International Fight Week has not only brought some of the biggest names in MMA to the fighting capital of the world.
UFC 317 will end a huge week for the promotion with Ilia Topuria opposite Charles Oliveira for the empty lightweight title in the main event on 28 June.
An event of this scale will always attract some interests of celebrities, where Drake reveals his prediction for Topuria vs Oliveira via social media.
This was also the case for the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this week, where Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was present when he used Mark Kerr in the pioneer wing.
What some fans may not know is that NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has long been a fan of the sport, which means that he has seen many of the most iconic battles of the UFC.
Shaquille O'Neal says he would convert new fans with Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz
Shaquille O'Neal was at the Hall of Fame ceremony of the UFC who was asked to attend by his old friend and UFC legend, Vitor Belfort.
Although he may have been brought into sport by a hunter, every fan will have the one competition they would point out as the matchup that someone could convince to become a new audience member.
For O'Neal, that fight is the iconic encounter between friends who have become rivals, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
O'Neal apparently refers to the first meeting between two of the early stars of the UFC, which took place in 2004 on UFC 47.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The former training partners grew apart over the years and when both needed a big victory to achieve a shot in the light heavyweight title, they finally stood opposite what happened behind closed doors to bed.
Liddell then stopped Ortiz in the second round before hit him in their Rematch two years later, where 'The Iceman' defended his light heavyweight Kroon.
After he had given a vague answer, O'Neal went up in the fight he would choose to win new fans when he spoke with the media.
“All, especially those with the knockouts. No, I probably show them Tito and 'Iceman'. Yes, Tito and Chuck. All that.”
Shaquille O'Neal remembers what his first impression of the UFC was
Vitor Belfort, which was admitted to the UFC Hall of Fame earlier this week, is the hunter who was friends with Shaquille O'Neal and invested him in sport.
While Belfort would continue to compete in the Octagon until 2018, he arrived for the first time on stage in 1997 when the sport was very different from what it is today.
When he spoke with the media about the presence to celebrate his friend's career, Shaquille O'Neal remembered what it was like to attend his first event and what his first impressions of the sport were.
“He was the one who got involved in the sport. I have never seen anything like that. It was a legalized bar -field party. The first fight I went with him, 10 seconds. Stairs on the head, knees. I had something like that:” What am I looking? “And then the brothers of Feritta and Dana just brought it to the next level.”