Three-time UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes is out of action since receiving a two-year suspension after failing an out-of-competition drug test via urine sample taken on May 17 related to a growth hormone back in 2016. Mendes teased his return to the UFC Octagon via social media a few months back as he will be eligible to fight this June again.
Mendes was coming off a first-round knockout to Frankie Edgar during The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Finale back in 2015, prior to that ‘Money’ stepped up on a short notice to face Conor McGregor at UFC 189 after Jose Aldo was injured, Which McGregor won via TKO in the second round.
Now Mendes is ready to rock and roll again.
“It was nice to decompress and get out of the game for a little bit. I’ve been training and competing non-stop since I was five years old and I have never taken a year off,” he said during a recent edition of The MMA Hour.
“It’s been nice to step away from it, start my business and kind of go into a different direction for a little bit. I am 32 years old, I still got the itch to compete and I am excited to get back in there and jump back into the mix.”
Mendes said the substance that found in drug test it came from a product he used for his psoriasis. But he accepted his mistake back then that he will pay for not doing his homework.
I didn't do my homework and that was a big mistake. I own it and I'm going to pay for it.
— chad mendes (@chadmendes) June 18, 2016
“My dad raised me that way. If you fuck up, you got to pay the price. You have to do your homework, you have to do your due diligence and make sure that what you are doing in life are the right things,” he said. “I messed up, I used a product, I wasn’t paying attention and it never really crossed my mind. That’s my mistake, that was my fault and I had to pay the price.”
Mendes holds a professional record of 17-4. He has been fighting for the UFC since February 2011 and has gone 1-3 in his last four bouts.
Mendes eyes a fight against former champion Frankie Edgar at upcoming UFC 226 PPV event on July 7, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada, which will co-feature a featherweight champion Max Holloway who will look to defend his title against Brian Ortega.
“I honestly would like to get that Frankie fight back. Frankie is a tough little guy and a guy I know I can beat. That fight would be great. I honestly feel that any of the guys in the top 10 I match up with great.”
However, Frankie Edgar has a bigger fish to fry. In a recent edition of The MMA Hour, Edgar revealed he would want to face the winner of Holloway vs. Ortega next.
“Yeah, I’m down with that. I still think I’m the guy. I risked that shot, and maybe I shouldn’t have like people said, but I am going to do it every single time,” he added. “I still believe I can win that fight. I was doing well in that fight. Obviously I got caught and he did a good job of finishing. I want the winner, man. I think I deserve it. I am number three. We’ll see what happens, man, we will see what happens. I think I’m the guy.”
Do you think Chad Mendes will be able to get a rematch against Edgar?
