Issue 136
December 2015
Chad ‘Money’ Mendes is preparing to face Frankie Edgar in Las Vegas in December, just 24 hours before the featherweight division’s two champions – José Aldo and Conor McGregor – collide at the MGM Grand. Fighters Only caught up with the Team Alpha Male standout to discover how he thinks the biggest weekend in 145lb history will play out, and which fighter he wants to rematch the most.
Chad Mendes
UFC featherweight
Q. You’re scheduled to fight Frankie, but have you been preparing to face Aldo or McGregor too?
A. There are always the possibilities of people getting injured and someone having to fill in and that could well be the reason why me and Frankie are fighting so close to these guys. It makes sense, especially knowing the history of Aldo getting injured and McGregor being so big for the weight class. It’s a smart move by the UFC. But if I don’t prepare with complete focus on Frankie, if I go in there half-assed, then I’m going to get beat.
I’m focused 100% on Frankie until told I’m fighting someone else. But I’ve prepared my body and my mind for any eventuality. While there are certain details you may go over for an opponent – to build a game plan for that person – at the end of a full training camp you should be ready to face any type of fighter.
Q. Do you regret accepting your last fight, against McGregor in July, on short notice?
A. That was a crazy time for me. I wasn’t too far out of shape, but to step in like that, into a five-round fight – a championship fight – it’s tough to get ready for that in just two weeks. I tried as hard as I could and I fought the best I could, but it just wasn’t enough.
Q. Is it true you were nursing a foot injury and broke your hand in the opening round?
A. I don’t want to come out and sound like I’m making a ton of excuses but those are facts. You listen to him now and he talks like he dominated the fight, but I don’t know where he’s getting that from. Maybe I knocked the sense out of his head after all. I was killing him in that fight. I was landing so many heavy punches on him. I took him down and he couldn’t get up off his back. I was landing punches and elbows whenever the hell I wanted. But ultimately I wasn’t physically prepared for all the wresting scrambles and I got tired.
Q. McGregor says opponents crumble due to the extra pressure when they face him. Did you feel that, compared to when you fought Aldo?
A. The pressure you feel when you get in the Octagon has nothing to do with your opponent and whether they’re going to beat you. For me the pressure is simply about me, and whether I’m prepared enough to get in there and do this. One of my biggest fears growing up was when you were studying for a mid-term or a final you have these dreams where you show up to the test and you can’t remember everything or you reviewed the wrong things. So I always did everything in my power to be as prepared as possible, and that’s where I’d get my confidence.
I knew taking that fight on two weeks notice would be difficult as hell, but you don’t turn down a world title fight where anything can happen. I could have caught him with a huge punch in the first second and scored a KO. The only pressure on me was down to my lack of training and preparation. It was never about Conor. There was no win bonus attached to that fight either, so there was no pressure about losing money on the fight. The only pressure was knowing I wasn’t everything I can be.
Q. Coming back to Frankie, how excited are you to fight him?
A. It’s a great fight. A fight I’ve been pushing for – for a long time now. It’s a fight I feel very confident I can win, even though I’m going in against a guy like Frankie. The winner gets right back in line for the title. And right now, those are the types of fights that I want. I don’t want to lose a fight for the belt and get bumped down to fight guys in the top 15 or low top 10. I want the top two or three guys every time to keep me relevant in the championship mix. It’s the fight that makes the most sense and we’re going to get after it.
Q. Are you a Frankie Edgar fan?
A. I’m a big fan. He’s a stand-up guy, very respectful. I enjoy fighting guys like this. In fact, take the word fighting out, as it doesn’t fit this opponent. I’d rather say I’m competing against Frankie. I’ve been competing against guys like this since I was four or five years old. I’ve been wrestling my entire life and guys like him are my favorite to go up against. He’s the kind of guy I pride myself on being.
I know the kind of hard work that goes into everybody’s training camps and the hard work and dedication we all have to make. So it’s not really my personality to talk a toe of s**t about people. Obviously I get p**sed off when people talk s**t about me and I start running my mouth a little. But all in all I was taught to be humble and to respect your opponents, and Frankie is the same. It’s not personal, we’re both just preparing to get in there and win.
Q. What does Frankie do well?
A. Frankie’s mental game is probably his strongest attribute. He comes from that same wrestling background as I did and he’s got that mentality to push through things. We’ve seen him hurt badly multiple times in fights, but he just doesn’t know how to quit. He just keeps going and going and that deserves a lot of respect. That’s a trait you have to take into account and train for. He’s the type of guy who’s like Rocky Balboa, who’s going to be able to take punches, so you have to set up your own game plan for that.
Q. How will the fight play out?
A. This is definitely a fight where I will be prepared for every single situation. Frankie is a very well-rounded fighter. His wrestling is great, his jiu-jitsu is excellent, he hits you and he’s great with striking – he’s a boxing-heavy wrestler, like me. So when you have a guy who’s compact and ready to go, go, go, then you’re expecting it to be a war. And that’s what we’re preparing for. A lot of fans wanted to see this fight go down, myself included. Frankie is a big name who’s been around for a long time and this is an important fight for both of us.
Power puncher
Q. Are you the biggest hitter at 145lb?
A. I believe so. I pride myself on my power and my explosivity. I’ve always been an explosive athlete. Growing up, that’s something I always trained for and tried to fine-tune. Ever since I was young I knew I had heavy hands. It took me a while in the beginning to figure out my accuracy and exactly when and where to throw big punches, but once I figured that out I started knocking people out and realized, ‘Hey this is pretty damn fun!’
Bring me McGregor
Q. If you and Aldo win and the UFC asks, ‘Choose: Aldo and the belt or a Conor rematch,’ which would you go for?
A. I would probably have to choose Conor. I’d be very OK with facing him again, even if it wasn’t for the championship belt. And I really want to go on record stating that my decision here has got absolutely nothing to do with money. It’s everything to do with me beating the crap out of this dude. I’ll take this fight with no bonus or pay bump whatsoever. Just give him to me please so I can shut him up once and for all.
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