Fernand Lopez on how Ciryl Gane treats teammates differently than Francis Ngannou -"The capacity of lifting people up"  

Ciryl Gane is scheduled to face Francis Ngannou in a highly anticipated heavyweight title unifier at UFC 270. Both Gane and Ngannou used to train under the tutelage of Fernand Lopez at the MMA Factory in Paris. While Gane still does, Ngannou now trains at Xtreme Couture. During a recent interview with Daniel Cormier, Lopez weighed in on the difference between Ngannou and Gane's interactions with people in the gym.

According to Lopez, Ngannou needs to develop his skills with regard to social interactions. On the other hand, the MMA Factory head coach believes that 'Bon Gamin' has empathy for his teammates and also knows them personally.

When 'DC' asked Lopez how his once-strong bond with Ngannou fell apart, the Cameroon native answered:

"One word, smart. Like, don't get me wrong, Francis is a smart guy. But in life you need to be smart to find the right place and know how to negotiate with people and know how to work with people. So that you can make their life easy and they make your life easy."

However, Lopez has nothing but praise for Gane:

"How many times do you have a guy in your gym that can call you and say to you, 'Coach, don't forget tomorrow is the anniversary of this guy, have this ready. Can you just make sure the committee manager put that on Instagram?' The guy that I'm talking about is not a champ, he's just a random guy. That's what I'm talking, about the empathy, about the capacity of lifting people up. When you have that in your gym, you're a lucky man. I mean I really feel like I'm blessed with this guy."

Catch Fernand Lopez's interview with DC below:

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Ciryl Gane on his upcoming title fight

Ciryl Gane has introduced a new level of striking in the heavyweight division. However, his matchup against Francis Ngannou has been oversimplified as a clash between technique and power.

The interim UFC heavyweight champion believes there's more to the upcoming fight than just technique and power. According to 'Bon Gamin', other factors also come into play, since he and Ngannou possess both traits at varying levels. During a UFC 270 media day interview, Gane elaborated on the point:

"This is not just only the power against the technique. It’s not only the power he has. He has a fight IQ also. He is technical. I am more technical than him and I have power, also. This is not exactly the power against the technique but we will see."

Watch Ciryl Gane's interview at the UFC 270 media day below: