UFC Quick Quote: Chad Mendes is a ‘small featherweight’ who could ‘always make 135’

"I'm pretty small for featherweight. I could definitely make '35 if I ever needed too, but in my mind why fix it if it's not broke ... I'm not too big for '45 so the weight cut has never been a big issue for me."

-- Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight contender Chad Mendes tells Frank Trigg of MMA Odds Breaker that he considers himself to be a "small featherweight" and could drop down to the bantamweight division if he desired. At this point, any switch in weight classes seems entirely unnecessary for "Money," as he is the No. 1 ranked featherweight contender in the world, according to the official UFC rankings. The Team Alpha-Male product is scheduled to face Darren Elkins Saturday night (April 20, 2013) at UFC on FOX 7 in a high stakes 145-pound contest, but what comes after that is anyone's guess. Mendes has only suffered one defeat in 15 fights at featherweight, and that came at the hands (and knee) of current featherweight king Jose Aldo. Another defeat may be enough to send Mendes down a weight class; however, the one major roadblock in that move could be the fact good friend and training partner Urijah Faber is one of the top contenders at 135-pounds. It is highly unlikely the two would ever face off and if that means Mendes has to compete in a division where he believes he is undersized, then so be it.

MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night (Sat., April 20, 2013), which is slated to air at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. The latest play-by-play fight updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that, however, around 3:30 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" undercard bouts on Facebook and FX Channel.

For more news and notes on UFC on FOX 7, check out our complete event archive here.