'Possum said:
'hooter311 said:
8.06 Chad Mendes Featherweight
Write up tomorrow.
nice pick, he's a hell of a fighter and ought to be contending again pretty soon, and plus he's just hitting his prime. I think he actually has a better shot than most of the top FWs at dethroning Aldo because of his wrestling/athleticism combo, he just got too careless with his TD attempts last time around.
It wasn't even so much carelessness as Aldo saving himself by the most blatant fence grab I've ever seen without a point deduction. If Chad completes the takedown he at least doesn't get knocked out with a second left in the round and that was at a time when Aldo was really struggling with his weight cuts.But that's the only loss on his record. Chad knows he needs to improve before getting another shot and has been taking his time in doing so, the brass also knows it will be a year or two before they can sell him in a title fight.
The thing I am most optimistic about is Duane Ludwig joining Team Alpha Male as their striking coach a few months ago. We have already seen vast improvement in the stand up by one of their fighters and I'm excited to see Chad in his next fight so see how far he has come already.
I don't see anyone outwrestling Chad at 145, if he can improve his striking to a high enough level the sky is still the limit for him. He has had some incredibly bad luck lately with guys pulling out of his fights at the very last minute.