Chad Mendes didn’t have to wait long for a new assignment. One day after learning that he had been pulled off of UFC 157 after no suitable opponent was found for him, he’s back in the game, scheduled to fight Clay Guida at UFC on FOX 7.
The pairing essentially amounts to a two-month delay for Mendes, as UFC on FOX 7 takes place on April 20, eight weeks after UFC 157.
The matchup was reported by USA Today and confirmed by UFC president Dana White.
A former No. 1 contender in the UFC featherweight division, Mendes (13-1) is coming off of back-to-back knockout wins of Yaotzin Meza and Cody McKenzie. He had been scheduled to face Manny Gamburyan before multiple injuries forced Gamburyan from the Feb. 23 card.
In Guida, he’ll be facing a higher-ranked opponent with a bigger name. The former lightweight dropped to featherweight in his last matchup, a split-decision victory over Hatsu Hioki that was highly controversial. Guida largely won on the strength of three takedowns, as he was out-struck 74-40 overall in the bout, according to FightMetric. Prior to that, he lost back to back decisions to Benson Henderson and Gray Maynard while competing at 155 pounds.
Guida is 30-13 overall.
The addition bolsters an already strong card, highlighted by a lightweight championship main event between Henderson and Gilbert Melendez. Other agreed-upon matchups include Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier, Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson and Dan Hardy vs. Matt Brown.
The show takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.