Francis Ngannou caught on camera shaking Fernand Lopez's hand after beating Ciryl Gane

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By Tom Ward

Published Feb 1, 2022

Francis Ngannou and Fernand Lopez shook hands in a show of respect

Footage shows the moment Francis Ngannou accepted Fernand Lopez's handshake following his heavyweight clash with Ciryl Gane.

Ngannou beat Gane via unanimous decision to defend his UFC heavyweight title.

'The Predator' arguably dropped the first couple of rounds as he struggled to get close to 'Bon Gamin'.

But the Cameroonian showed off his new and improved wrestling to effectively neutralise the threat of the Frenchman, eventually earning the victory at the end of their Los Angeles showdown.

Much was made of the bad blood between the two sides in the build-up to the fight after Ngannou left MMA Factory in Paris for Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

But Lopez revealed he wanted to bury the hatchet with his former pupil as he now wants to put the past behind them.

And after the fight, Lopez approached Ngannou to pay his respects - with Dewey Cooper and Eric Nicksick watching closely from a distance.

Francis Ngannou celebrates after beating Ciryl Gane

The pair can be seen shaking hands before going their separate ways, with footage of the touching moment surfacing online.

WATCH: Francis Ngannou buries the hatchet with Fernand Lopez

Check out the video below...

All's well that ends well, right?

Speaking after the fight, Ngannou said: "Well I knew that he was going to be a tough opponent, no doubt, I know him.

"I was surprised that he [survived] until the end of the fight, but he was very good, he knew how to manage that,.

"But the only thing that I had to do and my coach was reminding me all the time was stay composed, calm down, don't chase him, trust yourself, and we did it."

He added: "It's been an incredible journey, it's been a very tough training camp, a very tough 10 months. A lot of b-------, you know?

"Three weeks ago, I hurt my knee, tore my MCL completely, hurt my ACL and all that stuff.

"Wanted to pull out this fight but couldn't see myself retreat from this fight because it was the moment for me to make a statement and to remind people that I am the champ.

"You guys might sleep on me, kind of like forget about me - I put in work everyday and now I train at Xtreme Couture with the elite class of wrestling there, we have great coaches there for wrestling and jiu-jitsu, so my ground game is now evolving."