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In an official tweet, Arsenal Football Club has congratulated recently-crowned UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for his stunning knockout victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.
Sharing an image of Ngannou wearing the jersey of his beloved Arsenal FC, the team congratulated The Predator for his massive victory on its official Twitter handle. Ngannou, who is a confessed fan of the football club, would be delighted to see the tweet.
In the picture, Ngannou can be seen sporting the iconic no.14 shirt worn by club legend Thierry Henry. His fellow Frenchman, Henry also happens to be one of Ngannou's favorite footballers.
The picture in the aforementioned tweet is from Francis Ngannou's visit to the London-based club's home ground, Emirates Stadium, back in 2017. At the time, Ngannou was in London to attend a UFC Fight Night event at the O2 Arena.
Back in his home country of Cameroon, a video released by BT Sport shows the fever-pitch levels of fanfare and excitement surrounding Francis Ngannou's fights. In the video, a large gathering of people can be seen watching Ngannou's fight against Miocic.
The moment Ngannou knocked Miocic out cold to claim victory, the crowd erupted in sheer joy and the place seemed to echo with victory chants for the French-Cameroonian fighter.
What's next for Francis Ngannou?
Now that he is the champion, Ngannou must start thinking about his first title defense. Although there could be quite a few potential opponents for Ngannou up next, the name that has captured everyone's attention is Jon Jones.
The former light heavyweight champion has been preparing for a move up to the heavyweight division and a super-fight against him could be a good booking for Francis Ngannou.
However, speaking about a potential matchup against Jones at the post-fight press conference, Francis Ngannou said he isn't really concerned with who he's fighting next. He just wants to show up and defend his title soon.
"Listen, now I’m the champ. I don’t think about contenders, contenders think about me because I’m the champ. But obviously, you know in the past two years I fought almost just two times so I would like to be back soon. I don’t know when, maybe in summer or fall. But yeah, let’s do that. Whenever the deal is done, I’m in."
