CONOR MCGREGOR is set to be reunited with Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
The eyes of the sporting world will be firmly fixed on Riyadh on Saturday night when WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury takes on Francis Ngannou in a controversial crossover clash.
Tyson Fury throws down with Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Saturday nightCredit: GETTY
Footie icon Cristiano Ronaldo will be in attendance to watch pal Ngannou in actionCredit: TWITTER@FRANCISNGANNOU
UFC superstar Conor McGregor will also be in attendance for the Riyadh rumbleCredit: PA
A slew of celebs will be in attendance for the Saudi showdown – including Al-Nassr and Portugal star Ronaldo.
And the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be joined by UFC poster boy McGregor, who announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he’s jetting over to the Kingdom today to attend the fight.
He wrote: “Just getting on to announce I will be heading to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia early AM tomorrow for the big heavyweight blockbuster fight between boxer Tyson Fury and mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou – crossover boxing.
“MMA ventures over to boxing once again, and this time in the Kingdom and this time with the heavyweights.
“So excited to be there, can’t wait to touch down in Saudi Arabia, see what the country has to offer.
“And I appreciate the invite sincerely. I’m looking forward to it so much.”
Ronaldo’s attendance at the fight was revealed on Thursday by former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou on X.
Alongside pictures of himself and Ronaldo after Al-Nassr’s 4-3 win over Al-Duhail earlier this week, he wrote: “Great to see you this week my brother @Cristiano.
“And thank you for inviting me and my family out to @AlNassrFC game. See you Saturday #FuryNgannou.”
McGregor and Ronaldo, 35 and 38 respectively, are no strangers to one another, having met in the summer of 2016.
Fan favourite Ronaldo dropped in on the Irishman’s 2016 training camp for his UFC 202 rematch with Nate Diaz.
MMA man-mountain Ngannou will look to go one better than McGregor did in his 2017 crossover clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr and pull off one of the great sporting upsets and hand Fury his first professional loss.
And The Notorious is refusing to rule out his chances of shocking the world in the desert dust-up.
He said: “I’d like to talk about the bout.
“Great bout, interesting bout. Francis Ngannou for me is more of a kickboxer/boxer than he is a mixed martial artist, in my opinion.
Conor McGregor is set for a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo at the fightCredit: THE MAC LIFE
The pair met one another in the summer of 2016 in Las VegasCredit: INSTAGRAM@CRISTIANO
“You start throwing in grappling with Francis, it’s never good for him.
“He has a striker’s mentality. He has a tall ask with Tyson Fury, but any man can land a shot.
“I’m excited to see it unfold. Tyson looks great in the build-up, fast, light, elusive.
“It could be a seriously stellar performance from Tyson Fury here.
“What’s the variables in this? The Mike Tyson variable is very interesting in Francis Ngannou’s corner.
“Francis has power, Francis has big power.
“With that power, anything can happen. I don’t think Tyson’s going to want to let Francis test his power on him.”
