Things just keep getting more heated between Francis Ngannou and his former coach.
Ngannou once trained under the MMA Factory with head coach Fernand Lopez. At the time, Ngannou and Ciryl Gane trained together. Eventually, Ngannou split from the team and he’s had beef with Lopez ever since.
Sparring footage ended up being released of Ngannou and Gane. This led to Ngannou calling Lopez manipulative. Lopez fired back, claiming he has footage of Gane knocking Ngannou down.
Fernand Lopez Rips Francis Ngannou
During an interview with LowKickMMA.com, Fernand Lopez made it clear that he thinks Francis Ngannou is the true liar in this situation.
“If Francis denied that he didn’t try to prevent the UFC from Ciryl, he’s a f*cking liar. Francis Ngannou told me ‘coach… I had a meeting with Mick’. And he asked me, is it true that Ciryl is ready for the UFC? And I said to him, he’s a good young kid, he’ll be good one day. But I told him he’s not ready yet.’ If he says this isn’t true, then he’s a f**king liar.
“I’m not surprised that he said that, because I don’t think Francis Ngannou ever thought that Ciryl was the kind of guy to face him one day. He basically pretended that Ciryl was irrelevant, always talked him down. That’s who he is, I’m giving you guys the reality. I took him from the street, helped him stay in the gym without paying any fee, gave him money and sponsors, and a place to sleep.
“And I’m evil? How am I evil when I’m the one who called Joe Silva when you were 4-1 and got you in the UFC? I told him he could become a champion. He’s full of s**t. Francis Ngannou is full of s**t and has a victim mentality.”
Ngannou will be taking on Gane in a title unification bout in the main event of UFC 270 on Jan. 22. Gane is the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. The action will be taking place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
