Chad Mendes is preparing for his bare-knuckle debut but he won’t rule out a UFC return if the stars align.
Mendes will be taking on Joshuah Alvarez tomorrow night (Feb. 19). The bout will take place at BKFC: Knucklemania II. The action will take place inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Chad Mendes On Possible UFC Return
Chad Mendes hasn’t fought in the UFC since late 2018. He’s still under contract but the promotion has allowed him to compete under the BKFC banner.
Speaking to The Schmo, Mendes said that he if is to sign with the UFC, a renegotiation process would have to take place.
“I don’t know. We’ll see on Saturday how this goes. I keep telling everyone I’ve obviously never boxed professionally and I’ve never bare-knuckle boxed professionally. So, I’m either gonna go in there and absolutely love this or probably hate it. So, we’ll see. I’m gonna get in there Saturday night, fight. I’ll reevaluate.
“If I ever came back to the UFC, we’d have to renegotiate a contract cause I’m still three fighters there. I still have three fights on that contract that it’s just not worth it for me to get back in there. So, if we ended up talking and we renegotiated and it was worth it to me I’d think about it.”
Mendes was stopped in the second round of his bout with Alex Volkanovski in his last UFC outing. The bout did earn Mendes a “Fight of the Night” bonus. He’s hoping that his time away from the Octagon will lead to a revitalization of his combat sports career.
