"Fernand should be celebrated for his work in both men" - Eric Nicksick weighs in on student Francis Ngannou's former coach
Eric Nicksick feels that Fernand Lopez deserves credit for his role in the development of both Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.
'The Predator' had an acrimonious split with MMA Factory after his loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 and joined Xtreme Couture. Ngannou and Lopez have taken jabs at each other in the build up to UFC 270.
During an interview with Mystic Black MMA, Nicksick said that the drama between the two parties has taken some of the attention away from the fight. He stated that Lopez deserves to be celebrated for his role in the development of both Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane:
"I think it's turned into more of an ex-coach vs. fighter rather than what it should be, which is two great fighters fighting one another. The reality of it is that Fernand [Lopez] should be celebrated for his work in both men. He should. But now this has somehow turned into a back and forth between these guys."
The Xtreme Couture coach added that he had no desire to be involved in the squabble:
"I just want to stay out of it, man. I don't have any place in this at all to be quite honest with you. It should be Ciryl, who's a great fighter, who deserves his place, and Francis Ngannou, who deserves his place. Let's talk about those guys."
Check out Eric Nicksick's interview with Mystic Black MMA below:
Eric Nicksick details the changes Francis Ngannou made after joining Xtreme Couture
Once he joined Xtreme Couture, Francis Ngannou made noticeable changes to his game. These changes helped him get over the hump and win the heavyweight title by avenging his defeat to Stipe Miocic.
During his interview with Mystic Black MMA, Eric Nicksick provided some insight into how he approached Ngannou's development. Nicksick revealed that the coaches at Xtreme Couture wanted to help 'The Predator' evolve, as opposed to changing his game entirely. They also wanted to focus on sharing resources with Ngannou that he might not have had at the MMA Factory:
"As far as the MMA side of it goes, I wanted him to understand that there's placement of punches... kind of levels to where he is throwing his punches... I don't think that we changed his game or anything but just wanted to keep evolving with him. And then dude, he likes wrestling, he loves getting in his groundwork and doing all those things. Not saying he didn't love it then, but we try to look at things that maybe he didn't have the resources for back then," said Nicksick.