'Money' gets a second chance, and deservedly so.

October 28th 2010 was a very happy day for all of the guys on the WEC roster as they we're added to the UFC roster, this came after the WEC and UFC rosters merged. One of the most exciting talents at the time, Chad Mendes, who was 4-0 in the WEC, got his long awaited chance to fight the elite in the UFC's Featherweight division.

(Photo courtesy of Zuffa)

After a Unanimous Decision win over Judo black belt Michihiro Omigawa (13-14-1 MMA, 1-6 UFC) in his UFC debut, Dana White said that Mendes (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) may have earned himself a UFC title shot against champion José Aldo (24-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC). The fight between the two was scheduled for UFC 133, but Aldo pulled out of the bout with numerous injuries, and Mendes, instead, faced Rani Yahya (19-8 (1) MMA, 4-2 UFC), he defeated Yahya via unanimous decision.

After the fight, Dana White confirmed that Chad Mendes was still getting the title shot and he did get it at UFC 142 in Brazil. Mendes spent the majority of the first round trying to set up a take-down, he failed on numerous occasions, but near the end of the round, he managed to lock up a body lock. Mendes tossed Aldo looking to take him down but Aldo capitalized and managed to spin around and land a knee that knocked Mendes out cold with just one second remaining in the round.

(Photo courtesy of Zuffa)

Mendes bounced back fairly quickly after suffering the first loss of his MMA career, as he faced Cody Mckenzie (15-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at UFC 148. Before the fight Mendes said that he was a better all around fighter and that he had improved his striking leaps and bounds. Mendes proved this in the very first round when he caught a leg kick that Mckenzie threw and landed a hard right hand to the body. Mckenzie dropped instantly and covered up, Mendes knew he was hurt and started landing hard punches to the body and head of Mckenzie until the referee was forced to stop the fight. UFC President Dana White was impressed with Mendes' performance and said he was a much more dangerous threat now that he had dangerous wrestling and striking.

Mendes was next scheduled to face Hacran Dias (21-2-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX 6, Dias pulled out just days before the event and Mendes was then put up against Yaotzin Meza (20-9 MMA, 1-2 UFC), he started quickly and again scored a first round knockout.

After the Meza fight, Mendes was scheduled to fight Manvel Gamburyan (13-7 (1) MMA, 2-2 (1) UFC) at UFC 157, Gamburyan pulled out of the fight with a thumb injury, though, and the bout was subsequently cancelled. Mendes was then scheduled to fight Clay Guida (31-14 MMA, 11-8) at UFC On FOX 7 but Guida pulled out of the bout with an injury, Mendes, instead, fought Darren Elkins and won the fight via First Round TKO.

(Photo courtesy of Zuffa)

Mendes vs. Guida was rescheduled for UFC 164, Mendes set a high pace throughout the fight. He used his superior wrestling and superior striking skills to wear Guida down. Early into the third round, Chad Mendes caught Clay Guida with a crisp combination and dropped Guida, he landed some more punches whilst Guida was on the ground and the referee was forced to step in and stop the contest. After this victory Chad Mendes became the first ever fighter to stop Clay Guida due to strikes, his efforts earned him his first ever Knockout Of The Night bonus with the UFC. Shortly after this fight, it was announced that Chad Mendes would face Nik Lentz (24-6-2 (1) MMA, 8-3-1 (1) UFC) next.

(Photo courtesy of Zuffa)

Mendes fought Nik Lentz at UFC on FOX 9. Although there was a lot of trash talk leading up to the fight, Mendes fought very calmly and didn't get reckless, he out-wrestled and out-struck Nik Lentz for 3 round and won a unanimous decision. During the fight, UFC President Dana White Tweeted out saying "Is it just me or is Mendes gassed", Mendes responded to this in the post fight press conference, saying "I just didn't feel myself tonight, I had the flu a while back and it went away, but a couple of days ago it came back and I couldn't get any air into my lungs, I was ill". This was the first fight Chad Mendes hadn't finished since his loss to Aldo at UFC 142.

(Photo courtesy of Zuffa)

Since his loss to Aldo as UFC 142, Mendes has been on a fantastic run, he is 5-0 with four finishes since he was knocked out by the knee of José Aldo. After almost every victory Mendes has called out Aldo in the post fight interview or the post fight press conference. Aldo almost moved up to lightweight to challenge for the belt there, but he has decided to stay at featherweight and he has a tough opponent ahead of him in Chad Mendes. As this fight has only recently been announced their is not much more I can tell you about the card, but there are two things already certain. One, this fight will headline UFC 176. Two, this fight will be held at The Staples Centre.


If you've been looking forward to this match-up as much as I have then you are probably more excited than ever. We look forward to this fight and we hope it will be one for the ages, we also hope it will go more than one round this time.

Thanks for reading, tweet me your take on this fight and how you think it will play out, my Twitter is @JohnKingMMA

-John.