Chad Mendes: I lay in bed thinking about UFC 189 loss to Conor McGregor
Chad Mendes showed a lot of guts in taking on Conor McGregor to replace Jose Aldo last month at UFC 189 on just two weeks' notice. And, that gamble almost appeared to pay off as Mendes dominated McGregor for most of the first two rounds.
After McGregor was able to get off his back near the end of the second, however, a fatigued Mendes had slowed and Conor hit and hurt him with pin-point strikes that earned him the stoppage win and an interim title. A month later, Mendes still has a hard a time watching the fight.
"It hurts to watch," he admitted to MMA Fighting, this week.
The featherweight is confident that he could have and could still beat McGregor with the benefit of a training camp to prepare for it and get conditioned. "I'm not making excuses. I'm not sitting here saying that's the reason why I lost. But I feel that if I am completely prepared for that fight, I win that fight. Every single time," he maintained.
"His only way of beating me was tagging me on the feet. And you know, he does a really good job of being in your face. He has that, like, Diaz style of punching. But anyone who can move around and stay light on their feet and take this dude down wins that fight every single time. I just, after scrambling around, and fighting for the amount of time that I did, I just wasn't able to get back to my feet and be light on my feet."
Because he was so exhausted after not having a camp to get in fight-shape as McGregor did, Mendes said that he simply couldn't be as light on his feet after McGregor got up. The fresher and better prepared fighter won at UFC 189, but Mendes believes that with like preparation, he would have gotten the win.
"I was stuck, and that's when he was able to tee off and that's why I lost," he said.
"So I truly believe that if I was able to keep that bounce in my step and move my feet, keep that footwork going, that I wouldn't have been tagged and the round would've ended. We would've gone back and round three would've been just like round two. So it sucks. I think that's the hardest part, because I know I can beat this guy, and I was so close."
Nothing hurts quite the same way as a stoppage loss in a prize fight. Mendes is sure to eventually recover and rebound, but for now the loss is sticking with him.
"It's something I still think about," he revealed.
"Sometimes [I] lay in bed still thinking about it. It's definitely going to take some time to get over it, but you know, that's just part of the game."
