Cristiano Ronaldo's bodyguard is a former MMA fighter with seven wins on his record

Cristiano Ronaldo's bodyguard is a former MMA fighter who won seven fights in his career.

Hailing from Seixal on the outskirts of Lisbon, stands at 6 foot 2, Goncalo Salgado was in the heavyweight division during his fighting career.

He finished with a 7-2 record and then ended up ballooning to 300lbs after moving into private security and looking after one of the biggest athletes in the world.

Salgado won his first five bouts before suffering his first defeat at the hands of Zilong Zhao at the X - Impact World Cup in 2007.

Salgado then rebounded with successive wins over Frederic Sinistra and Akim Asinine but ended his career in defeat to Arsen Abdulkerimov via armbar submission on an M-1 Global show in 2011.

After competing in Italy, South Korea, Belgium and Switzerland, he called it quits in 2014 following a bout with Michael Mendes being cancelled.

Image: Goncalo Salgado

As personal security to Ronaldo, Salgado has accompanied the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to many events and flanked him on holidays and trips.

He was snapped on the pitch with Ronaldo after the 2018 Champions League final in Kiev. CEO of the Anthea group, Salgado is expertly trained in dealing with the most violent criminals and providing safety for Ronaldo and his family.

Salgado has trimmed down considerably recent times

When Ronaldo returned to Manchester United, he beefed up his security with the additions of twins Sergio and Jorge Ramalheiro, who joined the army after leaving school and served as soldiers as part of special forces unit in Afghanistan.

Image: Al Nassr

The brothers, who are two of a set of triplets, previously worked with the Portuguese police guarding key political figures but took unpaid leave to become Ronaldo's bodyguards.

Both Ramalheiro siblings joined Ronaldo for his official presentation as an Al Nassr player on Tuesday night after he signed a lucrative £173 million per season deal with the Saudi Arabia side.

Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Arabia, Al Nassr, Saudi Pro League, Manchester United

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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