Special Feature
From The Shadows To The Spotlight: The Story Of France’s MMA Factory
Find Out How MMA Factory Head Coach Fernand Lopez Helped Build A Foundation For MMA In France.
For over a decade, Fernand Lopez has been at the forefront of mixed martial arts in France.
The fighter turned coach opened the MMA Factory in 2012, a full seven years before the sport was even legalized in the country. At the time there was no government support for MMA and there was very little positive media coverage to help elevate its popularity.
“We were trying to do something but people around us didn’t know what we were talking about,” Fernand told UFC.com. “The government would only allow MMA training for one or two hours at other sports associations because it wasn’t an official sport. I wanted to open my gym to teach and train whenever I wanted. That’s why I opened MMA Factory.”
In The Gym With Ciryl Gane | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
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In The Gym With Ciryl Gane | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
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Lopez named his gym MMA Factory because he and his athletes treated the gym like a factory - the doors were always open, and fighters were working on their skills 24/7.
Despite the odds he was up against, Lopez pushed on, molding talented athletes to compete in organizations around the world while urging the French government to sanction the sport.
One of Lopez’s fighters is former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, who transitioned from Muay Thai to MMA full-time in 2018 after looking for a gym that was closer to his home in Paris.
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“My best friend is from Cameroon, and he has a restaurant, and he knew Fernand Lopez because they are both from the same country,” Gane told UFC.com. “So, I knock at the door of the MMA Factory, and I say, ‘Hello I’m Ciryl Gane.’ And Fernand Lopez looks at me, ‘You want to train? Really? No worries.’”
The truth is, athletes seeking to train at the MMA Factory was starting to become a common occurrence for Lopez, who, at the time, was the head coach and mentor of the current UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. So, it was natural that Lopez was hesitant to assume that Gane was a superstar who just happened to stumble into his gym out of the blue.
“Everyone wants to knock on the door, ‘Yes, I’m the next Francis Ngannou,’ you see. So, he had a lot of people like that, knock on the door, knock on the door – and me. I just arrive and say, ‘Yeah I want to do some sparring.’ so I started like that,” Gane recalled. “I did my first training session, and after my second session he told me to try to do some MMA and I did it. After that, he said ‘OK, I want you in my gym; I want you in MMA.’ He explained the plan for me, and I said, ‘OK let’s go’.”
Part of Lopez’s plan for Gane was for “Bon Gamin” to be the face of MMA in France, a happy go-lucky ultra-athletic heavyweight who would quickly climb to the top of the sport. Gane delivered just that, and so when MMA was legalized in 2019, Lopez knew it was only a matter of time until the UFC would want to see Gane headline an event in Paris.
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While he waited for that dream to come true, Lopez continued to pave the way for new French fighters and was able to open a second MMA Factory location just outside the heart of Paris in Rungis in January of 2020. The gym, also known as the Venum Training Center, is sponsored by the combat sports apparel brand Venum.
The massive facility is home to over 1,000 members, with their experience in MMA ranging from four-year-old beginners to UFC contenders. Lopez coaches over 100 professional fighters out of the two different MMA Factory locations and has helped create one of the best MMA teams in Europe.
And finally, after a decade of anticipation, the UFC announced that Paris would be home to a UFC Fight Night event on September 3, 2022.
The event would be headlined by Gane and surging Australian knockout artist Tai Tuivasa.
“I have been dreaming about this for a long time and I had been thinking that I won’t witness this in my lifetime,” Lopez said. “I really hope that Ciryl will enjoy the process because this is about him. When he gets in the arena and the arena starts to cheer for him, I really hope he soaks all this energy and brings a good fight to his opponent.”
Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
Gane agrees with Lopez and believes that his personality and fighting style is perfect to help capture the interest of Parisians new to the sport.
“I’m the fighter with the French flag and I hope I help the sport. Just three years ago the people thought the sport was just in the bar and barbaric. Todays with my image, with my profile, people understand that I’m very kind and I smile every time. I have value,” Gane said. “For me it means a lot, I’m the headliner. I inscribed my name on my history and on the history of French MMA and I’m really happy about that.
“The feeling and the atmosphere is going to be electric for the first event. It’s going to be special. It’s not easy to go everywhere to see UFC fights so this will probably be the first time for a lot of people. I want a big win for me, of course, but also for all the French fighters.
“This is not only a war this is also the first event in Paris – it’s a celebration. I want a good feeling for everyone.”
Lopez believes that the popularity of MMA will increase exponentially after his athletes put on the performance of a lifetime at the Accor Arena on Saturday.
UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa took place on September 3, 2022, live from the Accor Arena in Paris, France. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
