UFC bantamweight fighter Chad Mendes is coming off a first-round knockout loss against Jose Aldo at UFC 142. It was his first ever defeat in his mixed martial arts career and with few title contenders in UFC’s 145-pound division, Mendes is looking for a rematch bout against the Brazilian champ as soon as possible. He’ll have to wait to see if he can first get past his upcoming UFC 148 opponent Cody McKenzie, a preliminary card bout that takes place in Las Vegas on July 7th.
From Chad Mendes…
In regards to fighting his former training partner McKenzie at UFC 148:
“It’s going to be funny because I’ve trained with Cody. He’s come into Sacramento and trained for a couple weeks at a time. This is the first time I’ve ever fought somebody that I’ve kind of known and trained with. I wouldn’t call him a best friend or anything. But like I said, I’ve never trained with any of my opponents before or gone to lunch or hung out with them. It’s going to be a different experience, but I’m going to treat it like it’s any other fight. I’m going to get in there, and I’m going to train like it’s for the world title and go after it. He’s definitely awkward. He’s southpaw. I think he’s 6-foot, so he’s going to be big for the weight. I don’t think his standup is particularly any good. His wrestling is not very good. His ground is decent. He’s got a really good guillotine choke. Obviously, we’re going to base our camp around that and put together a good gameplan like we always do and just get in there and try to execute it as good as possible.”
Regarding a rematch fight against Jose Aldo:
“For me, it’s about beating Aldo now. That’s my first loss, and I want to get in there and prove to the world that I can be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters…I was ready to get back in there as soon as possible. For me, I always do better when I’m competing on a regular basis. I feel like I get better faster. Obviously I’m learning more stuff when I’m in there. There are people that are turning down the fight with Aldo, people that just don’t think they’re ready for him or guys that have already fought and lost. I think that I’m pretty close, still, to the top. I win a couple more fights, and I should be right back in there.”
