Fernand Lopez has been firing shots at his former student, Francis Ngannou, for weeks heading into his title fight at UFC 270. The two worked together for years before having a nasty split.

He recently spoke out about Francis Ngannou branching out into boxing and fighting people like Tyson Fury. The former UFC champion's coach did not hold back.

“It would take at least three years for Francis Ngannou to be competitive from a boxing standpoint with Tyson Fury, and I mean three years only dedicated to boxing,” Lopez said about the UFC champion.

“Realistically he would have to stop everything else and probably do nothing else for three years, only boxing. No grappling, nothing else. The way that his body and muscles are built, it will not allow him to keep throwing punches after the third round.”

Fernand Lopez doesn't think the UFC champion will find any success in the fight. Even if things start well, they won't end well.

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“I’m not sure Francis can ever challenge the stamina or endurance of Tyson Fury. All he can do is have a high defence; be elusive, close footwork, change direction.

“But eventually Tyson will wear him down, get him tired, work the body and then go up with the uppercut, and sooner or later Francis will give up because of the volume, because of the pressure shots and he will just go down. I don’t see how he can win the match, this is an opportunity for him to cash out.”

A fight between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury is not realistic as long as he is under contract with the UFC. Things could get interesting should he choose to become a free agent.

The quotes in this article first appeared on the Betway US blog.