"He's doing side quests now" - Cristiano Ronaldo ignites fan frenzy with unexpected cameo in Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou promo

Francis Ngannou is scheduled to face Tyson Fury in, arguably, the biggest fight of his life. The pair's boxing match will take on October 28 in the Diriyah Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The hype for the fight is such that the bout has eclipsed nearly every boxing match for the month.

To capitalize on the interest in the matchup, the promoters behind it have filmed a promo featuring, arguably, the most famous man on the planet, Cristiano Ronaldo. The football legend is depicted daydreaming about the upcoming Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury fight during a pre-game press conference.

The former UFC heavyweight champion has previously taken part in a photo-op with Ronaldo, whose ties with Saudi Arabia are evident by his role as the leading player in Al Nassr, a football club based in the country's capital of Riyadh. Meanwhile, this is Francis Ngannou's first fight on Saudi Arabian soil.

It promises to be one of the biggest fights of the year, and Ronaldo's appearance in the promo drew countless reactions on X/Twitter. One fan referenced this as evidence of the Portuguese's influence beyond the footballing world:

"Influencing outside football"

Another fan simply expressed their astonishment over it:

"Wow"

Another fan pointed out that the promo is one of Ronaldo's extra-curricular activities, of which he's been doing more and more ever since accomplishing most of his football-based goals:

"He’s doing side quests now."

Meanwhile, one fan claimed that Ronaldo spearheaded most of Saudi Arabia's sports-based activities:

"Bro is leading the sports activities in saudi arabia"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions

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When did Francis Ngannou start boxing?

While Francis Ngannou is better-known for his MMA exploits and recording the hardest punch in human history, he has never actually boxed before. At the very least, he has never boxed professionally. Instead, all of his boxing has been done in MMA, an entirely different sport.

However, Ngannou's initial dream was boxing. He only pursued MMA based on the initial recommendation of his former coach Fernand Lopez. Despite his best attempts to secure a boxing match while under contract with the UFC, it was to no avail, but he eventually succeeded after signing with the PFL.