This would be some appetiser.
We last saw Chad Mendes being an absolute gent after he was stopped by Conor McGregor in his quest for the Interim UFC Featherweight belt.
Mendes brought some serious fight to the Irishman for two gripping rounds before constant body shots forced him to drop his guard and open up his jaw for a crunching McGregor blow.
Post-fight, he declared, ‘What’s awesome is this Irish guys; you guys are crazy. I absolutely love it. I wish we had so much support like this with everyone here [in the USA]. It’s unbelievable to see you guys and how much support you have for your athletes.’
Now, Mendes is focusing on climbing that ladder again so he can get another shot at gold.
Being clued in, the Californian knows that, to get there, he has to get through Frankie Edar first.
The Answer looked willing to accept call-outs from Jeremy Stephens and Max Holloway as he sought a top-billing bout for The Ultimate Fighter 22 finalé in Las Vegas, the night before UFC 194.
Mendes responded to Edgar with this:
@FrankieEdgar if your looking for a real contender fight, let's do this. December sounds good 2 me! @arielhelwani @danawhite @mikeMMAinc
— chad mendes (@chadmendes) August 24, 2015
The UFC, it appears, has seen the light and slated in the bout.
According to Brazilian site Lancenet, Edgar (19-4-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC) and Mendes (17-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will headline TUF 22.
Verbal agreements between both camps are in place but the UFC has not yet rubber-stamped a fight that will pitch the number three and five featherweights together.
Fighters for TUF 22 have not been revealed but, as per MMA Junkie, here is the latest card for the December 11 event.
- Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes
- Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
- Evan Dunham vs. Joe Lauzon
- Ryan LaFlare vs. Mike Pierce
