Fernand Lopez

Fernand Lopez Owonyebe^[1] (Born November 12, 1978) is a former Cameroonian mixed martial artist (MMA) and current MMA coach. He is best known for establishing MMA Factory, the biggest MMA gym in France,^[4][5] as well as being the former trainer of UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou and current trainer of UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Ciryl Gane.^[6]

Early life[]

Lopez was born in 1978^[7] in a small village in Lekié and grew up in Yaoundé.^[3] His father was a college professor and his mother was a high school teacher.^[5][3][7]

In his youth his father signed him up for lessons in combat sports such as Taekwondo, Boxing, Judo and Wrestling to defend himself from bullies.^[3][7]

In 1997, Lopez immigrated to France where he worked as an Electrical Engineer.^[3][5][7] On the side he would attend Sports science classes at INSEP^[7] while playing Rugby^[7] in the Pro D2 league.^[3] However a neck injury sidelined him in Rugby and he had to have surgery to treat it, rendering him unable to move his neck for three years.^[5][3][7] During this period, Lopez became exposed to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) leading him to gain an interest in Mixed Martial Arts.^[3]

Mixed Martial Arts career[]

Lopez joined Mathieu Nicourt’s Free Fight Academy where he initially trained in BJJ.^[3] Once his neck recovered, he resumed training in other combat sports like Wrestling and Boxing.^[3]

On 11 March 2006, Lopez made his professional MMA debut after a year of training.^[3] The bout took place at Xtreme Gladiators 2 where he submitted Cedric Deschamps via choke in the first round.^[8]

Lopez's professional MMA career lasted for four years from 2006 to 2010.^[9][10] He fought in various promotions such as M1 Global and Shooto, where his final record was ten wins and seven losses.^[9]

Coaching career[]

After retiring as a professional fighter, Lopez became an MMA coach at Free Fight Academy for a few years before deciding to establish his own gym.^[3][5]

In 2013 Lopez and his business partner, a police officer, opened a gym called 'Cross Fight' which was later renamed 'MMA Factory'.^[3][5][7]

Initially it had two students, but grew very fast to become the biggest gym in France with over 600 students.^[3][11] MMA Factory was one of only three gyms to receive sponsorship from Reebok, with the other two being AKA and SBG.^[4]

His most notable student was Francis Ngannou, who became the UFC Heavyweight champion in 2021 after defeating Stipe Miocic in a rematch at UFC 260.^[12] When Ngannou was 26, he moved from Cameroon to France in order pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer.^[10][13] Didier Carmont met Ngannou and then introduced him to Lopez and the MMA factory.^[14] Lopez saw the potential of Ngannou and convinced him to try MMA even though Ngannou originally wanted to do boxing.^[13] Lopez gave Ngannou some MMA gear and allowed him to train and sleep at the gym at no cost.^{[10][13][14][15]} Lopez and Ngannou worked very well together, with Ngannou having a successful winning streak in the UFC and eventually getting his first title shot.^[14] However Lopez was criticized after Ngannou lost to Stipe Miocic in a title bout at UFC 220.^[16] Since then the relationship between Lopez and Ngannou has deteriorated, with Lopez stating that Ngannou has ego problems.^[17][18] As a result, Ngannou moved to the United states to train at Xtreme Couture.^[6][19]

Apart from Ngannou, Lopez has trained many other fighters such as Ciryl Gane,^[6] Ion Cuțelaba^[20] and Taylor Lapilus^[21]

Notable fighters trained[]

• Francis Ngannou^[22]
• Ciryl Gane^[6]
• Ion Cuțelaba^[20]
• Taylor Lapilus^[21]
• Christian M'Pumbu^[23]

Mixed martial arts record[]

References[]