Why 17 February is a date in Pellistri's diary

The Uruguay international has even admitted, if he could excel in another sport, that he would love to be a boxer, even if his other option, basketball, may have been a safer route!

Pellistri suggested he is eagerly anticipating watching MMA star Ilia Topuria's next fight. Born in Germany, Topuria is from a Georgian family and moved to Spain when he was a teenager.

The 26-year-old is headlining UFC 298 on 17 February, when taking on Alexander Volkanovski in a rescheduled bout.

Facundo was responding to a question from Jesper N. in Sweden, when asked which other sport he would love to be really good at.

"I would say, well, I really like boxing," admitted the United man. "I don’t know how to box but I really like it. So if I can be, like, the best in the world in boxing, that would be amazing. And, also, another sport that I really like is basketball. So I think I would choose one of those two."

When we asked if Pellistri enjoyed watching boxing, with some high-profile fights on the horizon, he replied: "I like watching boxing and also I’m waiting for and, this is not boxing, but it’s the MMA, I’m waiting for the fight of Ilia Topuria on 17 February. But, yeah, I like boxing more than MMA because I think that it is less dangerous but, yes, I will choose either basketball or boxing.”

The UFC 298 event is being staged at the Honda Center in California.

The featherweight battle between Topuria and current champion Volkanovski headlines the card and the sport has links with United. The legendary Conor McGregor is a passionate Reds fan, Michael Bisping also supports the club and Khabib Nurmagomedov has visited Old Trafford to see us in action.

Another supporter, Francis Ngannou fought a big Red in Tyson Fury in a heavyweight boxing scrap recently, after his impressive work in MMA.