Chad Mendes wasn’t sure he would return to the squared circle, that is until he heard the name Eddie Alvarez pop up.
On April 29, Mendes will make his sophomore appearance for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship when the promotion heads to the 1stBank Center in Colorado for a stacked lineup scheduled to be headlined by former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.
Not to be outdone, Mendes will knuckle up with another former UFC champion, Eddie Alvarez. Weeks away from one of the biggest fights of his combat sports career, Mendes spoke with Brian Campbell of Morning Kombat to discuss his highly anticipated scrap with ‘The Underground King.’
“I was honestly not sure if I was going to come back and do any more fights, but when they mentioned [Alvarez], I was like, ‘Send the damn contract. I want to do this right now.’ It’s a fight that definitely gets me excited,” Mendes said. “Obviously, a name and a fighter I’ve watched in this sport for a long time and I would absolutely love to get in there and fight a guy like that.”
Going into the contest, Chad Mendes believes he will hold the advantage, having already competed inside the incredibly unique confines of the squared circle last year, scoring a fourth-round knockout against Joshuah Alvarez.
“I do feel like I have a major advantage coming into the fight, mainly for that purpose alone. Going into that first one, I had no idea what to expect. Like, you don’t know what it feels like hitting or getting hit. You don’t know if it’s going to be two minutes of in your face the whole time. You just don’t know what to expect and another thing is that ring is tiny. We have a really small MMA cage that, at least at the last camp, I decided I’m gonna get used to sparring and doing all my training in this small space. And then the ring will probably be bigger than this so at least I’ll feel like I have more room.
“No, it was that same size or smaller I felt like. So yeah, there’s definitely some things that are a lot different than MMA or fighting in the UFC or in these other organizations so I definitely feel like I have the advantage there, but this guy’s got some balls. Stepping in on the first time taking it against a guy like me. I feel like I’m a very dangerous fighter. He’s got some balls to do it so hats off to him, but I’m excited. I think this is going to be a great fight for everybody to see.”
Bare Knuckle FC have signed a pair of ex-UFC champions who will debut at #BKFC41 on April 29th@LukeRockhold 🇺🇸 joins up and will take on @PlatinumPerry 🇺🇸 in the main event
Former lightweight champ @Ealvarezfight 🇺🇸 faces @chadmendes 🇺🇸#BKB #MMATwitter pic.twitter.com/JXbymKJnfi
— Fight HQ (@FightHQTV) March 2, 2023
Chad Mendes Says BKFC 41 Bout Could Be His Last Fight
Entering his 15th year as a professional fighter, Chad Mendes knows that he is nearing the end of his run. Financially secure, ‘Money’ is primarily fighting for fun at this point, but if the promotion continues to offer him paydays like the one he’s receiving for his BKFC 41 clash with Eddie Alvarez, he may put off retirement for a little while longer to continue cashing in.
“After that first one, I really had to sit down. Even before that, had to sit down and talk to the wife. She obviously doesn’t like this stuff which I completely understand. Absolutely crazy. We’re insane, but yeah, it’s obviously gonna be my biggest paycheck ever in my entire career which is a bonus, but it is one of those things, I don’t necessarily need the money. It’s just fun to get in there and compete, especially against a guy like [Alvarez].
“I think the first go-round it’s exciting because it’s something new and now it’s exciting because it’s new and it’s a badass opponent so it’s got the double-whammy there and throw in the bonus, the biggest money I’ve ever had in there. I’ll take it. I think it’s more fun at this point. I don’t know how many more I’m going to do. This might be the last one, but money talks. Maybe we’ll do one more, but I’m excited to get in there.”
Chad Mendes went 18-5 in his mixed martial arts career and is a two-time UFC title challenger. He also competed against Conor McGregor at UFC 189 for the interim featherweight championship. Unfortunately, ‘Money’ never won a UFC title during his tenure with the promotion, but he did earn victories over notables including Darren Elkins, Clay Guida, Ricardo Lamas, and Myles Jury.
