Though
Chad Mendes only received official word that he’ll be facing Conor McGregor for the featherweight interim title on Tuesday evening, he’s already mentally playing out what’s going to happen on July 11.
And reiterating what he said on Monday’s edition of
The MMA Hour, the division’s No. 1 contender said during Wednesday’s
UFC 189 media call that he won’t let emotion dictate how he performs. Even if McGregor lit a fire under Mendes last fall by insulting him during a spot on
BT Sport just before his rematch with current champion
Jose Aldo at
UFC 179.
McGregor has also disparaged Mendes for his height (he is 5-foot-6) and for being a career runner-up. Yet asked what specific thing it was that created the bad blood between he and McGregor on Wednesday, Mendes said it all goes back to that episode ahead of the Aldo fight, which caught him unawares.
"I mean, the short sh*t, I don’t give a sh*t about that kind of stuff, I’ve been short my whole life," Mendes said. "But, for me it was we had to do an interview right before my Aldo fight and he was talking about putting balls on my head and just being very unprofessional. This is something that, that made it personal. And for me, you don’t f*cking do that. This is the fight game, where somebody could get seriously injured, and that’s what I’m looking to do when I get in there against Conor McGregor."
It was made official by UFC president
Dana White that Jose Aldo would be out of the fight on Tuesday night during an appearance on SportsCenter. During the spot, McGregor was asked how quickly he would finish the wrestler Mendes. The Irishman declared that by the four-minute mark of the first round, Mendes would be unconscious.
He said the same thing during Wednesday’s press call.
When Mendes was presented the same question, he said McGregor wouldn’t last the fight.
"Yeah, Conor I’m going to give you a little more respect buddy," he said. "I’m going to finish you within the first three."
The two argued with each other sporadically throughout the call. When asked how his striking would hold up against McGregor, Mendes said that his stand-up was just part of the tool-set that would ultimately doom arguably the UFC’s biggest star.
"I think my striking is going to be great," he said. "Conor’s never faced anybody like me before. I have the athleticism, the strength, the power, the speed, and I have wrestling to put him on his back to finish this fight. This fight is mine."
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