'%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)
Fernand Lopez has hit back at his former trainee Francis Ngannou for constantly saying that everyone around him doubted him early on in his career. Ngannou cut ties with Lopez's MMA Factory gym in Paris, France, back in 2018. The duo haven't been on talking terms since.
Speaking to LowKick MMA, the 43-year-old coach claimed that his fellow Cameroonian and UFC heavyweight champ 'The Predator' has been spewing lies in every single interview:
"This is the man that was giving you cash so you can get food while you were saying I didn't do jiu-jitsu because I'm starving... This is that person you call evil. How come that when you're 3-1, I am the one who called Joe Silva [ex-UFC matchmaker] and told him please take this guy in the UFC. Joe said no... I called my friend Thiago Camura, manager of another fighter. Asked him to have a deal so we can fight this guy and the winner will go to UFC... This is how I became co-manager with Camura. When you have Francis Ngannou talking on YouTube saying no one ever believed on him, it's a lie... This is the place that you guys in America say that he's full of s***," said Lopez.
Watch Fernand Lopez in conversation with combat sports journalist Curtis Calhoun below:
Francis Ngannou could leave the UFC with a loss against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 later this month
Francis Ngannou is currently in a contract dispute with the UFC. The last fight on his contract will see him defend his belt against former training partner and interim heavyweight titleholder Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on January 22, 2022.
Ngannou is desperate to add a boxing clause to his next UFC deal. He has openly spoken about getting paid less at the world's biggest MMA promotion and now feels he has to do two sports simultaneously.
'The Predator' recently exchanged tweets with WBC and The Ring heavyweight world boxing champion Tyson Fury, teasing a matchup between the two superstars in the future:
"After I handle business on Jan. 22 I'll fight you under any special rule set you want. In a ring, an octagon or a phone booth," said Ngannou.
See Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury go back and forth on social media below:
