Chad Mendes isn’t doing a whole lot to endear himself to the Irish fans.
A long time critic of Conor McGregor, Mendes has predicted that the Dubliner will not be leaving the octagon in July with the featherweight belt.
Speaking to MMAJunkie, Mendes (16-2) said: “In my opinion, breaking down the fight, I see Aldo winning the fight. I could see McGregor giving Aldo some issues. Aldo has had some issues with southpaws in the past, but he always seems to figure them out.
“One thing Conor does really good is using his range. He’s very lengthy and he punches well and keeps on the outside. That could be a problem for Aldo. But, McGregor keeps his stance very wide. Aldo has some of the best, or the best leg kicks in the sport. He’s going to eat that leg up if McGregor doesn’t check his kicks.
“(McGregor) is always talking about being fluid and movement, but in every fight I’ve seen he doesn’t seem to move his feet very much. We’ll see. I’m actually pretty excited about this fight.”
Mendes’ next fight comes this Saturday, against fellow McGregor nay-sayer Ricardo Lamas and the winner of that bout will be right in the contention picture with whoever takes the title home on July 11.
Money was left even more irritated by McGregor after the Irishman’s behaviour on his and Aldo’s UFC 189 media tour, especially by the fact that The Notorious continued to take the champion’s belt.
“You don’t touch somebody else’s belt – that’s their belt,” Mendes added. “If I was Aldo, I would have punched him right in the f*cking face. I don’t know. Aldo played it off. Honestly, I feel bad for Aldo having to do all that stuff with that moron. The guy’s got to just be the most annoying person to do a media tour with. It sucks for him.”
Mendes knows Aldo well, having shared the octagon with him on two occasions, both of which resulted in the only two losses of the American’s career.
“Aldo’s a champion and has been a champion for a long time,” Mendes said. “He’s got that champion mentality. You’re not going to shake a guy like that by talking sh*t to him. The guy has been in the sport for a long time and he’s seen guys like McGregor. I don’t think anything like that is going to dictate how the fight goes.”
