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Fernand Lopez's first claim to fame is as Francis Ngannou's head coach when 'The Predator' still trained at the MMA Factory. However, after the fearsome knockout artist parted ways with his longtime coach, Fernand Lopez shifted his attention to another star pupil in Ciryl Gane.
While he coached his fellow Frenchman to UFC interim heavyweight glory, it seems that destiny has guided him back into Francis Ngannou's path. A tweet from March 9 has unveiled something shocking. It appears that Lopez is allegedly the new matchmaker for PFL Europe.
With Francis Ngannou now signed to the PFL, the two men may very well cross paths yet again. Unfortunately, his former coach's role as the PFL Europe matchmaker has come under scrutiny. Fans on Reddit have observed that it could cause a conflict of interest between him and the fighters he coaches.
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MMA Factory fighters who aim to fight in the UFC or any other promotion will likely clash with Lopez's possible desire for them to compete under the PFL banner. This led one fan to say the following:
"This is a huge conflict of interest"
Another fan echoed similar concerns:
"Is he a manager as well? I thought he was just a coach. Regardless, not a good look. I know Dan Hardy is a huge part of PFL Europe, and I thought he was a large part of the matchmaking."
Yet another Redditor said more of the same:
"Is that not a conflict of interest ?"
Additionally, the possibility of Francis Ngannou either greenlighting or being kept in the dark about such a development was teased:
"Wonder if Francis was consulted on this?"
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
Why did Fernand Lopez turn on Francis Ngannou?
At one point in time, Fernand Lopez and Francis Ngannou seemed like a match made in heaven. But everything fell apart when the future UFC heavyweight champion took on Stipe Miocic in his first-ever UFC title fight. According to the MMA Factory head coach, Ngannou was arrogant and abandoned the gameplan.
Meanwhile, Ngannou claimed that Lopez didn't adequately prepare him for the challenges that Miocic presented. Their inability to see eye to eye caused the split that later became the central narrative ahead of Ngannou's hard-fought triump over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.
