PATRICE EVRA has secretly been plotting an MMA debut over the last TEN YEARS – and could have French royalty in his corner.
Evra retired from football in 2019 after a glittering career that saw him win FIVE Prem titles with Manchester United and a Champions League.
But, after hanging up his boots, the former France international has moved into a punditry and even reality TV.
He starred in the Netflix series Inside – hosted by KSI’s YouTube group The Sidemen.
And in perhaps his most shocking post-career move of all – Evra has signed with the Professional Fighters League to make his MMA debut.
Evra has trained in kickboxing for the last decade to help build towards his stunning and brutal switch of sports.
PFL Managing Director James Frewin told SunSport: “Patrice has been looking at finding the right place to make his MMA debut for a while since he finished his football career.
“He’s always wanted to take on a different challenge. He’s always been training behind the scenes for the last ten years in combat, with a focus on kickboxing.
“And, he’s a busy guy. He’s a very successful entrepreneur. So, he and I were introduced in Dubai, about ten weeks ago, he shared his vision and his passion for this project.
“And it just so happened we had the right platform. We operate in the right way and we had a date in Paris that made sense which is Friday, May 23rd.”
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Evra is a close friend of kickboxing legend and MMA star Cedric Doumbe – who will help train the former left-back.
And Evra is even considering calling on the help of French football icons Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane.
Frewin revealed: “Cedric at the same time reached out and offered Patrice all the support he needs from a training perspective.
“At this stage, we’re hearing that Cedric Doumbe will corner Patrice Evra on May 23rd.
“And Patrice even suggested there may be a very famous footballers to walk him out to and gave me two names.
“It’s yet to be confirmed, but Zidane or Henry might be in the corner as well.”
Evra, 43, is yet to announce his opponent for the PFL Paris event staged at the Accor Arena.
But he has called out ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, 38, who is still playing for Inter Miami and infamously feuded with Evra during his Prem days.
Suarez has been offered a cageside seat for Evra’s bout with talks to make the grudge fight happen at a preliminary stage.
Frewin added: “Luis is an elite athlete. He’s still playing football, he’s not training mixed martial arts, so let’s see.
“Hopefully he’ll be there in Paris on May 23rd, and then we can take it from there.”
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