Chad Mendes Won’t Rule Out Facing Urijah Faber
After a close decision loss in a classic main event rematch against Jose Aldo at last October’s UFC 179, top-ranked featherweight contender Chad Mendes re-solidified his position as the clear No. 1 contender when he decimated fellow former title challenger Ricardo Lamas with a vicious first round TKO in the main event of April 4’s UFC Fight Night 63.
Headed for contract negotiation’s with the UFC soon, Mendes does hold the unfortunate distinction of having lost to the champion of his division twice. But “Money” is more than confident that he can take his skills to the bank.
In fact, even though it might provide him with a clearer path to the title, he doesn’t want the division to get the big shakeup it would receive if brash Irish contender Conor McGregor were to beat longtime titleholder Aldo in the main event of July’s UFC 189.
Breaking down his desired outcome for the division in an interview with Submission Radio, Mendes said that he actually would prefer Aldo to win because he believes he would win a third match-up:
“Ideally Aldo beats Conor, and I get in there and get to make Aldo Mendes 3 happen. You know I truly believe that it’s me and him [Aldo] at the top of this division, and I think with the fight in the states, and like I said [if] I change a couple of small things, I win that fight and I’m the new featherweight world champion. So yeah, that ideally would be perfect for me.”
Even if Aldo wins, however, Mendes could most certainly have to fight one or two more times to get his third title shot. The list of potential opponents for “Money” would be small in that instance, and it could also include his good friend and Team Alpha Male teammate Urijah Faber if “The California Kid” gets past Frankie Edgar on May 16.
According to Mendes, he won’t rule out facing Faber at some point, but said it would have to be quite a lofty offer:
“I mean it would have to be a pretty damn enticing offer, but yeah I’d have to sit down with Faber and kind of pencil things out and talk about it. But money talks and that’s what we’re in this businesses for. So you know I’m not ruling it out, but the money is going to have to be pretty damn good.”
As for his prediction for UFC 189’s main event, Mendes believes that his wish will come true and Aldo will win. With some bad blood between them in the past, Mendes cited an example of McGregor allegedly being submitted by a flyweight, something he thinks will not bode well when he faces a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt of Aldo’s caliber:
“Yeah I think Aldo is going to win this fight. I think the only chance Conor has is catching him with a punch. I think there was one 125 pounder that submitted Corner with a knee bar and that’s a guy that’s half his size submitting him. I mean Aldo is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and he has a good blast double leg. I felt him on top, his ground control, everything’s solid. So he definitely knows what he’s doing I ultimately see Aldo winning this fight.”
Photo Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
