“I’ve always loved I guess combat sports,” Daniel Ricciardo told British Sports presenter Layla Ann-Lee in an Instagram Live in 2020. 2 years later, in 2022, he found himself throwing hands at his McLaren F1 team for letting him down. But more importantly, he got a chance to actually train in a combat sport with MMA fighter, Charles Oliveira. Months after getting the opportunity of a lifetime like that, the Australian racer has now connected with another MMA fighter, Alexander Volkanovski, who is also his compatriot.

Ricciardo is one of the most loved personalities in the Formula 1 paddock. He can make anybody smile with his contagious bubbly energy. That is why he has a lot of bromances with many drivers and other sportspersons too. Volkanovski is one of them. So, when the Australian UFC Featherweight announced the birth of his 3rd daughter, his fellow countryman and AlphaTauri racer was one of the first people to convey his heartfelt congratulations to him.

Volkanovski shared a photo of him, sitting in the hospital room with his newborn daughter in his arms. A sweet smile adorned his face as he captioned the post: “Reign Volkanovski. Baby girl number 3 😍 Long may she reign 🙏 Mummy absolutely smashed it today…love you baby ❤️“. No sooner did he post the photo than came Ricciardo’s comment, saying: “Congratulations mate 🥰” besides the millions of fans who have showered love on Alex’s newborn.

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Seeing a fierce fighter who has put so many rivals to sleep in the ring lighting up with joy with his baby daughter is so heartwarming. Ricciardo, despite having a broken left hand, completed friend duties to congratulate Volkanovski on the newest addition to his family. However, this isn’t the first time that the duo have shared a delightful moment,

Throwback to Daniel Ricciardo hyping Alexander Volkanovski for UFC 266 against Brian Ortega

Australian athletes are famous for their ‘Shoey’ celebration where they drink the celebratory drink like champagne right out of a shoe. In F1, Daniel Ricciardo is known for this iconic celebration. This was some context for the small story that is to follow.

In 2021, Volkanovski was matched with Brian Ortega for the UFC 266 fight. Hyping the former for a win, Ricciardo tweeted: “Volk it’s time mate, We’ve been hanging out for this one. I know you can’t wait to get in there, So looking forward to seeing you do your thing. Relentless pressure, foot on the gas from start to finish. It’s gonna be a good one, we’ve got your mate mate!”

In reply to this, Alex wrote a one-word tweet: “Shoey!!” With such support, the Australian fighter successfully defended his Featherweight title with a 5-round unanimous win over Ortega.

Though he did not do the Shoey celebration after this fight, Volkanovski did it after his win in UFC 273 in 2022. Way to keep the Australian tradition alive.

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