"I was nervous about the audience there" - Ciryl Gane's coach Fernand Lopez reveals his biggest concern going into the UFC 265 main event
Ciryl Gane delivered a striking masterclass on the way to his third-round TKO victory over Derrick Lewis in the main-event at UFC 265. However, Gane's interim title victory was met with resounding 'boos' from the audience at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Ciryl Gane's coach Fernand Lopez recently revealed that the Houston crowd was indeed his biggest concern going into the bout against Derrick Lewis. While Lopez had little doubt about his fighter's performance, he didn't know how Gane would react to the jeers from Derrick Lewis' home crowd.
Weighing in on his thoughts before the fight, Fernand Lopez recently told MMA Fighting:
"I mean this fight coming up, I was a little bit nervous. But not about the performance. I was nervous about the audience there. The Toyota Center is 80,000. Even though they didn't sold out it was probably more than 60,000 people. It is scary for myself, for the kid, everything is scary. So I was concerned about that, how will he react when people decide to boo him. I know he was very strong mindset, very powerful guy. I mean like when you see him, he is very kind, very gentleman. But you don't know how strong he is. But I was like, well this is the first time that someone talked to my guy and said to him, 'I'm going to hurt you, I want to hurt you'. I don't know how you're going to react to that."
How Ciryl Gane received the boos
While Fernand Lopez was a little concerned about Ciryl Gane's composure, 'Bon Gamin' put all doubts at bay with a flawless performance. Unlike most fighters, Ciryl Gane received the crowd's criticism as an honor. According to Lopez, Ciryl Gane and himself burst into song as they heard the entire arena erupting in boos. Speaking about the post-fight experience, Lopez further told MMA Fighting:
"When we walk out and people decide to boo us. And there is the entire arena booing us. I don't know how to explain you this, but we start to sing. Like that was so good, I never experienced that in my life. What Ciryl said he felt and what I felt, we felt like that was an honor to have all the stadium booing us. That's like kind of welcome. You have to get a name, to be something, in order to get that kind of attention from all the audience."