Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes, who takes on the No. 4-ranked Ricardo Lamas today (Sat., April 4, 2015) at UFC Fight Night 63, is in a predicament. Like fellow teammate and perennial bantamweight contender Urijah Faber knows far too well, Mendes is currently in 145-pound purgatory, having now lost to the champion Jose Aldo twice in his UFC career.
The 29-year-old has proven himself to be an untouchable competitor at 145 pounds, when he's not fighting for the title. Over the last four years, "Money" has taken out foe after foe with ease. Coming into his tilt with the equally talented wrestler Lamas, Mendes is 16-2 and out of options, having most recently pushed Aldo harder than anyone has during the latter's illustrious title reign.
Mendes will not be dropping down to bantamweight anytime soon, especially with multiple teammates, including 135-pound titleholder T.J. Dillashaw, holding prestigious ground there. Instead, he will aim to begin another winning streak when he faces Lamas in Fairfax, Virginia.
The Team Alpha Male standout wasn't always as dangerous as he is presently. Mendes has knocked out four Octagon opponents in recent affairs, but prior to that, the Sacramento-based fighter only boasted two knockout finishes to his name.
His mixed martial arts (MMA) career started at the age of 23, fighting in the Tachi Palace Fighting Championships, where he would employ a wrestling-heavy gameplan. Mendes, a former Division-I wrestler from Cal Poly, beat and broke down his first three opponents, beginning with Giovanni Encarnacion.
Following his dominant, rear-naked choke victory over Encarnacion, he utilized his stout ground game and vicious punches to take out Leland Gridley and Art Arciniega. Mendes would continue piling up wins against future UFC competitor Steven Siler and Mike Joy, before landing in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).
He would go onto have similar success, in a hurry, fighting four times in 2010. In those four fights, Mendes stifled future UFC featherweight contenders Erik Koch and Cub Swanson, notching a total of 14 takedowns between the two bouts.
There wasn't a featherweight then that could hang with him on the mat, and there isn't one now. Mendes is very difficult to hit, and equally as hard to grab a hold of, thanks to his stocky 5'6 frame. His low center of gravity, combined with his well-timed shots, made him a very difficult opponent to deal with.
Mendes then rode into the UFC -- after the WEC was absorbed by its parent company ZUFFA -- as one of the world's best featherweights. The California native was 9-0, with four wins by stoppage.
Undefeated, and on the brink of a title shot, Mendes trounced Michihiro Omigawa and Rani Yahya to earn his first crack at the Brazilian kingpin at UFC 142. In what was the only underwhelming performance of his MMA career thus far, Mendes went for one too many takedowns, and ate a knee from Aldo to end his night just as the first-round bell sounded.
Ironically enough, he outstruck Aldo up until the very end, but couldn't get quite comfortable enough on the feet to where he didn't have to fall back on his wrestling pedigree. This humbling experience -- Mendes' first career loss -- would prove pivotal.
"Money" came back even hungrier and rejuvenated, unleashing his newfound hands of stone to pummel his next three Octagon opponents. His first victim: The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 12 veteran Cody McKenzie.
McKenzie is a submission machine, and had the ability to give Mendes lots of different looks if the fight were to have gone to the ground, but it didn't. Instead, Mendes laid him out in 31 seconds, with a crippling body blow.
Fellow wrestlers Yaotzin Meza and Darren Elkins felt the wrath of Mendes' overhand right between 2012-2013. Later, at UFC 164 in August 2013, the normally durable Clay Guida was outclassed and put to sleep by the former All-American wrestler.
One more 'W' over a top-10 featherweight and Division-I wrestling standout Nik Lentz pushed the UFC's hand, awarding Mendes his second opportunity at gold. This time around, he made the most of his chance at Aldo.
In what would later become 2014's Fight of the Year, Mendes utilized a well-balanced attack to keep the Nova Uniao leader on his toes. Aside from being dropped in the first round, Mendes held his own quite well in the stand-up exchanges, hunkering down in the pocket and unleashing barrages of punches.
He also threw in some particularly effective leg kicks for good measure, outlanding Aldo in that department. Mendes' efforts, while very admirable, were not enough to hoist the Brazilian up and off of his perch at the top of the 145-pound division.
After what was only his second-career loss, Mendes was down but not defeated. He just now has to prove himself all over again to try and capture that elusive UFC title.
Mendes is against dropping down a weight class to pursue the bantamweight belt because of the fact that teammates Faber and Dillashaw sit atop the division. He's also unlikely to shed 20 pounds and cut to flyweight, where another teammate Joseph Benavidez calls home.
He must now make the best of his situation and focus on defeating the dangerous Lamas. Outside of Mendes, no other featherweight fighter has been as consistent than "The Bully." The 32-year-old has compiled a 6-1 Octagon record, and has only lost to Aldo.
An esteemed collegiate wrestler at Division-III Elmhurst College, Lamas has used his grappling technique to dismiss a number of combatants, like Cub Swanson and Erik Koch. His win over the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Swanson was particularly impressive, as Lamas stayed patient before finding the opening for the arm-triangle submission.
Lamas will have a five-inch reach advantage over Mendes come fight night. But that's not something foreign to Mendes.
The former No. 1 featherweight contender has been pitted against multiple opponents who were bigger and seemingly stronger. At this point in his career, Mendes is just entering his prime. He's 18 fights into his MMA career and has experienced painful losses, and went toe-to-toe with strikers, grinders and everyone in between.
Over his last few fights, he's made the necessary adjustments to become a more complete fighter, and that showed in his latest fight with Aldo. Lamas also looked very good in his last outing against Dennis Bermudez at UFC 180, submitting him in just over three minutes.
One of these two will be knocked down a rung on the 145-pound ladder in this rare MMA matinee, leaving the other in the driver's seat to await the winner of the May clash between Faber and former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.