'An inspiration': Ronaldo has kickaround with Kazakh boy born without legs – as Khabib hails him for being 'best in the world'

Khabib Nurmagomedov praised his friend Cristiano Ronaldo after the Juventus star took the time to enjoy a kickaround with Kazakh youngster Ali Turganbekov, who was born without legs.

The UFC lightweight champ himself recently met Ali on a trip to Kazakhstan, playing football with him and fulfilling what the youngster said was a “dream.”

This weekend it was the turn of footballing megastar Ronaldo, who is currently on a winter break in the Emirates.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, along with son Cristiano Jr, caught up with football-mad Ali for a game of keep-ups, knocking the ball to him while Ali showed off his skills by heading it back.

Ronaldo shared the footage with 195 million Instagram followers, writing: “It was a pleasure to meet you @ali_amir_happy. A truly inspiration.”

UFC lightweight champ Khabib – a friend of Ronaldo’s – wrote “legend” in the comments section, while he also shared the footage on his own Instagram page with the message: “That’s why you [are] the best in the world.

“Thank you so much @cristiano. You make my brother happy @ali_amir_happy.”

Ronaldo joins an increasingly long list of legends of the game who Ali has trained with.

He’s had sessions with the likes of Diego Maradona and Andriy Shevchenko, and earlier this year met with Lionel Messi and trained with the Barcelona team.

‘When Maradona hugged me, it felt like he’s my grandpa’ – disabled Kazakh boy on meeting his idol

UFC lightweight king Khabib, 31, is currently preparing to defend his title against American rival Tony Ferguson in New York in April. 

Earlier this month, Khabib spoke on his friendship with Ronaldo – whom he has been in touch with since his Real Madrid days – saying that both men would have to come to terms with knowing when to call it quits after glittering careers in their respective sports.