Fernand Lopez: Ngannou Still Has Spinning S***, Nasty Submissions And Life-Ending Elbows In His Locker

If you think Francis Ngannou’s uppercut is his deadliest weapon, you better think again.

According to Ngannou’s coach, Fernand Lopez, the UFC heavyweight title challenger has plenty of skills left in the locker that we’ve yet to see, and one of them he fears could even have life-ending consequences.

Spinning S***

“People are far, far away from seeing Francis’ best,” Lopez said, speaking at the MMA Factory this past weekend [Press play above]. “There’s so much more that this guy is doing and I’m just like, Jesus, if people could see this.

“Sometimes you’re training a guy and you want to put these movements and these videos on the internet, but you can’t, because you don’t want to be selling everything. At the same time, when I’m sitting home alone, I’m just like, Jesus, you should see this. Spinning elbow coming from nowhere and spinning back kick, he can kill you with everything, his shoulder, everything he does is powerful. It’s crazy.”

With just 6 fights so far in the UFC, Ngannou hasn’t made it out of the second round. With fives wins by way of KO/TKO and one via submission, Ngannou’s ground game has yet to be tested in a major way and Lopez says we’ve yet to see some of his deadliest submissions.

Nasty Submissions

“I think there are a lot of fighters in the UFC who we’ve never seen the best of because they’ve never had the opportunity to showcase the skills they have,” Lopez said. “If you’re going to a decision every time you fight, you may have time to show everything, but this guy [Francis], he’s spent like one hour in [the cage in] his whole career.

“People really don’t know what this guy can do. Submissions, heel hooks, if you see this guy do a heel hook or guillotine someone, it’s crazy. He’s got a very quick, very nasty guillotine, very nasty heel hook. There are so many skills he can do.”

While Lopez was talking up his student’s submissions, it was one weapon, in particular, he decided to highlight. According to Lopez, if Ngannou connects with a flush elbow, paramedics best be at hand to deal with the consequences.

Life-Ending Elbows

“I was talking about the elbow,” Lopez said, with a disbelieving look, a shake of the head and with a genuine tone of concern in his voice.

“When holding the pads, I’ve never felt so much elbow in my life. If Francis lands an elbow, I’m really afraid we have a problem, we may have a murder, like someone killing someone. It’s very heavy, very powerful.

“So yeah, I don’t hope the fight goes the distance just so he can show all his skills. I want the fight to end early, but if the fight does go a long time, we may see a lot of new things. Even if Francis doesn’t showcase all his skill in this fight, Francis isn’t going anywhere. He can be in the UFC for 20 years.”

Watch the full Francis Ngannou: Knockouts To Inspire l UFC 220 Feature Documentary: