UFC Quick Quote: Chad Mendes isn't ready to fight Jose Aldo

"The way I see it, Chad Mendes is a great athlete, a very mature kid, but honestly I don't believe he's ready to fight Jose Aldo. I think it's too soon, he needed to fight few more times, but well... I'm not the one to decide that, it's just my opinion on the subject. Jose Aldo is a great champion, you can tell he feels comfortable at the cage and it seems he does what he wants to do in there. He's an impressive guy a while now I'll do whatever it is I can do to help him out. It's a pleasure training with a guy that talented. I can only say "thank you, Jose Aldo.""

-- Former lightweight title contender Gray Maynard is training down at Nova Uniao with Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo to both sharpen his jiu-jitsu skills and help prepare "Junior" for his title defense against Chad Mendes at UFC 142 on Jan. 14 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While there, "The Bully" took a minute to talk to Tatame.com about the upcoming 145-pound title scrap. And if Maynard is to be believed, Mendes is in over his head because he's just not ready for a bout against Aldo, a perennial pound-for-pound pugilist. For as "Money" as the Team Alpha Male product has looked throughout his career, winning each time out, that only encapsulates 11 fights over three years. Anyone agree with Maynard that Mendes isn't quite ready to swim with the top shark in the 145-pound weight class?