The mixed martial arts UFC 189 main event last July 11 was supposedly between WEC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former Cage Warriors Featherweight and Lightweight champion Conor McGregor. But due to a rib injury from a previous fight, Aldo wasn’t in the best shape to continue with the scheduled fight with McGregor so he had to be pulled out from the tournament at the last minute.
Two weeks prior to the mixed martial arts fight, former two-time title challenger Chad Mendes stepped in and offered to take the place of Jose Aldo in the fight. With barely 18 days left before the fight, Mendes admitted that stepping in with McGregor would be a risky move. During the bout itself, Mendes went in again for another risky move- instead of maintaining a dominant position, Mendes went for a submission move. This move, unfortunately, had cost him the fight. Mendes was knocked out by McGregor at 4:57 of the second round. McGregor won the MMA UFC interim featherweight champion title by second-round  TKO.
After the fight, Mendes had a press conference where he explained what happened during the fight. He said that he felt he was doing great during the first two rounds of the game, especially during the second round. He felt that he was on the winning side the whole time. He said that he felt McGregor wasn’t able to do much when he was on top. Mendes admitted that he made mistake of going for submission when he should have just finished the round staying on top of McGregor and just kept throwing the elbows. He said he wanted to finish the fight that is why he went for the submission technique. Unfortunately, McGregor was able to get a good footing and landed several left hands to his skull which eventually had him knocked out.
Mendes also admitted that he was pretty tired at the end of the second round. However, he acknowledged the fact that this was the risk he had to take when he agreed to take the place of Aldo on a very short notice. When asked about what he thought about how McGregor fought during the MMA bout, he said: “More than anything he’s accurate and I think that’s what plays into the success he has with his punches. Nothing was like overwhelmingly powerful. I mean, he’s got power. He’s more accurate I’d say than anything.”
At end of it all, Mendes is still hoping to that he will be given a chance to go back in again, this time he is prepared and ready to fight. He said during the interview: “I would absolutely love to get back in there again with a full training camp and try there. Hopefully, we can make that happen one day.”
However, it looks like it will take a while before Mendes can go back in again and fight McGregor. With Conor McGregor winning the mixed martial arts interim title, McGregor will definitely go head to head with Jose Aldo to fully achieve the UFC featherweight title.