Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou recently crossed paths with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and I guess protocol for meeting any popular fighter is to immediately jump into a staredown pose, which I always thought was a little strange. If you met Tom Brady at the local golf tourney, would you immediately collapse into a three-point stance?
Anyway, Ngannou referred to Ronaldo as the G.O.A.T. using the goat emoji on his Twitter post. Maybe “The Predator” really feels that way or perhaps he’s just showing respect, like when someone calls a popular fighter “champ” regardless if they’ve actually won or held any championship titles. Who cares and why does this matter?
Because Lionel Messi fans have stormed the social media castle with pitchforks and torches, irate that Ngannou would dare refer to Ronaldo as the greatest soccer player in the world. And here MMA fans thought they cornered the market on petty arguments about rich athletes who don’t even know they exist. Sadly, this is a universal phenomenon.
Here’s video of their interaction:
— Juan Rockero Albo (@juanrrpp) January 21, 2023
Ngannou, 36, was released from his UFC contract earlier this month and is free to sign wherever he chooses. Boxing frenemy Tyson Fury is teasing a potential showdown and “The Predator” has been name-dropped by rival MMA promotions like Bellator MMA and Professional Fighters League (PFL), but nothing is official at this time.