Oleksandr Usyk signs with Ukrainian football club FC Polissia

Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk may have a title defense against Daniel Dubois set, but he’ll be looking to expand his professional horizons as ESPN reports he’s just signed a one-year “agreement of football cooperation” with FC Polissia, a Ukrainian soccer club that will compete in the Ukrainian Premier League this upcoming season. Usyk will reportedly wear no. 17 for the team.

And while it may surprise some, Usyk has previously appeared for FC Polissia last year in a exhibition match.

“I respect and am proud of this man. His attitude to training is a great example for the Polissia team,” Polissya president Gennadiy Butkevych said in a statement on Thursday.

What this could potentially mean for Usyk’s fighting future beyond his Aug. 26 match with Dubois remains to be seen, but in the short term I wouldn’t read too much into it potentially preventing him from competing in the ring as we’ve been accustomed.