bellator290, I have confirmed. https://t.co/1YiLFVKflR

Chris Gonzalez has not shied away from fighting the top fighters in Bellator despite his record. In the past two years, he has fought No.5 ranked welterweight Goiti Yamauchi and most recently fought reigning lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.

'The Lion' will be competing for the first time since the loss to the lightweight champion and will look to make a statement against Max Rohskopf at Bellator 290. During the afformentioned interview, he spoke about the promotion's upcoming lightweight Grand Prix and mentioned that he was to remain active and stay ready in case there's a need for a replacement:

"I got in contact with the people I needed to get in contact with on the Bellator side and let them know that I'll stay ready, I'll be ready to be a fill-in. Injuries happen, I think it happened throughout each Grand Prix so far...See how the cards fall and maybe I'll get an opportunity to slide in there and make some noise." [6:54 - 7:26]