Khabib Nurmagomedov claims that Cristiano Ronaldo would have become a UFC champion had he been born in his native Dagestan.
Ronaldo is considered one of the best soccer players in history after having scored a great success with Manchester United, Real Madrid, the Portuguese team and now Juventus.
Instagram / @cristiano
Ronaldo and Khabib are good friends
But former UFC star Khabib acknowledges that the Portugal captain would have had a different career path, inside the Octagon, had he been born in his native Russian province.
In an Instagram post of himself at the Camp Nou while watching Kylian Mbappé tear Barcelona apart in the Champions League earlier this week, Khabib wrote: “I have loved football since my childhood and always dreamed of becoming a footballer.
“But I was born in Dagestan and you know each other, what is the priority.
“Who knows, maybe if Cristiano Ronaldo had been born in Dagestan, he would also have become a UFC champion.
“I want to say that soccer is a sport and I became a fighter by accident. I’m kidding, not by accident.
“I will tell you sometime, about my own childhood obsession with soccer and how sitting in class in sixth grade I wrote in my notebook 200 soccer names (then there was no Internet).
“I was pleased to be in this legendary stadium and see such a battle in real life.”
Khabib retired from mixed martial arts after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last October.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov signed his UFC career with a second-round submission from Gaethje last October.
And the 32-year-old has hopes of becoming a professional footballer one day.
He told Match TV: “Playing soccer at a professional level is a childhood dream.
“Of course, I have that wish. Soccer is the king of sports after all.
“Who have I not talked to about this? I have even spoken with the president of UEFA Aleksander Ceferin, with the owner of PSG [Tamim bin Hamad Al Than], yes and even with Cristiano Ronaldo ”.
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