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‘You Now Have 3 Champions!’- Khabib Nurmagomedov Reacts as Francis Ngannou Knocks Out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260

Published 03/28/2021, 12:56 AM EDT

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Francis Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 260 and became the UFC heavyweight champion. ‘The Predator’ showed a rejuvenated version of himself as he displayed his improvements from their first fight at UFC 220. Former UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, took to Twitter to congratulate the new kingpin.

Congratulations Africa . Now you have 3 (UFC) champions,” Nurmagomedov wrote on his Twitter.

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Ngannou became the third UFC champion from Africa. Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, and middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, have been the only other African fighters to clinch UFC gold. ‘The Predator’ certainly deserves all the praises he is getting.

It was just an emphatic performance from ‘The Predator’ as he showed a new patient approach compared to his last 4 fights. He had a combined fight time of 2 minutes and 42 seconds in his last 4 outings, but against Miocic, he kept his ferociousness at bay and started patiently.

‘The Predator’ caught Miocic with a clean shot early in the fight. He also showed his improved takedown defense and reversed the position in his favor to land some bombs on Miocic.

The former champion’s durability has to be praised, as his ability to take those shots was surprising in itself. But a solid jab dropped Miocic in the second round, and a short left hook afterward sealed the fate of the contest. Miocic was out cold, and Ngannou finally realized his lifelong dream of becoming a UFC champion.

Who does Francis Ngannou defend his belt against?

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The Miocic trilogy is an option as the scores are leveled at 1-1, but Miocic took some heavy shots during the contest and might need some important time to recover. Jon Jones is moving up to the heavyweights, hence he may face the Cameroonian next.

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Also, the UFC might want to re-book ‘The Predator’ against Derrick Lewis. ‘The Black Beast‘ is the only other fighter than Miocic to hand Ngannou a loss in the UFC.

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No matter who he fights next, the new champion has just put the entire division on notice with a scintillating win over the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time.

What’s next for ‘The Predator‘? What did you make of Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s Tweet? Let us know.

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Written by:

Apratim Banerjee

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Apratim Banerjee is an MMA author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters.
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