'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Ciryl Gane will face Francis Ngannou in a highly anticipated heavyweight title unifier at UFC 270. Ahead of his upcoming bout, Gane's coach Fernand Lopez has revealed details of his first encounter with 'Bon Gamin'.
According to Lopez, he wasn't sold on Gane during their first meeting, as MMA gyms usually have a lot of people showing up. The MMA Factory head coach also didn't take Gane seriously because he looked "skinny" for a heavyweight.
During an appearance on Submission Radio, Lopez said:
"The first contact was hilarious cause I couldn't believe... I mean, he got introduced to me and I didn't know who the guy was. And he mentioned something that make me be suspicious on him because, you know, when you have a gym you have a bunch of people showing up everyday. And they are trying to explain you how they are the next big thing. And I thought that was one of them. Because he was saying about being heavyweight and he looked skinny to me because he have that baby face, right. You don't really see anything hard on his face so you have a hard time believing that he can be hard hitter."
Watch Fernand Lopez's interview on Submission Radio below:
What made Fernand Lopez sceptical about Ciryl Gane?
Fernand Lopez also revealed exactly what raised his suspicions about Ciryl Gane. According to the French coach, Gane claimed to have a fight scheduled against K1 veteran Brice Guidon.
While Lopez knew Guidon to be a decorated striker, he had never heard of Gane before. The 43-year-old believed Gane could either be lying or didn't have knowledge of his opponent's pedigree.
"He said he was about to fight Brice Guidon. Brice Guidon is one of the best strikers in France. And I almost know everyone in France about striking and I mean, combat sports. And I was kind of surprised because I didn't know at all Ciryl at this time. And he said to me that he went to face Brice Guidon, I was like, 'Okay, there's two thing... he is a f***ing liar or he don't know what he is going into and he would get killed the next week.'"
Ciryl Gane went on to earn a third-round TKO win over Brice Guidon, which also got him his current coach's attention.
Catch the highlights from Ciryl Gane vs. Brice Guidon below:
