When Chad Mendes was first signed to the UFC, he quickly developed a reputation as an aggressive wrestler with brutal ground and pound. However, as his UFC career progressed, fans saw Mendes begin to add some truly high-level MMA boxing to his arsenal.
In a recent interview with Mike Heck of MMA Fighting, Chad Mendes detailed why he is so suited to boxing and will excel in this new realm of combat sports:
Chad Mendes on why his UFC career put’s him in good stead to compete in bare knuckle boxing
Just because an athlete has competed in the UFC does not automatically mean that they will be able to be competitive in boxing/bare-knuckle. Ben Askren is a perfect example, in that he went most of his MMA career undefeated, but when he faced the 3-0 YouTuber Jake Paul, he did not make it out of the first round.
Chad Mendes believes his transition to another combat sport will be incredibly different. While Ben Askren completely relied on his wrestling in MMA, Mendes combined his grappling skills with boxing techniques he picked up while training at the prestigious Team Alpha Male. He stated that:
Chad Mendes does not yet have an opponent officially announced. However, he has hinted that he will be competing at lightweight. BKFC, the organization that Chad Mendes has signed for, currently have another former UFC fighter as their lightweight champion in Johnny Bedford. It may be that he will be the man to welcome Mendes into this new chapter of his combat sports career.
0 votes
