Fernand Lopez reveals what Kamaru Usman said after Ngannou beat Gane at UFC 270

Fernand Lopez came up short against former student Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 this weekend. In the main event Ngannou out-wrestled Ciryl Gane, Lopez’s…

By: Tim Bissell | 2 years ago
Fernand Lopez reveals what Kamaru Usman said after Ngannou beat Gane at UFC 270
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Fernand Lopez came up short against former student Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 this weekend. In the main event Ngannou out-wrestled Ciryl Gane, Lopez’s current charge, to unify the UFC heavyweight title.

In the lead-up to this one there was plenty of back and forth between Lopez and Ngannou. Lopez claimed ‘The Predator’ was ungrateful for all his past tutelage. Ngannou said Lopez was jealous of him and hungry for attention.

After the fight with Gane there were no scenes of reconciliation in the cage. However, Lopez said there were some overtures from Ngannou’s team after the bout.

On The MMA Hour Lopez said that UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who cornered Ngannou for the fight, talked to him about his ongoing feud with the champ.

The MMA Hour: Brandon Moreno, Fernand Lopez, Bobby Lashley, Jimmy Smith

“I shook [Ngannou’s] hand,” he said (ht sportskeeda). “We spent like five seconds or maybe four seconds looking each other in the eye when we shook hands. But I talked for maybe five minutes with Marquel [Martin], Francis’ manager… when Ciryl was in the medical check. And I talked also with, I hugged very sincerely Eric Nicksick… Also when I shook Kamaru Usman’s hand, he said to me, ‘Fernand, we’re brothers. Let’s stop this. Let’s move on.’”

It feels like Ngannou has already moved on. He’s signalled that he has bigger things to worry about that a former coach and opponent. Lately the Cameroonian has discussed his crusade to change his UFC contract to allow him to face Tyson Fury in a blockbuster boxing bout.

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Tim Bissell
Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

Tim is also BE's lead (only) sumo reporter. He blogs about that sport here and on his own substack, Sumo Stomp!

Email me at tim@bloodyelbow.com. Nice messages will get a response.

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