LAS VEGAS — Chad Mendes took a pair of significant risks in the last three weeks or so. One was to take the fight with Conor McGregor on short notice, and the other was an attempt to end it once he got in the Octagon.
Mendes volunteered to fill in for Jose Aldo two weeks ago when Aldo pulled out of the UFC 189 main event due to a rib injury. Mendes only had about 18 days to put together some semblance of a training camp to prepare for McGregor. In the actual fight, another risk — going for a submission rather than holding dominant position — likely cost him a chance to win.
“I felt like I was doing great the first two rounds,” Mendes said at the post-fight press conference. “Especially that second one, I was controlling the fight the whole time. But I took a risk. I went for the submission. I probably should have just stayed there and kept throwing the elbows, but I’m trying to finish the fight. That’s the risk you take and that’s the fight game.”
McGregor finished Mendes via second-round TKO to win the UFC interim featherweight title Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mendes controlled McGregor on the ground and landed blows for a good portion of both the first and second rounds. Mendes clearly won the first and was en route to winning the second, too, when he decided to try for a mounted guillotine. McGregor scrambled to his feet and landed repeated left hands to Mendes’ skull, which ended up finishing the fight.
“I felt like I had complete control on top,” Mendes said. “I felt like it wasn’t a whole lot he could do when I was on top of him. I made the mistake of trying to go for the submission. I could have stayed there, I probably should have and just finished the round out like that. It was just a mistake I made and that’s just how it goes.”
Mendes (17-3) admitted fatigue caught up with him after the second-round scramble. McGregor (18-2) was clearly the fresher man at that point and capitalized.
“I was pretty damn tired honestly at the end of that round,” Mendes said. “But I took that fight on short notice. That’s the risk I was taking. I would absolutely love to get back in there again with a full training camp and try there. Hopefully, we can make that happen one day.”
Perhaps, but not any time soon. With this win, McGregor will surely have a date with Jose Aldo, the UFC featherweight title, in a matchup that would unify the belts. Mendes, who had only lost to Aldo (twice) until Saturday, will now be sent back to the very talented pack at 145.
Mendes said, looking back, that McGregor didn’t really seem to pack that much firepower in his room, but the result said otherwise.
“More than anything he’s accurate and I think that’s what plays into the success he has with his punches,” Mendes said. “Nothing was like overwhelmingly powerful. I mean, he’s got power. He’s more accurate I’d say than anything.”