Francis Ngannou gives tongue-in-cheek reaction to Jon Jones becoming UFC heavyweight champion

Jon Jones made a triumphant return to action at UFC 285 by submitting Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke in the very first round. Former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was on hand to react to Jones' momentous victory.

Ngannou took to Twitter to congratulate the former light heavyweight champion on his successful move up to the heavyweight division but cheekily signed off by calling himself 'the heavyweight king':

"Good job Jonny Boy [thumbs up sign emoji] Sincerely, The heavyweight king"

Check out Francis Ngannou's tweet below:

Good job Jonny Boy 👍

Sincerely,
The heavyweight king

The two fighters have been engaged in a verbal back and forth all week in the build-up to fight night with 'The Predator', making assertions of being the undisputed champion on the basis of not losing his title inside the octagon. Jon Jones countered by alleging that Ngannou left the UFC just in time to avoid a fight with him:

"I found an interview of Francis talking about he’ll forever be the undisputed champion because no one beat him. Once I saw that, my tone changed. I thought I would tell how I really felt. He did make the right decision, he left before I came back. Smart move!"

Check out his tweet below:

I found an interview of Francis talking about he’ll forever be the undisputed champion because no one beat him. Once I saw that, my tone changed. I thought I would tell how I really felt. He did make the right decision, he left before I came back. Smart move!

Francis Ngannou in turn dug up past comments from 'Bones' that carried a similar sentiment:

Jonny boy pick a side of the fence 😂 twitter.com/jonnybones/sta… https://t.co/TWPNWvX85H

Fans react to Francis Ngannou's snide reaction to Jon Jones' heavyweight win

Fans did not take kindly to Francis Ngannou's snide comment about Jon Jones and his momentous return to action.

A fan reminded Ngannou of his status as the ex-champion and suggested a correction to his tweet:

"*ex-heavyweight king"

@francis_ngannou *ex-heavyweight king

Another fan made a comparison of Ngannou's matchup against Ciryl Gane that went the distance with Jones' first-round finish over the same opponent:

"You struggled against Gane. Jones destroyed him. Enjoy boxing."

"Buddy it took him 45 seconds to submit Gane he's cleaning the floor with you and Stipe"

@francis_ngannou You struggled against Gane.

Jones destroyed him.

Enjoy boxing.

@francis_ngannou Buddy it took him 45 seconds to submit Gane he's cleaning the floor with you and Stipe

Other fans lauded Ngannou's decision to leave the UFC and speculated that a possible matchup against Jones would not bode well for the Cameroonian.

"You made the right move leaving. It would be no bueno for you in the octagon…"

@francis_ngannou You made the right move leaving. It would be no bueno for you in the octagon…

@francis_ngannou @arielhelwani I respect the business decision you made when you retired 🤝

The hypothetical Jones vs. Ngannou fight will always be debated and keep you relevant within UFC without having to ever enter the octagon again.

Fans also used media from Jones' octagon interview with Joe Rogan, where he bleated like a goat to sign off and assert his claim of being the GOAT - greatest of all time.

@francis_ngannou https://t.co/FsjXLbXDQx

@francis_ngannou 🤫 https://t.co/ey7IHRQRZ5