RioRio took time out of his busy schedule helping to promote EA SPORTS UFC to talk to us at RoM.

As some of you may know, Rio is a huge fan of the UFC and he recently took part in a training camp with the UFC’s Brad Pickett who taught him what it really means to Feel The Fight!

In part four of RoM’s exclusive interview with Rio Ferdinand, our former defender talks to Noorudean Choudry about the World Cup.

Ferdinand retired from international duty a year ago and has watched the World Cup from home and in Brazil. England lost both their opening games after some dreadful defending.

Ferdinand discusses his thoughts on the England national team, trying to find some positives, whilst also revealing which countries he will be backing for the rest of the tournament.

NC: How do you feel about footballers using social media such as Twitter? Is it something they should have the freedom to use as they wish, or should certain things like criticizing the manager and/or teammates be out of bounds?

RF: I think you’ve got to find a balance, but at the same time not say anything to the detriment of the club. The club is the most important thing. That’s what I’ve always tried to do. Of course you make mistakes along the way, but I never called out the manager or any of his tactics in public whilst I was still playing. If as a player you’ve got a problem with the manager, you go and speak to him about it. Once you leave the club then of course you’re entitled to say what you want.

NC: What are your feelings about England’s performances at the World Cup?

RF: I think in terms of positives a few of the younger players have proved they can perform on the biggest stage. There’s Raheem Sterling of course; Ross Barkley has shown glimpses; Danny Welbeck in the game against Italy and obviously Daniel Sturridge scored, so I think there’s some positives we can take from the tournament. But obviously you need to win games and we didn’t do that.

NC: Yes, it’s a weird one in that despite the two defeats, there have been a number of positives as compared to previous World Cups…

RF: Yes, it’s better than last time round when we went out with a whimper. This time at least there are some positives, whereas last time there was nothing to take from the performances.

Who would you like to win the World Cup now that England are out?

RF: Having been to Brazil and seen how passionate they are over there, I’d like to see them win it. For Robin’s sake I wouldn’t mind if the Netherlands won it either. There’s also Argentina and Messi; the way he has started the tournament it would be a fairytale ending for him to win it and finally put to rest any doubts and comparisons to Maradona.

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What happened when Rio Ferdinand put the gloves on and met UFC’s Brad Pickett? Check out Rio’s EA SPORTS UFC Training Camp at http://youtu.be/tAMvzSUqR4Q. EA SPORTS UFC is OUT NOW on Xbox One and PS4. #FeelTheFight 

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