Chad Mendes: I want to dethrone Jose Aldo, 'beat the s*** out of Conor McGregor'
Jose Aldo remains one of the longest-reigning champions in the UFC, and rarely has he been challenged in any of his title defenses. But Chad Mendes managed to push him further than ever before when they rematched in October at UFC 179.
Mendes cracked Aldo with some hard punches and even dropped the Brazilian at one point during their fight. While the result still ended with Mendes coming out on the wrong end of a unanimous decision loss, the Team Alpha Male fighter knows he gave Aldo all he could handle and more.
"The second time I was able to show my skills and show my improvements as a fighter and show the world how good and how tough I actually am," Mendes told FOX Sports. "I think a few small things change throughout that fight and I win that fight. So I would absolutely love to get in there for a third time and get a crack at Jose."
Mendes lost his first fight to Aldo in 2012 before winning five fights in a row to earn a rematch last year. Considering how closely contested their second fight was in 2014, Mendes doesn't believe he'll have to put together the same kind of streak to earn a third crack at the champion.
Trilogy fights with one fighter winning both initial bouts are something of a rarity in MMA. But Mendes knows if anybody deserves it, he's the guy after a "Fight of the Year" performance against Aldo in their second matchup.
"He's been the champion for a long time, and there's a reason why. He's the guy, the only guy I've lost to in this sport. It would mean a lot to be able to fight him again and then beat him," Mendes said. "Hopefully, we see a Mendes-Aldo 3."
Mendes knows in his heart it will take only a few dominoes falling over for him to earn a shot at Aldo again, and the first piece of the puzzle is his upcoming fight on April 4 against Ricardo Lamas in Virginia. Both fighters are ranked in the top five of the division, and Mendes believes an impressive win should land him directly back in the path of another shot at the title.
The second variable in this discussion is the upcoming main event of UFC 189, where Aldo will put his title on the line against top-ranked challenger Conor McGregor.
Mendes has mixed feelings about the fight, but believes when it's all said and done, the featherweight championship will remain around Aldo's waist.
"I hear a lot of people talking about Conor being able to beat Jose; I just don't see it," Mendes said. "I do think there are some aspects to McGregor's game that could give Jose issues. Conor does a great job of using his reach and he's a southpaw, and I've seen some other southpaws go in there and try to give Aldo trouble. It seems like he has a little bit of trouble with southpaws from time to time, so I think those things might give Aldo some trouble, but in the long run I don't think people think about bringing this up ever — Aldo has a great blast double.
"We've seen him in there with other strikers, and if he feels like he's getting beat up a little bit, he'll take someone off their feet; and he's a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. We saw it against Mark Hominick. Any time Aldo feels like he's in trouble, he's going to take Conor down. We've seen McGregor get taken down by Dennis Siver, who is not even a wrestler, multiple times in that fight with relative ease. I just don't see McGregor winning this fight."
When it comes to his own personal feelings on the fight, Mendes is torn as well.
As it stands, Aldo holds two wins over Mendes, which account for the only losses on his professional record. On the other side of the coin, Mendes has engaged in a long-standing grudge with McGregor through various interviews and exchanges, and he would like nothing more than to silence the outspoken Irishman.
"It goes equally both ways in the sense that obviously Aldo's the only guy to beat me in this sport, so I'd love to go in there and get some redemption, and I'd love to dethrone him. But at the same time, I would just love to beat the s*** out of Conor McGregor; whether it's for the belt or not, that's something I want," Mendes said.
The good news is Mendes really won't be upset no matter who comes out on top at UFC 189, because if he beats Lamas next weekend in Virginia, he believes he'll be next in line to take on whoever wins.
He'll either get to fight a longtime rival with a chance to avenge two previous losses, or he'll get to punch McGregor in the face. Mendes is happy with both choices.
"Honestly, I think I'm in a win-win situation," Mendes said. "I'm going to be pretty pumped either way that fight goes."
