“I was next to Connor McGregor’s family”: Daniel Ricciardo recalls watching $200 million worth UFC star in Las Vegas fight

Daniel Ricciardo is a huge fan of the UFC and got to watch Conor McGregor’s fight against Chad Mendes ringside. 

Every UFC fan dreams of watching a main-event match from the side of the octagon. In Ricciardo’s case, it turned into reality when he was able to attend McGregor vs Mendes held in Las Vegas back in 2015.

The match ended in favor of McGregor after he won by TKO in the second round. Ricciardo, who was driving for Red Bull in F1 back then, witnessed this match sitting right next to McGregor’s family.

He shared his experiences during an Instagram live session with Anna-Lee. He recalls seeing McGregor’s mother’s expressions throughout the fight and found a striking similarity to how his own mom watches F1 races when he’s driving.

“I was watching his mum during the fight,” the honey badger said. “And all I could think of was ‘that’s my mum when she watches me race’.”

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UFC 189 was the best sporting event Ricciardo has ever been to

Ricciardo is one of the most popular drivers in arguably the biggest form of motorsports in the world. Over the years, he has developed a huge fan-base and has won some spectacular races. However, the Aussie cited UFC 189 as the best sporting event he had ever been to at the time.

Ricciardo loves being involved with American sporting events as we’ve seen multiple times in the past. He’s a huge fan of NASCAR as well and cites Dale Earnhardt as one of his racing inspirations. In the NFL, he’s a huge supporter of the Buffalo Bills.

“There wasn’t much watching going on yeah I actually felt sure of it,” the McLaren driver continued. “It was an amazing event, like honestly, till this day, I think the best sporting event I’ve been to.”

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Where will Daniel Ricciardo race in 2023?

The 2022 season has turned out to be a nightmare for Ricciardo. His move to McLaren last season promised a lot but failed to deliver. This year, his poor performances have led to McLaren axing him, even though he has a year left on his contract.

Ricciardo’s young compatriot Oscar Piastri was revealed to be his replacement. However, Ricciardo himself has not found a seat as of now. Initially it looked as though Alpine would consider him but they turned to Pierre Gasly instead.

Earlier this month, the Perth-born driver finally admitted that he does not have a realistic chance of being on the F1 grid next season.