Fernand Lopez, the long-time coach of surging superstar Francis Ngannou, has always believed that that his star pupil is destined for gold.
When Ngannou first walked into Lopez’s gym, The MMA Factory in Paris, he was training to become a boxer. His eventual crossover to MMA is what made Lopez believe that he was dealing with someone special.
“The first time I saw him training, he was boxing with this guy Christian M’Pumbu, the former Bellator champion and I was amazed,” Lopez said. “I was like this guy is going to be champion.”
“It wasn’t about the strength, speed, athleticism or any of that. I was impressed by how fast he was learning and adapting. I knew he was something special.”
And after a few impressive wins in the UFC, Ngannou drew by far the sternest test of his young career, decorated kickboxing champion and former UFC title challenger, Alistair Overeem.
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Many questioned if Ngannou was being pushed too fast but Lopez had full confidence in his student. He even predicted a first round knockout which is exactly what happened. An uppercut from hell, a knockout for the ages that put Overeem out cold.
“I knew it was going to happen. I was yelling Francis I told you, Francis I told you. It was exactly how we prepared and how we planned to do it.”
The win earned Ngannou a title shot against champion Stipe Miocic who has been on an absolute tear. He will make a rather quick turnaround for his shot at gold and will have less than 2 months to prepare.
Ngannou knocked Overeem out at UFC 218 on December 2nd and is now set to take on Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 on January 20th.
For Ngannou, he is more than ready for this opportunity. In fact, he’s always felt ready for the big stage.
“I was the one that was holding Francis back,” Lopez said. “When he first got in the UFC and he was seeing all these big names in the heavyweight division, he was looking away because he said to me I don’t even want to say hi to them because I know I’m going to beat them one by one.”
And the preparation has always been top notch for Ngannou, he’s been training with high level wrestlers from Georgia and Dagestan and boxing with boxers from the French national team.
Lopez raves, “he’s beating all these guys in their own department.”
Miocic will present Ngannou the toughest challenge in his career and Lopez knows that. That being said, he’s predicting a second round knockout for Ngannou.
“I think Miocic is smart, I don’t think he’ll come to Francis like that,” Lopez explained. “He will take the time to adjust the distance and I think the knockout will occur in the second round.”
And he acknowledges that they are looking at a different challenge in Stipe, who has shown the ability to knock you out quickly, or efficiently use all five rounds with a heavy grappling approach.
“What makes Stipe dangerous is level change,” Lopez said. “His ability to go from boxing to wrestling and from wrestling to boxing just like that. He’s well rounded and a complete MMA fighter. For the first time, we’re going to face someone very clever. He pushes the opponent, he wants you to circle around the cage then cut you and stay in front of you.”
“He pulls you into the boxing then he changes levels and take you down and if he doesn’t succeed, he goes back to the boxing. That’s his strength, how to change levels.”
Lopez has coached multiple fighters to championships, Christian M’Pumbu to a Bellator Light Heavyweight championship and Karl Amoussou to a Cage Warriors Welterweight championship but nothing will feel more satisfying than a championship in the biggest and most competitive MMA organisation in the world.
“No belt can compare to a UFC belt and no belt in the UFC can compare to the heavyweight belt,” Lopez said. “This is the maximum goal you can have. After that is a plan to leave a legacy for Francis and I’ll help him as much as I can to help him keep the belt so he can break the record.”
A newly crowned French champion would definitely help remove the MMA ban in France. After years of discussion, Lopez believes this coming year is the year MMA will finally be legalised in France.
“That will happen. I definitely think in 2018 they will have MMA legalized in France. The UFC is pushing and mostly with Francis becoming a world champion, that will push people.”
