Francis Ngannou is arguably the most powerful fighter in the sport of MMA. Ngannou is famous for his powerful striking ability and his quick knockdowns. Whenever he steps into the octagon, fans can expect to see an entertaining display.  

Until 2018, the Cameroonian fighter was training under the tutelage of Fernand Lopez under MMA Factory in France. He left the gym after having a falling out with his coach, Lopez, and now there appears to be some sort of bad blood between the two. Many successful fighters have trained under MMA Factory, including Ciryl Gane and Taylor Lapilus. 

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting on SBN, Fernand Lopez made some shocking claims about the UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. His former coach claimed that Francis Ngannou told the UFC matchmakers that Ciryl Gane was not ready for the UFC when he was their teammate.

He said,” You know what? Francis went back to vegas. And he said to me- Hey I heard mick and he asked me if a young guy in my gym named Ciryl Gane is good, and I said oh yeah he did? “He say, yes, I didn’t say that. I said that is a little bit good, but it’s not good yet to go to the UFC that’s coming from Francis Ngannou mouth”

“He said that’s for him. That was a strategy to do not have Mick Maynard get suspicious of me and him being in the same page. Which is not true.”

This did not impress Fernand Lopez, as he had the chance to build a name for a teammate the way Lopez was trying to build for him. But he chose not to help him out, for his own selfish reasons. 

Fernand Lopez’s backstage altercation with Francis Ngannou

Recently, a video went viral on the internet where Francis Ngannou was seen walking past his former teammates and not even batting an eye or acknowledging them. His former coach Fernand Lopez was there with Ciryl Gane and Nassourdine Imamov. The incident took place backstage at the Madison square garden following Imamov’s fight at UFC 268. 

Gane didn’t like the fact that Ngannou did this. The incident will surely add fuel to the already fired-up fixture between Gane and Ngannou at UFC 270.

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