Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are to meet at UFC 270
Francis Ngannou took a shot at his former coach, Fernand Lopez, as the trainer suggested that the UFC star tried to stop the promotion from signing Ciryl Gane.
Ngannou is the current UFC heavyweight champion. However, he is to face the interim champion, Gane, at UFC 270.
The pair were training partners at one point of time, but things have changed. Ngannou and Gane trained at Lopez’s MMA Factory gym, and it will be interesting to see how the clash goes.
Lopez, however, claimed that Ngannou told Mick Maynard that Gane was “good but not that good” which could have hurt the Frenchman’s move to the UFC.
Ngannou caught hold of this and spoke about this incident on his YouTube channel. The Cameroonian-Frenchman hit out at Lopez and dubbed him as “evil” (h/t Mirror):
“They sent me something like, where his coach Fernand said I told [UFC matchmaker] Mick Maynard that Ciryl is good but not that good or something like that.
“I’m like, ‘Man, this is nasty,’ this is not a fair game anymore – it’s not a fair game anymore.
“I understand this position is not; you want to take everything, you want to destroy somebody.
“But to go after him like that, associate other people; I mean, I think this is evil – but I know the man, and I know how it processed.”
While there is some bad blood between the two thanks to Lopez, it is an interesting fight between two quality heavyweights.
Ngannou is known for his incredible punching power. However, he did display some grappling in the win over former champion Stipe Miocic.
Gane, for his part, has been excellent in the UFC and is undefeated in his MMA career. Bon Gamin, as Gane is called, seems to have all the hallmarks of a quality heavyweight.
He has the power but also has some great movement and wrestling skills. This is going to be a real test for Ngannou and it will be interesting to see how he does in his first title defence.
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