Former Liverpool centre back Dejan Lovren on Saturday, March 20 decided to have a stab at the MMA as he took part in a training session with UFC legend Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipović.
Lovren left Anfield for Zenit St Petersburg in a £12 million deal but is currently warming up for his national side Croatia’s upcoming qualifiers.
Since there were no games in the Russian league this weekend, the 31-year old decided to turn to MMA, albeit in amateur fashion.
Videos he shared online show him in a sparring session which he captioned , “Had this morning a short training session against @crocop1009. What a beast this man still is. Was a big pleasure Mirko. Thank you.
From the video, the Croatian jumped into the Octagon with Mirko, who took mere seconds to overpower him.
Lovren held on, somehow, for about 50 more seconds, before the former UFC fighter locked in an arm bar to make him tap out.
From the proceedings, it was clear fighting is not Lovren’s calling.
He is however not the first football player to get a taste of the MMA life.
In 2018, Cristiano Ronaldo visited Conor McGregor’s lavish training base in Las Vegas
