5 legendary footballers who are big MMA fans

2) Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not just an MMA fan but an ardent practitioner of Taekwondo himself. His prolific performances on the football pitch are often credited to his Taekwondo training which gives him the athletic ability and natural flexibility to score unbelievable goals. Ibrahimovic, who is a black belt in Taekwondo, regularly follows the UFC and likes to watch Khabib Nurmagomedov fight.

Ahead of Nurmagomedov's UFC 229 headliner against McGregor, Ibrahimovic predicted that the Russian would win the fight and that's what happened. Following Nurmagomedov's retirement last year, the Swede sent him a heartfelt message:

"If you feel young, you are young. If you train hard, you train hard. And if you know you're better than everybody, you're better than everybody. The you just have to do it. People talk when you're number one. They just want to find something to go against you. It's always the same s*it," Ibrahimovic told Nurmagomedov.

1) Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo with Khabib Nurmagomedov

Arguably the greatest footballer on the planet, Cristiano Ronaldo is a huge MMA fan. Ronaldo has also personally met two of the biggest superstars in UFC - Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.

Ronaldo recently revealed that he doesn't like to watch football matches as much as he enjoys watching combat sports like boxing and MMA. While speaking to boxing champion Gennady Golovkin in the documentary "Parallel Worlds" for DAZN, the Portuguese great said the following:

"Playing football is my passion, but I prefer watching other sports on TV. Between watching a football match or a boxing or UFC fight, I choose boxing or UFC."

He also said that his passion for boxing began when he was playing for Manchester United.

"When I was at Manchester United, a coach boxed with me. I think practicing boxing is useful for football because it sharpens your senses and you learn to move."