UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov met up with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk in Dubai and posed for a picture with him.
The retired lightweight champion, who revealed he supports Liverpool and Real Madrid last year, crossed paths with van Dijk at the NAS Sports Complex as he continues hid rehabilitation from a serious knee injury.
The Dutch defender has been sidelined since October after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the Merseyside Derby against Everton following Jordan Pickford's reckless lunge.
He has been recovering in Dubai over the winter period at the NAS facility - which is renowned for housing several sports stars for training over the off-season.
After sharing the snap of him and van Dijk, the Russia mixed-martial artist wrote: 'It was nice to meet you Virgil Van Dijk at NAS.
'I wish you get well and recover soon. I know what it is like with injures, be patient.'
The UAE was today added to the UK's banned travel list, meaning van Dijk will have to quarantine for 10 days when he flies back to England.
Khabib, who announced his retirement from fighting after defeating Justin Gaethje to extend his flawless record, revealed his intentions to come to England to watch Premier League football.
In the build-up to that fight, he said: 'After this fight I'm going to travel a lot, come to London. I really want to watch a lot of games, Manchester, Liverpool, Manchester City, I really want to come.
'I know they have great stadiums with big, big, big history, I know without crowds but we will see. . In November they have great matches so see you there.'
Khabib is known to be a huge football fan and spoke about his fondness for Liverpool last year.
'I like Liverpool. I remember when I was a kid in 2005 when I watched Liverpool versus Milan, in Dagestan. We had a big screen TV on the beach, thousands of people [were] watching this match,' he said.
'And when they were losing after the first half 3-0, and I really believed, 'They have to come back, they have to come back' because I liked the team. "It was Milan Baros, [Vladimir] Smicer, [John Arne] Riise, [Sami] Hyypia. I remember this. Stevie Gerrard!
'It was a very good team, but right now they have a very good team too. I watch all the Champions League matches and Liverpool. But I'm a big fan of Real Madrid.
'But I like English Premier League, even if the worst teams are playing, they have the best games.'
Van Dijk, meanwhile, has been progressing well in his recovery with the Liverpool defender spotted earlier this month kicking a ball for the first time since his injury.
The Liverpool defender was initially ruled out for the remainder of the season but there is hope he may return sooner after Jurgen Klopp spoke optimistically about his recovery process.
When asked about van Dijk last week, Klopp refused to categorically say he wouldn't play again this season but admitted he didn't know when he would actually return.
'I don't know what is possible and I don't think I am the right person to judge it,' said Klopp.
'He looks really good and I've spoken to him. He is in a good mood but I don't know when he'll be back. I had this injury myself but for the time we are in and how long he is out, he looks really promising.'