Francis Ngannou is set to defend his heavyweight title for the first time against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. The two are former training partners and had a funny viral moment where the champion walked right past the challenger without saying hello.

The moment had everyone speculating on their beef and why it happened. The UFC heavyweights were not exactly feuding heading into the event.

Ciryl Gane recently explained his side of the story. Now Francis Ngannou has opened up and explained what happened to Daniel Cormier.

“That’s exactly what the UFC was waiting for. When you look at that video, they were waiting for me around the corner,” Ngannou said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “It’s not like they wanted the story, the bad blood — they created that [scene]. … What happened is there was this lady taking us to our seat, [my manager] Marquel [Martin] and I, and she was bringing us to this section — and then they talked to her over the radio. Then she was like, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m wrong,’ so she turned around and we get back [and they were there].

“Tell me how this gets to be a coincidence,” Ngannou continued, laughing along with Cormier. “That’s what happened. I’m telling you what happened. … And when you look, by the time I come from [around] the corner, the guy was ready with camera. If you watch that video, he was on me by the time I turned around the corner and just zoomed in on me, like, ‘Oh, he’s there, he’s coming.’ Like this movie scene. He was there waiting for [me].

“It’s not like you see somebody and you’re like, ‘Oh damn, let me film this moment.’ No, come on. His camera wasn’t just there waiting to film something if ever something happened. No, he was waiting like he knew who’s coming. He knew that I was coming.”

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Francis Ngannou doesn't have any beef with Ciryl Gane ahead of UFC 270. The only problems were with his former coach and manager Fernand Lopez.

Francis Ngannou walked by them and had to make a decision quickly. He chose to ignore them so he wouldn't have to greet his former coach.

“Obviously, as his coach said, he’s naive, he’s naive,” Ngannou said of Gane. “I would’ve been confused too, because if I walked by Gane [alone], I would say hi. If it’s just him, I would say, ‘Hi, what’s up?’

“I didn’t even see Nassourdine, who fought that night. And I don’t have any problem with Nassourdine, I don’t have any problem with Ciryl. But I know the guy next to him and it’s going to be awkward. And if I say hi to them without saying hi to Fernand, and they respond, I think that might cause them a problem as well. So this was a very confusing situation — like, OK, what can you do here to get out of here?”

It's a very relatable moment from the current UFC heavyweight champion. The awkward moment almost couldn't be avoided.