UFC
Chad Mendes thinks Conor McGregor owes him rematch with full camp: "With a full camp, I destroy that guy"
Aug 31, 2015 - 11:10:39 AM Chad Mendes thinks Conor McGregor owes him rematch with full camp: "With a full camp, I destroy that guy"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Chad Mendes stepped up to fight Conor McGregor last month at UFC 189 on just a couple weeks notice, as he felt he couldn't pass up the opportunity for an Interim UFC Featherweight Championship. He got worn down a bit by body kicks from McGregor in the fight, and was stopped late in the second round, but the perennial featherweight contender believes the short notice nature of the fight played the most significant part in the loss.

To that end, Mendes believes the two of them need to fight again in the future with a full camp and lead up, and he reiterated that point last week on UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1.

"That was 110 percent the factor," Mendes said. "None of those body kicks hurt at all. Going into the fight, I was in decent shape and talking it up, but I wasn't in five-round shape. With a full camp, I destroy that guy. He better not try to ditch out to 155. He owes me a rematch with a full camp. We'll see if he's man enough to do that."

Mendes may get his wish after this December, as he'll face Frankie Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale in what is essentially a No. 1 contender fight. Should he win that, and should McGregor defeat Jose Aldo the next night at UFC 194, McGregor-Mendes II will be next.

Penick's Analysis: There are plenty of valid reasons to believe Mendes would fare better with a full camp behind him, because it's near impossible for any fighter to be as effective as they possibly can be with only two weeks of dedicated fight preparation. That doesn't negate what McGregor accomplished at UFC 189, and it doesn't necessarily mean Mendes would be a lock in a rematch under those conditions. He still has a significant skill set that in some ways can be a nightmare to McGregor's game at times; however, McGregor has already shown us that he can handle a lot of that and still get in his offense in a highly effective manner. Despite the decisive finish in the first fight, the rematch would be extremely intriguing with both coming in healthy off a full camp.