Chad Mendes is tired of people questioning his conditioning after his fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 189. Mendes dominated McGregor with ground and pound, but lost to McGregor after appearing to tire out in the second round.
During an appearance on Submission Radio, Mendes commented on the people who say he had condition issues:
“The only people that are questioning my conditioning are Conor McGregor nut-hangers, and that’s just because he said that. And dude, look at my fight with Aldo. I fought Aldo, who’s one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. I went five rounds with him and pushed the pace the entire time. When I’m prepared, my cardio is never an issue. It never has been. There’s been one other fight with [Nik] Lentz, where I was sick and fought through it, and still beat that guy, who in my opinion would destroy Conor. So you’re always gonna get those people who are talking shit. And I don’t think my cardio is an issue. It never has been. I took that fight on short-notice, and that’s why it was an issue in that fight. [If] I train a proper fight, I kill Conor. And I don’t think my conditioning is gonna be a problem in this fight. You guys got to see what happened in the first two rounds. I mean, I took him down and was able to land shots at will. I mean, big elbows, big punches. The guy doesn’t have much off his back. And me in shape, I’m able to bounce around on the feet, stay light on my feet, take him down whenever I want. I feel like I could beat that guy just with the cardio alone with my wrestling.”
Mendes is expected to face Frankie Edgar on December 11 at The Ultimate Fighter 22 finale.
