“Ciryl Gane, who’s 6’5” and 247 pounds, moves like a 170-pounder. It’s crazy. He’s bouncing like ‘Wonderboy,’” Joe Rogan praised Gane’s athleticism on JRE episode #1696 with Lex Fridman. And nobody could disagree with the UFC color commentator here. The Frenchman moves like water in a heavyweight division — a weight class not exactly known for athleticism. But while ‘Bon Gamin’s hard work deserves every bit of praise, it’s his coach’s guidance that truly shaped him into the phenomenal striker he is today. 

On October 25th, the #1-ranked heavyweight in the world is set to face Tom Aspinall at UFC 321. For the unversed, this will be Gane’s third shot at UFC gold after falling short against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. So, when the Octagon door closes in Abu Dhabi, the fans can expect the French MMA superstar to come out firing on all cylinders in pursuit of redemption. But before that happens, let’s take a closer look at the man behind his success — his coach, Fernand Lopez. 

Who Is Fernand Lopez? Ciryl Gane’s head coach at the MMA Factory  

Fernand Lopez Owonyebe is a former mixed martial artist turned coach and the founder of the MMA Factory in France. Throughout his astounding coaching career, Lopez has trained some of the most renowned UFC fighters, including Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane, Nassourdine Imavov, and many others. He’s also been the driving force behind growing the gym from just two fighters to over 600.

Under Lopez’s leadership, MMA Factory even secured a major Reebok sponsorship — becoming only the third gym after American Kickboxing Academy and SBG Ireland to earn that prestigious deal. But Lopez’s influence in the fight game isn’t limited to coaching alone.

Since 2019, he’s also served as the director of ARES Fighting Championship, France’s leading MMA promotion, where many French fighters launch their careers. Still, the true highlight of Lopez’s career remains his coaching — and right now, he’s building a powerhouse team to help Ciryl Gane prepare for Tom Aspinall at UFC 321. 

Ciryl Gane’s corner team and training partners   

Currently, ‘Bon Gamin’ stands as the poster boy of French heavyweight MMA. Since transitioning from Muay Thai to full-fledged MMA in 2018, Gane has been training under Fernand Lopez at the MMA Factory. There, the former UFC title challenger has found an incredible environment to sharpen his skills, surrounded by some of the best fighters in the world. 

Beyond his regular gym partners, Gane also works with a mix of specialized training partners who help him address and improve on his deficiencies. For instance, Gane’s team often brings in professional boxer Mourad Aliev, who represented France at the 2020 Summer Olympics, to help sharpen his boxing skills. Aliev was also part of the French MMA superstar’s camp ahead of the Sergei Spivac fight, a bout that he ended with a brutal KO.

After fine-tuning his striking with Aliev, there’s another familiar UFC name who occasionally joins him at MMA Factory. Yes, it’s Nassourdine Imavov! ‘The Sniper’ trained under Fernand Lopez for several years before moving his camp to Nicolas Ott. Still, from time to time, Imavov returns to his old gym to train with  Gane.

Besides them, Ciryl Gane’s camp also features Bahraini heavyweight wrestler Akhmed Tazhudinov. Bringing in such an accomplished grappler has greatly improved Gane’s wrestling and takedown defense, an area long considered his biggest weakness. Now that we’ve seen how ‘Bon Gamin’s team has been putting in tremendous effort to elevate his game, it’s time to address the one major controversy involving Francis Ngannou. 

The Fernand Lopez-Francis Ngannou split and its impact on ‘Bon Gamin’

Before Ciryl Gane, the MMA Factory’s standout star was Francis Ngannou, and the two heavyweights even trained together at one point. The former UFC heavyweight champion and Fernand Lopez built a phenomenal partnership that turned the Cameroonian powerhouse into a knockout machine, tearing through opponents in the division. However, in 2018, after Ngannou fell short in his title fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220, he left the gym and moved his camp to Xtreme Couture. 

After the split, both sides began revealing their own versions of how the separation actually happened. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Lopez claimed that Francis had grown arrogant as his star power rose — and even refused to pay his gym membership fees.

He said, “When Francis fought against Anthony Hamilton [in 2016], that fight, I chose not to go. I said to him, ‘I’m not coaching you anymore. I need you to step out of the gym.’ Because Francis said to me, ‘There’s a guy who is calling to get money in the gym from fighters, membership.’ And Francis said to me, ‘I’m the one bringing the spotlight to the gym. I shall not pay any membership.’”

Now, that’s something that would make a lot of people think there might be tension between Lopez and Gane, especially since Ngannou was such an integral part of the gym before things deteriorated. But clearing up the speculation, the MMA Factory coach told MMA Fighting in another interview, “It will not be personal for me, not at all personal for Ciryl Gane, who I was always begging not to get involved in that sort of beef. Because I want to be clear in his mind—there’s nothing there.” This came just as Gane was preparing to face Ngannou at UFC 270.

Well, that’s a deep dive into how Ciryl Gane’s journey has been shaped by his coach, teammates, and even a bit of animosity along the way. And now, as he gears up to face Tom Aspinall next, let us know in the comments how you feel about the Frenchman’s story and his connection with his team.