Chad Mendes is already playing out mentally what's going to happen as he squares off against Conor McGregor for the featherweight interim title on July 11.
In the wake of Jose Aldo withdrawing from his featherweight title defense against Conor "The Notorious" McGregor due to a rib injury, the UFC announced that Chad Mendes will replace Aldo at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas.
"Chad Mendes will fight Conor McGregor for the interim belt," UFC president Dana White announced on Tuesday, June 30.
The bout is already personal as far as former two-time title contender Chad Mendes is concerned. McGregor and Mendes slammed each other on a UFC conference call building up the new bout. Mendes noted that The Celtic Tiger's comment before his own fight with Jose Aldo is the thing that set him off.
"I mean, the short sh*t, I don't give a sh*t about that kind of stuff, I've been short my whole life. But, for me it was we had to do an interview right before my Aldo fight and he was talking about putting balls on my head and just being very unprofessional," Mendes said.
He added, "This is something that, that made it personal. And for me, you don't f**king do that. This is the fight game, where somebody could get seriously injured, and that's what I'm looking to do when I get in there against Conor McGregor."
But that's not all; Mendes went as far as claiming that he would finish McGregor inside of three round, accordingto records on BloodyElbow.
"Yeah, Conor I'm going to give you a little more respect buddy," Mendes said. "I'm going to finish you within the first three."
Moreover, Mendes is confident that his striking matches up well with "The Notorious," and that his combination of talents will help me emerge victorious in the match.
"I think my striking is going to be great," Chad "Money" Mendes said.
"Conor's never faced anybody like me before. I have the athleticism, the strength, the power, the speed, and I have wrestling to put him on his back to finish this fight. This fight is mine."
The UFC will finally have someone other than Jose Aldo to call featherweight champion as either Chad Mendes or Conor McGregor will be crowned interim champion at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As soon as Aldo is 100 percent healed from the rib injury, he will have the opportunity to unify the belts and reclaim sole ownership of the title, MMA Mania noted.
That being said, both Mendes and McGregor do not want the championship fight to take place in Brazil, as both fighters revealed during Wednesday's media conference call. Apparently, once Aldo returns they won't give him the luxury of having home field advantage.
"It's the McGregor division now," Conor noted.
"He went running, it's my call now. So if he wants to come back with his tail between his legs, that's no problem. He can come back and we can do the stadium in Dublin. But it's my call now."
"I agree. I fought the guy twice in Brazil now. If I get that belt, I am fighting that dude in the states this time," Mendes declared.
