Prior to UFC 308, Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo was caught offside when he picked Max Holloway to win over Ilia Topuria. Why off side? Well, because ‘El Matador’ didn’t seem to appreciate his pick, and put him on full blast. But it seems like it wasn’t Ronaldo’s fault at all as Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick claims it was him who sowed the seeds of their beef.

During a recent episode of Eric Nicksick’s YouTube podcast, Verse Us with Eric Nicksick, bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili was the guest who mentioned how good Ilia Topuria was when they sparred some time back. That immediately led Nicksick to issue an apology to the Georgian-Spaniard on behalf of Cristiano Ronaldo for making the wrong choice.

“Ilia, I’m sorry that I picked Max [Holloway] in front of [Cristiano] Ronaldo. Poor Ronaldo is taking heat from Ilia. That was my fault. My bad,” Erick Nicksick stated. “He’s like, ‘Who do you got in the fight?’ I was like, ‘I lean, lean; I lean towards Max.'”

Moreover, things really got intense following those comments from Cristiano Ronaldo because Ilia Topuria made his all-important pick between the GOATs ‘Cr7’ and Lionel Messi. On that note, Nicksick’s co-host, Randy, would add, “He was like, ‘Messi forever,'” to which the host responded by apologizing for a second time by saying, “My bad, man.”

The apology might be necessary for Ilia Topuria because he really took Cristiano Ronaldo’s words to heart, and for that, he went on an X-rated rant during an interview. Here’s what the UFC featherweight champion had to say.

Ilia Topuria’s reaction to Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments

‘El Matador’ addressed Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments during an interview with Juanma Castano of El Partidazo Cope, revealing that he did not appreciate the former Real Madrid star claiming he’s all about the trash talk. Claiming that he’s tired of Ronaldo’s (alleged) comments and statements, Ilia Topuria assured that he’d be inviting his legendary rival Lionel Messi for his next fight, while Ronaldo can sit at home.

“I saw a clip where he said that I’m all talk. Cristiano, he always has something to say. I’m going to personally invite Messi because he lives there. I would like to fight the number one contender, who is Charles Oliveira. We have Messi, Ronaldo can f— himself,” said Ilia Topuria. It might have stung the featherweight champion more because Ronaldo is arguably the greatest player of his favorite club, Real Madrid, a club that invited him to wave his hands to the crowd after he won the UFC title.

Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t responded to what Ilia Topuria had to say about his comments as we wait to see if Eric Nicksick’s apology was enough to put an end to the beef between the 39-year-old global soccer star and the UFC champion. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.