Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo has tried to convince Israel Adesanya to make an early return from his UFC break when both athletes met in Saudi.

The former two-time middleweight champion confirmed plans for a lengthy break from active competition until potentially 2027 at the earliest following his September title loss.

However, on Saturday, Adesanya appeared to have his interested piqued by a planned UFC debut in Saudi Arabia in March of next year and hinted at a potential comeback.

The Nigerian-born fighter was part of the hosts of celebrities and high-profile athletes hosted by the Saudi Arabian organisers and promoters of the blockbuster heavyweight boxing clash between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou.

Adesanya ran into Ronaldo at the event and the two had a wholesome interaction that included the Al Nassr striker urging the UFC star to fight on the upcoming UFC card in the country.

Ronaldo urged ‘The Last Stylebender’ to fight in the recently announced first-ever UFC event in Saudi Arabia in March 2024.

According to Sportskeeda, CR7 claimed to have seen the card and asked why Adesanya was not on it, and ‘Izzy’s attempts at explaining his hiatus fell flat as he embraced the former Real Madrid man and seemed to be open to the idea telling Ronaldo that if he didn’t fight, he would come watch.

Appearing to already backtrack on his hiatus away from the sport of mixed martial arts, Adesanya claimed he was tempted by a potential feature at the fight in Saudi Arabia next year.

“I appreciate the love from greats who recognize the realness!” Israel Adesanya posted on his official X account. “ Saudi Arabia in March… tempting hahaha.”

He had admitted in October that taking on a number of fights over the past year to get the most out of MMA during his career had caught up to him.

“Four fights in the last 14 months, it takes a toll on your body,’ he said, noting that he had seen the doctors and done specialist tests to get himself back ready for fighting.

“I’m just going to take my time to heal, and then when I come back, f**king run for the hills,” the 34-year-old said.

In the 2023/24 season, Nigerian footballers have been making headlines across various leagues, showcasing their exceptional talent and proving themselves as key players for their respective teams. From Serie A to the Premier League, from the Bundesliga to the Saudi Women’s League, these Nigerian athletes have been nothing short of remarkable.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the standout performers who have soared to new heights and are making their marks this season

Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Bundesliga)

Leverkusen’s best signing of the summer and possibly the best signing in Europe beaten perhaps by only Jude Bellingham, Boniface has been in fine form for Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 10 goals in 13 appearances across all competitions.

The most in-form Nigerian in Europe, Boniface has been the most exciting youngster in the Bundesliga, picking up the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month awards for August and September.

Victor Osimhen (Napoli, Serie A)

Osimhen has been in fine form for Napoli, scoring six goals in eight appearances in the Serie A. He has picked up his form from last season when he secured the Italian league golden boot award.

The 24-year-old has forged a reputation as one of Europe’s most exciting strikers after scoring 26 goals in 32 league games last season as Napoli secured their first Serie A title since 1990.

Although, sidelined with an injury he suffered on international duty in a friendly against Saudi Arabia in October, the Nigeria international is still joint-second on the Serie A topscorers list behind only Lautaro Martinez who has scored 11.

Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest, Premier League)

Awoniyi has been a revelation for Nottingham Forest, with five goal contributions in eight appearances in the English Premier League. The 26-year-old has scored three goals and also chipped in with two assists.

Last season, Awoniyi was pivotal as the Tricky Trees avoided relegation scoring 10 goals and providing one assist in 27 appearances. The forward has hit the ground running again this season and is proving to be a valuable asset for Nottingham Forest.

Akor Adams (Montpellier Herault, Ligue 1)

Adams has been a standout performer for Montpellier Herault and has hit the ground running in Ligue 1 since his €4.5m move from Lillestrom in the summer.

With seven goals in 10 league appearances, the former Nigeria U-20 striker is second only to France captain, Kylian Mbappe, who comfortably sits at the top of the scoring chart with 10 goals from nine appearances.

With Nigeria initiating their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers next month, against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and star striker Osimhen recovering from an injury, there is a possibility for Adams to receive his first call-up from Eagles coach Jose Peseiro.

Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, Championship)

Ndidi has been a consistent performer for Leicester City, playing a crucial role in the team’s midfield. Playing in a more advanced No.8 role under Enzo Maresca has seen the Nigerian midfielder become more of a creative force for the Foxes.

After 12 league games this season, Ndidi has contributed four goals (three assists and a goal) for the Foxes. Only Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Kelechi Iheanacho, Jamie Vardy and Kasey McAteer have more goal contributions than the former Genk midfielder this season.

