‘Of course Khabib is going to win!’: Cristiano Ronaldo backs ‘my brother’ Nurmagomedov to beat Justin Gaethje in huge UFC 254 showdown
- Khabib Nurmagomedov and Cristiano Ronaldo have strong mutual admiration
- Juventus star and UFC lightweight champion met for first time in February 2018
- Ronaldo is backing Khabib to beat Justin Gaethje in main event of UFC 254
- He answered questions on Instagram and said: ‘Of course Khabib is gonna win’
Cristiano Ronaldo is backing Khabib Nurmagomedov to beat Justin Gaethje in the highly-anticipated UFC 254 showdown.
The lightweight title fight is grabbing attention all over the globe and even the Juventus striker is among those counting the hours until Saturday night.
On an Instagram Live Q&A session, Ronaldo said: ‘Of course, of course Khabib is going to win, my brother. Inshallah. Siuuuuu.’
Cristiano Ronaldo is backing Khabib Nurmagomedov to beat Justin Gaethje at UFC 254
Khabib and Ronaldo have a mutual admiration after the pair first crossed paths in February 2018.
The two legends of their respective sports share similar unrelenting dedication and commitment to improve and Ronaldo previously gave the undefeated champion a Real shirt with ‘Khabib’ on the back when he was still plying his trade in the Spanish capital.
Ronaldo is self-isolating in Turin at the moment after testing positive for coronavirus on international duty and clearly has plenty of time on his hands.
The Portuguese Football Federation announced that Ronaldo was ‘doing well, without symptoms and in isolation’. The rest of the Portugal squad all returned negative results
Ronaldo first met Khabib when he was at Real Madrid and he gave him a shirt
Khabib is 28-0 but many feel Gaethje is the greatest test of his championship reign so far
He was answering a number of questions from fans when one asked about his thoughts ahead of UFC 254.
The 35-year-old’s loyalties lie with Khabib, but the champion faces arguably the toughest test of his career so far.
Gaethje is thought by many to possess the perfect style to counter Khabib’s oppressive wrestling game and the American has plenty of weapons if he manages to keep the fight standing.
The interim champion earned a shot at the 155-pound king with his dominant victory over Tony Ferguson back in May.
But Khabib remains strong favourite with bookmakers to retain his belt at around 3/10.
Gaethje claimed the interim belt with a win over Tony Ferguson to earn a shot at the champion