Francis Ngannou: Root of problem with former coach Fernand Lopez ‘is that he wants to be famous’
Francis Ngannou says his former coach, Fernand Lopez, was always chasing fame – which ultimately led to their falling out.
UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) started out his career at MMA Factory Paris, and Lopez was a big part of his success. But the pair eventually had a falling out, which resulted in Ngannou making a permanent move to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.
Lopez cited issues with Ngannou’s ego and his inability to listen after losing two straight to then-champion Stipe Miocic and former title challenger Derrick Lewis, which sparked issues between the pair. Although Lopez insists it’s not personal with his former student, Ngannou claimed all Lopez ever wanted was attention when he was asked about their past issues.
“Fernand’s problem is that he wants to be famous,” Ngannou said in an interview with GQ. “I can count how many times we had to argue about how he thought I was taking all the spotlight. … Bro, what do you want? If you want the spotlight, you know where the spotlight is. It’s inside the octagon, not on the side. And you chose to be on the side. I don’t know how to (make him famous).
“If you want to be a coach, you have to stand where the coach stands and get what the coach gets. You can’t be a coach and get what the fighter gets. It has always been like that. He mentions how many followers I have on Instagram compared to him. I’m not worried about followers on Instagram. I wish I could throw some to you, but I can’t do that. This has always been a problem, basically.”
Their relationship has been brought back to the headlines thanks to the rise of another MMA Factory Paris product, Ciryl Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who captured the interim heavyweight title with a finish of Lewis at UFC 265. This will set up a highly anticipated matchup between the former training partners and fellow Frenchmen, with Dana White saying a better scenario could not have been scripted.
But Ngannou thinks the narrative is being blown out of proportion.
“Not a little bit – a lot,” Ngannou said. “Sometimes when I hear them talk about the stories, I don’t recognize myself in it. Are you sure you’re talking about me and not somebody else? The way that they’re talking, I heard that we were training before (my fight against) Alistair Overeem. (That) was two years before I even knew (Gane). That’s just not true.
“That’s something I’m very cool with. We trained for about one month back in January 2019, when I was going to fight Junior Dos Santos. Technically we don’t know each other that much.”
For his part, Lopez on Thursday responded to Ngannou’s comments to GQ and appeared to take the high road.
“I have known poverty, but there is no worse poverty than intellectual poverty,” Lopez posted on Instagram. I am happy 😃 to have help you be satisfied, brother.”