In the EFL Cup, Ndidi also contributed to three goals in three games with two goals and one assist.

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, Championship)

Iheanacho has been in fine form for Leicester City, scoring six goals in 17 appearances across all competitions. He has also contributed two assists and has been a key player for the team.

Last season, Iheanacho scored five goals and provided five assists in 28 appearances in the Premier League as the Foxes were relegated. However, he has been a bright spark in the team leading their return to the English topflight.

Moses Simon (Nantes FC, Ligue 1)

Simon has been a key player for FC Nantes this season, with two goals and five assists in 10 appearances in the French Ligue 1. The 28-year-old was named Nantes’ Player of the Month for October after he won a vote by the fans of the Canaries.

With 39.67% of the votes, Simon saw off competition from Florent Mollet (28.6%), Pedro Chirivella (20.75%) and Marcus Coco ((10.98%).) to claim Nantes’ Player of the Month prize.

According to stats from the official website of the Ligue 1,  Simon has notched five assists in 805 minutes of action, the best in the French top flight this term, together with Florian Sotoca (Lens) and Caio Henrique (Monaco).

Gift Orban (Gent, Belgian First Division A)

Orban has been impressive for Gent, scoring seven goals in 17 appearances in the Belgian Pro League and has been nominated in the Young Player of the Year category of the upcoming CAF Awards.

The 21-year-old forward joined the Buffalos from Norwegian lower-tier side Stabaek in January, and he has been a revelation since then. Orban has registered 27 goals and two assists in 38 games for Gent.

Alex Iwobi (Fulham, Premier League)

Iwobi has been a consistent performer for Fulham, playing a crucial role in the team’s midfield. He has made nine appearances in the Premier League this season with two for Everton before his deadline day move to the Coattagers.

Iwobi has shown bright sparks with his dribbling and aggressive ball-carrying and has also found the back of the net once in two Carabao Cup appearances.

Tobias Lawal (LASK, Austrian Bundesliga)

Lawal has been very impressive for his Austrian Bundelisga side, LASK. Despite not having the best of protection in defence, Lawal has kept six clean sheets while conceding only seven goals from 12 games.

The 23-year-old stands at 1.95m with great agility, command in the air and the ability to use his feet very well. These strengths came to the fore in a 3-1 Europa League loss to Liverpool where he had a very decent showing.

Noah Atubolu (Freiburg, Bundesliga)

Atubolu has been a consistent performer for Freiburg, playing a crucial role as the number one shotstopper. Overall he’s featured in 12 matches this season, conceding 19 goals and keeping four clean sheets.

Bundesliga.com hints at similarities between the up-and-coming goalie with Germany great Manuel Neuer.

“We’re not saying the Freiburg youngster is the ‘next Manuel Neuer’ — the Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper-revolutionary is arguably the game’s greatest-ever in his position — but there are some similarities,” the website stated.

Ashleigh Plumptre (Al-Ittihad, Saudi Women’s League)

Plumptre has been a standout performer for Al-Ittihad as one of the best players in the defence for the Saudi side.

She began her Ittihad career in stunning style, scoring a hat-trick on debut against Dammam’s Eastern Flames FC. Three games into the season, Ittihad sit top of the eight-team table after drawing their second match 2-2 with Al Qadsiah and winning their third game on Friday 1-0 over Al Shabab.

She became the fourth Nigerian to score a hat-trick in Saudi after Rashidi Yekini, Ahmed Musa, and Odion Ighalo.

Michelle Alozie (Houston Dash, NWSL)

Alozie has been in superb form for Houston Dash, scoring four goals in 17 appearances in the National Women’s Soccer League. She has also contributed one assist and has been a key player for the team.

Alozie’s talents took centre stage at 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The 26-year-old was part of a Nigerian team that defeated Australia and outplayed finalists England in the round of 16 stage though they eventually lost on penalties to the Three Lionesses.

Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC, Division 1 Feminine)

Nnadozie has been one of the shining stars for Paris FC in goal making penalty saves across all competitions. She has made five appearances in Division 1 Feminine this season and has saved three penalties this season.

In October, Nnnadozie helped Paris FC make history after guiding them to the group stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time with an impressive performance to knock out last season’s runners-up Wolfsburg 2-0.

The 22-year-old shots-stopper denied Dominique Janssen from the spot as the French side held on to the win.

In September also, in the first round of the playoffs, Nnadozie also superbly stopped two spot kicks in the shootout win against Arsenal.

Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico de Madrid, Primera Division)

Ajibade has been in fine form for Atletico de Madrid and the Nigeria national team. Ajibade captained the Super Falcons over the two legs of the Olympic qualifiers against Ethiopia, and she did not disappoint.

The 23-year-old scored the equaliser to earn Nigeria a 1-1 draw in the first leg. She then scored a brace in the second leg to secure a 4-0 win as Nigeria advanced in the qualifiers.

In August, Ajibade was also pivotal as Atletico Madrid beat AC Milan Feminine 1-0 to emerge victorious in the Women’s Cup final. Ajibade provided the crucial assist to Santos in added time, who clinched the title for Atletico Madrid.

Novak Djokovic rallied to defeat Andrey Rublev 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 in a gripping Paris Masters semi-final on Saturday, earning a shot at a record-extending seventh title in the final against Grigor Dimitrov.

The world number one relied on his unflinching powers of recovery to work his way back from a set down before sealing victory when fifth seed Rublev doubled-faulted on match point.

“Rublev was suffocating me like a snake suffocates a frog for most of the match,” said Djokovic.

“He was playing an extremely high level that he possesses, but today he was off the charts, honestly. I don’t think I’ve ever faced Rublev this good.”

Djokovic remains undefeated in nine semi-final appearances at Bercy and stretched his winning run to 17 matches — a streak which includes his record-tying 24th Grand Slam title at the US Open.

His only defeat in his last 31 matches was a five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, which ruined his bid for a calendar Grand Slam.

Djokovic broke to start the match only for Rublev to hit back the next game, drawing a loose backhand from the Serbian at the end of a lengthy rally.

The top seed produced some clutch serving to escape a 0-40 hole to hold for 4-4, but Rublev took his next opportunity with Djokovic trying to stay in the set.

Rublev punished a weak second serve to bring up set point, and he soon surged ahead as Djokovic botched a drop shot attempt.

Djokovic fought off a break point early in the second set but failed to convert any of his four opportunities against a resilient Rublev.

The 36-year-old clung on to win a gruelling point dictated by Rublev to move 4-2 up in the tie-break, then ripped a return winner off his rival’s serve to produce three set points.

He only needed one, belting an ace out wide to send the match to a third set.

Djokovic received treatment on his back between sets but did not appear to be hindered as he carved out two break points in the fourth game. Rublev resisted until Djokovic cranked up the pressure with the Russian serving to stay in the match.

Djokovic cracked a sensational backhand winner to start the final game and imposed his will against a faltering Rublev, who hurled his racquet in disgust after a double fault sealed his fate.

“I think getting to this final means a lot more to me than some, I think even some moments, some big moments in my career.”

It was just Dimitrov’s second win in eight meetings with Tsitsipas, who had yet to lose a set in making the last four at Bercy for the second year running.

In the last few weeks, the 32-year-old Dimitrov has reached the semi-final in Chengdu, a quarter-final in Beijing and the semi-finals of the Masters event in Shanghai.

His path to the last four of the Paris indoor event included a shock defeat of world number three Daniil Medvedev in the second round, avenging his loss to the Russian last week in Vienna.

Dimitrov, who lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals in Paris in 2019, won his only Masters title in Cincinnati in 2017 — the same year he won the season-ending ATP Finals.

WBC silver heavyweight champion Efe Ajagba got his revenge over Joe Goodall in their rematch on Sunday.

The hard-hitting Nigerian heavyweight contender stopped Australia’s Goodall in the fourth round of their 10-round main event at Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada.

Referee Tony Weeks stopped their fight 50 seconds into the fourth round because Goodall had taken too many unanswered punches.

Ajagba improved his record to 19-1 and produced his 14th knockout. Brisbane’s Goodall (10-2-1, 9 KOs), who was still standing when their fight ended, lost inside the distance for the first time during his five-year pro career.

Ajagba avenged his split-decision defeat to Goodall at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Goodall came into their fight after producing his most noteworthy professional win, a sixth-round stoppage of Stephan Shaw on July 22 at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Shaw (18-2, 13 KOs) went the distance with Ajagba in his previous fight, a 10-rounder that Ajagba won by unanimous decision on January 14 in Verona, New York.

Ajagba drilled Goodall with a right hand that wobbled Goodall about 35 seconds into the fourth round. Sensing that Goodall was ready to go, Ajagba unloaded an array of power punches that made the referee step between them to spare Goodall from taking unnecessary punishment.

Ajagba has now successfully defended his WBC title for the first time as he continues to build his name in the heavyweight division.