He certainly isn’t short of confidence, anyway.
Chad Mendes is set to face Conor McGregor for the interim featherweight belt at UFC 189, following the withdrawal of Jose Aldo due to a fractured rib.
The number one-ranked featherweight contender was waiting in the wings to step in for Aldo since last week, when the injury reports first surfaced. He explained to Fox Sports that he has been hard at training, sharpening up his game since he got the call from Uncle Dana and co.
“Since I found out I was the backup, I knew I was fighting Conor. Nothing has changed in my mind except it’s gone public. I’m excited. This is a huge opportunity and something I’ve worked my entire life for. I’m not passing this up.”
“I’ve got two weeks to get as sharp as I can. I live a healthy lifestyle, so I’m in pretty decent shape year-round. I’ve been hitting it hard (since) as soon as I found out. So I’m just kind of fine-tuning it now, but I’ll stay injury free and get that weight down. You guys should see the original O.G. Chad Mendes get in there on July 11 and whoop some ass.”
McGregor has two losses on his record, which came at the hands of Joseph Duffy and Artemij Stenkov. On both occasions, McGregor was taken down to the ground and submitted. Mendes reckons this is very telling of the Notorious’ inability to cope with wrestlers.
“We all know Aldo’s a super athlete, very dangerous stand-up, but those are the type of guys that Conor does the best with. We have not seen him with many fighters that have the wrestling, that have the explosiveness to get inside and close the distance on him. The fights that I’ve seen him lose, those guys were able to get him down on the ground.”
Mendes explained that his supreme wrestling ability makes him a nightmare match up for McGregor.
“That right there I feel is a huge hole. I think my style with my wrestling, my athleticism, my speed, and the ability to knock somebody out, the power in my hands, I feel like that’s a shittier fight for him.”
He envisages only three possible outcomes to the fight which, unsurprisingly, all result in him becoming the new interim champion.
“I see myself beating this guy three ways. I’m either going to knock him unconscious because he drops his hands a ton and gets lazy in there. I’m going to take him down and submit him because he gives up. Or I’m going to have him on his back crying for his mama for five five-minute rounds, beating the crap out of him. I’m good with all three of them.”
Mendes has previously been a victim of Conor McGregor’s acerbic tongue. McGregor has been known to crack wise over Money’s vertically challenged frame and infamously claimed that he could “rest (his) balls on (Mendes’) forehead during an appearance on live TV.
However, Money admitted he’s not worried about McGregor’s pre-fight trash-talking.
“I feel like a kid who just walked downstairs on Christmas morning. This is something that is so awesome to me right now. So listening to a guy like Conor hype this fight up, he’s going to be running his mouth and talking all kinds of trash and that’s something I’m expecting; it’s no big surprise. It’s what got him here today. It’s what made him go from a no-name to in a couple years being a superstar.
“Let him say whatever the hell he wants. I’m going to sit there and smile because I know in my mind I’m going to get in there and whoop this dude’s ass. This is a huge payday for me and it’s all because of his mouth so let’s get after it.”
Hat-tip to Fox Sports
