UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has revealed why he walked past his former trainer Fernand Lopez and sparring partner Cyril Gan in the under stands at UFC 268.
“I didn’t want to tell him (Lopez. — Note. “SE”) “Hi” for my own good,” Ngannou said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “He’s been bugging me for a few years now. Of course, I strive to be friendly, but … When I saw him, two thoughts came to me: “Say hello to him?” and “OK, I’ll go up and say, and then he will tell everyone that I said something completely different.” I’m sure he didn’t need my “Hello”. But if I approached, he would then have the opportunity to again tell everyone about me things that I did not do and did not say. Therefore, for my own good, I kept my distance, it was good that there was a camera and it was clear that I did not say anything. We are not friends, he constantly attacks me in the media. If only Gan was standing there, I would say to him: “Hi, how are you?” There was another guy standing there, what’s his name… Mansur Imanov (Nasrudin Imavov, former sparring partner of Ngannou. — Note. “SE”). But I didn’t even see Mansur, I don’t have any problems with him, with Cyril. But the person who was next to them… This made the situation awkward. If I had only said hello to them and not to Fernando, they would have been in trouble.”
Ngannou and Gan will fight on January 22 at UFC 270 in Anaheim.
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