The gridiron met the octagon at TD Place Wednesday morning, resulting in a friendly frenzy of leg kicks and long bombs.

UFC light heavyweight fighter Misha Cirkunov (right) demonstrates striking at Ottawa RedBlacks practice at TD Place. (Waubgeshig Rice/CBC) UFC fighters and Ottawa Redblacks players had a chance to mingle and teach each other some basics of mixed martial arts and Canadian football ahead of this weekend's UFC Fight Night, Ottawa's inaugural UFC event.

Welterweight Donald Cerrone and light heavyweight Misha Cirkunov visited Redblacks practice ahead of their fights Saturday night at TD Place Arena.

UFC welterweight fighter Donald Cerrone throws a football at TD Place ahead of Saturday's UFC Fight Night. (Waubgeshig Rice/CBC) "This is actually my first time on a football field. When I was in high school, I played rugby. But my first time on a football field, and just very exciting to be here. A lot of great athletes," said Cirkunov, who's originally from Latvia and currently lives in Toronto.

Redblacks like quarterback Danny O'Brien showed the Cirkunov and Cerrone how to properly throw and catch a football, while the fighters demonstrated elements of striking and jiu-jitsu for the football players.

"Anytime you can get athletes in general around each other and kinda pick each other's brains, it's pretty cool," said O'Brien. "And just to learn some moves and get some insights into how they prepare."

UFC fighter Misha Cirkunov meets with Ottawa RedBlacks players. (Waubgeshig Rice/CBC) "It's cool to see other pro athletes, you know? You connect on certain levels, and it's a lot of fun," said Colorado native Cerrone, also known by his nickname "Cowboy."

As for the skills they shared, Cirkunov was excited to learn how to throw a spiral, while O'Brien liked learning how to rotate his hips to properly spin kick.

But even after this friendly meeting of major sports, neither the football players nor the fighters were ready to quit their day jobs.

"Anyone can kick and punch," said Cerrone. "It's just a matter of can you kick and punch under the lights?"