When Ciryl Gane knocked out Derrick Lewis to become the new UFC interim heavyweight champion, he was immediately set on a collision course with his ex-training partner Francis Ngannou.
Long before Gane was considered one of the best fighters in the sport, he was coming up alongside Ngannou as part of the MMA Factory in France under head coach Fernand Lopez.
That’s the team and the coach that Ngannou had by his side while rocketing to the top of the rankings ahead of his first shot at a UFC title against Stipe Miocic in 2018.