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Thibaut Courtois joins Novak Djokovic as co-owner of French football … — and more

Thibaut Courtois joins Novak Djokovic as co-owner of French football club

Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images

Thibaut Courtois is one of the best football players in the world, known for making big moves on the pitch.

The Belgian star, a winner of two Champions League titles and multiple La Liga titles with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, has also been ‘making moves’ away from the football pitch.

On Thursday, news of Thibaut Courtois’ latest major investment was confirmed, and he is the new part-owner of Le Mans FC.

Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images
Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images

The 33-year-old, who currently plays for Real Madrid, is joining several high-profile individuals in the Le Mans investment group.

Thibaut Courtois joins Novak Djokovic as a Le Mans FC investor

Courtois has invested in Le Mans FC [as per 433], and he is far from the first elite athlete to invest in the Ligue 2 football club.

Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam tennis champion, is also an investor in Le Mans FC, as is Formula One driver Kevin Magnussen.

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Felipe Massa, the 2008 Formula One World Championship runner-up, is also an investor.

Djokovic, Magnussen and Massa became part-owners of the club in August last year after acquiring stakes in the club.

As per Reuters%20%2D%20Tennis,promoted%20club%20announced%20on%20Friday.), the investment was led by Brazilian group OutField, an international consortium co-founded by Pedro Olivera, and includes Georgios Frangulis, CEO of global health-food brand OakBerry.

Le Mans FC, based in western France, was first founded in 1902, with the club playing their matches at the Stade Léon-Bollée. In 2011, the club moved to the MMArena, which has a capacity of 25,000.

How are Le Mans FC performing this season?

After 23 league games, Le Mans are in fifth place in the Ligue 2 standings.

It has been an impressive season for the French club, who were promoted to Ligue 2 after finishing second in Ligue 3 in the 2024/25 season.

However, they have hit a patch of bad form, failing to win any of their past three games. In their last match, they lost 4-2 to Montpellier, who were relegated from the French top flight last season.

Le Mans are also out of the French Cup after losing to Reims 3-0 in the round of 16.

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UFC Houston: Hernandez vows to torture Sean Strickland for racist post

Anthony Hernandez didn't take too kindly to Sean Strickland's method of trying to promote their fight.

When Saturday's UFC Fight Night 267 headliner (Paramount+) between Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) at Toyota Center in Houston was announced, Strickland posted a photoshopped image on Instagram, where he's posing as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, and Hernandez dressed in traditional Mexican clothes.

"Honestly, I laughed when I seen that sh*t," Hernandez told New York Post Sports. "I was like, if that's the best you've got to get in my head, it's going to be a long f*cking night. That sh*t does not faze me. It's f*cked up, yeah, and I don't like seeing sh*t like that.

"I don't like that my people have got to go through sh*t like that, but it's f*cking life and that's the reality of it. Some people are just dirtbags and like to bring it up, but I'm excited for the fight. Like I said, I hope he keeps that same f*cking online energy in the f*cking cage because I'm going to f*cking torture him."

With a big latino community in Houston, Hernandez says he's been receiving plenty of support.

"For sure, I've been getting a lot of messages like, 'F*ck him up, do this,' but at the end of the day I've got a lot of people behind me, which is a f*cking beautiful blessing and I love that," Hernandez said. "But I'm going to just go out there and do what I do best. I'm not focused on trying to take him out of there fast in the first round.

"I don't mind f*cking torturing a motherf*cker for all 25 minutes. I really enjoy hurting people, as f*cked up as it sounds. It's therapeutic as hell to me. So I don't know, I'm going to come and if I can get the finish, awesome. If not, then I'm going to f*cking enjoy it."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Houston: Hernandez says he'll 'torture' Strickland for racist post

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Official: Thibaut Courtois becomes owner of a club PollThe Belgian goalkeeper invests in a French clubOfficial: Thibaut Courtois becomes owner of a clubThibaut Courtois is expanding his horizons beyond the pitch. The Real Madrid goalkeeper has become ...

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