Coach Fernand Lopez strongly refuted the common belief that Francis Ngannou became a better fighter after leaving his MMA Factory gym in Paris for the United States. Lopez pointed out that when Ngannou lost to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, he was already training in Las Vegas with an American team. Conversely, when facing potential dismissal from the UFC after two consecutive losses, Ngannou returned to Paris to train with Lopez for the Curtis Blaydes fight, which he won by knockout in seconds. Lopez emphasized that Ngannou also prepared for the Cain Velasquez fight entirely in Paris under his guidance, sparring with Ciryl Gane. Lopez expressed frustration that the two losses during Ngannou's Vegas-based training are attributed to him, while the victories from Paris camps go unnoticed. He also highlighted his role in discovering Ngannou at age 28 when his record was just 1-1 after losing to Zoumana Cisse, and that he believed in Ngannou despite the fighter's difficult situation with documentation issues in France.
MMA Factory head coach Fernand Lopez has pushed back forcefully against the widely held notion that Francis Ngannou's development as a fighter accelerated after he left Lopez's Paris gym for the United States.
In a recent interview, Lopez laid out a pointed rebuttal, arguing that the timeline of Ngannou's results tells a very different story. He noted that both of Ngannou's high-profile losses — to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis — came during a period when Ngannou was already based in Las Vegas and working with an American team, not under Lopez's supervision in Paris. Miocic, a 43-year-old American veteran carrying a 20-5 record, handed Ngannou one of those defeats. Yet those results, Lopez argues, are consistently pinned on his coaching rather than on the camp that was actually in place at the time.
Lopez was equally emphatic about the wins. When Ngannou faced the very real prospect of being cut by the UFC following two straight losses, Lopez said the fighter returned to Paris to prepare for his bout against Curtis Blaydes — and finished him by knockout inside seconds. Lopez also revealed that the camp for the Cain Velasquez fight was conducted entirely at MMA Factory in Paris, with Ngannou sparring alongside Ciryl Gane. Gane, now ranked number two in the UFC heavyweight division at 36 years old, holds a 14-2 record and brings elite striking — posting 5.29 significant strikes per minute at 61 percent accuracy — which would have made him a formidable training partner.
Lopez also spoke to his personal investment in Ngannou's career, recalling that he first took the fighter on at age 28 when his record stood at just 1-1 following a loss to Zoumana Cisse, and when Ngannou was dealing with serious documentation problems while living in France.
Why it matters
- Lopez's account directly challenges a popular narrative about Ngannou's rise and where credit belongs
- The framing raises broader questions about how training camp splits are evaluated when fighters move between coaches
- Gane's involvement in Ngannou's Paris camps adds context to the eventual history between the two MMA Factory-connected fighters
