What happened between Francis Ngannou and his ex-coach Fernand Lopez?

Francis Ngannou used to train at the MMA Factory in Paris from 2013 to 2018 under the tutelage of Fernand Lopez. Ngannou then moved to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas in 2018 after a major falling out with Lopez.

Ngannou and Lopez seem to have different versions of the reason behind their feud. During an interview with GQ, Ngannou revealed the beef started when his ex-coach wanted more spotlight:

“Fernand’s problem is that he wants to be famous. I can count how many times we had to argue about how he thought I was taking all the spotlight… Bro, what do you want? If you want the spotlight, you know where the spotlight is. It’s inside the octagon, not on the side."

Furthermore, the current UFC heavyweight champion stated that a coach cannot expect to receive the same plaudits as a fighter:

"If you want to be a coach, you have to stand where the coach stands and get what the coach gets. You can’t be a coach and get what the fighter gets. It has always been like that. [Lopez] mentions how many followers I have on Instagram compared to him. I’m not worried about followers on Instagram. I wish I could throw some to you, but I can’t do that. This has always been a problem, basically."

As expected, Lopez's version of the feud is not the same as that of his ex-pupil. According to him, Francis Ngannou became a different person when he acquired success.

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Fernand Lopez doesn't agree with Francis Ngannou

Fernand Lopez was not pleased by the public perception of what happened between him and Francis Ngannou. Lopez claims he asked Ngannou to leave MMA Factory as 'The Predator' did not want to pay the yearly subscription fee of €600.

Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Lopez stated that Francis Ngannou also refused to pay him the right share after he started making a name for himself:

“Francis said to me... 'I’m the one bringing the light in the gym, I shall not pay any membership.' I said, 'This is crazy. You must be crazy. You spent four years of your life in my gym. I never asked you for anything. You pay me 10 percent. On top of the 10, you ask me to pay the sparring partner with that money that you give me. On top of that, you’re saying that [it] would be a shame to know that a big name like you is paying the membership... You know what? You don’t listen to me anymore when I’m giving the class. You choose the easy way to train. Please, let’s just split.’ And we did.”

Catch Fernand Lopez's appearance on The MMA Hour below:

Francis Ngannou will face Lopez's current pupil Ciryl Gane in a heavyweight title unifier in the UFC 270 headliner.